Jesus Asks For Everything

By Richard

Luke 13: 25-34 is one of those tough passages in the Gospels. Jesus says that as His followers we should "hate" our parents, wife, kids, siblings, and even our own life. Obviously this is hyperbolic, a highly exaggerated way of making a point - for if we did so it would go against His great commandant, to love one another as we love ourselves.

But the exaggeration is not there simply to add some humour, but to make us fully aware that this is an important point He's making. We must not miss the point that Jesus is making! He wants our love for Him to far outweigh all other loves. It needs to far outweigh the greatest of all human loves; family love, erotic love and brotherly love. It needs to surpass our greatest human instinct; to survive at all costs.

Jesus wants us to count everything as “rubbish” (to use Paul’s words) when it comes to following Him. I’ve tried to think about a few questions about practical ways that we can maybe devote ourselves more to Jesus.

Do we need to give more time to Jesus in the study of his word, prayer and simple acts of service?

Do we need to say to an unbelieving loved one, “I’m sorry but I need to be an ongoing part of a Christian community because I love Jesus and his family”?

Do we need to alter the way we use our money and possessions?

Do we need to do more “secret” acts of kindness that only Jesus knows about?

Do we need to risk the “ridicule” or “rejection” of friends and explain to them more about our love for Jesus?

Do I need to stop filling the pew and start faithfully pursuing the purposes of God for my life (worship, fellowship, maturity, service and outreach)?

I’m praying that Jesus will help me to love him more. It’s not easy, He asks for everything. And if you have some more practical suggestions to loving Jesus better I’d love to hear from you.

Humility

By Richard

On Sunday our Community Group got to study the passage in Philippians 2, about being completely humble with each other, with Christ as our ultimate example. One of the questions I had about the passage was concerning the last bit where God exalts Christ and gives Him the name above all names. I was basically wondering if this also related to us. Would God also one day reward us for our humility with exaltation?

Well, it seems the answer was short coming. I read today in Luke 13:10-14 that Jesus told his listeners to seek the place of humility. If they did so they may be rewarded in this life, by being moved, “Up to a better [seat]” in front of others, and they would definitely be rewarded by God in the next life.

Humility is given a huge importance in the bible. I am praying that God will teach me more humility in my living, so that it may help people to find Jesus, the humble king, and that I might hear a “well-done” when I eventually meet Christ face to face at the end of my life.

Run to God or You Will Perish!

In Luke 13 Jesus calls us to repent or we will perish. I hope that as we read we will get the sense of urgency in Jesus voice. There is nothing mean in His voice, just an incredible urgency that we listen and do all we can to receive His salvation.

Jesus talks about our lives being like a fruit tree (verses 6-8). God is looking for fruit in our lives. He is at work doing all He can to help us produce fruit and He graciously gives us year after year to produce fruit. Even when His patience runs a little thin we see He’s willing to give us one more year. But there does come a time, eventually, where if we don’t produce fruit we are going to be cut down and separated from God. We will perish!

In the context, the first and most important fruit we can produce is repentance. That means to stop heading away from God, make a 180, and start heading back to God. It means we need to do all we can to enter through the narrow door into His kingdom. A door so small that we must shed ourselves of our self-centred ways if we are to fit through (verses 22-30). It involves running like a baby chick, from the dangers of perishing in our own ways, to the safety of eternal shelter beneath the wings of God (verse 34)

We need to hear his urgent voice, “Run to me or you too will perish!”

Rice and Leadership Development

By Richard

Right at the beginning of Luke 12 we read that a huge crowd of many thousands had gathered to see Jesus and people were getting crushed in the mayhem. It is right in the midst of all of this noise and confusion that Jesus turns to his disciples and starts to teach them personally. Jesus was intentional and focused in His leadership development.

I think that leadership development is great but truthfully the busyness of life can all too easily crowd it out. This story from Luke is a good reminder to those of us who are leaders that we need to be intentionally building into others in a focused way. We need to remember that in the long run it may be more effective to develop others to help out than to personally try and meet the needs of the demanding crowds.

I read a good illustration of this leader multiplication principle.

The king of India was so impressed by the man who invented chess that he offered to grant him any wish. So the man replied, “My wish is simple just give me a grain of rice on the first square of the chess board, two grains on the second square, four grains on the third square and so on, until my chess board is covered with rice.” The king was happy to grant what he thought was such a simple wish. But he could not fulfil what he had promised. The chess board has 63 squares and he would have had to come up with, 2,223,372,036,000,000,000 grains of rice (an estimated 153 billion tones of rice).

Jesus knew that it would be more effective in the long run to build into his disciples than meet the needs of the thousands crowding around him.

Let’s build into a few people and teach them to build into a few people and so on until we change the world.

Don’t Shutter your Shutter

By Richard

Jesus’ discourse in Luke 11:33-36 about the eye being the lamp of the body is one of those sections that needs to be read several times in order to begin understanding what Jesus is saying. Here’s my attempt at an explanation after reading it several times and digging into a commentary.

God in Christ has put His light on a stand for the world to see. Light enters our body through our eyes. When our eyes are open we let the light in and when we keep our eyes closed we shut out the light and everything inside us is dark. When we open our spiritual eyes we let God’s light in and when we keep our spiritual eyes closed we keep God’s light out! Jesus warns us not to go around with our eyes closed, foolishly believing that our terrible darkness is some kind of light. Rather Jesus is calling us to open our spiritual eyes, as widely as possible, so that we are full of His light, so that the inside of our souls become as bright as that of any light being shone on the outside of our bodies.

Using a different metaphor. Before electricity came along sunlight was a valuable commodity. To get light into our homes we needed to open the curtains. Jesus is saying that we are like a house and He is encouraging us to open our curtains so we can to get all the Sonlight we can into the house of our life. He’s calling us to keep our windows cleaned of sin so the quality of His light is maximised. He’s encouraging us to put more windows into the walls of our hardened hearts so that His light penetrates more deeply. He’s guiding us to put skylights into the roofs of our minds so that our thinking becomes transformed by the light of His word. He’s even helping us gently prune back the bushes of pain and hurt and bitterness that grow up over the years and seek to swamp out the light before it can even enter us.

