I got this from Brant. He's pretty much a genius...

If Jesus Had a Blog...

Most people that I know read my blog read Brant's blog too, so this will probably just be a re-read for most of you. But, with any luck, maybe someone who doesn't read Brant's blog reads my blog, and will see this post.

We FINALLY got an internet cafe in Galilee. The ESSENES have DSL, and we're just getting dial-up. That should tell you something!

Anyway, I was hanging out with some religious leaders. They got on my case for not keeping their Favorite Rules (apparently, you HAVE to wash up before dinner, in accordance with scripture.) I told them religious leaders love to have rules to make everyone else feel inadequate. They "tithe", and stuff, but my Father doesn't care, because He's all about people having hearts for mercy, and justice, not the tithing rule.

Didn't fly very well. :0

Posted 12:36 p.m. in Category "Stuff I Was Talking About in Aramaic Today but Now I'm Typing in English"

12 Comments

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COMMENTS

Jesus, love ya, but I think you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater again, here. There's nothing wrong with tithing, there's a lot of scriptural precedent for it.

I "get" where you're coming from, a lot of the time, but this is a little too simplistic. I encourage you to continue to learn and study.

-- karifish777

I normally don't comment, but I had to come out of lurking here.

"karifish" is right, Jesus. It's easy to criticize and critique, but how exactly do we measure "mercy" and "justice"?

Maybe pray about this and talk to your pastor about it. Oh -- I forgot -- you don't HAVE a pastor! (I still remember that "brood of vipers" entry...)

-- chapterboy21

J -- I usually love your blog, and I appreciate the need for "love", here, but you're basically saying (am I clear on this) that it doesn't matter if I give money or not?

You go off on these guys, but they're following their convictions. I appreciate your emphasis on having a heart for mercy, but that's not the only issue. We need people to DO things that show their hearts, and tithing is part of that. I'm glad I tithe.

My dad is a pastor, and I showed him your blog. He said (no offense) you've probably got a thing with authority. Anyway, I don't think you do, but you tend to over-simplify things.

-- buckeyesgo02

Dude, what are you smoking?

Honestly I love some of the funny stuff you post here (that cartoon of Herod was over-the-top, though) but this is just wrong, I'm sorry. You are too reactionary against religious authority. God put those authorities in your life. Look it up in the Bible, the Word of God. (I know, I know, I caught your post about how YOU are the word. Didn't care for that, either.)

-- quiettimephil

OMG. I *love* this.

THANK YOU for posting this. I have felt like a loser for so long, like I can't keep up with all the rules and everything my church is asking me to do and I feel like a failure as a single mom. And you're saying you just want to see me love people!

I'm crying. Thank you.

-- karen83

J-Train -- Love the blog. Keep it comin' brother!

You do seem to lump all religious leaders together. I appreciate your point, but the fact is, there are LOTS of great religious leaders out there. You've got a little 'tude going on there, and you speak in big, blanket statements.

Yes, our religious system is messed. But we don't need to trash it. We need to reform it. Blasting our leaders doesn't help. We NEED great religious leaders. I just wish you'd acknowledge that.

Anyway, just a thought from a brother.

-- agape4U

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-- yourmedsnow2323434

I linked to your blog from your woodworking site. I had ordered a new wood pulpit, but now I'm going to cancel, now that I can see where your head is with regard to religious leaders and our system.

To be honest, I'm surprised you have a public platform in Christian ministry, and that you're still allowed to do it. I wonder if your audiences knew what you really thought...would you still have a job?

-- preachtheword9021

Yeah, let's all stop tithing. Let's stop obeying all the rules. There won't be any pastors, and we won't be able to pay the bills for our churches. Nice.

While I'm at it, I'll quit as worship pastor and give all my money to the poor. Why don't you quit ripping on everything and tell us how church government is SUPPOSED to work? You never detail that, you just rip, rip, rip.

-- jesusfreak777

Dude -- This story is CLASSIC.

This is why I try to link everyone to your blog. In fact, my church-planting site is all about trying to get people to believe what you're saying. You RULE, man.

I'm so totally with you on the establishment, too. The weird thing: Almost as soon as I get a new group of Jesus-blog-followers going, and then I try to recognize the mature SERVANTS among them, they all start ranking themselves, and jostling for position and attention. Unbe-freaking-lievable.

I write letters to them, telling them to quit putting rules on people, and then they make rules out of my letters. Hellooooo?

Anyway, I used to be one of those guys putting rules on people, trying to make things complex. Swet gig, that. THANKS -- seriously -- for putting me out of THAT job.

-- saul_call_me_paul23

Love the blog. I think you way over-simplify, and I don't think you're right on all this stuff. But if you are, I just wasted three years in seminary.

-- lutherules99192

i don't understand the tithe thing but i like yourblog and i read the thing about how kids rule and i liked that a lot

i like the little yellow flowers U made UR AWSOME

-- horsegirl1999

Wow, I didn't even have to ask nicely.

About two days earlier, facebook disabled my account, claiming I was "spamming." So I sent them an e-mail. It was far from polite, and I don't think anyone there really enjoyed reading it, but they didn't seem to mind. (Well, for one, I'm surprised they even read it.) Anyway, they reactivated my account after reading about my situation with sending messages. So it's cool now, I guess. But still, I didn't even have to ask nicely, I thought for sure they'd hate me for that e-mail, but instead they did me a favor.

Thanks, geniuses!

Geniuses, I tell ya, geniuses!

I'm talking about the geniuses who run the internet social utility called "facebook."
They are absolute geniuses. Because they know how to cut you off in a conversation with a friend that you can't see every day, and you have to use facebook to talk to them. If you want to keep your facebook account, don't send messages back to your friends, because if you do, they'll disable your account. and say you were "spamming."
What I don't understand is why they disabled my account and not my friend's too when they were sending messages just as often as I was. Thanks to these geniuses, I don't know when I'll see my facebook again. Why? Because these geniuses are idiots.

The great commision, and the battle that's already been won.

I was reading a book called A Scandalous Freedom by Steven Brown when I read an excerpt from him that said, (and I'm paraphrasing) the battle has already been won by Jesus. What the author left out is our role after that. If the battle is already won, why are we still here? Then, as I was reading on, God reminded me of something not even in Steve Brown's text, but in His text, the Bible. He reminded me of the Great Commission. When Jesus commanded the apostles to make disciples of all men, I believe he was telling them to love. How else do you make disciples? There is no other way. So then I thought, if the battle is already won, then why are we making disciples? Has Jesus not won them over already? Well, the obvious answer is that not everyone has been won over by Jesus. So is the battle really won?
Yes.
The reason we're still here is we, as Christians, have been assigned a task out on the battlefield. Now that the enemy is defeated, it is our job to tend to the wounded. Those who were damaged by the original sin, and still need help getting to a doctor. There's only one doctor that can tend to their wounds, and that's Jesus. So our assignment is a recon mission. Out to find the wounded and bring them to Jesus. We aren't fighting anymore, we're healing. We're leading our wounded brothers back to the medic. All men are our brothers. We must tend to their wounds, and be sensitive to them. Those of you who understand this metaphor, thanks for reading.

When life gives you lemons...

Just thought I'd like to remind anyone who reads my blog and might be going through hard times about one of my favorite scripture verses:


We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

If you're struggling, and you're down in the dumps, no matter how hard this may be for you to believe, please know that whatever you're going through is for God's purpose, and that His will for you is unmatched in how good it is for you. It may be hard. May seem impossible, but faith in God's promise to work all things together for you and His purpose will bring a way through the impossible. So remember, when life gives you lemons, God is making lemonade for sure.

Just thought someone out there needed that reminder.