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Love Like Jesus–Stay Married

Marriage Christian Love Like Jesus“When I married my wife, I had hardly a smidgen of sense for what I was getting into with her. How could I know how much she would change over 25 years? How could I know how much I would change? My wife has lived with at least five different men since we were wed–and each of the five has been me.

The connecting link with my old self has always been the memory of the name I took on back there: “I am he who will be there with you.” When we slough off that name, lose that identity, we can hardly find ourselves again.” -Lewis Smedes

How Jesus Loved People Read More

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 Posted on September 7, 2013 by

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Love Like Jesus and Failed Romance

Love Like Jesus Let Go Free WillFor many of us, this is a hard one.

A Failed Romance

We all knew that guy. He’s the guy from high school who had the huge crush on a girl. During lunch he followed her around the cafeteria–like a puppy following someone with raw meat stuck to their shoe. In the evening, if she didn’t return his call within twenty minutes he started to panic. During the day, he checked his post on Facebook every five minutes to see if she gave it a like.

He smelled of desperation. Which of course had the opposite effect he desired.

Jesus, never did that.

How Jesus Loved People Read More

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 Posted on August 3, 2013 by

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Love Like Jesus: Grace for a Trespass

grace for trespass love like Jesus

Augustin Tünger: Facetiae Latinae et Germanicae, Konstanz 1486, Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart, Cod. HB V 24a. – Illustration from the life of St. Peter: Saint Peter paying a fee by extracting coins from the mouth of a fish. Image via wiki commons.

The temple tax collectors approached Peter and asked him directly, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the Temple tax?”

Peter was on the spot. He didn’t really know if Jesus intended to pay the Temple tax or not. But instead of confessing he didn’t know, he decided to wing it. Sure he does, Peter said.

That was quite an assumption. And that must have been quite a long walk home, wondering the whole way back what Jesus really thought about the Temple tax.

Upon his return, as Peter walks in the door I can see in my mind Jesus chuckling to himself. What do you think Simon? Jesus asks. Who do the kings of the earth collect taxes from–from their own kids, or from others? Read More

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 Posted on July 13, 2013 by

 Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too, Marriage

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Love Like Jesus: Jesus Did Not Love Everybody the Same

Jesus did not love everybody the same

He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. –Mark 5:37

How Jesus Loved People

Jesus loved everybody, but he didn’t love everybody the same. Do you realize that? He loved (and loves) every person on the planet. He loves every one of us so much, he laid down his life, for each of us. But when he was here, walking the earth, he loved different people differently. He fed 5,000, and then 4,000, for a total of 9,000, but he didn’t feed everybody. The people he fed were those who followed him and listened to him. He didn’t heal everybody. The people he healed were the ones who believed in him and cried out to him. He didn’t train everybody. He trained seventy-two of his closest followers as his ambassadors. (Luke 10) And then there’s the twelve. There were twelve who were especially close to him. He let them in, close, so they could see up close how he lived. He gave the twelve private insights into parables left unexplained to others. (Mark 4:10) And then there’s the three: Peter, James, and John. Jesus let these three in even closer. He loved Peter, James, and John by bringing them with him for the transfiguration, and when he raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, and when he sweat great drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane just before they took him away to be tried and sentenced to crucifixion in their kangaroo court system. Only the three were allowed to accompany Jesus during these occasions. (Matthew 17:1-11, Mark 5:35-43, Mark 14:32-52) Read More

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 Posted on July 6, 2013 by

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Help, I’m Married to a Stranger: Genesis 49:29-31

marriage counseling

“Bury me with… Leah.” -Jacob, Genesis 49:29-31

“The primary problem is… learning how to love and care for the stranger to whom you find yourself married.” -Stanley Hauerwas, Professor of Ethics, Duke University

Married to a Stranger

It’s impossible to know what your spouse will be like tomorrow, or next year, or next decade. Because life will change him, or her. Finishing school changes him. Age changes her. The hirings, and firings, and battles at work change him. Where she lives changes her. A loved one dying changes her. Having kids changes him. You can’t really know who you will be married to, in the future, because they’ll change.

It’s inevitable: at some point in your marriage, you’ll find you’re married to a stranger. It happens to every one of us.

It happened to Jacob right away. Read More

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 Posted on March 23, 2013 by

 Bible Commentary, Genesis, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young, Marriage

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Love Like Jesus–Encourage and Commend: Matthew 11:11

encourage, commend, compliment

Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist… -Matthew 11:11

How Jesus Loved People

Jesus loved people by commending them publicly. Here in Matthew 11 we see Jesus commend John the Baptist publicly. Jesus commended the faith of the formerly blind Bartimaeus when he said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” (Mark 10:54) Jesus commended the woman who anointed his feet with perfume when he said, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Jesus commended Peter when Peter called him the Messiah, he said, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah…” (Matthew 16:17) And on, and on it goes.

Jesus commended people–often.

How to Love Like Jesus

Lighten up.

Encourage, commend, and even–dare I say it–compliment people. Do it today, just for today, focus on commending and encouraging.

Jesus did.

You can too.

