I believe Jesus is the most revolutionary person in all of human history. The Real Jesus is radical. The word “radical” is from the Latin word “radix,” which means “root” (we get “radish” from this). The Real Jesus gets to the root of all persons, to the deep, inner realities in the human soul that need to be redeemed and healed and set free.
My passion is to know the Real Jesus and to make him known to others. In this blog my focus will be on sharing my understanding of who Jesus really is, hoping you find him as captivating and compelling as I do. Along the way I’ll also share some personal stories and, hopefully, things I see Jesus doing here in our Monroe community and beyond. And, I hope to engage in dialogue with people over life’s most important things.
John, I appreciate your position and desires.
If you are lookin’ for Jesus in Monroe, as I am, then maybe we can help each other. I am lookin’ around for signs that make it to the non – christian. I mean, afterall, if evidence of Him can not be seen by those who are not Christian, how impactful can His ministry really be?
Our ability to help each other may come from the fact that you are on the inside lookin’ out to see if anyone notices and I am on the outside lookin’ around to see if anyone notices.
I believe from the inside you can not help but be subject to what I consider religious as opposed to Christian. I think the Church is too much overhead and hierarchy than necessary to help Jesus move. In fact, the Church (as we know it) hinders His move by blurring the view of Christ to those on the outside.
By the way, I don’t necessarily think that there is all that clear a view of Him from inside His Church either.
Mankind has proven itself incapable of congregational faith since Jesus left His followers behind (how many versions of Christianity are there?). The flesh just keeps getting in the way. Bad enough for the individual. Extreme once you add inter-personal realtions.
Bottom line…Jesus is not recogizable out here. What are we going to do?
What can Jesus do for me?
Hello “Lookin’.” I appreciate your outsider’s perspective. I teach philosophy at MCCC. This last semester I had 60 students take two of my Philosophy of Religion classes. This is but one way for me to get “outside” perspectives on what’s going on outside the church building. My own outsider observation from this front is that many students are interested in the Real Jesus.
I am personally against “too much overhead and hierarchy” like it seems you are. I am probably in agreement with you about what you say here. Biblically “church” is not a “building,” nor is it an “organization.” Rather, it is a “movement.” “Church” = people who are called out and set apart to advance the kingdom of God. Pastors are to equip people (= the “church”) to go “outside” the walls of the building and live the gospel of the kingdom in the midst of others.
I also probably agree with you that within the “church” there’s not such a clear view of Jesus. One way to understand this is that, from the time of Constantine on, the Jesus-message of the kingdom of God got suppressed because the church got co-opted by the state (at least in Rome and other places).
Again, thank you for your comments. As I read them, I think I agree with a lot of what you say.
Hello “Who’s”: My own belief is that, minimally, Jesus can do for you the kind of things Jesus has done for me and for many others I know. These are the kind of things I talk about in “My Story” above.
I believe Jesus can do the kind of things we see him doing in Matthew-Mark-Luke-John.
If you are interested in talking give me a call at 734-242-5277 – I’d love to talk more personally.
John,
Approximately how many Jesus’s are there? Are you a monotheist or a polytheist??? Or, are you attempting to be humorous or play on the words?? Please explain yourself.