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"Dave Weiss was at our church tonight and all I can say is wow! What a gifted artist and fine preacher! People really responded well to him and I hope to have him back again. Some of the finest preaching I have heard in a long time."
Jim Baker,
Pastor, Lorida Church of the Brethren, Lorida, FL
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Running AMOK: Random Musings for the Creative Hands of the Body of Christ by Dave Weiss
There once was a young man driving down the road of life, going too fast and in the wrong direction. People tried to warn him that the bridge ahead was weak and wouldn’t sustain him, but what did they know? They hadn’t been down this road, and even if they had, it was long ago.
Finally one day, he came to the bridge. It looked fine and he charged ahead. The bridge failed under the weight of his speeding car and he plunged into the pit below, falling to the bottom with a mighty crash. When he regained consciousness, a mysterious stranger was helping him out of his car and then helped him to climb out of the pit.
Hurting and broken but wiser, the young man made a decision. He would be the bridge’s last victim. He would honor the man who helped him by keeping people out of the pit. Day after day he positioned himself just up the road from the bridge trying to get people to turn around. He would wave his arms and yell and do what he could to get them to stop. “The Bridge is Out!” He cried. Some looked at him as if he was crazy. Some gave him the finger. One stopped and said, “Who are you to tell me what to do? Who gave you the authority? Who are you to tell me to turn around?” Everyone who passed him felt totally justified as they plummeted off the cliff.
Most of the time it felt like thankless work, but the residual pain of his own injuries and the memory of the mysterious stranger compelled him to continue. Occasionally someone turned around and that made it all worthwhile.
Well it’s kind of amazing sometimes how things work out. Yesterday I posted a piece I call Continuum of Life. My wife was in the hospital the last two days (she’s recovering nicely, by the way) so this morning was the first I had seen this week’s IF challenge, of the word Twirl and I was kind of amazed by how much it related to the piece I just did. Here it is.
(Can’t see the image? Click here.)
The basic point of the piece is this. Life is a continuum. Good and Evil, right and wrong, etc. are opposite ends of the continuum. To go toward one is to turn from the other. To turn to God is to turn away from sin and to turn to sin is to turn away from God. If you find yourself going in the wrong direction, the best thing you can do is turn around. That’s what the word repentance means, to turn around. Repentance is a good thing that can turn you in a good direction.
The thing is, for most of us, including the staunchest of believers, we don’t just turn around once and head in the right direction, we turn around and around and around, which is kind of what it means to twirl, isn’t it. The good news is, thanks to Jesus Christ, his sacrifice on the cross, death burial and resurrection, we can always turn back to Him and He will always welcome us. He loves you and He wants you back. No matter who you are, no matter what you have done. You can always turn around.
The trick for us all is to stop twirling, turn in the direction of good and keep moving forward. Jesus can help you do that. Ask him to help you.
Make one more “right” turn, toward Jesus and stop twirling.
Sometimes we make life out to be so darn complicated and when it comes to right and wrong, good and evil, sin and righteousness, it’s not difficult at all. I got this illustration on my prayer walk one morning and I think it sets it up very nicely:
For the believer (at least) it’s pretty much this simple—God and sin can’t coexist. Therefore sin and God, good and evil, righteousness and sin are opposite sides of the same line, the same continuum. This means to go to one is to turn your back on the other. The two paths will never meet. To turn to God is to turn away from sin and to turn to sin is to turn away from God. Yes it really is that simple.
The problem is that we (even the strongest believers) find ourselves going in the wrong direction and often and that is NOT okay. Praise be to God there is a solution. He gave it to us when He gave us His Son Jesus Christ. Remember life is a continuum, you’re headed either in one direction or the other. So if you find yourself headed in the wrong direction, all you need to do is turn around. That turning around is called repentance.
Which direction are you headed? If you’re going in the wrong direction, the solution is really easy.
A trap was laid for Jesus. One he supposedly could not beat. A woman caught in the act of adultery was thrown before him, and his enemies demanded he cast judgement. The law of Moses said she was to stoned to death, the law of Rome said only the Romans could hand out capitol punishment. Either way Jesus was in trouble. They thought they had him beat, but Jesus found the third option and in that option is hope for us all.
It’s called The Encounter. A friend recommended it to me and I checked it out. The budget is pretty low and it has some of the same struggles other Christian films have, but at the core is a good story and a great message. I was blessed by it so I share it with you here. As you who follow this blog regularly know, one of the things we’re all about is telling a better story. This is an example of someone making a good effort. How can you use your gift to tell the world a better story… The story of a God who loves them sacrificially. If this blesses you, spread it.
Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
2 Samuel 19, Proverbs 9, Psalm 74
You can also download your own chart here.
In the last post I began a three post series on the basics–Three things we all need to know if we want to serve the Lord. Yesterday we dealt with sin. Yes I know for some of you this is really basic stuff. My challenge for you is to share it with someone who needs to know.
So what do we do about sin? Well the answer is pretty simple but the actual doing can be a real challenge. It’s repentance. Now I know this is another really unpopular word. Say the word ‘repent” and many get an image of a straggly street preacher carrying a big sign and screaming about the end of the world. While there may be some truth to what the street preacher has to say, I think he paints a bad picture of repentance.
Repentance basically means “turn-around” it’s looking at the stuff that you know is wrong in your life and deciding to turn around and go in the opposite direction.
It’s pretty simple really. God and Jesus have nothing to do with sin. They are diametrically opposed to one sin. To sin is to go in the exact opposite direction of the way God is moving, so if you find yourself there, resist the temptation to keep going and see how it works out and turn around.
Repent.
Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
Numbers 19-20; 1 John 4; Psalm 99
You can also download your own chart here.
Radical, Revolutionary, Rebel, Jesus. Not words you’d think of as going together and yet part of the reason Jesus came was to overturn a broken world system that steals and kills and destroys. Jesus never sinned, never did anything wrong and yet many people wanted Him dead and strangely it wasn’t so much the people that church folks might call “sinners” that screamed for his death. It was the religious community that led the cry. This video explores that concept in greater detail.
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Radical. Revolutionary. Rebel. They’re words that create an image in our minds aren’t they? But now let me say another word, Jesus. Most people can’t imagine using those words in the same sentence and yet to imagine Him as anything else is to miss a big part of who He is. We have done a great disservice to the world in the way we portray him. The Jesus we’ve painted seems wimpy up until he dies on the cross for our sins which we see as an act of humble surrender and it is to a point but it’s something much greater as well.
We evangelicals have spent so much time talking about the cross and the resurrection and they are amazingly important things, but how often do we talk about what made people want to kill Him? See Jesus didn’t just go with the status quo. He turned over the tables in the temple. He love the ones most people called unloveable and he called society’s elite on their garbage. His message of love was so radical that most of the religious leaders entrusted with preparing the way for his coming didn’t even recognize Him. As a matter of fact they were the ones screaming loudest for His death. The people wanted Him dead because His message made them look too deep into their own hearts.
Be careful how you think. Most of the time when we see Jesus really get in someone’s face in the scriptures it’s someone religious. Someone whose pride makes them feel like they’re better than everyone else.
One of the best stories of this is found in Matthew chapter 9. Jesus has just called Matthew the tax collector to be one of His disciples. Now if Jesus had wanted to be popular with the religious establishment or cared about public opinion at all this is a move He would not have made. Tax collectors were hated by pretty much everyone, they were seen as turncoats and con men because they would rip the people off. Matthew has to see this as redemption and a fresh start and he’s so excited that he throws a party so all his friends can meet Jesus. The problem is when you’re an outcast like Matthew the only people who will hang out with you are other outcasts. Well it’s not a problem for Jesus and He goes to the party. These are the people He came to save. But about the time Jesus is knee deep in meeting these people where they are, the religious folks show up and start to judge. They basically ask Jesus‘ disciples why does your teacher eat and spend time with the scum of the earth. The implication of their question is really clear. If this guy was worth anything he’d leave these people and hang with respectable people, you know people like us. Well Jesus hears them and here’s what He said. “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ He’s not telling them they are good. He’s telling them that their religious act are not going to save them and that if they had the Father’s heart they would be helping him not mocking Him.
Jesus didn’t come so we would be more religious. Jesus’ call was to radical love and humility and service, to Loving God first and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. Following Him is not always safe and it’s not always popular. It’s not just the path to heaven when you die, but also a call to an amazing adventure to this life. Jesus is not just the silent lamb led to the slaughter. He’s the lion of the tribe of Judah and as CS Lewis wrote, “He’s not a tame lion but He is good.” What do you want to be? I want to be a radical just like Jesus. His sacrifice may have been an act of submission to the Father, but never forget it was the victory blow in the ultimate battle, the battle where evil did it’s worst and radical love still won.
