Content for this article was taken from the new book Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus). For more articles included in the book go to Love Like Jesus Book. Love Like Jesus is due to be published in 2018.
Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home.
Matthew 9:1-7
How Jesus Loved People
Jesus loved the paralytic by forgiving him.
How to Love Like Jesus
Years ago I was a one man information technology department for the fire department where I worked. My primary job was that of firefighter but in the evenings at the fire station, and on overtime down at headquarters, I would purchase computers, install software, and program databases.
As the de facto department expert, I often had co-workers ask me questions about their personal computer purchases. I remember one time my friend, Michael Milligan, asked me if he should buy a PC or a Mac. I explained (in a most eloquent manner) how the PC is less expensive, and how you can right click, and why it has more flexibility if you want to upgrade, and how there’s a bigger selection of software available.
Well Mike patiently listened, nodding to indicate his understanding and agreement.
Then he went out and bought a Mac.
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Love Like Jesus — Love and the Sabbath: Mark 2:27
How Jesus Loved People
Jesus loved people effectively by keeping the Sabbath.
How to Love Like Jesus
Looking back, the times in my life when I was enthusiastically keeping the Sabbath were the times I was loving people more like Jesus. But there have been a few times in my life when the cult of busy-ness caused the Sabbath to become a casualty.
One such time Read More
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Posted on November 24, 2012 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
Jesus and Sabbath, Love like Jesus, Mark 2, sabbath
Thanksgiving and Chicago’s Dan Ryan Expressway
He was coming up over a hill at sixty-five miles per hour on the Dan Ryan Expressway. His three year-old son was doing what many three year-olds did in those days, he was standing up in the middle of the back seat, so he could see out the windshield. Suddenly, as he came up over the rise, there were wrecked cars everywhere. There was no time to react. The situation was impossible. A high speed impact was unavoidable. Read More
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Posted on November 21, 2012 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young
Dan Ryan, perception, perspective, thanksgiving
Love Like Jesus — Love With Loyalty: 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 Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too, Marriage
Jesus, love, Love like Jesus, Loyal, Matthew 12
Why Some People Have One More Than Their Brothers: Genesis 48:21-22
Dungeon Below Blarney Castle
Baby Boomer Behavior
Lately I’ve noticed the abundance said and written by twenty and thirty-somethings about how “that miserable baby boomer generation has failed us.”
“They’re greedy geezers.”
“They’re leaving us a great burden of debt.”
“The leaders from their generation are short sighted and selfish.”
“It’s as though they threw a big party and left it to us to clean up their mess.”
And besides all that, “They told us we could be anything we wanted as long as we put our minds to it. I found out recently — I can’t be an astronaut after all.”
Let me just tell you what I think about all these statements, they’re all undeniably Read More
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Posted on November 15, 2012 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis
Discipline, Genesis, Genesis 48, Joseph's character, prosperity, success
Love Like Jesus — Love the Lost Cause: John 5:2-9
Temple Grandin Presenting at TED Conference
Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
John 5:2-9
How Jesus Loved People
Jesus loved this man, even though anyone else would consider him a lost cause.
How to Love Like Jesus
I spoke with someone today who told me about a disabled man he once cared for in an adult foster home. The disabled man’s name is Daniel. Daniel is angry all the time, he can’t speak, or do much of anything to take care of himself. After working there for awhile my friend was surprised to learn, that up until five years previous, Daniel was happy, and could speak and communicate very well. But Read More
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Posted on November 10, 2012 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
John 5, lost cause, love, Love like Jesus, love lost cause
The Election is Over — Now What? Genesis 48:17-20
But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know… ”
…he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
Genesis 48:17-20
The Election is Over, Now What?
“When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased.” (v.17)
He put Ephraim, Joseph’s second born, ahead of Joseph’s first born, Manasseh — and Joseph didn’t like it.
How about this election? One man was put ahead of another. How did you like it? I find it interesting we find ourselves at this precise point in Genesis, the day after the election. Because Read More
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Posted on November 7, 2012 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary
election, God, God's will, heal our land, pray
Love Like Jesus — Drink New Wine: Luke 5:39
Wineskin in Nazareth
“…no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.'”
-Jesus Christ (Luke 5:39)
How Jesus Loved People
Jesus loved people by remaining open and sensitive to the Holy Spirit, even when the Spirit was doing something new.