Question: Will you open your lives and allow the light of Christ to fill you so that the inside becomes as bright as the outside?

It’s interesting that the woes given to the Pharisees in Luke 11: 37-54 continue the theme of being filled with light. I’ve rephrased them with somewhat of a real estate feel which hopefully will to make them just a bit more applicable.

Don’t paint over greed open the curtains and let generosity in. (39-41)

Don’t be a show house open the doors and curtains and let God in. (42)

Don’t be proud of your position on life’s street open the curtains and let humility in. (43)

Don’t be closed up and lifeless open the curtains and let the light of God’s life in. (44)

Don’t be a board out front with a list of rules open the curtains and be a living example for others to follow. (45)

Don’t hide the truth behind closed doors but open the curtains for an honest evaluation from God. (47-51)

Don’t loose your keys! Not only must you look after your key you need to help others find theirs, so that the houses of many lives may be opened and the light of God’s love may flood in. (52)

Working at Sitting

By Richard

I always find the story of Marta and Mary in Luke 10:38-42 very challenging. I’m so often someone like Marta who is distracted by busyness. I read in a book that busyness is “dangerous” because it can lead us to miss the important. We need to resist the pressure to focus on the urgent over the important. I remember once hearing a helpful sermon on the subject. They presented four types of urgency in our lives.

1. The urgent and unimportant
2. The urgent and important
3. The non-urgent and unimportant

4. The non-urgent and important

Often we live in the urgent and unimportant or the urgent and important. However as a general rule we experience the most growth if we focus more on the non-urgent but important such as, “Mary who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.” (Luke 10: 39)

Here’s a list of some of the non-urgent but highly important things we perhaps ought to consider focusing more time on:

- Reading Scripture
- Prayer and worship
- Quality time with our spouse
- Quality time with our kids
- Reading a challenging Christian book
- Making friends with those without faith
- Being enriched by friendships in the church
- Time to relax
- Time to take in a sunset
- Exercising and staying fit
- Learning Spanish
- Etc.

Preparing for the arrival of Jesus

By Richard

It’s interesting to read in Luke 10:2 that Jesus sends out the disciples in pairs to go ahead and prepare for His arrival in the various towns and villages. In many ways the work we are called to do is the same. We are preparing for the “arrival” of Jesus in our local communities. I thought of the many couples we have in Mountainview, scattered all around Madrid, and prayed that they would have a vision that their “spiritual” work is preparing people for the arrival of Jesus. I prayed for great days ahead when Jesus would show up in our towns and villages in some surprising ways.

Here’s a list of some people from Mountainview and the various towns and villages to which they have been sent by Jesus.

Lawrence and Cathy – Boadilla del Monte
Paul and Rosa and Sarah – Moralzarzal
Juan and Hannelie – Arganda del Rey
Seppo and Hanna – Tres Cantos
Roland and Myrna – Humera
Kinda and Jose – Villabla
Larry and Maryan – Torrelodones Pueblo
Jay and Carolyn – Monte Rozas
Martin and Mati – Parla
Richard and Riekje – Las Rozas

Let’s prepare for the arrival of Jesus!

Following Jesus

by Richard

In a small little section in Luke 9: 57-62 Jesus gives us three challenges in our desire to follow him!

1. He wants us to rate Him as more important than possessions

Jesus wants us to give him and his work a higher priority than wealth and physical comfort. If you look at the following site Global Rich List you can find out just how much we have in the West. It’s a challenge for all of us, me included, that Jesus, the God who created the whole universe had no home and no pillow. He counted possessions and comfort to be worthless compared to the great task of reaching people with the good news of the kingdom. But, it’s amazing that we who have so much can spend so much time and energy thinking about how we can get some more. Let’s keep focused on Jesus and his work and trust him to provide us with what we need.

2. He wants us to rate Him as more important than profession

A potential disciple had “work” to do. He needed to bury his father. Jesus tells him don’t focus on that focus on preaching the good news of the kingdom. Jesus wants us to see our profession as secondary to a greater work, to proclaim him through word and deed. In whatever work we do let’s keep a focus on our parallel and even greater profession. Let’s remember who we really are working for.


3. He wants us to rate Him as more important than people

This is a more difficult one. Families should be important. But it still remains an issue of priority. Jesus wants us to give loving Him and serving Him our first priority. “Possessions” and “professions” are easier to measure up against our desire to follow Christ. The line between loving Christ and loving our family is much, much thinner. But that does not mean we don’t need to think about it and still ask the question about where our primary focus really lies. Even in the midst of family life let’s keep a strong focus on loving Christ and serving Him above all else.

Our Greatest Act of Worship

In Luke 9: 28-36 we read that Jesus took Peter, James and John to a lonely mountain to pray. While they were there he regained some of the glory that he had/has in heaven - His face and clothes became brighter than a flash of lightening or the sparks from a welders arc. Then they are enveloped by a cloud and the voice of God comes from heaven.

I find it interesting what God says. He doesn’t say, “Let’s sing a song of worship” or, “Let’s kneel for prayer” or even, “Let’s take up an offering” rather God says, “LISTEN to him!” (verse 35)

In the Alpha Marriage Course that Riekje and I have run on several occasions, it says that the greatest compliment that we can ever give someone is to listen to them. In fact research has shown that we are on average poor listeners, with most people concentrating on thinking up a response, rather than actively listening, within 17 seconds of someone starting to talk.

So perhaps our greatest act of worship is to listen to Jesus. But, restraining our tendency to answer before we’ve listened is difficult. Stilling the many voices that clamber for attention, in our information saturated world, so we hear the quiet voice of Jesus, is no easy feat. Listening is not easy, but it is a skill worth working on because it may just be our greatest act of worship.

