Jonah is selfish......John is selfish

In the 4Th chapter of Jonah, after Jonah gets yakked up on the beach and finally gives in and goes to Nineveh and preaches God's message, he crawls up on a hill to watch what God will do with Nineveh. It's like he has been barely obedient to what God asked of him, nothing extra, no real sacrifice. God provides a shade tree to cover Jonah and then God causes the tree to die. Jonah goes from happy to wanting to commit suicide in one day. Jonah is so concerned about his immediate circumstances he doesn't care what happens to the 120,000 people in Nineveh. I believe secretly he would have been happy if God destroyed them. My first reaction is, Jonah you are a selfish jerk. But if we are honest with each other we all suffer from varying degrees of selfishness. Whether it is protecting our schedule under the guise of boundaries or just blatant disregard for others we are inherently selfish. Selfishness is a huge problem.

I find that I can rationalize my selfishness. I often remind myself of this lie that I have given my entire life to God and the church. I breeze through life in a big hurry and ignore many people around me. I go through the drive thru (my vehicle is often my dining room) grab my food, never look at the person who serves me, I pay for my gas to a person I never really see. I make quick judgments about people sometimes subconsciously about how they might look or what they might be doing.

Part of the missional life is slowing down enough to see the world around me, caring enough about humanity to die to self and give myself away to others.

I want to care about everyone I meet but the first step is to see them first. I am selfish, I rationalize my selfishness, I busy myself and it becomes a badge of honor for me. I make myself important enough that I don't have time for anyone else. I screen who I am nice to the same way we screen incoming calls. I admit my sins. I am selfish.

Finding God at Work

As a pastor the hardest thing for me is to do anything outside the church setting. Sometimes it's even hard to be ecumenical, let alone get involved in something outside the church. There is only so many hours in the day and I get choosy about what I want to do with my time. Often the question I ask myself is, "if I get involved in this how will it benefit the church or how will it benefit me." If I truly want to see the world as God does, I must search for anywhere He might be. If I understand His plan, He is in the process of putting his creation back together again and He does it by any means possible. So my first step is to look for signs of His hand. Anything beautiful, restoring, rebuilding, or renewing this flawed world just might be His handiwork. I am on the lookout. The first step is to just be available to God and others instead of rushing around ignoring all that God maybe doing around me. I am building a team this summer for Relay for Life, a fundraiser for cancer. Certainly God is at work among people struggle with cancer or people who have beat cancer. In Logan County there was not one church who got involved with Relay last year. This year RCC's, Joe Pine and I are going to build a team and raise money. Certainly God is at work there. Is it lead by the church, NO, is it something God cares about, YES. Cancer is a result of a fallen world and we have all lost loved ones to it. We often pray at church as we should for those suffering with cancer but do we do anymore than that, I haven't?! This year I want too. I lost my Mom several years ago to cancer, I wish I would have raised money years before she died, maybe it would have made a difference. I want to find God already at work and join him. World Vision's founder says that "He wants to have his heart broken by the things that breaks the heart of God." I forget his name but I cannot forget that statement. Join me as I join God at work. Remember, john loves ya but Jesus loves ya more!!! Johnny

Starting the week

Monday morning, tired, tired,..... if you have ever preached on Sunday there is a phenomenon called Holy Hangover. It is the effects of being mentally drained over the weekend. I also got a late start this morning as my kids had a 2 hour delay because of fog and some slick road conditions. It took an extra two cups of coffee to get over the holy hangover and get out the door this morning. The problem with being the preacher is that God makes me live my own sermons before and after I give them. So as my feet hit the floor this morning my prayer was simple......God help me to see and love your Imago Dei (people created in the image of God). Every day Imago Dei is right in front of me and I confess, there are times my brain is engaged in something else and I don't even see them or my brain is not engaged at all and I am just on auto pilot, oblivious to my surroundings. Sometimes I never see the waitress at the restaurant, the gal I pay at the gas station for my coffee, the young man who hands me my food at the drive through.... (I confess, I like Big Macs, can't you tell, apple turnovers at Rax are the bomb too). But I don't want to live like this anymore. Every day I encounter Imago Dei and I don't even take time to acknowledge them, let alone, try to show the love of Christ to them. So my prayer goes like this... "Holy Spirit, bring to my heart and mind to stop and look into the faces of your Imago Dei and look for the image of God that is in them. Help me to celebrate that image and value them the way you value them. Help me to remember their faces, to search their souls for evidence of Jesus and to seek to love them as if I was Jesus and he was standing right in front of them." And then it hit me. Jesus is sanding right in front of them because he is living in me and I am his physical representation of him on earth. I no longer want to go to Church......I want to be the church.
So far, I spent time with the lady at the gas station, the man who works for the village, and a guy at the post office. You know people are a bit awkward when you spend more than a minute with them or you appear interested in them. That's OK.......because my mission this week is to not only see Imago Dei but to love Imago Dei. More later....... remember john loves you but Jesus loves you more.

john james

You know what I was struck by today as I read Jonah, I read where God seemed to be able to control everything there was to control. He controlled the storm that Jonah found himself in when he was asleep on the boat. He controlled the fish that swallowed Jonah and when Jonah made a feeble attempt at a prayer he had the fish yak him up. He seemingly controlled the armies that was going to overthrow Nineveh if they didn't repent. God cause a vine to grow and then he provided a worm to eat the vine and cause it to wilt. It is amazing, God controlled every single thing except Jonah himself. He allowed Jonah to have his own way and stew in his on misery. I cannot understand why Jonah was so miserable while God demonstrated his sovereignty all around him. I was struck today by reading this, thinking; what is God controlling around me? Is he in charge of the economy, is he in charge of Muslim terrorist, is he in charge of the snow, is he in charge of my dog. It sound dumb but is it any more far fetched than a man who gets swallowed by a fish and then ralphed up on the beach......I think not. I think we just forget sometimes and think God is hangin out in the back of the room doing nothin. Certainly not...... So if he is in charge of everything.....I wonder what hes doing right now. Why are things the way they are??? Why is the economy in the dump? Why....why indeed?
See ya
more later
john loves ya and so does Jesus

Tuesday, after 3 cups of coffee I encouraged the congregation to read the OT book Jonah over and over again so i figure I better do it myself. It's like God has hit me upside the head and I am reading Jonah for the first time ever. I mean, I always knew the story about the man who got swallowed up by the whale and then vommitted back onto the beach after he said a little prayer but there is soooo much more to it than that. This dude reminds me of every disgruntled pew sitter I ever seen in church. After all, you got this guy who is a Hebrew Jew who supposedly knows God, probably does the whole temple worship thing but obviously is just going through the motions. He reminds me of people who just come to church, gripe about the music, mouth off about the preacher's sermon, and goes back home, unaffected, living there life in mediocrity. Jonah gets a Word from God, I mean an actual Word from God. God spoke to Jonah and he freakin ignored it. Come on Jonah...... really now Jonah. Jonah ignores God and goes his own way. The deal is Jonah is basically miserable through the whole story even when he obeys God. Then it hit me......sometimes I am miserble even when I am obeying God. Sometimes I am resentful and unhappy because of my own selfishness and issues. It so hard to just sit back and take a deep breath and look at the big picture of our lives. There is got to be more than just doing church, going through the motions, throwing up a prayer now and again, no pun intended. I want to really answer God's call, answer his call with a whole heart. Be happy in the Lord, help people find Jesus. I want my life to count not just muddle through the day. You know what the kicker is if I feel this way and I am the preacher......I wonder if anybody else does. Hey Blogg me back.....be real.... John loves ya....and so does Jesus