I think one of my favorite stories of Jesus is the morning he taught at the synagogue in his hometown. Luke 4:14-22 Every time I hear it read, or read it myself, it seems to be wired with such electricity, such anticipation and hope.

The sermon last Sunday focused on this passage, and my pastor made some really good points.

1. Jesus didn’t come to start a new religion. He went to synagogue every week, took his turn reading up at the lecturn. If they had acolytes, he probably would have done that with all the other boys growing up.

2. But how cool is it that when he took his turn reading scripture that had been read aloud in synagogue for years and years prior… he could stand there and say something that had never before been said: This prophesy I just read – I am here to tell you that now, right here and now, this one has come true. You are all here to see it happen. You. Yes, you – sitting in pew three. This is coming true in your hearing.

How I wish I could know what the rest of that sermon had been. I wish they had penned the entirety of the sermon instead of just teasing us with one line. But, I suppose it makes sense. These days, I can listen to the sermon and usually I can remember one take-away sentence, two if I’m having an exceptionally good day. It is just like me walking out of church: there’s usually only one line that I can really hold on to and remember, even years later. But I know that if I like the sermon, I can just go online and listen to the podcast. Back then… no such luck. I’m positive the congregation didn’t see this sermon coming. It caught them completely by surprise. To Luke, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” was his one take-away sentence. They didn’t have a podcast to go back and listen to after-the-fact.

I heard an interesting statistic on 91.5 on the way in to work this morning. There was a study done among families who come to Christ. Apparently, if the wife/mother is the first to accept Christ, 17% of their households also come to know Him. However, if the husband/father is the first person to accept Christ, the number jumps to 90%. A quick google search didn’t turn up this survey. If anyone can find it, can they link to it for me?? I’d be interested in seeing how it was conducted.

Even though I didn’t find the study, I stumbled across this quote:
Someone asked Mother Theresa what society could do to promote world peace,and she responded:
“Go home and love your family!”

Some of the highlights:
Emily disagreed with Pastor Judy by shaking her head ‘no’ every time the pastor asked me a question, causing more than a little bit of laughter from the congregation.

Emily decided she wanted to investigate the bowl that held the annointing oil. Her hand was quicker than both mine and the pastor’s; however the Pastor’s robe saved the day by catching the bowl (right-side up) in her sleeve.

It was All Saint’s Sunday. We remembered Victoria Jackson, and many other individuals in our congregation who have passed away recently.

Emily shares her baptism date with some of the Ilg girls, who were also baptized on All Saints Day a few years ago. Mrs. Ilg shared her alter flowers with Emily. Mr. and Mrs. Ilg purchased them in honor of their girls’ baptism, but they were going out of town this week and wanted the flowers to be enjoyed. They’re a beautiful fall bouquet.

Emily is blessed to have three amazing Godparents: Jenny George, her grandma and her grandpa (my mom and dad).

Interesting sermon a couple of weeks ago. Talking about letting God be God of your finances.

Matthew 6:19-24

19 “Do not gather together for yourself riches of this earth. They will be eaten by bugs and become rusted. Men can break in and steal them. 20 Gather together riches in heaven where they will not be eaten by bugs or become rusted. Men cannot break in and steal them. 21 For wherever your riches are, your heart will be there also. 22 The eye is the light of the body. If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 If your eye is bad, your whole body will be dark. If the light in you is dark, how dark it will be! 24 No one can have two bosses. He will hate the one and love the other. Or he will listen to the one and work against the other. You cannot have both God and riches as your boss at the same time.

The pastor was saying how the word ‘good’ in the original aramaic has same root/meaning as ‘generous’ and the word ‘bad’ is ‘selfish’. Put that in Jesus’ context about gathering riches…. sheds a whole new ‘light’ on the subject. *wink

It is an interesting concept of God’s economy vs. the earth’s economy. In this world, there is a scarcity of resources. There is a finite amount of money, of food, of resources, time, of a specific product being sold at the stores. Think Black Friday. There’s only a select number of any of the deals, and if you’re not up and in line at 3 am, you’re out of luck. And how do people act on Black Friday? We turn into animals, clawing and fighting our way – selfishly – to make sure we get just what we ‘need.’ A very ‘selfish’ eye indeed.

