Advent is nearly over and Christmas is all but here. We Christians are now in our fourth week of our (religious) calendar. This year during Advent I have spent my devotional time reading and praying the appointed texts for Advent and looking at John's Gospel.
John 4 is a story that examplifies the anticipation of Advent and the coming of Christ that is Christmas:
In his gospel John goes to great lengths to show that Christ is God. Several stories are recorded of Jesus identifying himself with personal divine name, YAHWEH.
This is the name God reveals when Moses asked who he should say is sending him, "I AM." Jesus says several times in John's gospel "I AM."
In John 4 Jesus is traveling through Samaria and while resting at a well, a women of ill repute comes upon him and gets more than a bucket of water. Jesus reveals himself for the first time in John as "I AM"
John 4:25-26 (my translation, very literal)
Advent v. 25 The women said to him, "I know that the Messiah (or the Anointed One) is coming, the One who is being called Christ: whenever that [One] has come he will proclaim to us all things.
Christmas v. 26 Jesus said to her, "I myself am, the one who is speaking to you."
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
On being a slave
I am a slave. I am a slave because I am a debtor. The people I owe money are my slave masters. I am working on changing this as fast as I can. I can't wait to be free. I am currently putting all my extra pennies toward my debt. (I am using the Dave Ramsey approach to debt relief.)
I am a pastor at heart, but I am in the wilderness right now and I plan to return to the Church as soon as I am debt free. I need to be debt free because if I am concerned with drawing a salary I can no longer speak the true message of the gospel. Because of debt I have held my tongue when church leaders were doing the wrong thing and hurting the Church rather than nurturing the Body. I regret biting my lip and not speaking truth, but no longer. I love the Church too much to keep silent. I will break off the chains and live freely for the Lord.
I am a pastor at heart, but I am in the wilderness right now and I plan to return to the Church as soon as I am debt free. I need to be debt free because if I am concerned with drawing a salary I can no longer speak the true message of the gospel. Because of debt I have held my tongue when church leaders were doing the wrong thing and hurting the Church rather than nurturing the Body. I regret biting my lip and not speaking truth, but no longer. I love the Church too much to keep silent. I will break off the chains and live freely for the Lord.
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