Posts Tagged ‘Amazing Meetings’

Just a Great Watchmaker?

Posted: October 19, 2014 in Uncategorized
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watchThere has long been discussion in theological and philosophical circles about God’s involvement in the world and in the lives of human beings. Was he like a great watchmaker  who created the world, wound it up, then let it run down, or does he have ongoing sovereignty over nature? How do we understand volcanoes, earthquakes and storms and the destruction that often goes with such natural phenomena?

Here’s the latest in my “Amazing Meetings” series where I “interview”  people who met Jesus. My interview today is with a boatie who plied his trade on the waters around Palestine at the time when Jesus was living there.

Hello, you had a fascinating meeting with Jesus. We’d love to hear about it.

Thanks for the opportunity to tell me story.  I’ve been fishing and sailing around here for years and I’ve sailed through many storms in my time but I’ve never had an experience like this.

How did Jesus come to be in your boat in the middle of the lake?

He had been pretty popular at the time. Wherever Jesus went great crowds of people would follow him. Whenever people gathered, Jesus would take the opportunity to speak to them and teach them about the Kingdom of Heaven. I used to love listening to him. He is a great teacher and everyone who put his words into action found that it radically changed their lifestyle. But I could imagine that sometimes the crowds became too much for Jesus, and he just needed to get away. He was near the edge of the lake teaching, and came over to me to ask me to take him to the other side of the lake.

So he wanted to get away from the crowds?

Well, he wasn’t running away from the crowds, because the people would walk around and be on the other side waiting for him when he got there.  But it was a time for him to get away and spend some time in prayer and meditation. He seemed to have the capacity to give of himself to others quite sacrificially, then he could withdraw and gain spiritual sustenance to keep going. On this occasion he went to sleep. I reckon he needed it right then.

There’s a rhythm there that we could all learn from, isn’t there?

That’s right. Well, he came and asked me to take him to the other side of the lake, so I took him on board and headed off.

Can you explain to me why it seems to be so stormy out there?

Yes the Sea of Galilee  is subject to heavy squalls on a regular basis. You can see there are high mountains around the edge and there’s a big difference between the cold dry air in the hills and the warm topical conditions at water level. As a result there are big temperature and pressure changes, and storms occur on a regular basis.

So tell me about this particular storm.

As I said, Jesus was asleep when this storm started and we were starting to take in water. I’ve been out in that kind of weather before, but it was getting pretty scary and it was looking like we may be swamped.

So you went and woke up Jesus I assume. What did he say?

Here we were, experienced sailors, getting into a panic. Jesus wakes up and calm as you like, he looks around then calls out Peace be still. You wouldn’t believe it, the wind stopped immediately, and of course, the waves stopped as well. It was amazing how quickly the storm stopped.

So you’re saying that that Jesus had the power to stop the storm?

Yes, it was no coincidence. In fact, what Jesus said to us after that was the most interesting thing. He said, “why are you afraid, haven’t you got any faith?” We were stunned because he seemed to be saying that we didn’t even need to worry about the storm. If we trusted him, we could leave things like that in his hands.

It sounds to me that God is more than a great watchmaker. He can control the winds and the waves. I think I need some time to think through that concept. Thanks for sharing your story.

When Nobody Becomes Somebody

Posted: September 14, 2014 in Uncategorized
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Here’s another post in my “Amazing Meetings” series. It’s an interview with a woman who  had an amazing meeting with Jesus. Have a read:

Hello, thanks for the opportunity to meet with you. You had an amazing meeting with Jesus. I wonder if you could start at the beginning and tell me why you wanted to catch up with Jesus in the first place.

I had been sick for 12 years – women’s problems, you know. Been to dozens of doctors who charged like wounded bulls. I was broke from spending everything on doctors and alternative medicine and anything I could get my hands on. I was still sick despite all this and I’d really got to the end of my tether.

So what made you think Jesus could do any better than all these doctors?

I really didn’t know if he could. But I’d heard the stories about him, and I was desperate. He was pretty popular at the time, lots of people followed him around, so I thought, if I could sneak through the crowds, touch his clothes, some of the magic might brush off on me.  Nobody would notice me doing that. Nothing lost, nothing gained. Who cared about me anyway?

What do you mean by that?

I’m a woman. All my life I’d been told that women were only for one thing and with the bleeding I was having, no man would be interested in me anyway.  In fact, not even religion was working for me. They had this rule in the temple that anyone who was bleeding was considered unclean. I wasn’t allowed at the temple. I was a nobody and nobody cared.

So you went down to the market to see Jesus and there was a big crowd of people gathered round him.  Did you do what you planned, to sneak up behind him?

Yes, it was easy. There were so many people I could just push through and get real close to him and touch his coat.  I was desperate and probably a bit skeptical as well, but with all I heard about Jesus I was prepared to give it a go.

