Inspired by The Jesus Manifesto, Napoleon on Jesus
Who is Jesus to you? The answer to that question has defined men and changed the course of human history. It’s a serious deal.
Currently I’m listening to Jesus Manifesto, which is written by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola. As I’ve been listening, I’ve been finding myself having a desire to more and more get back to the simplicity of the magnificence of Christ. I want to know who He is to me. And it reminded me of this quote that I read (and love), so I thought I would share. The quote is Napoleon, the nation-conquering French Emporer, talking about Jesus, and who He is to him.
(Quoted from “The Book of Jesus, Edited by Calvin Miller)
“I know men; and I tell you that Jesus Christ is not a man. Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of Empires, and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not exist. There is between Christianity and whatever other religions the distance of infinity…
Everything in Christ astonishes me. His spirit overawes me, and his will confounds me. Between him and whoever else in the world there is no possible term of comparison. He is truly a being by Himself. His ideas and his sentiments, the truth which he announces, his manner of convincing, are not explained either by human organisation or by the nature of things.
The nearer I approach, the more carefully I examine, everything is above me; everything remains grand,—of a grandeur which overpowers. His religion is a revelation from an intelligence which certainly is not that of man. There is there a profound orginality which has created a series of works and of maxims before unknown. Jesus borrowed nothing from our science. Once can absolutely find nowhere, but in him alone, the imitation or the example of his life.
…I search in vain in history to find the similar to Jesus Christ, or anything that can approach the Gospel. Neither history, nor humanity, nor the ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary. The more I consider the gospel, the more I am assured that there is nothing there which is not beyond the march of events, and above the human mind.”
Photo Credit: National Art Gallery- Napolean Bonaparte by David Paul Ohmer
Focus (Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness, Day 13)
This blog has been temporarily overtaken by my Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness Challenge. You can find out more by checking out the Introduction.
Today was another one of those days where there was work going on below the surface. It’s not so much that nothing was going on as much as most of the work was hidden and unseen.
What I can gladly report though is that in my time of waiting to hear what the Lord had to say, Jesus dramatically clarified my week. Instead of the numerous things I would have tried to do this week, I have only a few specific tasks. This is important because I make up a lot of extra work for myself. Having Jesus clarify what is my job over the next week is remarkably freeing. I don’t have to worry about all the things that typically concern me, I just have to be faithful with what I’ve heard.
So for this week, I have to probe into one of the situations that I keep bringing up (which I still have very little clarity on). I also have to prepare for our block party coming up in a few weeks. And then I get to dream with Jesus about what our house church(es?) will look like in the near future. Simple, huh? And there-in lies the beauty of God giving us the things that are His agenda.
How about you? Have you seen the Lord bring focus to your life on this 30 Day challenge? Has that made things easier or more difficult? Leave a comment and let us know.
Join us on the “Thirty Days to Greater Fruitfulness” experiment. For the rest of September we are spending 30 minutes in silent prayer listening to Jesus and then acting on what He asks us to do. Then we blog about the changes that are occurring in our lives through the marriage of listening and obedience. It’s not too late. If you’re just checking out that experiment feel free to jump in. And if you want more information, you can check it out here.
Photo Credit: September WallPaper Calendar by DewDreams
Some Thoughts on Priests (Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness, Day 12)
This blog has been temporarily overtaken by my Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness Challenge. You can find out more by checking out the Introduction.
Most of my house church friends make a big deal about how God has abolished the priesthood. To them it’s a big deal that no man stands between us and God anymore. For me, though, the more radical truth is that instead of a select group of people ministering before God, we all get to act as priests. Peter tells us that Christ has made us “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,” (1 Peter 2:9, ESV). That means we all get to do exactly what this thirty day challenge has been about. We get to stand before Him, hear His voice, and obey it.
None of this means that we are peoples’ only link to God. They can touch Him themselves just like we can. The point isn’t that someone can’t have a relationship with God, but that we all get to help someone else touch Jesus when He is difficult for them to find. Priests minister to God for God alone. But they also bring before God the needs of people. A priest is not a priest if he doesn’t do both.
All of this is to say that today I saw the value of what I’ve been doing on this challenge (standing and listening) as I gathered with my spiritual family. There were several times as we were together where I saw Jesus moving and I was able to partner with Him on behalf of the needs of the people around me. A headache one time, a serious concern another, a word of prophecy later that day. None of these are actually that different than what I normally do, except that this time they were things I saw Jesus wanting to address and addressed them because I saw Him moving. And while I don’t have any confirmed testimonies that point to exceptional power accompanying my ministry, I (and others not involved) can tell that there is some new level of authority accompanying what I normally do.
You want to know the funny thing? I’m still not sure what Jesus wants to do with the situations I would normally be freaked out about. All the while He keeps showing me things He wants me to do, He has shown me zilch on the things that I “need” revelation on. So I’m being patient and waiting and not doing much on those fronts, assuming, until He tells me differently He doesn’t want me doing much. We’ll see if that works out in the long run. Until then, I’m going to continue to practice being a priest.
Have you noticed changes in your ministry since you started the challenge? And, what have you been doing when Jesus hasn’t given you revelation on something pressing? Let me know in the comment section.
Join us on the “Thirty Days to Greater Fruitfulness” experiment. For the rest of September we are spending 30 minutes in silent prayer listening to Jesus and then acting on what He asks us to do. Then we blog about the changes that are occurring in our lives through the marriage of listening and obedience. It’s not too late. If you’re just checking out that experiment feel free to jump in. And if you want more information, you can check it out here.
Photo Credit: September WallPaper Calendar by DewDreams
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 