The Phil Files

Who is Jesus to you?

Yeah, I know someone is wanting to nail me and say, “It doesn’t matter who Jesus is to you, it’s who Jesus truly is that matters!” And yes, that is correct in the general theological machinations of the universe.

HOWEVER, it is of utmost — shall we say, eternal — significance for you in how you answer this one question:

Who is Jesus to you?

In my Heartlight article this week, “Big Reversal,” I talk about how Saul of Tarsus (whom we know as the apostle Paul) completely changed his view of Jesus. He did the “big reversal.” So I’m going to ask my question again:

Who is Jesus to you?

How has your personal understanding of Jesus changed over the years?

Was there something that led you to change your views?

Have you made a big reversal in regard to who Jesus is in your life?

I’d sure love to hear from you on this, so I’d appreciate you leaving your comments below!

Last Updated 9.14.08

Going Organic (1:3-10; 2:19; 4:5-6) – 9/21

• There is great power in the good news about Jesus to produce fruit – changed lives of faith, renewed hope, and love modeled on the Savior and empowered by the Spirit.
• This power of grace crosses cultural and racial boundaries and leads others to Christ and his joy [Harper Testimony @ China?]
• Look forward to Balloon Fest & Celebration Sunday (1 Peter 3:15-16) and hear a real call to be a front porch people of God – the way we talk to others is crucial [Wait Staff Testimony]

There is a great power in the Gospel as a seed – Jesus’ Parables (Mark 4 & Matthew 13) – and Satan can’t stop it. We can choose what kind of soil we are, the evil one can try to do everything he can to stop it and corrupt us, but there is great power … that nothing (as we saw last week with persecution) can stop! But there are things that keep us from being fruitful (Parable of the Soils, Fish, Tares) which are all the work of Satan and his forces! But Jesus has already triumphed (2:13-15).

Daybreak Focus

Idea Image: Power of one seed to grow in harsh places and change everything [i.e., post glacial growth in Alaska that begins as rock, then simple plants, then complex plants, then forests.] Same should be true in us as we seek after Jesus, we change the world around us and God grows US together, as community, into a place of blessing.

There is something “hardwired” in the DNA of the good news of Jesus, and in us as His followers, that is all about growth — growth in numbers (“all over the world”), knowledge of God and His will, and growth in spiritual character (faith, hope, love) — cf. 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22-23. While we have to make an effort to grow to be like Jesus (2 Peter 1:3-10), our growth in the qualities of the Lord are “Spirit-natural” (Remember the parables about the seed and the harvest!) and the result of seeking after Jesus. So let’s seek after Jesus (Bible Class emphasis and reading focus) must be our passion.

Refresh Focus

Emphasize that there is something “hardwired” in the DNA of the good news of Jesus, and in us as His followers, that is all about bearing fruit — about organic Spiritual growth. The Alaska image is good here, but for it to happen fully, each generation of plant life must produce fruit and also offer up itself to grow and provide for what follows. Fruit principle will lead into the Lord’s Supper time.

Sundown Focus & LIFE Groups

(Look at the parables of Jesus for inspiration here, especially Luke 8:1-15; Mark 4:26-32; Matthew 13:24-30).

What keeps the “Spirit-natural” growth from happening in us? What keeps the Word from growing?

Which of the problems with growth keep you from growing spiritually?

Which of these is most challenging to spiritual growth for you?

What should we do with others who are not growing? … not even trying to grow?

Should we expect growth — spiritual, numerical, character — to be a natural process?

Is growth an easy process? In what ways does Jesus suggest that Kingdom growth is mysterious and easy, yet in other ways is very challenging?

What is our responsibility to grow and help the Kingdom grow?

iSpy

I Owe My Soul to the Company Store [Joe vs. Volcano]

O God Whose Name I do Not Know I thank you for my life

What a week! Or maybe I should say, “What a weak!”

The latter more reflects the reality. When there is more challenge, more ministry, more need, and just plain ol’ more of more, in a collection of seven days, I am much more reminded of my weakness more than I think of it being just another week. Yet somehow, grace sustains me, God uses me, and people are blessed by my feeble efforts.

I fully admit, this does not make sense. Stellar accomplishments, a great week of work, clicking off the to do list items, making a great presentation, and other things I might “pull off” well could lead me to celebrate my sufficiency. But, it has not been that kind of week. Instead, it has been full of hurt, crisis, frustration, risk, conversation, failure, flawed efforts, grief, battling for life, unexpected awful surprises, wrestling with memories, and a deepening sense of insufficiency. So, at what point does it become perfectly clear that the challenge is beyond my ability to pull off?

The apostle Paul puts it this way:

But he [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me (2 Corinthians 12:9 tniv).

