Thinking some more about this book.

Oprah Winfrey said it well:

“Your true passion should feel like breathing; it’s that natural.”

The difference between a person ENGAGED in life and a person going through the MOTIONS is passion.

Are you…

__ yes    __ no        ENTHUSIASTIC?

__ yes    __ no        CONFIDENT?

__ yes    __ no        UP-TO-SOMETHING?

__ yes    __ no        ENERGETIC?

__ yes    __ no        CONVICTED?

__ yes    __ no        MAGNETIC

.

Wow, that’s challenging to me.

If we are doing what we are truly passionate about, these should come naturally.  If we’re not, then it’s easier to just go through the motions.

“When your life is fueled by passion, it is unswerving, unstoppable, always in focus, immune to distraction, and never in doubt.”

Just in case you were wondering what the mathematical expression of a Sigmoid Curve is:

Now you can rest tonight.

Alright, this may get a little technical, but try to stick with it. I did a whole message on this a month ago in our young adult service. This applies to my last post about breaking the spell of the typical.

A Sigmoid Curve is your basic S-Curve. It’s used a lot in business to describe the cycle of a company or product or new leadership. It’s used some in the church world as well as a pattern of ministry.

It’s an overall great picture of change. It’s really simple. There are 2 points:

A. Change brings about growth/profit/increase.
B. Eventually that change begins to slow and eventually plateau.

The problem is you can never just change once and expect that to fix everything. Change is constant. It will always be part of our lives. So the next s-curve comes into play.

The challenge is that the next change must be initiated at point x and not point y. Point x is growth and momentum. Point y is decline and loss of momentum. It’s always easier to grow and change with momentum.

So leaders have to know where point x is and not wait too long. That’s how good businesses and churches grow. That’s why so many people get upset with change. They don’t understand why you’re doing it because everything is “good” right now.

The key to momentum is slinging together a few of these s-curves.

I think it applies personally to us as well.

We makes some changes in our lives and generate growth, but we try to live off of that and eventually plateau, maybe even decline. We face a challenge and grow through it, but then what?

We have to look for the next s-curve. The next change. Our lives should be a series of s-curves connected together that generate momentum and grow us into the place that God has destined for us.

Most of the people I know don’t have a problem dreaming big. But who we are today will not get us to that dream. So we not only must change, but we must initiate it. You can no longer just sit back and accept change as it happens… you have to go out and shake it up and bring it on yourself.

So….

What have you been thinking about doing that you have hesitated about?

Jump off and create a new s-curve.

I’ve had a lot of people ask me why so much new stuff lately: the half-marathon, the community board, “You feeling adventurous?”

My typical response is something along the lines of, “I just thought it would be cool,” or “Wanted to try something new.”

There’s a new song out by Mute Math that helped me put words to my latest mood… maybe even life philosophy… it’s called TYPICAL. The chorus says,

“Can I break the spell of the typical?”

I think life has a tendency to become…. typical... we wake up to sameness everyday…. I live in an predictable environment. Every now and then I want to break out. Do something that surprises people, and myself.

I think the old adage is true: You’ll always get what you’ve always got. Or something along those lines. That’s probably not right…. but you know what I’m saying.

One clever definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again, but expecting different results.

I always want to be growing and pushing and stretching and forcing the uncomfortable.

I don’t want to always live expecting…. hoping…. wishing….. envisioning.

In the words of the great American poet, Eminem,

“You better loose yourself in the music, the moment….
You’ve only got one shot, do not miss your chance to blow.”

I just read a ChristianityToday.com article titled: “Leader’s Insight: Is Ministry Leadership Different?”

Eric Reed spent some time interviewing Andy Stanley for an upcoming April edition article and decided to let some of his content out early.

Andy says:

“One of the criticisms I get is ‘Your church is so corporate…’ And I say, ‘OK, you’re right. Now why is that a bad model?”

What’s humorous is that we get the same comments… and I know were not even close to being as “corporate” as Northpoint. We recently had a lady tell us that we were, “headed to Babylon.” Upon further questioning as to how she had drawn that conclusion (beside the crack pipe she had been smoking) she told us because we were running the church as a business and becoming corporate and we were not free to follow the heart of God.

Andy said, “I grew up in a culture where everything was overly spiritualized. I don’t want to be a cynic, but raking out all the spiritual versus non-spiritual, I think, is healthy.”