How to Love Like Jesus
I heard a sermon awhile back from a pastor I love and respect. In fact, in my opinion, he’s one of the best I’ve ever heard. But in this particular sermon, he railed against setting up a Facebook page: “A Facebook page — REALLY?” His motive is valid, he’s concerned about narcissism in the church — a valid concern if I ever heard one! But I believe he’s also missing out on new wine God is pouring upon the world today.
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Posted on November 5, 2012 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
evangelism tools, Holy Spirit, Love like Jesus, Luke 5, tradition
Love Like Jesus — Fast: Luke 5:35
Luke 5:35
How Jesus Loved People
Jesus loved people by fasting for them. He fasted for you. He fasted for me. He fasted for all of us.
“Hey, wait a minute,” you might be saying right now. “When did Jesus fast for me? He wasn’t fasting when He said those words in Luke 5:35.”
Of course you’re right. Read More
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Posted on November 3, 2012 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
Bible fast
The Key to Blessing Your Family: Genesis 48:15-16
Read Genesis 48:15-16.
Jacob Blesses His Family
“May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,
the God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day,
the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
—may he bless these boys.”
Genesis 48:15-16
How to Bless Your Family
An independent filmmaker told me a story recently about a shoot he did, here in Southern Oregon, just a few months ago. One day they were scheduled to film at the top of Mount Baldy in the Applegate Valley. It’s a very remote location, in fact, the director and his wife found themselves ten feet from a mountain lion a few weeks prior to the shoot, when they first scouted the area (fortunately the mountain lion fled).
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Posted on October 31, 2012 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Commentary, Bible Study, Genesis, Marriage
blessing family, Genesis 48, how do I bless family, Jacob blesses Ephraim, Jacob blesses Joseph
Love Like Jesus–Love the Unlovable: Mark 2:16-17
When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:16-17
How Jesus Loved People
Jesus loved people by spending time with them, in spite of their sinful lifestyle.
How to Love Like Jesus
There’s a blog I follow called Not Ashamed Of The Gospel. Not long ago, they posted a three part series about a ministry which reaches out to sex industry employees. I couldn’t help but notice there weren’t many comments offered on the last post in the series, An Insider’s Look — “Awkward!” I think for most people, that post was just too hot to handle.
Finally, one person posted and as best as I could tell he used scripture to infer this post about the sex industry ministry was an example of ungodly men perverting the grace of God.
I couldn’t help myself. I had to comment.
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Posted on October 27, 2012 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too
Christian, Christian living, how Jesus loved people, legalism, Love like Jesus, Mark 2
You’re Dying and What to do About It — Genesis 48:1-15
To read the previous post on Genesis, go to Joseph and Israel, Jesus and the Jew.
Read Genesis 48:1-15
Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed. (Genesis 48:1-2)
Then he blessed Joseph. (v.15)
You’re dying and what to do about it
It seems apparent, Jacob knows he is dying. So here he is, on his death bed, knowing he is dying, and what does he do?
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Posted on October 24, 2012 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Study, Genesis
death and dying, deathbed, dying, Genesis 48, Jacob bless Joseph, Mark 6:30
Love Like Jesus — Forgiveness and Paralysis: Matthew 9:1-7
Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”
Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home.
Matthew 9:1-7
How Jesus Loved People
Jesus loved the paralytic by forgiving him.
How to Love Like Jesus
Years ago I was a one man information technology department for the fire department where I worked. My primary job was that of firefighter but in the evenings at the fire station, and on overtime down at headquarters, I would purchase computers, install software, and program databases.
As the de facto department expert, I often had co-workers ask me questions about their personal computer purchases. I remember one time my friend, Michael Milligan, asked me if he should buy a PC or a Mac. I explained (in a most eloquent manner) how the PC is less expensive, and how you can right click, and why it has more flexibility if you want to upgrade, and how there’s a bigger selection of software available.
Well Mike patiently listened, nodding to indicate his understanding and agreement.
Then he went out and bought a Mac.
Read More
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7 Comments
Posted on October 20, 2012 by Kurt Bennett
Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too, Marriage
Forgiveness, grudge, Jesus forgives sin, Jesus heals, Jesus heals paralytic, Love like Jesus, Matthew 9
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