Focusing on God in Prayer

by Richard

We read in Luke 9 that Jesus took five loaves and two fish, “And looking up to heaven he gave thanks and broke them” (Luke 9:16). I was sharing in church the other day that so often when I say grace at a meal time or pray with my children I switch on the autopilot. I’m praying yet my mind is elsewhere. This verse reminds me that Jesus added action to his prayer. The action of looking to heaven no doubt helped him keep God as the focus of his prayer. I have found prayer journaling (writing out my prayers) as a good way of keep my mind focused on God. I hope that we will all find ways to focus our minds on God in prayer.

The Sower

By Richard

I hope that this doesn’t seem like a plug for Mountainview Reloaded. When I read the parable of the sower in Luke 8 on Friday I felt that it applied not just personally, but to Mountainview as well.

My prayer is that Mountainview be established in the soil of the purposes of God for his church. My prayer is that Mountainview be watered by prayer and life-applicable teaching. My prayer is that we carefully deal with any thorns that seek to choke us. My prayer is that we are blest by the sun, the presence of Christ in our midst. My prayer is that as these things happen we become a church that produces a great harvest for God. That many people come and find Jesus and everyone who attends is transformed, ever more into the likeness of Christ.

Amen let it be so

Welcome to the Family

By Richard

In Luke 8: 19-21 Jesus’ family come and pay him a visit but the crowds are so thick that they can’t get near. So they send a message, “Son, brother we’re here”. Jesus uses the family reunion as a teaching moment. He says to us that if we listen to His teaching and put it into practice then we can be called his family too.

Yes, I know we are back to this subject of practice again. But, I’m in good company as Jesus keeps on coming back to it too. I read this week that the Jews believed that right acting lead to right thinking, whereas the Greeks believed right thinking led to right acting. For the past 1700 years the church has been dominated by Greek thinking with a big emphasis on theology and learning facts. We've been so busy thinking that we've sometimes forgotten the doing.

I’ve been challenged, reading the Gospels again, just how much emphasis there is on practice. But I’ve also been challenged by how I have tended to conveniently skip those parts of Jesus' teaching that seem strange and out-of-sorts, or often, simply down right difficult. I’m trying more these days not to simply log biblical data but to see scripture as Christ teaching me how I should live. I’m taking some first baby steps into the practice of the strange and out-of-sorts and difficult bits; like blessing your enemies, seeking servanthood and giving generously.

I pray that we might all practice Jesus teaching and hear his welcome to the familly. I pray that as we do that we will become a community of lights guiding thousands to become part of His family too.

Moved by God

By Richard

In Luke 7:24 ff we find that the religious right (the Pharisees) had responded with distaste to the preaching of John the Baptist and to Jesus’ radical love for sinners. So he quotes the crowd a local saying.

“We played the flute for you
And you did not dance
We sang a dirge for you
And you did not cry.” (Luke 7:32)

Jesus is asking us through the poem/song if we are moved by God and His purposes. I don’t know about you but so often I’m so focused on me and just getting through life that I fail to be moved by God. Reading between the lines God is calling out that our hearts, our spirits, our minds, our actions leap at the sound of His name and a sense of His presence.

On Tuesday I was out with Joel and Caleb in our neighbourhood and we saw a fantastic sunset, and I was moved. So I told them, “Look at how beautifully God has painted the sky!” And then I had them tell me what colours He had used. In a book that I’m reading they said that the issue is not one of seeking God (like he was lost) but seeing God, because He’s all around us and ceaselessly at work.

I pray that we will see God at work around us and be moved. The music of a beautiful sunset! The sadness of a world gone crazy after self! The touch of God through friendship and family love. I pray that we will see God and be deeply moved to respond with our heart and soul and mind and strength, and to please Him by loving others as we love ourselves.

Positive Spirituality is Dangerous

by Richard

At the beginning of Luke 6 the disciples get the rap from the Pharisees for eating a few small grains of wheat on the Sabbath and then later, Jesus gets the rap for thinking about healing a man on the Sabbath – it was against the law! He asks the Pharisees a question, “Is it better to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” (Luke 6: 9). Answering his own question he restores the shrivelled hand of a man before their very eyes.

It’s amazing how we love to develop laws about what we "shouldn’t do”, whereas Jesus on the other hand deals with life much more positively and is always talking about what we "should do”. If you think about it, the negative is much more comfortable. It doesn’t ask me to do anything – I actually succeed by “not doing” - I can feel good about all the things I haven’t done. I can sit at home in a dark room and be a “spiritual giant”!

Positive spirituality though is much more radical (it’s not just good because it has a positive spin). It asks way, way more of me. It calls me to step forward and go into the world and start actually doing good! It challenges me with an infinite number of unique opportunities for success or failure (instead of the comfort offered by a limited number of rules). It asks us to leave the comfort of our bed of rules, to get up, and commence an epic, challenging, journey together with Christ that leads us home to His kingdom.

But, if you think about it, positive spirituality is dangerous. It challenges us to step beyond our humanity. We will either grab Christ by the hand and say, “lead me on”, or grab him by the neck and say, “he must die”.

Gracious, Spacious Environments

Jesus’ parables sometimes have an elusive meaning. The parable about not sowing a new patch on an old garment and not putting new wine into old wineskins (Luke 5: 36-39) is one such parable where I personally find it hard to pin down the meaning. As I read the parable this morning, with the help of a commentary, I was drawn to the context and here's what I think Jesus might have been saying.

The Pharisees are complaining that Jesus’ disciples don’t practice the discipline of fasting. So Jesus replies that now is not the time for them to fast, but a day is coming when He will be gone, and then they will fast. He follows this up with the parable about cloth patches and new wine and closes with a comment about mature wine tasting real good.

I think He’s saying that discipleship is a gracious process. We should allow people the time (and some freedom) to mature and develop. It’s risky to try and expect (even force) new followers of Christ (as were the disciples at this point) to adhere immediately to the so called “mature practices” of the faith. If we do something, somewhere, is going to tear and there’ll be an ugly mess. I think Jesus is saying that in a gracious, spacious environment, and in God’s timing, we will have the best chance of ending up with mature and well disciplined followers of Christ; highly flavoursome blessings that are pouring out their lives for the honour of God.