I think I would argue that you cannot separate life into “spiritual” and “non-spiritual.” Really everything is “spiritual.” In the entire Old Testament, the word “spiritual” does not even exist in the Hebrew. Why?

Because you can’t segment life that way.

Leadership is spiritual. How you run a church is spiritual. And I would argue, just as spiritual as spending time alone for devotions or singing worship songs on Sunday morning.

We are called to do everything to the glory of God and live our lives in a way that is sacrificial to Him (Ro 12.1). This includes everything we do; whether we go to work at UPS sorting boxes or whether we are the CEO of a 20,000 member church. Everything we do is spiritual.

I don’t know….. but, I love the way Andy makes me think.

Suppose you attended the College Football National Championship Game in 2002 in Tempe, Arizonia. You watched the Ohio State Buckeyes war with the Miami Hurricanes. Let’s say you went with a good friend, Bob. During the first and second overtime, you’re literally shaking with the emotional intensity of the contest. Do you turn to your pal, and say, “My, my, Bob, this oblong-ball contest certainly ‘exceeded expectations.’

OF COURSE YOU DON’T UTTER ANY KIND OF SILLINESS LIKE THAT.

You scream!

Adjectives and adverbs of the most extreme nature rip the sky assunder!

(To have been present to see it was a…. Dream Come True!)

This was an… Extraordinary Moment.
This was an… Extraordinary Event.

I am an unabashed… Church Lover. I believe that church… can be…. no… should be… Wildly Creative. It can provide… Extraordianary Experiences… for our Staff… for our Guests… for our Members.

The church should exceed expectations… should be an extraordinary moment… should be an extraordinary experience.

I came across this quote in Tom Peters book, “Design.” It was really good…. it made me put down the tortilla chips and salsa I had been slamming. It goes right along with all this “experience” stuff I’ve been talking about lately. Here’s a guy who gets it:

“A dream is a complete moment in the life of a client. Important experiences that tempt the client to commit substantial resources. The essence of the desires of the consumer. The opportunity to help clients become what they want to be.”

-Gian Luigi Longinotti-Buitoni, former North American CEO of Ferrari

He’s talking about touching the dreams of others; The art of telling stories; Promoting the dream, not the product. Something that Ferrari has been doing for years.

Churches have missed it!

We thought is was about the pastor’s dream for a new building or to have his own television show.

…It’s never been about God’s dream for “the church”…

We must hold high the dreams of others. Champion the passions of their hearts. Resource what makes them come alive. Discover the uniqueness at the core of who they were created to be… (okay, slow down and breathe…)

That’s what the local church is designed for.

Mr. Longinotti-Buitoni goes on with some measurements of choice:

“Love at first sight.”
“Design for the five senses.”
“Development to expand the Main Dream.”
“Design so as to seduce through the peripheral senses.”

When have we ever measured the church by these? Yet Ferrari has built a company on them. They have built a business around the fulfillment of huge, obnoxious, outlandish dreams. What boy didn’t grow up fantasizing about a Ferrari or some other exotic car?

I believe every person is built with a huge, obnoxious, outlandish dream inside of them to make a difference in the world.

The role of the church is to (look out!) unleash that.

One of the devil’s finest pieces of work is getting people to spend three nights a week in Bible studies.

We invest all this time in understanding the text which has a separate life of it’s own and we think we’re being more pious and spiritual when we’re doing it. But it’s all to be lived. It was given to us so we could live it. But most Christians know far more of the Bible than they are living. They should be studying it less, not more. You just need to pay attention to God.

Wow… some good stuff I’ve been throwing around the last few days. I pulled this quote from an interview with Eugene Peterson, the author of The Message Bible, that my friend Joel email to me. So relax and don’t get so mad. It’s not my quote.

Eugene Peterson was asked by an interviewer what would he say if he was giving his last sermon:

“I think I would want to talk about things that are immediate and ordinary. In the kind of world we live in, the primary way that I can get people to be aware of God is to say, ‘Who are you going to have breakfast with tomorrow and how are you going to treat them?’ I just want to pay attention to what people are doing, and help them do it in acts of faith and prayer. I guess I’d want to say, ‘Go home and be good to your wife, treat your children with respect, and do a good job at whatever you’ve been given to do.”

Joel emailed me this article from the Relevant e-newsletter. He said it, “It definitely confirms some things I’ve thought about Bono for quite some time…a little freaky as well.”

It’s a short read so check it out.

