Why Jesus isn't Taylor Swift or any other major music artist for that matter.

So I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of Taylor Swift but some of her songs are catchy. By some songs I mean all, because all of her songs are essentially the same. You're probably thinking, what does this have to do with God or Jesus. This is what it has to do with theology. Taylor Swift and every major musician/artist has one great trait about them that makes them successful. They know their audience. Taylor Swift makes what I call high school drama queen music. She's like a more dramatic Adele. Her music is predominately about her last boyfriend and how terrible he was during their relationship which leads to my statement of all her music is essentially the same song. Regardless of how I feel about it, she's obviously very successful at writing songs that express the angst of teenage girls. It's as I hear these songs and words, that I'm thankful God is not like Taylor Swift. That's not a slight to Taylor Swift but simply a statement about the greatness of God. Romans 1:16 that in the Gospel is the salvation for ALL who believes. See unlike Taylor Swift, God doesn't want to focus on one demographic. God wants all of us. He doesn't just want the girls who have been hurt by a relationship. He doesn't only want the macho guy that fights in the UFC, God wants all of us. He chases after us with a relentless passion. You see it's not that Christ can't tell a story that appeals to a certain demographic, it's just that Christ tells a story that is bigger than any one person, group, or even musician. You see I'm not a fan of the idea that God chooses certain people to save and others to condemn. I think that's so belittling of the power of God to save any and all he chooses. Many times when explaining God we use the reference of a parent. That's akin to a parent choosing to lavish all their love and praise on one child while neglecting the other child. God is right there with you. He's walking alongside us begging us to follow him. I find solace in the fact that I never truly walk along. All of us like "the chase". It's part of a relationship. Since it's usually a man chasing after a woman, men don't often think of themselves as being pursued. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We men are pursued daily by a voice saying "Come Son, follow me and I will show you the way." What a great story for all of us. I'm thankful God puts storytellers in the world. Artists, Musicians, Actors, and Singers tell great stories through art, song, music, stage, and screen. However God tells a bigger and better story. Quit worrying about if you're in His "demographic". You're one of his beautiful and glorious creations. We are all God's target audience.

Shawn

Sermon: John 13,15 and Mark 10

A few people have missed the two times I've preached before so as I prepare to preach for the third time, I've decided to give my friends a sneak peek at my sermon. It's not final yet but it's below.

No greater love is this than a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13). What is love? What if we redefined love from an emotion to an action? Actually we don't have to. Jesus already did that for us. I really love the Greek language. One of the reasons I love it, is because understanding greek better really brings the New Testament to life. The sermon tonight started with John 15:13. In this very verse Jesus takes love from simply an emotion to an action. Obviously Jesus is foreshadowing his sacrificing his life for ours on the cross but there's more to in than that. John is a poet so everything he writes is always deeper than it seems at surface level. The word John uses here tithahmi means to lay down but also means to put aside or place behind. Jesus is not only talking about his own physical sacrifice but offering a message to his disciples. He's telling them that laying down your life is not only physical but also means putting others before yourself or putting yourself behind. For us Jesus was a living breathing example of both. He would give His life for those who didn't deserve it, but also would lower himself to the lowest of low to serve others. In the 10^th chapter of Mark James and John are asking Jesus to make them His top guys. Jesus tells them before they can lead they must serve. Jesus follows that message by delivering a bomb to James and John telling them “even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Jesus is tying sacrifice, love, and service and making them one with each other. I talked about Greek earlier to say this. Greek has several words for love. We think we know what love is but the Greeks can't simply define it at love. The word Jesus uses in John 15:13 is agape. Agape is the Greek word for sacrificial unconditional love. John and Jesus then begin to weave this beautiful tapestry of how laying down our life physically might now be our call but we are called to lay down our lives and desires to help and serve those of others. Jesus was the ultimate example of this. In Biblical times the feet washer was the lowest of low. He was what we would call the low man on the totem pole, but Jesus lowered himself to this level and washed the feet of his disciples. The greatest man to ever grace the face of the earth has lowered himself to do the job least desirable in serving his disciples. As Christians we commit ourselves to following Christ by being baptized. We remember the ultimate sacrifice Christ gave for us by partaking in communion. No greater way can we remind ourselves that we are called to be sacrificial and serve others. Christ was and is our example to follow and we must remind ourselves to remain humble and not be to proud to serve those we feel below us because Jesus was greater than we can ever be and felt no shame but pride in lowering himself to serve those who were below him.

Words of truth from God through Troy Davis

Creative Loafing over in Atlanta was fortunate enough to have a few question answered in an interview by Troy Davis. The amount of God given truth wrapped up in this interview is both humbling and a testament to the goodness and grace of a living and holy God. The whole interview is available by clicking the link above. Some highlights...


CL: How do you feel?
Troy Davis: " I feel blessed and at peace because God has blessed me through everyone that is fighting for me."

CL: Are you scared?
TD: "No scared of what? I don't fear the devil. God has blessed me through millions of people."