Big Holey Evangelism

In Luke 17 we find a group of men carrying a friend to Jesus. But when they get near house, where Jesus is speaking, the crowds are so dense that they can’t anywhere close to the Lord. So they send one of the friends to call around town and get hold of a ladder, and they climb the roof and start to pick off tiles. A big hole made they send another friend to call around town for a rope. After some discussions on the best knot to use the rope is carefully tied and tested, and then their friend is lowered down, gently, gently, gently does it, right in front of Jesus.

As I read this I was challenged by their efforts and creativity to bring their friend to Jesus. Will we make every effort to live as a light before our not yet believing friends? Will we pray for them to find Jesus? Will we, when opportunity arises, speak to them graciously and with skill about the faith that we have? Will we be extraordinarily creative in thinking up ways to bring our friends closer to Jesus?

Bible and Butter for Breakfast

In Luke 4:4 we find these powerful words, “Man does not live on bread alone.”

Jesus is quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3 which adds the tag, “But on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”

Somehow as we read and apply God’s word we are being spiritually nourished and, conversely, when we fail to read and apply Gods word to our lives we are on the way to spiritual anorexia and worse, maybe even death.

God uses imagery like nourishment because the changes are almost imperceptible on a daily basis. It takes time to grow and put on weight (that is until we hit 40 at which point we can gain several kilos by simply looking at a Christmas dinner). It takes time for poor nutrition to make us sick. It takes a while for us to starve to death.

I pray that we will be inspired to keep on reading God’s word – even if it doesn’t do much for us on any particular day. I pray that we will remember, as we read and apply God’s word that over time, like nutrition, there’s an accumulation going on inside of us that is leading us, bit by bit, to spiritual growth and greater health.

Fruit and Fruitflies

By Richard

One of the prayers that we are praying as we read the Gospels is that Jesus would help us do the things He did. Maturity in the Christian faith is often equated with how much we know, yet much of the Gospels concern themselves with changing the way we live, with what we do.

In Luke 3, John the Baptist attracts a large crowd. People flock to the Jordan to be baptised. John warns them though that it’s not about getting wet and a nice certificate to put of the wall; following God is about producing fruit. He goes on to warn that, “Every tree that does not produce fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:9). At the end of our lives God’s won’t ask us if we can name the books of the bible, He’ll look for evidence of fruit.

Now no one wants to be cut down and thrown into the fire and so the crowds ask, “How does one practically produce fruit?” So John gives them a list to get them started.

- We should share with those in need
- We should be honest at work
- We should not abuse our positions of power
- We should learn to be content with what we have...
(Luke 3: 11-14, my paraphrase).

Bringing it to the here and now, what fruit is God asking you to produce today?

Here’s one of mine: This week I’ve been suffering from some negative thinking. I felt like God was saying that every time I started thinking negatively I should replace the thoughts with other thoughts affirming my faith in Christ. As I have done so I’ve been given the joy of the Lord – honestly – and a greater faith to embrace some significant challenges ahead.

Spiritual fruit pleases God and it attracts the not yet believers to Christ. I pray that as we read the Gospels we will listen for the voice of Jesus calling each of us to produce fruit, and the specific fruit that He wants each of us to produce. I pray that Mountainview will become a “fruity” church and that as we do so we will have the joy of knowing we are pleasing God in our worship, and, importantly, the joy of seeing people attracted to Jesus, like fruit flies homing in on the wonderful aromas of fruit.

More on Simeon

I found it interesting to read that Jewish writers speak of a Simeon living at about the time of Jesus’ birth. The son of Hillel, he was highly respected, the president of a “theological college” and the Sanhedrin. The Jewish writers say that he had a “prophetical spirit” but that he was demoted for speaking out against the common views of Jews at that time concerning the earthly kingdom of the Messiah. As is sometimes the case for people of devotion, he also had a son Gamiel, a Pharisee who was an enemy of Christianity. Sounds like our guy! And yes it seems Luke is the carefully and well-researched historian that he claims to be (Luke 1:1-4).

Moving Kinds of Prayers

by Richard

In Luke 2: 27 we read that Simeon a devout and righteous Jew was, “Moved by the Spirit” to go into the temple courts, to meet up with the holy family and prophecy over the baby Jesus. And then when he is done, we read in verse 38 that “At that very moment” the prophetess Anna comes up and prophecies over Jesus.

God was working to move the right people into the right places at the right time. So I spent some time praying moving kinds of prayers.

- I prayed that God would move me to love and serve Him better.

- I prayed that God would move in the hearts of everyone at Mountainview to press into Jesus and grow in their faith.

- I prayed that God would move in the hearts of people without faith in our community and start giving them a desire to find Jesus.

- I prayed for God to move people to join Mountainview especially those who have the gifts and personalities that we will need to keep Mountainview healthy and growing.

- I prayed for God to move some more musicians into Mountainview (a drummer and base player would be nice to name a couple - any more requests Lawrence?)

- I prayed for God to send us some more full-time help through CAI. (A family who could help co-pastor Mountainview and a couple of interns would be great.)

Above all though, I prayed that Jesus would move me to have the right heart, to be in the right places, to be with the right people, to be there at the right time, to have the right words and actions, so that I can rightly complete the work He has called me to do.

I hope that you will pray that too.

Supersize

by Juan Escabias-Haggard

Richard, I am inspired by your "Bigger than a Hamburger" piece.

If anyone had any doubts about how big God really is, have a look at this:

• Our forefathers looked up at the stars in amazement, but only in the last few hundred years have man really realized what lies beyond the great blackness.
• The sun is 150 million kilometers away from the earth
• Our nearest star, Alpha Centauri is 37,500,000 million kilometers away
  The furthest that we can see with our telescopes are 6,500 million light years, and one light year is 9,000,000 million kilometers.
• Betelgeuse, one star 520 light years away from earth, is so big, that the earth will be able to revolve around the sun, INSIDE THIS STAR, with space to spare!!!!
• There is an estimated 100,000 million stars in our galaxy, the milky way.
• Astronomers estimate that there is about 100,000,000 such galaxies that they can see, basically to the limit of their radio telescopes.
  