My response to Joel was:

“I definitely think Bono can be a little off. He is making his own way… which is admirable, but when you are out there in front all alone, you can kind of get some messed up thinking going on. The author of that article ended by saying, ‘He is, without question, the most influential person in the world, and he has an unparalleled opportunity to speak the truth to the lost world.’ I would have to agree with that. Bono is doing more to reach the unchurched and fight AIDS in Africa and shake the political world up than anyone else out there. There is huge value in that. It still freaks me out to read articles or listen to interviews and he’s like, ‘yeah, Jesus is f**king awesome.’ How do you say that?”

What’s your take on one of Time Magazine’s Persons of the Year?

What would I say to my future me?

If you could send an email to yourself in 20 years, what would you say?  I hope you lost that weight?  I hope you are making more money?  Maybe you have some incredible advice that you want to remind yourself of.

What about the 10 most important things you hope to have accomplished in 10 years?

Or how about a list of goals for the next five years?  Or next year?  Get it on December 31st to remind you of how you did.

Maybe treat it like a time capsule and include what is going on in your life right now.  Send it to yourself 20 years from now (I would be almost 50) for a good laugh.

Write a letter to your children (or future children) and communicate some of your thoughts and feelings to them.

What would you write to your future? 

Futureme.org

“Step a little closer to me.  So close that I can’t see what’s going on.”

-from Canonball by Damian Rice

I love Damain Rice.  I picked up his album “O” in Ireland in September, 2003 right after its release.

This song reminded me of how easily I can analyze/evaluate and become critical of other peoples’ lives.  It’s so much easier when you can step back and see it clearly - get ahold of the big picture, notice patterns, observe tension. 

It’s much harder to do with our own lives.  We are so close that we can’t see what’s going on.

Here’s the challenge:  sometime this month.. or next.. ask some people around you about the things they pick up on in your life.  What are the things they are seeing?  The patterns, the responses, the cutting comments.  And don’t just settle for the good.  Ask them to be brutally honest.  And if they can’t think of a whole lot, ask them to watch you more closely and make some observations.  Give them an ALL ACCESS PASS to your life.

I recently did this with a few guys that I felt God put in my life to help me become a better person.  Their insight was invaluable.  And the support they now show me is amazing. 

Here are some sample questions in case you need somewhere to get started:

1.  What is your take on me as a man (or woman)?
2.  Sometimes my weaknesses are hard for me to see.  What would you consider some of my weak points/moments?
3.  If I was going to focus my energy into improving one area of my life, what would you suggest?
4.  Where have I let you down or disappointed you as a friend?

I was inspired this morning by reviewing some notes I took during Louie Giglio’s Catalyst session this year.

The question is not, “Are you leading?” It’s not about you.

The question is “Are you living?” It’s about worship.

We can get the two mixed up, but at the end of the day it’s not about how well you have led, it’s about how you have lived. At the end of it all, it’s not about the influence you have built up, but the life you have left as a sacrifice of worship to God’s huge story that we are only part of for a second.

What’s the difference between a life focused on me and a life focused on living?

I read a great article by Andy Stanley over the weekend that spoke to some of the things running around in my head. I haven’t done a good job of this lately. Can anyone else relate?

“When God created leaders, he equipped them with an unsettling urge to unpack, undo, and unearth methods. This explains your tendancy to question everything around you. It’s the reason you have such strong opinions - and such a strong desire to share them. God wired you that way. Deep in your heart you may feel that if you were in charge, things would not only be different, they’d be better. This is not a problem of arrogance or pride. It’s simply the way God wired you. It’s a good thing.

Unfortunately, your zeal for improvement isn’t always appreciated out in the real world. As a matter of fact, your natural bent for leadership sets you up for resistance from virtually all sides - including other leaders. And unless you understand the nature of these dynamics, the very instincts that qualify you for greatness can also lead you to disqualify yourself and sabotage your opportunities. Effective leadership means learning to challenge the process without challenging the organization. There’s a fine line between the two. But it’s a crucial line.

Many talented leaders have “led” themselves right out of a job because their desire to challenge the process was misunderstood, or perhaps even threatening to those in charge. While on the other side of the spectrum, many skilled leaders have resigned themselves to conform to the status quo, squelching and squashing their natural instincts because there’s no obvious opportunity to be who God made them to be.

When you stop challenging the process, you cease to be a leader and you become a manager. And if you cease to challenge, then you have abdicated your true calling and giftedness in the world.”

