Daniel Rose: The Pastor Next Door

"Two words one could never think of applying to the Jesus of the Gospels: boring and predictable. How is it, then, that the church has tamed such a character — has, in Dorothy Sayers’ words, “very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified Him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies”?

From: The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey 📚

It strikes me that when we focus our attention on the Jesus that we meet in the Gospel stories as opposed to the cultural Christian Jesus that we have invented we will find ourselves shocked by what we find. Jesus is a wild man. There is absolutely nothing safe about trying to live like him.

Psalm 77; Job 5:8-27; 1 Peter 3:8-18a

Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

No exceptions.

It seems that we live in a world where we try to make exceptions to living the way that Peter describes here all the time. To seek to be agreeable, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble we are told simply do not work any more.

It’s a fascinating thing to me that many Christians will tell you that we ought not live by these principles because it means that “enemies” of the faith will win.

We have so lost our way that to live by these principles is something that is considered “weak.”

No exceptions.

There is not any wiggle room here. There’s no “…but politics” or “…but culture war.”

Nah, if I claim to follow Jesus I am to live this way, all the time, no exceptions.

If I am trying to make excuses or devise exceptions to live as one who is agreeable, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble then I need to take a good long look in the mirror.

Good morning! May you practice integrity rooted in love today. #MorningMug #MorningBlessing

The Bear is so dang good. With every episode it rises in the ranks. 📺

I am hosting our Elders for a Session meeting. The plan was to offer crock pot roast. It didn’t really cook, though it had been in the crockpot for 5 hours.

I’ve shifted it to the oven. Hoping it turns out.

I have to say that the support here on micro.blog is absolutely top notch.

“Of the many reasons for Incarnation, surely one was to answer Job’s accusation: Do you have eyes of flesh? For a time, God did.”

From : The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey 📚

For so many years I regularly thought of Jesus as this divine superman. I am so intrigued by his god-ness that I missed his ordinariness. Yet, now it is his sheer ordinariness that most attracts me. This man who ate, drank, got annoyed, ran away from people, teased his friends, and took naps but also introduced the world to grace.

I am drawn the man. I am drawn to the homeless, wandering Rabbi.

Psalm 77; Job 4:1-21; Ephesians 2:1-10

I yell out to my God, I yell with all my might, I yell at the top of my lungs. He listens.

I’m not sure that there is a more comforting phrase for me in all the Scriptures than, “He listens.”

“He listens,” is a complete sentence.

It is remarkable to me that when I cry out to the Divine the Divine listens. I am constantly on a quest to understand what amazing grace means. As I sit here this morning with many things on my heart and my mind, I am struck by the reality that it is amazing grace that God listens.

Why would God listen to me? What is it about me that God would take any notice? Why would God care about what I have to say?

Because God loves me.

I love my children with all of who I am. When they talk, I listen. Even when they were small and couldn’t speak coherently I took great joy in listening to their rambling and mumbling. I don’t know anyone who ignores a baby that is talking to them, particularly when it’s your own child.

I imagine this must be what it’s like for God. This Creator God, the holy one, the sustainer of the universe, loves his creation without condition. This love, apparently, leads God to this place of intimacy where God listens.

This morning I’m pondering this question, “Do I really believe that God listens because he loves me?”

Good morning! May you start your week well knowing your identity is not tied to your accomplishments. #MorningMug #MorningBlessing

You can catch up on my Disentangling Faith series right here: Disentangling Faith #Faith #Christianity #Religion

“Looking in retrospect on my years at Bible college, I see that, despite all the devotional intimacies, Jesus grew remote from me there. He became an object of scrutiny.”

From: The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey 📚

This is, I think, one of the great struggles for not only people at Bible college or seminary, but also much of Protestant evangelicalism. Evangelicalism is buried in information. Jesus, for many, has become “an object of scrutiny.”

When we lose the relational connection to the divine we have lost the very core of what it is to follow Christ. To be learner of Christ is to grow in Christ’s character and competency. These can’t be learned when Christ is nothing more than an “object of scrutiny.”

If you’re into sermons, you can check out my sermon from this morning.

ordinary jesus - we’re all murderers // Matthew 5:21-26

We look at Matthew 5:21-26 and Jesus’ call to include and transcend the command to not murder.

New social plan:

Micro Blog for hosting and creating content (I’m likely upgrading to premium to take advantage of the ability to podcast and post video). This is good as it auto cross posts and easily cross posts to multiple platforms.

Mastodon for consuming content and interacting.

Wordle 974 3/6*

⬛🟨🟨⬛🟩

🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I love getting 3s! It means that the #OldGal likely can’t win. Let’s see how the rest of thef team #YoungPup fairs as we await her report.