In our “Time in the Word” at Southern Hills, our focus is Colossians. So I came in after a day of ministry — with all its opportunities and reminders of insufficiency — and began to read Colossians … again … looking for some clear word of God to refresh me and help satisfy my spirit. Do you know what struck me?

In this vital letter to help this church stay on track, Paul repeatedly — even nonchalantly — speaks about God being the one who does the “heavy lifting” in the life of His people. Look at some of these key thoughts:

God called Paul to be an apostle: it was His will and commission of Paul (1:1, 25).

God can fill them with the knowledge and wisdom they need to be fruitful and live out His will (1:9-10).

God can strengthen them with endurance and patience (1:11).

God has qualified, redeem, and forgiven His people through Jesus (1:12-14).

God, in Jesus, created everything — seen and unseen — and reconciled them back to Himself (1:15-20.

God empowers Paul to proclaim Jesus and help bring people to maturity in Christ (1:28-29).

There are definite moments when I wonder, “God, who is sufficient for this? How can my feeble words be a blessing? How can my weak efforts make a difference in the face of so much hurt?”

And in those moments, God reminds me that no one is sufficient, but the Father has chosen to work with broken, simple, earthen vessels so that the power and the blessing are clearly not my own, but come from Him (2 Corinthians 4:5-10).

We joke that we have two seasons in West Texas — hot and hotter. In reality, we do have some cold weather in parts of December, January, and February. But we don’t have autumn: we call fall, football season or hunting season. Donna grew up in Ohio with autumn as her favorite season. With the rolling hills and big trees of southern Ohio decked out in a breathtaking array of colors, and the smell and feel of autumn in the air, I can understand why: it is a beauty experienced. However, Donna insists we don’t have autumn in Texas. We accurately call is fall. In her words, “It’s 95 one day, a norther blows through and it’s 25 the next night. On the third day, all the leaves fall off the trees and blow to Mexico.”

Our family, however, is going through a major change of seasons right now. Megan is begins Physical Therapy school. Donna has headed back to teaching for the year. I am geared up for the school year and it’s opportunities at Southern Hills — at church, we describe three seasons of the year (or ministry): Fall Semester, Spring Semester, and Summer Vacation.

But yesterday marked a huge change of seasons for us. Tiny, our miniature dachshund for 12 1/2 years had his back go out this weekend. Megan and I knew before we took him to the vet yesterday what the outcome would be, we just couldn’t talk about it. Tiny has been there for the kids journeys through high school, barking at everything that moved and never slowing down. Until the last two months, he would literally drag us on a two mile walk. It was a hard hour at the vet’s: they were kind, but we still came home without him. Lexi — our little black shy dachshund — looks lost without her guardian and keeper. With a bunch of other pressure, Donna’s start to school and continuing battle with IC, deep concern for a friend who is in the hospital ICU, the AC man stepping through the ceiling in the attic, and now Tiny’s goodbye, it’s been a rugged couple of weeks.

Changes in season are like that sometimes. We often romanticize how the summer slips into Indian summer, and then autumn gently falls upon us. But that’s seldom the way it is. Summer’s green gives way to winter’s chill with withering heat, then thunder, lightning, wind, flash-floods, and cold. We marvel at the flash, we are often humbled by the thunder, and we are rightfully fearful when the showers become torrents. Yet through the pandemonium of it all, we know we will emerge out of it into a new season of shorter days, cooler weather, and the richness of Thanksgiving and the joys of Christmas. So we, those of us in the Warehouse, wait for the flash, rumble, and torrents to pass and trust that somewhere beyond this time lies a great feast and the joy of Jesus.

In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly (Psalm 5:3 tniv).

In the morning, Lord!

In my post to Heartlight this week, Called Out in Church, I talk about being communities of “subversive goodness” using the example of the letter to the Colossians and Philemon. Yeah, there’s an interesting little story about my being “called out” in church in there, too, but the real point is about “being real” as God’s people and challenging each other to more than we do today.

We undervalue the potential power in our congregations. Sometimes this is because we are so aware of our hypocrisy and weakness. Sometimes it is because we know we are not living up to what God has called us to be as a community of Jesus’ people. But if we did not have both strengths and weaknesses in our churches, there wouldn’t be room for us. So, rather than going on a church bashing fest, let’s think of higher things we can and should be calling each other to be as families of faith.

How can we be more effective at being communities of “subversive goodness” — an outpost for the Kingdom of Heaven — in our churches today? I’d love to get your response below!

I was busy hurrying around trying to get caught up on my to do list. I was gone this past week to Alaska and have a bunch of things that need doing. Then, everything changed.

Cindy, an old friend from college, called to say her cousin’s husband, my dear friend, Danny Diaz had collapsed while training for an upcoming marathon. So everything else seems much less important. Please pray for Danny and his wife Nancy, and their children Austin, Abby, and David.

Words seem silly, so I ask again, please pray for my friend and those that are precious to you, as well.