I looked back over my notes this morning from the Catalyst Lab Session with Kyle Lake. I took more notes in this session than any of the other Labs. He said some really good stuff. I hope you enjoy.

The Future Church Without Formulas or Blueprints

Our culture has a love affair with formulas and science. It has come into the church and crippled us.

Formula = a method of treating or doing something that relies on an established/uncontroversial approach.

Webster’s = any fixed or conventional way or doing something; a set form of words for use on some ceremonial occasion.

Examples of Formulas:

Math = Equations
Kitchen = Recipes
Architecture = Blueprint
Chemistry = General make up of a compound
Geometry = Proof

Church = Sermon (insert 3 points and a poem)
God’s Will = “x” on a treasure map; blueprints for a house

The problem with those analogies is that they are riddled with holes. For the 2 points they illustrate well, there are 6 others that communicate things that are not true.

In an interview with Daniel Day Lewis regarding his latest movie “The Ballad of Jack and Rose,” he says:

“The people who have turned acting into a formula are spilling all over themselves.”

“The process is unscientific, but it nourishes you.”

We see this in churches all the time. Somebody does some cool stuff with incense, candles and coffee, so we go back and implement it… thinking the whole time that we’ll see the same results. But it’s so detached from who we are that people see it coming a mile away. Like a bad actor in a film. They see us spilling all over ourselves.

There’s a part of us that wants to bypass Jesus and go straight to the methods, processes and formulas for great worship, relevant messages, engaging media (insert whatever you like). We want a franchise church. So we travel to Texas or California to see the latest church and how we can be more like them. We lose sight of the organic nature of the role we’ve been created to play. Churches are not meant to be the same. There is no formula.

Jesus addresses this in Matthew 23.15 speaking to the Pharisees, “You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned.”

Our stage as church leaders is sermons, prayer, humility….

What is our identity apart from the stage?

The number one script that we have to sacrifice daily is the script of religion/spirituality. It comes with formulas, methods and processes. We must give up our good Christian lives and follow Christ.

My friend Bryan Davidson has a great post today on the difference between thinking like a leader and thinking like Jesus. Man, some of them nailed me. It’s so easy to get caught up in progress and mission and all that other stuff.

In the midst of books like “Jesus CEO” and “Leadership Lessons from a Jewish Carpenter” this is refreshing.

People back home tell me that maybe I wasn’t supposed to go.

Maybe.

Or maybe I just forgot my passport and messed the whole thing up.

Maybe this is a lesson in how I can really screw things up.

Maybe this is a lesson in how I need to rely on God more and I wasn’t trusting Him completely with my life.

Or maybe there’s unconfessed sin in my life and so I couldn’t hear from God.

Or maybe I want God to be there just to bail me out of my problems, but I don’t want Him to be in control of my life.

Maybe.

I definitely am glad I am home.

There were things I was going to miss that I am happy I’m not missing now.

I find two things very interesting in all this.

One, I remembered at the very last possible moment. It was either the last possible moment in order to get the passport to me on that flight. Or was the last possible moment in order to not get the passport to me. If I had remembered the day before I could of had it shipped. If I remembered that morning when I was at the airport with Eric, I could have got it on a FedEx flight that would have made it time. I could have gotten it on an earlier Delta flight.

Two, we did everything we could. I believe in that. You do your part and you trust God to do the part that you can’t do. Joanna got the passport on the flight and I was waiting to do my part. There was a place where we had to hand it off to God and we lost control. We couldn’t do anything. That’s where God has to do His part. What was interesting is that it was supposed to go to a flight attendant and it ended up in cargo. Did God do His part?

At the end of it, I know that I’ll probably never know the WHY. I do know the WHAT: I’m home.

I was so mad the first few days. It really took me awhile to get through it. But to be honest, I think I would rather be home. There was a lot of anxiousness in me with leaving.

I do know this and I’ve prayed it before: “I never want to be on a flight or go somewhere that God doesn’t want me to go.”

Maybe He made that obvious.

I now had to get to gate B7 for the 5.05 Delta flight.

I convinced the Ticket Agents at Northwest to give me a gate pass and hold my suitcase (neither of which they are allowed to do because of new security restrictions) and I made my way to gate B7. It took 12 minutes.

I had an hour before the flight arrived. Time enough to think.