Contrast that with God’s economy. Unlimited resources, unlimited love and mercy, unlimited forgiveness and acceptance. Almost to the point of being unfathomable by us who live in this scarcity-driven world. Just look at Solomon, or the Israelites in the desert living off manna, or Jesus with the bits of fish and bread. And what do we see? Generosity, sacrificial love an actions, the ultimate unselfishness. There is plenty to go around, so there is no need to fear running out, no need to hoard or fight or take for yourself what another might have.

Even time – the ultimate scarcity of our world – is unlimited to God. Jesus overcame death itself. He has always been in existence and will always continue to exist. And we, as believers in Jesus’ sacrifice, get to share (without limit) in that eternity. We have no need to fear and hoard our time on earth. Look at the martyrs. They did not play it safe, and hoard their minutes and days, prolonging their lives. They were able to give up the rest of their lives on this earth to the glory of God. Why? (partially) because they knew that their time was not limited – they have the rest of eternity with God to look forward to. so what’s the need to hoard the minutes and seconds here on earth?

Some food for thought for me to chew on as I consider how I act – whether I’m reacting to the world’s economy, or to God’s economy. and how I’ve switched now that I have a duaghter to care for in addition to myself. Even when I’m being ‘unselfish’ in caring for my daughter, in some ways, I’m being more ‘selfish’ in hoarding resources, out of fear that I’ll run out and Emily will have to do without. It takes faith to trust my life in God and God’s economy. It takes a whole new level of faith to entrust my daughter’s life to His economy as well.

With that said, I had an disappointing weekend a couple of weeks ago that brought to mind one of Jesus’ parables from Luke 14

After a crazy week, I got off work Friday afternoon only to realize I had no real plans made for the weekend. Not wanting to feel completely lame and pathetic, I started calling (ok – txting) my boyrfriend, and close friends. I was making dinner and wanted to share. Everyone already had plans and were not interested or able to hang out. 10 apologetic refusals later, frustrated and lonely this bible passage jumped to mind:

16 Then Jesus said to the leader of the proud religious law-keepers, “There was a man who was giving a big supper. He asked many people to come to eat. 17 When it was about time to eat, he sent one of the servants he owned to tell those he had asked, saying, ‘Come, everything is ready now.’ 18 They all gave different reasons why they could not come. The first said, ‘I have bought some land and I must go and see it. Do not expect me to come.’ 19 Another one said, ‘I have bought ten cows to use for working in my fields. I must go and try them out. Do not expect me to come.’ 20 And another one said, ‘I have just been married and I cannot come.’

21 “The servant went back to his owner and told him these things. Then his owner became angry. He said to his servant, ‘Hurry into the streets and narrow roads of the city and bring poor people here. Bring those whose bodies are diseased. Bring those who cannot walk and those who are blind.’ 22 The servant came back and said, ‘Sir, what you told me to do has been done. But there are still some empty places.’ 23 Then the owner said to his servant, ‘Go out along the roads leading away from the city and into the fields. Tell them they must come. Do this so my house will be filled. 24 I tell you, not one of those I had asked will eat of my supper.’”

Intrigued, I then called up a couple people I would not have originally thought of. Not surprisingly, they were available and more than willing to spend a happy relaxing dinner with Emily and I. It actually ended up being a pretty decent evening for all involved.

Just more proof that my God can relate to my feelings of loneliness and feeling pathetic and not a priority to friends… he’s been there.

I think i originally misheard him – or my mind just swapped words to a scenario I was all too familiar with from my time at church: “Some want to run a booth within a church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.”

There’s something to be said for the poetry of the original quote. :D

I got the chance to go perch fishing up on lake Erie with my boyfriend and his parents over the holiday weekend. It was a blast. Ok, it was a little hot and I ended up getting slightly sea-sick; but I did thoroughly enjoy every minute of the time I was in Sandusky.