Let your conversation be always full of grace… -Colossians 4:6

[Image via Paul L Dineen, Creative Commons]

 4 Comments

 Posted on March 16, 2013 by

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The Redemptive Power of Connection: Genesis 50:7, 9, 11

Connection to Jesus Christ[To see the last post on Genesis go to The Consequences of Calling Your Own Shots–Genesis 49:29]

So Joseph went up to bury his father. All Pharaoh’s officials accompanied him—the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt—

Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very large company.

When the Canaanites who lived there saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “The Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of mourning.”

–Genesis 50:7, 9, 11

What’s All The Fuss?

I was involved in a huge funeral once. Two friends died in the prime of life, in an ATV accident. They were firefighters and we had this huge procession through town with fire department vehicles. The streets were lined with well wishers. There were even helicopters flying overhead above the procession. One helicopter flew a giant American flag underneath. Another filmed the whole event in high def. Had my two friends been insurance salesmen none of that would have happened. It was their relationship with the fire department that resulted in such an ambitious funeral.

Jacob’s funeral was a much bigger deal than my friends’. Every single one of Pharaoh’s officials were there. Every dignitary from the nation of Egypt was there. All of Joseph’s family was there. Chariots and horsemen were even there. The funeral lasted a whole week. This thing was huge. When the people of Canaan saw it, it was easy to recognize someone very important had passed away. But why? Why was Jacob honored in such spectacular fashion? Read More

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 Posted on March 2, 2013 by

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Slavery, Love, and the Garden of Eden–Genesis 2:8-9

Slavery Love Garden of Eden

(From the Archives…)

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:8-9

The Garden

A little trivia to start: The Bible tells us that the land in which God’s garden is located is called Eden, however we are never actually given the name of the garden itself, only the name of the land in which it is located. But one thing’s for sure, the word Eden means delightful, and we do know from the Bible that without a doubt, whatever the name of the garden, God’s garden was a delightful place to live.

Notice that in the middle of His garden God puts both the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. “Why?” You may be asking. “Why include the forbidden tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the middle of the delightful garden? Why ruin a perfect place with a forbidden tree?” The answer is that God desired a meaningful relationship with Adam and Eve, and a meaningful relationship requires a choice.

Marriage and Slavery

Hadijatou Mani is a 24 year old woman from the Sahel region of Nigeria, on the Southern fringe of the Sahara. Hadijatou’s story is the story of someone who wasn’t given a choice. When she was just 12 years old she was sold to a man named Souleymane Naroua. When she was just 13 she was raped by her master and forced to bear his children. Read More

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 Posted on February 2, 2013 by

 Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis, Marriage

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Love Like Jesus–The Power of the Tongue

Love Like Jesus Power of Tongue

The Power of the Tongue

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

-Matthew 5:6-10

How Jesus Loved People

Jesus loved people by commending them for what they had going for them. Here on the mountainside He commends those who hunger for righteousness, and those who are merciful, and those pure in heart, and those who strive to make peace, and those wrongly persecuted because of their righteousness. Throughout the gospels we see Jesus commending and adding value to people. He commended Nathanael’s honesty when he said, “here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” He commended the promiscuous woman at the well when he said, “What you have just said is quite true.” He commended the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years when he said, “your faith has healed you.” (John 1:47, John 4:18,  Matthew 9:22)

How to Love Like Jesus

I just read about a left-wing, lesbian, college professor Read More

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 Posted on January 5, 2013 by

 Bible Commentary, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too, Marriage

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Steve Jobs, Jesus, and Anger: Genesis 49:5-7

Steve Jobs Jesus and Anger

Read Genesis 49:1-28

“Simeon and Levi are brothers—
their swords are weapons of violence.
Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury, so cruel!”

Steve Jobs’ Anger at Apple

I love apple products. I bought an Apple IIC when they first came out (to this day I can say that was the best keyboard I ever set my fingers upon). I love my iPhone. I love to Face-time with my family when we’re away from each other. I even love Apple commercials, especially the one where the girl throws the hammer at the big screen with Big Brother talking. Steve Job’s penchant for perfection resulted in some amazing products and some incredible marketing. But he also had an anger problem.

In 1985 Jobs’ boss, John Sculley, who was then the CEO of Apple, decided to remove Jobs from his position as head of the Macintosh division. When Sculley gave Jobs the news, Read More

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 Posted on December 6, 2012 by

 Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis, Marriage

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Sex and Your Future–Trading Forty Five Minutes for 1,000 Years: Genesis 49:1-28

Read Genesis 49:1-28

Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.” Genesis 49:1

Living Life Like James Bond

I have a friend, Kent, whose life was a little bit like a James Bond movie–at least for a couple of years. When he was in his twenties, he used to deliver Top Secret documents to a government location he won’t permit me to disclose. He traveled with a Halliburton attache case handcuffed to his wrist. He carried a 45 Colt in a shoulder holster, and a 38 Smith and Wesson on his ankle for backup. He was a nice looking guy and, not surprisingly, women found his secret agent persona attractive. Several female flight attendants made themselves sexually available to him. He decided to take them up on their offers. He was married at the time.

Read More

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 Posted on November 29, 2012 by

 Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis, Marriage

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Love Like Jesus — Love With Loyalty: Matthew 12:1-2

Love Like Jesus LoyalAt that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”  -Matthew 12:1-2


How Jesus Loved People

“Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath,” the Pharisees said. Jesus’ disciples were under attack. Read More

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 Posted on November 17, 2012 by

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