All the mind boggling, brain numbing figures aside, what impresses me most is that:

"In the past God spoke to our ancestors many times and in many ways through the prophets, but in the last days he has spoken to us through his Son. He is the one through whom God created the universe, the one whom God has chosen to possess all things at the end. He reflects the brightness of God's glory and is the exact likeness of God's own being, sustaining the universe with his powerful word." - Hebrews 1:1

How can we ever doubt the power of our Lord Jesus?

Bigger Than a Hamburger

by Richard

In Luke 1 the angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her that she will have a baby, called Jesus. Mary responds, as any innocent young lady would, “How on earth is that possible, I’ve never had sex!” Gabriel gently reminds that there's a God above who is big enough and powerful enough to do the impossible. Mary simply replies, “I am here to serve God, so make it happen O God!”

Mary believed that God could do the “impossible” through her. It’s sad that many people don’t accept the supernatural and seek to explain away the miraculous by rational means. They think that by doing so they will make the Christian message easier to swallow in our modern, scientific, world. But in the process they reduce God to no more than a small, bite sized, tasteless, hamburger.

It seems to me that if God is bigger and more powerful than the universe itself then “impossibilities” quickly become “realities”. The question in not, “how possible is it?” but, “how big is your God?”

So, question, is your God big enough to enable an honest virgin to give birth, prophecy to be fulfilled down to the smallest letter, people to be healed, crowds numbering thousands to be fed from a few loaves and small fish, an evening stroll on water, storms to be calmed at command, the sky to darken for 3 hours and the dead to be raised?

I pray that as we read the Gospels our vision of a God who can do the “impossible” will grow. I pray that we will indeed see God do the “impossible”, in our lives and in the lives of those around us. I pray that through reading the Gospels and personal experience, God will regain something of His rightful size. I pray that a greater understanding of God’s immense power will leave us wanting to respond in worship as Mary did, “I am God’s servant and may He act in power in my life.” (Luke 1: 38, my paraphrase)

Praying for Miracles!

By Richard

Often when I speak about Jesus (something that I love to do by the way) I can start feel that I’m on my own, making all the effort to get a message across to people who, oftentimes, don’t seem that interested.

In Mark 16:20 we read that, “The disciples went out and preached everywhere, AND the Lord worked with them AND confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.”

It was good to be reminded that I’m not alone! Jesus is working with me (or I with Him – depending on which way that you look at it) and He is confirming his word to people. In fact if we are to understand the repeated “and” (capitalised above) then Jesus is doing two-thirds of the work.

My prayer is as we share the good news with many in Madrid that we would have a stronger sense of Jesus working with us. I also pray, and I know not how, that we would see Jesus confirming to people the reality of His message in some surprising ways. Yes, I am praying for miracles! Jesus kinds of miracles that lead to the greatest miracle of all: People believing the good news about Jesus, being baptised, and being saved.

Amen, make this come true Lord Christ.

Mark Chapter 17

I have just finished the Gospel of Mark. The last chapter of Mark always makes me think about a story I once heard of a preacher. He asked his congregation to read Mark chapter 17 in preparation for the sermon the following week. The following week he stands up in his pulpit and asks the church, “Who read March chapter 17 this past week?” A few hands went up. “Well” said the preacher, “Since there are only 16 chapters in Mark let’s talk about the subject of lying this morning!”

The Last Temptation of Christ

by Richard

But Jesus still made no reply and Pilate was amazed. (Mark 15:5)

Reading about the crucifixion of Jesus (Mark 15) I was struck this morning by the restraint of Jesus. The God who spoke a billion galaxies, each with a billion stars, silently endures the cross. From the shadows evil taunts Jesus with cries of, “If you are one then go on and show everyone your power!” (Have you ever noticed the similarity between the taunting of the chief priests and Satan when he's tempting Jesus in the desert?).

But Jesus refuses to strike back. Physically weak and suffering intense pain, Jesus resists His last and greatest temptation, to dominate us with his power. Humbly dying, the heart of God breaks open and love pours out into the universe, through all of eternity. He pours out a love that can change enemies into friends, not a power that can turn enemies into fried meat

I was challenged because I often seek the power to dominate the world. When people accuse me unfairly I seek the power to destroy, or some response of wisdom that might prove them wrong (and humiliate them greatly in the process).

But this week I pray that Jesus will help me to do the things He did. I pray that I will be filled with His love that is flowing throughout the universe and all eternity. I pray that Jesus will help me to resist the temptation of power. I pray instead that I will seek His love; the kind of love - in my marriage, with my children, in the community in which I live- that has the “power” to change enemies into friends. I pray that Jesus will help me to have His kind of love; the kind that helps people return to the source of all love, God.

A Time to Thank - Luke 17: 11-19

By Richard Wallace (Message given at Mountainview on Sunday 8th January)

I heard about a couple of Spanish men that were chased by a bull. They made a run for it but realising they would not make it to the fence before the bull caught up with them one of the men says to his friend, “Pray”!

The friend replied, “Pray? What shall I pray? I’ve never prayed anything in my life!”

“You MUST pray” said the man to his friend, “The bull is nearly upon us!”

“Ok” said his friend, “If you insist, I will pray a prayer that my father used to pray…For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly grateful!”

Yes, I was right; we did need a joke on thankfulness to warm us up this morning!

In a few minutes we are going to have an open mike time, a chance to share something we would like to thank God about from the past year. But, before we do so I wanted to give us 3 short thoughts on thanks from Luke 17: 11-19.


1. Respond with gratitude in our heart

10 lepers cry out to Jesus for help. He tells them to go show themselves to the priest. Only the Priest had the legal right to declare an individual healed of leprosy and able to return to life within the community. So they run off to see the priest and on the way they’re healed. But of the ten, only one man comes back, praising God and thanking Jesus.

