John-- The Disciple Jesus Loved

Alright, I have to start by saying, Dominos is better than it was, but it is not good enough that I crave it. The crust was great and the toppings were good, but overall it is an average Pizza.

Now let's get to what is on my mind. I have not blogged for a while because I have been writing a study guide for the next teaching series we are doing this year. It is a study through the gospel of John. It will last until December of 2010. My goal is to post the weekly study every week throughout the year.

Sunday is just an introduction to the gospel of John. About 15 years ago I was blessed to hear Brennan Manning speak at a Youth Specialties Convention. I have never forgotten the picture he painted of a relationship Jesus had with one of his disciples. The disciple was John and the relationship caused John to refer to himself as the disciple who Jesus loved.

Jesus has just told them someone is going to betray him. John 13:23-25 says this, "One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, 'Ask him which one he means.' Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, 'Lord who is it?'"

In Brennan Manning's book, "Abba's Child" he calls John's encounter with Jesus a defining moment in John's life. He feels so comfortable around Jesus that he reclines back with his head against Jesus' chest. Do you know what he heard? He heard the heartbeat of Jesus.

How many times have you gotten close enough to someone to listen to their heartbeat? John is close enough to Jesus that he gets to hear the heartbeat of his Messiah. The disciple whom Jesus loves writes about his encounter with Jesus. He does not write as a historian. He does not write for his own gain. He writes the gospel of John so that we can know his best friend. He writes so that we can fall in love with our lord. He is in tune with the heartbeat of Jesus.

Spend some time reading through John. Discover the testimony one man gives of his encounter with Jesus. As you read you will begin to realize John is not the only. We all have the opportunity to call ourselves the "disciple whom Jesus loves." Let's all get in tune with the heartbeat of our Lord. It is time we recline aginast the breast of Jesus and hear his heartbeat.

Ordering Pizza Later

I consider myself an expert on Pizza. I love Pizza, it is one of my favorite foods. If I am in a new city or town and I have a chance to choose the style of food for dinner, I will often ask, "What is the best pizza in town? I don't want a chain, I want some local place that is considered the best pizza."

My favorites from around the country are:

Myles Pizza in Bowling Green, Ohio
Ginos East in Chicago (stuffed pizza of course)
Mac and Bob's Pub in Salem, Virginia
Baldo's Brick Oven Pizza in Greenpoint (Brooklyn), NY
Moma Santas in Little Italy, Cleveland, Ohio
Giovonis Pizza in Grayson, Ky.
Gioninos Pizza in Northeast, Ohio (Tallmadge)
La Rossa's Pizza in Cincinnati, Ohio

I would love to hear some of your favorites.

The reason I am talking about Pizza though is because of a commercial I saw the other day. It was a Dominos commercial. I personally have not had a Dominos pizza forever. You know why? Because their "crust taste like cardboard and their sauce taste like ketchup." This is what people were saying about Dominos.

Now Dominos took a risk and decided to change everything. Watch this video:

Now what if the church would be this serious? What if we listened to what people were saying about the church and why they did not see the church as an important or effective part of their life? Would we be able to accept the brutal facts and present Jesus in an authentic way so that the world would fall in love with him once again?

Is it worth the risk to allow people to see the real Jesus or are we better off staying the same?

I'm ordering Dominos later. I will let you know what I think.

Is this all there is to following Jesus?

I logged on to Facebook and noticed an update from a friend. The statement prompted the question: "Is this all there is to following Jesus?" This is it? Christianity defined by this moment in the week?

The statement is a sign of why we (Christians) are being defined as a religion and out of touch with the real world. I have to be honest if this is all there was to following Jesus, I am not sure I would participate.

I have to fight everyday this being the only motivation for doing what I do. Mainly because it is not very motivating. Yet everyday people try to drag me back into the game of just doing church the same way it has been done for the last century or more.

Jesus taught us to do much more than this, he taught us to be the church. He taught us how to live in an authentic relationship with God outside the confines of tradition, a building or even a common place. He showed us how to be the church hanging out with real people who have real issues and are searching for an abundant life, something better than what they are experiencing now.

I am not being critical of my friend, I think in ministry it is something which needs to be done. I am not bashing it, I am just rethinking what the main thing for a follower of Jesus may be.

OK, here is the status post: "Monday.....the start of our march toward SUNDAY....and another day of fellowship and worship."

Any thoughts?

Spectator or Participant?

As people are trying to decide to call it "twenty-ten" or "two thousand ten" I am trying to decide what 2010 is going to look like. I know that we can't predict the future, be we can make choices that influence the future.