“What is going on here?”
“Forgetting my passport is so unlike me. How could I do that? And why didn’t I remember until today? I had all week. If I remembered a day earlier, I could of had it shipped.”
“Is this God?”
“Am I supposed to go and God is miraculously working it out?”
“Am I not supposed to go and this is God’s way of making sure I don’t?”
“Maybe I’m supposed to be home with Jo? She’s almost 9 months pregnant.”

The thoughts come like tornados stirring up all kinds of emotion like dust and debris. I really can’t see straight. One moment I’m confident I’m going. Then I’m not going. Now I’m not sure. And I can’t answer the question of “Am I even supposed to go?”

“God, if you would just tell me what I’m supposed to do, I would do it.”

The Delta Gate Agent informed me that the flight is early. It landed at 4.47 PM and will be at the gate in 10 minutes.

I called Joanna.

“It looks like this is going to work out. The flight landed early and I will have enough time to get back to the Northwest counter. I think this is a God-thing. I’ll call you once I get checked in.”

Now, I’m confident that I’m going. God came through.

The flight attendants exited the plane at 5:01 …. but with no passport.

In fact, they didn’t know anything about a passport.

“Maybe you have the wrong flight. Maybe they sent it on the next flight.”

“No. My passport is on that plane. I KNOW IT.”

The Delta Gate Agent called back to Columbus.

“They checked it as cargo. It will go to the baggage claim.”

I sprinted away from the gate before she even finished her sentence. I have to catch the train, run to the baggage claim and then get from the south terminal to the north terminal. It’s 5:07.

I think my confidence shattered when I turned into the baggage claim and saw thousands of people huddled around 8 carousels just for Delta flights. The Columbus flight was listed 4th in line on carousel number two.

“Don’t give up yet,” I whispered.

I went to oversized luggage. No luck.

“Only big baggage comes here,” the man told me.

“Yeah, thanks.”

I went to Delta’s baggage claims desk.

“It will come to Lost and Found. Down and to your right.”

I go to Lost and Found.

“Honey, it won’t turn up here until nobody claims it for 2 days.”

I go back to the baggage claim desk.

“It will show up on the carousel first.”

“This is a passport,” I told her. “It isn’t a suitcase.”

“Oh, then go over to the storage office. They’ll have it.”

I go to the storage office again re-explaining my story for the hundredth time.

“No sir, we don’t get stuff like that. We only store things for people and they come back to get them.”

5:27 PM.

I jog across over to the north terminal to the Northwest ticket desk. The same lady I talked to earlier is there.

“I’m so sorry Josh. We just closed the counter at 5:30. I was trying to wait for you.”

“They checked my passport as cargo,” I told her.

“I’m so sorry.”

So there it is. Full circle. Back to “I’m not going to South Africa.” Unbelievable.

I booked the next flight to Columbus, circled the baggage claim again with no luck and left Atlanta at 8:54 PM without my passport.

(LET ME WARN YOU UP FRONT THAT THIS IS LONG AND WILL BE DIVIDED UP. DON’T READ IT IF YOU DON’T WANT TO. I KNOW THAT I HATE READING LONG POSTS SOMETIMES. I THINK IT WILL PROBABLY MAKE YOU LAUGH AND HOPEFULLY CAUSE YOU SOME FRUSTRATION. IN THE END, I’M SURE YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH SOMETHING SIMILAR AND CAN RELATE.)

Have you ever had one of those moments where you are in the middle of your daily routine and all of a sudden you have a thought that makes you freeze stone cold right where you are? One of those, “Oh my God, I can’t believe this” moments? And you realize all of the implications of this thought and what it means right at that very second?

I had one of those…. this past Saturday morning.

I was in Atlanta.
I was flying to Johannesburg at 6.20 PM.
I woke up early to take Eric to the airport.
I came back to the hotel and went to sleep.
I woke up around 10.00 AM and did some blogging and web surfing.
I got in the shower around 11.30 AM.
I’m washing my hair thinking about how much I love the smell of the shampoo I was using and……

I LEFT MY PASSPORT AT HOME.

I just froze.

It wasn’t, “maybe I left it at home,” or “get out of the shower so I can look for it.” I knew right there I had left it. And I knew right away the implications: “I’m not going to South Africa.”

I got out of the shower and picked up the phone to call Northwest airlines.

“Is there any way I can go without a passport?”

“Full.”

I can not believe this. It’s crazy how surreal time becomes in these moments. “I’m really not going.”

I called Joanna. She had her mom over that morning to do some cleaning. They had pulled the stove out and were cleaning behind it when I called.