Jesus asks a question. Now He doesn’t ask the man, but he asks the people listening. He asks us!

Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? (17)

“Where are the other nine?” I liked what the commentator Matthew Henry writes about this verse. He says that this is a hint to us that “ingratitude is a very common sin.” If the 10 lepers are representative then our “thank-ometers” are probably hovering at around 10%.

“Thanks” is a major theme in the NT. We are called over and over again to give thanks. The apostle Paul says that we should, “Give thanks in all circumstances.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

I read about a man who learnt to give thanks in all circumstances

The man went to the rabbi and complained, "Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?"

The rabbi answered, "Take your goat into the room with you." The man was gob smacked, but the rabbi insisted. "Do as I say and come back in a week!"

A week later the man comes back looking more distraught than before. "We cannot stand it," he tells the rabbi. "The goat is filthy."

So the rabbi then tells him, "Go home and let the goat out. And come back in a week."

A radiant man returns to the rabbi a week later, exclaiming, “Life is beautiful! We enjoy every minute of it now that there's no goat and only the nine of us.”

I’m often guilty of ingratitude. We probably could thank God more! Let’s aim to increase the amount of thanks we offer God in 2006.


2. Restore the heart in our gratitude

Jesus points out that the man who came back to thank

Was a Samaritan. (16b)

And later Jesus says,

Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? (18)

The word “foreigner” here is from a Greek word meaning “outsider” The Samaritans were considered by the Jews as "outsiders", "irreligious" and "uncultured"!

So there’s more than some irony going on here! The nine, probably Jewish lepers, who were considered “religious”, “cultured” and “well-mannered”, did not praise and thank! Yet the Samaritan, considered “irreligious”, “uncultured” and “ill-mannered”, came back, loudly, praising God and thanking Jesus!

If you think about it, when the “well-mannered” thank we are never quite sure it’s “true” or simply “training”. But, when the “ill-mannered thank” we know it comes from the heart. The Samaritan thanked God from his heart.

I think that God’s not just interested in the “quantity” of our thanks but the “quality” of our thanks too. When I thank God for the food at the dinner table, I have to confess, I often switch on the autopilot. Honestly, I need to work at putting God back into my prayers. Maybe that’s why we read in the Gospels, that Jesus looked to heaven when he prayed. His physical posture helped him to focus on God in His prayers.

Let’s not just form a “habit” of thanking God let’s also foster a “heart” thanks. Let’s give focus in 2006 to thanking God from our hearts.


3. Renew our faith through gratitude

We read that when the Samaritan leper,

Saw that he was healed, [he] came back, praising God. (15a)

And later,

Jesus said to him, “Your faith has made you well.” (19b)

Circle the word “well”. The Greek word Jesus uses is sozo. It has a similar root to the word soteria, salvation. Jesus is saying to the Samaritan, “Your faith has saved you.”

In our story 10 lepers get healed, but only one comes back, and discovers something immeasurably more valuable than even health – JESUS. 10 are healed but only one is saved!

It’s amazing how often people cry out to God in trouble! But, when things return to normal, most neglect to return to their helper.

Think about it! Thanks connects us back to the giver. When God blesses us and we thank Him, it connects us back to God. That’s why we say grace at meal times. God pours His grace on us and His grace completes its work when our gratitude brings us back to him, God the giver.

But this is not simply a personal thing between us and God. When someone stands up in a crowd and gives a word of thanks, it connects the crowd to the giver. When we stand up in church and say “Hey, here’s something I’d like to thank God for”, it connects everybody in the church back to God.

There is, if you like, a saving quality to gratitude. It brings us back to Jesus - our saviour.

My prayer is that as we seek to be people with thankful hearts in 2006 that it will bring us back to Jesus – our saviour.

Note: Following this message there was an extended time when people in the church could share an item of thamks from the past year.

His Words in our Lives Today!

I must say, the one thing about Jesus that always gets me is the way in which he spoke directly, and to the point. But never from a pedestal, never from a "I am better than you" perspective, but truthfully and lovingly.

I believe that every word that Jesus spoke, that is recorded in the 4 gospels, are placed there in a calculated way for us to learn from. For us to see who Jesus was, but it is only the beginning..... After we get to know him in such a way, then the real adventure begins. We start to get to know the real, living Jesus who is alive today and is longing to get to know us as his friends. He longs to get involved in every little aspect of our daily lives, as if he was here with us, just like with his first 12 disciples. One of my most precious memories was one day, whilst still being a brand new Christian, Jesus spoke to me one day saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant." It felt so good to receive that kind of affirmation, that it reduced me to tears. I have also been disciplined many times by the sword that comes from his mouth and divides between bone and marrow, but, after each discipline, the heavens are always opened and his love pours down. The following verses were taken from the gospel of John, and stood out to me because they are such a guiding light to the every day Christian life, relevant yesterday, today and tomorrow.

"But I tell You, take a good look at the fields; the crops are now ripe and ready to be harvested."(Jn 4:35)
I believe that this is as true as it was the day when Jesus spoke these words. The only thing that we sometimes miss, is the when. Jesus sent his disciples out when the time was right. He did not leave it up to them to decide when they thought the time was right. Imagine the hurt and failures that they could have ended up with if they went without his authority. Just think of the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19 who tried to drive out the demon without God's authority. They ran from the house naked and bleeding, like Englishmen from an Irish pub. Look at the next verse.

"The right time for me has not yet come. Any time is right for you." (Jn 7: 6)
See what Jesus says to his disciples. If only we understood how important it is for us to constantly enquire from God, and not to move unless he says so. Jesus did not do or say anything out of his own, but only did what he saw the father doing, and only said what he heard the father saying. This is a Godly protection system for ourselves. If we live like this we will be protected from unnecessary hurts and troubles.

"Do not work for food that spoils; instead, work for food that lasts for eternal life. This is the food that the Son of Man will give you." (Jn 6: 28)
How much this arrow aims straight at the heart! What drives us? Are we driven by worldly ambition, mixed with some Christianity? Or are we as Jesus intended, serving him first and foremost, with everything else second? It really comes down to examining one's perspective of eternity. If we are truly eternity minded we would be working hard at saving up treasures in heaven, because soon we will be enjoying them forever.