If you are like me, I am tired of the status quo. I sometime sit back and wait for God to change things. I pray for God to change my heart to be more like His. There are moments I feel like God is really about to do something big. Then the time passes and nothing big really happens.

I think it is because I have a habit of being a spectator of God rather than participating with God. It is easy sitting back and asking God to move, but when you don't move with Him don't expect any grand results.

Let me give you an example. I pray for God to help me with weight loss. It is one of those things I truly commit to prayer often. I just seem to get fatter. What is the deal? The deal is that I do not rely on Him to help me, I just want him to take the weight off. If it was that easy I guess there would be millions of people who would jump on that weight loss plan.

I can ask Him for encouragement, conviction through the Spirit and discipline. But I still have to move myself. So I set a goal of losing 2 lbs a week. I am going to journal about it and make God a big part of my lifestyle change.

We have to stop asking God for help and then do nothing. We have to stop just watching God and we have to start participating with God.

What things have you been asking God to help you with lately? Are you spectating or participating? Let me know.

The Gift of Relationship

I was getting ready to preach at one of the revivals in Zimbabwe and I asked my interpreter Max if they celebrate Christmas. He told me they did. I then asked him if it included gift giving. Again he told it did. I was surprised that gift giving was a part of their culture. I mean, with an unemployment rate of close to 85% what kind of gift can be given (That is the spoiled American side coming out in me).

He told me the gift may be a piece of clothing or something they could use for school. Sometimes the gift was bought, sometimes it was made but all the gifts had a purpose. The gift was usually something they needed. You mean there are no game systems, toys or ipods? (American side again)

We live in a culture where most of our gifts consist of things we want, not things we need. Think about your Christmas list does it consist of only things you wanted or are there some things you need.

Think about gift giving. Does it feel better to give someone something they need or something they want? Sometimes in our arrogance we stray from the list someone gives us to give them something we want to give them. We give them something we have always wanted but they could care less about. That gift usually ends up on a shelf or in a closet only to be regifted at a latter date. These gifts are not very relational gifts are they? Everytime it snows and I get my snowblower out I am thankful Barb and Fred got me a snow blower for Christmas last year. Since I could not get Rhonda to shovel the driveway the snow blower was something I needed.

Max went on to tell me that the best thing about Christmas was the family coming together. He said people love to see brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles. This to him was the best thing about Christmas. Why? Because God has created us to long for those types of relationships. When you don't have wealth, you begin to cherish the things that matter most, Family and Friends. You know I have great memories of past Christmas' but very seldom remember the gifts I recieved. I do however remember the people. Some who are still with us and some who are not. I would much rather have the people who are no longer with us, then the gift they gave me at the time.

Christmas is about the gift of relationship. First, it is the story of a relational God who sent his Son to die for us so we can have an eternal relationship with Him. There is no greater gift. Then it is about the relationships God has given us here on this earth, our family and our friends. Yeah, we may give a gift or two, but what we really long for is the gift of relationship.

So even if you don't have a present to give someone, maybe you should at the very least contact those you care most about during the Christmas season. Sometimes those are the gifts that go a lot farther than the present which is wrapped and placed under a tree.

So, I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone of my relatives and friend a Merry Christmas! I wish we could all be together. I know when Jesus comes again that will be possible, but until then MERRY CHRSITMAS!

Please Pray for the Bakers

We have entered into a new era of raising children. Eli just recently got his learners permit. He is driving now. Check out the videos of our journey to Walmart.

Zimbabwe Day 5

These two videos are a part of the journey to Mukazi. Mukazi is about 25 km from the homestead. It is in the Lower terrain of Zimbabwe which is the the driest and hottest region.

The people in this region of Zim were different from the people in some of the other villages. There was a nervousness that existed with our presence. It is an area that is closely watched by the government. After the revival one of the leaders of the area made it clear that what had happened that day was about Bible teaching.

The great thing about being here is that they want a church in their region. The team from Westerville took a small group to Mukazi to get permission from the leaders for people to come to the school. We took a larger team and did a VBS and a revival.

The school at Mukazi used to be the home of a white farmer. It sat on the top of a large hill that overlooked the plains. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We thought there were only going to be a couple hundred students but there were over five hundred. After I would teach the lesson I would tell the children they could ask me about anything. They would ask me about my family. One girl asked me how many children I had. I told her three and she followed up by asking why not 13 like families there. I asked them what they did when they got home from school. They responded with things like: gather fire wood, get water, clean or gather cattle.

The revival here was smaller because this is such a new region for the church. There were 29 decisions on this day. Again, God showed up in a big way as we took the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth. Below is a video of the children singing as a welcome.