I called Bennett. We have a new Sprint World Phone. It’s a local call for me to Johannesburg.

We all decided that waiting on standby wasn’t a good option. If I left Sunday night, that only gave me about two and a half days in country. It just wasn’t worth it. And if I didn’t make standby, then I’m stuck in Atlanta even longer.

“Alright. I’m going home.”

Unbelievable.

I packed up my stuff. The whole time trying to adjust. I woke up that morning believing that I was headed to Amsterdam and then on to Johannesburg for a week. Now I’m headed home. It’s the internal adjustment that’s hardest.

I knew Atlanta had a dozen flights a day to Columbus, so I just decided to go to the airport and get the next one out.

It’s now 1.00 PM and I’ve eaten nothing. I’m starving and I’m mad. I decided to go to McDonalds and get two cheeseburgers, two dollar-menu fries and and medium drink. All for $5. This definitely helps.

I get back into the car and realize I’ve missed 5 calls from my wife. I forgot to call her back and let her know I’m coming home.

“Joanna, I’m on my way to the airport and I’m going to get on the next…. “

“Wait a minute. I think I found a way for this to work. There is flight leaving Columbus at 3.37 PM headed for Atlanta. I talked to a lady in the church who is a flight attendant and she told me that sometimes they will do a hand-off. I can take your passport to the airport and hand it to a flight attendant and when they get off the plane in Atlanta they can hand it to you. The flight will arrive at 5.05 PM. What do you think?”

That’s my wife. Amazingly persistent.

“Maybe that will work. It’s cutting it close, but it’s a possibility.”

She got her dad to drive my passport to the airport and persuade the Delta Ticketing Agent to let him send it on the next flight. He used the “I’m a pastor” line and “My son-in-law is a pastor flying to South Africa to do God’s work” line. Anything to get it on the plane.

I arrived at the airport and went straight to the Northwest desk.

“I’m on the 6.20 PM flight to Amsterdam, but…. my passport is arriving on a Delta flight at 5.05 PM.”

This is going to be so close.

Joanna called me back on the phone.

“My dad got the passport on. They sent him to the cargo department off 5th Avenue, but he missed the guy by 10 minutes. He went back to the terminal and talked them into it. It will be on the 5.05 plane.”

“Maybe this is God. Maybe it was Him that reminded me at the very last possible minute so that you could get my passport on that flight and I could still go….. There’s a lot that has to happen yet. Once I get that passport, I have to get back through 3 terminals to the check in counter. The lady told me it takes 15 minutes to do that. It will be close. You did your part, I’ll do my part and God is going to have to do His part.”

I was at Starbucks a little while back reading the Message Bible and really trying to take a look at Jesus through some fresh eyes. Not ministry eyes or church eyes, or even post modern eyes.

I was reading through the book of John and I stopped in chapter 8 to write a little bit about the Jesus I was discovering.

Chapter 8 is about the Pharisees putting Jesus to a test. A test of their religious code. The way they perceived God. They way they viewed man.

Would Jesus meet their criteria?

There was s standard of morality that had been established. This woman had not lived up to it. She had been caught in the very act of adultery. She should be voted off the island.

“The sinless among you…. go first.”

In one sentence Jesus rejects their religious code and standard of morality.

Life, true life is not about weeding out those who fail to satisfy the code. It’s not about positioning yourself in the moral lifeboat.

A few chapters ago Jesus said his purpose was to get us all to the end alive and whole. Stoning this woman would have caused him to fail. He had to start by putting her back together again.

Jesus sums up the problems the Pharisees are having: “…you’re missing God in this and are headed for a dead end.”

“You’re tied down to the mundane; I’m in touch with what is beyond your horizons. You live in terms of what you see and touch. I’m living on other terms. I told you that you were missing God in all this. You’re at a dead end. If you won’t believe I am who I say I am, you’re at the end of sins.”

Even though Jesus’ words are pointed and aggressive, I see an invitation in it all.

An invitation to not live a mundane life.

To live beyond my horizons.

To live on terms outside of what I can see and touch.

That’s the life Jesus offers.

The chapter ends with the heat getting turned up. Jesus is mad that they cannot see the life he is offering. I read this passage imagining that Jesus used his “mean” voice. Some people portray Jesus as emotionless, never getting upset, always using his quiet voice. I don’t buy it. I think Jesus can bring it. I don’t think he was screaming or out of control, but I think the anger was obvious. My wife calls it just being passionate. But you would probably have to know her to think that was funny.