"Whoever loves his own life will lose it, whoever hates his own life in this world will keep it for life eternal. Whoever wants to serve me must follow me, so that my servant will be with me where I am. And my father will honour anyone who serves me." (Jn 12 :25)
Very hard hitting and thankfully not my words, but that of Jesus. Does not exactly fit the image of a little defenceless baby Jesus lying in the manger, which the world loves so much, but of someone who does not beat around the bush, who is not afraid to speak the truth, and who is willing to lay down his life for it. Well, there we go. We have 2 choices, we serve our own interests or we serve God. This can become a very muddled subject once we give it a little philosophical twist, but to be honest, it is very simple. Ultimately we are called to dedicate the purpose of our lives to His plan for us. And that does not necessarily mean that if we are busy with the things of God that we are busy with Him. Think of the example of Mary and Martha. Jesus was more blessed by Mary sitting at his feet, spending time with him than he was with Martha who was doing things for him. Don't confuse serving him with providing him with a service! The above scripture says that to serve Jesus is to follow him!

"I do not condemn you either. Go, but do not sin again." (Jn 8:11)
What wonderful freedom from condemnation Jesus bought us. How wonderful it is that he loves us and only desires that we stop causing ourselves and those around us harm with our actions. If only the world could see the way that we do, that holiness brings joy and freedom, and that sin brings hurt, sickness and death.

"I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in me because of their message. I pray that they may all be one. (Jn 17:20)
Jesus is still today praying that his followers would be one, and we are all guilty of speaking badly of some other church group at one time or another. I find it quite strange, as a follower of Jesus, that I could be doing something contrary to one of his prayers. We forget how damaging our words can be. "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but your words will crush, cripple and kill me." We simply have to find ways to put our differences aside and build His kingdom together.

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never die. No one can snatch them away from me." (Jn 10:28)
This is so comforting. No one can ever snatch us away.

"If you obey my teachings, you are really my disciples, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (Jn 8:31)
Could it really be this simple. With all the books and teachings around discipleship, maybe we have overlooked the obvious, or at times have made it more complicated than it really is.

"Now that you have heard this truth, how happy you will be when you put it into practice!" (Jn 13:17)
How profound it is that the simple little truths are the ones that really matter. In general Jesus is saying that if we want to be happy, we should put the truths that came from his mouth into practice. I can understand why so many non-Christians could be on anti-depressants, but so many Christians today? Could it be that we have become so entrenched in Christian philosophy that we have started to ignore the simple Gospel truths. Paul did say that he brought a simple message, but it was accompanied by the power of God.

"But I am telling you the truth, it is better for you that I go away, because if I do not go, the Helper will not come to you." (Jn 16:7)
Can you imagine being one of the 12 when Jesus says this? It is like your parents trying to convince you that it would be better in boarding school than at home, that it is an act of pure love on their part, yeah right! How can that possibly be? In other words, Jesus says that the presence of the Holy Spirit is more important than his own presence among the disciples!? It is incredible that this can be true. Unfortunately I believe that many Christians today do not give the Holy Spirit the same importance as Jesus. It is quite a surprise to read the book of Acts and to discover the amount of times that the Holy Spirit is mentioned by name, how the disciples related to Him as a person, how they listened to his voice, how he led them, how he demonstrated his power and how much they communicated with him. Did you know that the Holy Spirit is mentioned 43 times in Acts and Jesus 70 times. Based on such a simple comparison we should realise just how relevant he is to our daily lives.

"If you love me, you will obey my commandments. I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever. He is the Holy Spirit, who reveals the truth about God." (Jn 14:15)
He is......(signifying a person). Never has been a person in the flesh like Jesus and maybe that is why we sometimes find it difficult to relate to him in the same way. But, he still is a person with whom we could and should, for our own benefit, have a relationship.

"The world will make you suffer. But be brave! I have defeated the world!" (Jn 16:33)
This is such a comfort to me that no matter what we have endured, are enduring, or will endure, we will never lose our prize. IT IS DONE!!!

Regards
Juan

Stripped Naked

In Mark 14 Jesus tells his disciples that they will shortly abandon him (if read between the lines this was a bigger group than just “The Twelve”). Peter, as is his usual manner, leads the way in publicly, and with the strongest of words, declaring his commitment to Jesus, “Even if I have to die with you I will NEVER disown you” he says emphatically.

And then we read in the next breath that, “All the others said the same.” (Mark 14:31). This large group of people who followed Christ, were all prepared to die with Him!

We know what happens to Peter (if not we can read it in Mark 14: 66-72). But, let’s focus on another less known deserter. We read in verse 51 of a young man, a follower of Jesus, who was seized by the armed mob, but somehow managed to slip out of his clothes and slip away. Terrified and butt-naked he bolted far into the night.

Most commentators agree that because of its incidental, by the way, seemingly irrelevant inclusion (and it’s only mentioned in Mark’s Gospel) that the “young man” was Mark himself, the one who would later write the short and “punchy” account of Jesus that bears his name.

But like Peter he had to be “stripped naked” and shown the “shallowness” of his commitment. And, like Peter, he grew beyond his failure, to deeply love and serve Jesus and write a Gospel.

The older I get (maybe this is just a mid-life crisis kind of thing) the more I find that Jesus strips away my pretence and puts me in situations that show me what I’m really like. But there’s nothing sick or perverted in Jesus, just a huge love that strips me of my illusions, so that He may re-clothe me with a greater love for Him.

Richard

Imagine If You Gave Me A Bottle Of Whiskey

Jesus says in Mark 9:41 that anyone who gives a glass of water to one of His followers will be rewarded. So just imagine what your reward will be if you give me a bottle of Whiskey, of fine vintage! Just kidding!

The smallest act done for Jesus is noticed and rewarded. We often focus on the big and visible yet so often Jesus reminds us it's the small and “invisible” - the tiny mustard seed, a pinch of yeast and a glass of water - that are really important.