What happened when you touched Jesus coat?

I got the shock of my life. Here he was busy with all these people and suddenly he turns around and say: Who touched me?  His friends who were there with him kind of laughed. You’ve got all these people crowded around and you want to know who touched you? You’ve got to be joking, they were saying.

Did Jesus say anything else?

Yes, he did say something else. He said someone had touched him and he felt power going out from him.

What did you do?

Well, I was going to get out as quick as possible, but there was something in his eyes. I just knew that he really accepted me as I was. I couldn’t run, so I fell down at his knees and he told me that I could go in peace, my faith had healed me. Then I had this amazing feeling.  I had felt weak all my life, not just because of my sickness, but just that nobody cared for me. Like I said before, I was a nobody.

All of a sudden I felt different. Jesus cared for me even though I was a woman, even though I was sick, even though I was probably the least important person in the crowd. I had never felt anything like this before.

What do you think he meant when he said he felt power had gone out of him?

Well that was what was so amazing. The power had come to me. I felt straight away that I had been healed physically, but having felt like nobody cared for me all my life, there was something else that was even more important. The power that came from Jesus all of a sudden gave me a sense of being loved, of being needed, of being a somebody for the first time in my life.

You were empowered by Jesus to be the person you were meant to be?

Absolutely. For the first time in my life I felt that I had a purpose in life, a reason to live, and somebody cared. I would recommend Jesus to anyone.

Thanks so much for telling your story.

You can read the story in the Bible for yourself at Matthew 9:20-21; Mark 5: 24-37; Luke 8:43-48

Tradition, tradition, tradition

Posted: August 10, 2014 in Uncategorized
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How do we maintain security in a changing world? According to Tevye, the Jewish Milkman in the famous musical, Fiddler on the Roof, the answer is “tradition, tradition, tradition”.

I think there was a time when I thought Christianity was protected by tradition, and that the traditions of Christianity could protect me from the evils of the world.  My post today is another in my “Amazing Meetings” series. It’s an interview with someone who puts a different slant on tradition in the amazing meeting he had with Jesus.

As you read this interview, please share your thoughts in the comments box, and refer this blog to your friends.

fiddlerHello. You’re described in Matthew’s Gospel as a disciple of John. Who is John and how did this meeting with Jesus develop?

Hi, John is actually Jesus’s cousin. But his mission in the early days was to prepare people for the coming of the Messiah. He was what you may call a hippy. He lived in the desert, didn’t shave or cut his hair, wore alternative clothing and had a diet that was something else. There were a group of us who became his followers. We got into the alternative stuff like him and we were very serious about all the Jewish laws. Especially fasting.

Why was that?

Well, John believed that if we were serious about our religion we should follow the law right down to the last jot.

So why did you go to see Jesus?

Well, that’s the thing. John was really strong on keeping the law, but we watched Jesus and his disciples and they seemed to be the very opposite. They didn’t fast, and in fact they kept going to these parties with people like Levi and his slimy mates.

So a couple of us went to see Jesus’ and ask him what was going on. We wanted to know why John expected us to follow the law in everything, but Jesus didn’t seem to have the same constraints on his disciples.

So what did he say?

It was a fascinating answer. He basically told three short stories. First of all he said, how can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while is with them. Then he talked about putting a new patch on a piece of old clothing, and how the new patch is likely to stretch and pull away from the clothing. Then his third illustration was about not pouring new wine into old wineskins.

So was he talking about himself when referred to the first story?

Yes, I think so. As I watched his disciples I could see that being with Jesus was so good, that the religious traditions actually didn’t make any sense. He wasn’t bound by the law at all – really free – but he didn’t do anything wrong. He maintained a lifestyle that was enjoyable, but there was nothing about it that was offensive, or destructive, or selfish.

So what do you think he meant about the patch on the clothing and the wineskins?

What I thought he was saying was that the Jewish law wasn’t to be thrown out; the traditions of the past had their place. But if you’re introducing something new, it had to be brand new, and not influenced by the past.

The new movement that Jesus was introducing – he called it the Kingdom of Heaven – was so radically different and new that it wouldn’t be effective if it was tied down by traditional thinking and legalities.

Does that mean we should throw out all the old traditions?

No, Jesus was really showing that his teaching should interpet the traditions and old laws and not the other way around. If you pour new wine into old wineskins the old wineskins will burst and you’ll lose all the wine.  If Jesus new teaching was made to fit the old traditions and laws, it would irreparably damage all that was good in the past.

Instead, Jesus preserved the past as a way of preparing for the future, and implemented a whole new way of thinking about life.

Thanks for that insight. I’m looking forward to finding out more about the new ways of Jesus.

To read the story for yourself see Matthew 9:14-17, Mark 2:18-22, Luke 5:33-39