Eats with Sinners

Shortly after giving my life and heart to Jesus Christ, I came up with this quote that described my transformation. So I thought I would share it with everyone here. Enjoy!

The sermon on the mountainside pronounced by Jesus is viewed as the primary guide and description of discipleship, applicable to all Christians. Early church fathers used these texts for disputing Christian participation in Roman military prior to Constantine, commentary writing, and bringing civil and spiritual order among the community. Literal translations among many denominations have brought a monastic lifestyle, passivism, and a search for higher spirituality. While these issues are debated among scholars and laypeople alike, there is another problem that is stirring in my soul.

This sermon enjoins individual morality for the disciple in the inner and private life. Often, Christians breeze pass the intentional truths said by Jesus due to the “impossible ideal” theory. The high ethical vision the sermon proclaims bring many to their knees praying for forgiveness. The bar is set too high for one to reach many attest. The shadow of God’s grace is beyond one’s grasp when pursuing a righteousness that can never be attained.

The hard sayings of Jesus were not meant to be taken literal. They were practical ways to observe God’s will and be delivered from the oppression of sin. People who wanted to participate in the Kingdom of God took these ideals as a way to get closer to God, not as a spiritual yardstick.

The good news of Jesus is to restore sinners to a holy and righteous God. The restoration process is filled with grace, not condemnation. The Sermon on the Mount was a Discipleship 101 class that urbanized the disciples into radicals. The disciples were called to embody the transforming power of God’s Reign. Disciples today need to explore creative alternatives rather than knee-jerk reactions to the world. This is where the sermon on the mountainside belongs.

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For my quote of the day, I decided to post this picture. I found this picture while looking at my cousin's myspace site and found it quite hilarious...enjoy!

Paid in Full

The intimate love experience one encounters when he meets Jesus Christ is not an inherited doctrine that was pounded into the mind. Based on the experience, one finds passion that is transpired by the meeting. Oddly, this fire turns into something that is surreal. Passion develops when one yields himself to Christ, the Lord. Passion has no price to pay. The unreserved heart that is surrendered to Jesus experiences a transformation that is beyond finite words. Uncomfortable with the status quo, the person reaches outside the mind and searches for deeper significance.

This is where he will find his passion. It is a gift that few will ever find. The portrait of a life that is living for the passion of Jesus Christ is extraordinary and revolutionary. Fire blazes through life’s struggles, stress, and unmitigated rage. Instead of playing extrinsic religious games, the disciple becomes a warrior for the Kingdom that is willing to lay his life down.

The joyous celebration of this transformation is stressed throughout the book of Acts. When Saul encountered Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, his life was forever changed. He did not become conformed to the religious political correctness that was bearing in his culture; rather he identified himself as a revolutionist, just like his Savior. His lifestyle labeled himself a revolutionist, not by his words.

Paradoxically, what intrudes between Jesus and a human’s passion is the human himself. He stops searching and seeking, therefore, the enormous mystery of passion that was revealed through Jesus disappears. The climax is destructive. It is inevitable to find a wondering disciple of Christ who is still searching for passion, but to those who have found it, go change the world. I think Paul and Jesus would have it no other way.

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On the television show, "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia," the cast member Charlie makes a comment about his love for God. When I heard it I almost peed my pants with laughter. In regards to the comment, please to do send me hate mail. Enjoy!

Evidence supports that many Christians evaluate their spirituality by the time they have spent reading their Bibles, how much money they are giving back to the clergies, or a certain linguistic style in prayer, but these people are missing the point. Religious faces across America pronounce an ascetic lifestyle that is built on idealistic, perfectionist, and the oppression to be always right. The compulsiveness to be perfect before they are accepted by God is like a cancerous disease that infects the whole body of Christ.

Legalists perform such tasks that make it appear they are clean, but their souls are vomiting condemnation. They do not feel accepted until they feel proven worthy. This concept is foreign in the eyes of our Lord, Jesus Christ. A disciple of Christ struggles to maintain the shadow of God’s love throughout his life, but centuries after centuries, love has never been so diluted with so much injustice. The pharisaical attitude in keeping the law is an endless path met with discouragement and failure.

For what it is worth, God’s love is never ending, always proceeding, and abounding. Divine acceptance is not bought by one’s behavior; rather it was purchased on the cross of Christ. Blaming and accusing others will not help the situation. The intuition of man’s soul is to counter every misguided deed with another deed that is good. This repulsive circle will only leave a person tired and eventually dead.

Do not let the burdens of shame and failure disconnect you from your first Love. Jesus thought of you as the nails pierced his hands and feet. He took it all, and that my friends, is transparent love.

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