I hope that we develop our theology of “small things”, an appreciation that the smallest of things done in Jesus’ name please Him and are a means of blessing for us and our community.

May Mountainview grow out of a café con leche that is regally brewed for the community gardener, a smile at the Carrefour checkout, a thought filled text message for a colleague who’s hurting, a meal with a lonely friend, a prayer for an “enemy”, a…!

Yes, may Jesus reward us for the smallest of things done in His Name,

Richard

Doing Our Knowing

Riekje, (my lovely wife) was wondering why I had started posts in Mark and not Matthew! Well simple; because I am currently reading Mark. But here’s a post from Matthew 1 and 2.

Back in November I was given an article called The Apprentices (Leadership, summer 2005). It’s about being transformed to be more like Jesus and recommends that we start with a greater emphasis on Jesus and His teaching in the Gospels. The article reminded me of just how obedience orientated Jesus’ teaching is. The Gospel teachings are not mere facts to be learnt but teachings to be lived out. So I started reading Matthew and there it was - even in Matthew’s account of the birth of Christ (chapter 1&2) - obedience was on every page!

When the angel of the Lord tells Joseph in a dream to take Mary as his wife because she's having a baby by the power of God, he wakes up and obeys God. (Matthew 1:18-25)

When the Magi are warned in a dream not to return to Herod because he has turned psychotic, they obey and slip out of the country by another route. (Matthew 2: 1-12)

When the angle of God tells Joseph in the middle of the night to “Get up, take Jesus and Mary and flee to Egypt”, Joseph gets up in the middle of the night, takes Jesus and Mary and flees to Egypt. He obeys exactly as he’s commanded. (Matthew 2: 13-18)

My hope that as we read the Gospels, beyond simply knowing more facts, we will have hearts that are asking Jesus to help us obey his teaching. I am looking forward to being encouraged by some stories on how God might call each of us reading to obey. I’m praying that I’ll have some good stories of my own to share!

Richard

The AND of Moving Mountains

I often hear people say that in order to have effective prayers we need more faith, but maybe that’s just half the story!

The disciples are amazed in Mark 11. They overhear Jesus cursing a fruitless fig tree that is growing outside of the town Bethany and then, when they pass the same tree 24 hours later, it’s completely brown and withered. Jesus tells them that if they have faith in prayer, if they believe God is able to do what they ask, then they will do even greater mountain moving types of things.

But Jesus adds an “and” (Mark 11:25), the kind of and that should be capitalized, in a large font size and in bold, so we get what he’s really saying. Jesus says that when we are praying, when we are asking for God to move mountains, we should forgive so that we are forgiven. No matter what the issue, no matter who the individual, we need to forgive so that we may be forgiven by God.

Jesus is showing us that powerful prayer has 2 wings; it has faith and it has forgiveness. We need to believe and be-clean in order to have power in prayer. The end of the letter of James makes the same connection between faith and forgiveness. James concludes by saying,

“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)

I hope that we will work on increasing our faith AND forgiveness in prayer and, as our wings of “belief” and “righteousness” grow bigger, that we will be able see God move mountains through our prayers.

Richard

The Magnificent 7

Last Thursday (29 Dec, 2005) I was reading Mark 8. It was the day before our first Mountainview Leadership Team meeting and as I read about how Jesus fed the crowd of more than four thousand I felt God speaking to me.

Jesus has compassion on the crowd
The crowd is hungry and many had “come a long distance” to hear Jesus. If He sends them home empty they will collapse on their way.

I thought of the international community that Mountainview ministers to here in Madrid, Spain. I wondered just how many people there were in the region who had travelled a long, an international, distance to meet Jesus (even if they don’t know this yet). I thought of several friends, who are currently “collapsing” under the strain of broken marriages. I reminded myself that Jesus has compassion and He loves people deeply.

Jesus asks the disciples to feed the huge crowd
The disciples are stunned. They reply, “Jesus, there isn’t even a Chinese takeaway in the area and, if there was, there’s no way on earth it would be large enough to feed this mob!”

We have an immense task here in Madrid. The work to be done is much, much, much bigger than the taskforce! Like the disciples we can feel overwhelmed.

Jesus uses what the disciples have to offer
Jesus asks the disciples what they have. All the disciples have available are “seven loaves” of bread and “a few small fish”. So they give them to Jesus.

The Mountainview Leadership Team comprises seven adults and a few small children. I felt Jesus saying that we are like those “seven loaves” and “a few small fish”. The most important thing was not what we had to offer but that we offered it. I offered us up to Jesus in prayer.

Jesus makes a little go a long way
Jesus takes the “seven loaves” and the “few small fish”. He blesses them and he breaks them. He uses seven loaves and a few small fish to feed a crowd of more than four thousand AND, when everyone is full, they have seven basketfuls of leftovers.

I asked Jesus to take this team of seven and use it to establish a church that will be a blessing to thousands of people in the Madrid area. I don’t know how Jesus will do this except that He is able to take our small contributions and multiply them many times over.

The next day I shared this with the Leadership Team and suggested that we call ourselves The Magnificent Seven.

We will be introducing this team to the Mountainview Community in the next few weeks.

Please be praying that God takes the small amount we have to offer at Mountainview and uses it to touch thousands of people in the city of Madrid, in Spain and beyond.

Richard

How Tasty Are You?

At the end of Mark 9 Jesus says to his disciples, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” (Mark 9:50). The first part of the verse is one of the more difficult bits to understand in the Gospels. I liked one of suggestions from the commentator Matthew Henry.

In ancient times all meat was eaten with salt (long before they discovered that it gave you high blood pressure) to make it taste good. Meat sacrifices were also salted with the assumption that it would make them taste better to God. Jesus is probably telling his followers to taste good to God.

A few thoughts!? How tasty am I too God? In the context of Mark 9: 42-48, what do I need to let go of to make myself tastier to God? What do I need to add to make myself tastier to God?

Be salty!

Richard