As I was on the boat relaxing and sipping on ginger-ale to calm my stomach, I got to thinking about fishing vs. deer or game hunting. My mind wandered to Jesus’ statement to his buddies imploring them to become ‘fishers of men’ and I wondered what it was about fishing that made it a suitable metaphor? Why not use game hunting?

Not surprisingly, I easily came up with several differences between the two sports/livelihoods that lend fishing to this metaphor over hunting. What was surprising was how those differences compared to today’s evangelism efforts by many Christians I know (myself included). I cringed.

What makes fishing fishing?
You arm yourself with a rod and reel, a pail full of juicy, squishy, tempting munchies, and a tiny little hook, and perhaps a net or two. You find yourself a nice spot on the lake and set anchor. Some people have favorite fishing locales they return to time after time. Others watch other fishermen, to see where the fish are biting the best that particular day. I’m sure the fishermen of Jesus’ time had their own tricks of the trade to find the best fishing spot.

Then what happens? You load up on that juicy, squishy, tempting bait, let out your line and hunker down for a long afternoon of… waiting. Sometimes the fish don’t bite at all. Sometimes they eat your bait and swim off, never to be seen again. Sometimes it seems like you’re giving a feast to the same fish over and over again, all the while they are able to evade your hook like a pro. And every once and a while, on a very fortunate day, it seems like the fish are virtually jumping into your boat. (Yeah right).

What makes fishing different than hunting?
So I’ve never been hunting, officially, but have several family members who do so on a regular basis and I get to hear all about their exploits. Hunting requires some crazy impressive weapons, be it gun or bow. Power-packed, adrenaline-filled, deadly weapons. For some reason, you just never get quite the same rush putting some juicy squishy bait on a teeny tiny little barb. I wonder why…? With hunting, you get your prey in your sights… track him, stalk him… take him down. It’s a very hunter-empowered sport. The ball seems to always be in the hunter’s court while the prey is unsuspectingly minding his own business munching on some nearby grass. Not so with fishing. It seems that the fish always have the upperhand. They get to decide if your juicy morsel is enticing enough to bother with. They decide if they just want a nibble, or if they want the whole meal – hook, line and sinker. (Granted, they probably don’t want the hook, but there’s always a catch, isn’t there?) Even when you think you’ve got them hooked, you need to woo and finesse them up to the surface – at any time, there’s the potential of them jumping off never to be seen again. And need I mention that more often than not, you bring your hook up, only to find the bait gone and no fish to show for it? Such a power difference is remarkable. Hunters focus in on one specific prey – they want the big 10-point buck, and nothing less. Fishermen can’t hardly even see who’s biting… and for amateurs like me, I’ll take anything that I can get… even if it’s seaweed. :D

Caveat to this parallel: I realize I am using my own fishing/hunting experience, not those of professional fisherman of today, nor those of Jesus’ time. While the methods may be different, I still think the whole essence of the sport and the inherent locus of power in hunting vs. fishing still holds true.

So what does that mean for the disciples of Jesus’ time, and the much-derided modern day evangelist?
In a nutshell: Jesus wanted us to be fishermen. Today’s evangelists prefer to be hunters.

Fishermen let out their line, offer up beneficial, wholesome benefits. Some people are drawn to it, others don’t want it. Some take the free food and disappear, some stick around to nibble a bit here and there, and some want it all. The decision is i the hands of the ‘fish’ – not the ‘fishermen.’ All us fishermen can do is continue to offer out God’s love, and hunker down and wait. And somedays, we empty our entire bucket of juicy squishy love, and have nothing to show for it. But if you come back to the same spot day after day, the fish return (and bring friends) for more of the squishy goodness, and eventually they will bite instead of nibble. It takes a lot of patience, a lot of generosity, and don’t you dare expect much in return, especially at first.

Today’s evangalists, unfortunately, gravitate towards the adrenaline-packed, power-thirsty sport of hunting. We catch sight of a big-old 10-pointer, decide – ‘yep, he’s the one’ and proceed to chase him down, stalk him, drag him to church, guilt him into coming to biblestudy, hound him with questions about his relationship with God, and if he were to die today where would he go? give him presents of bibles and christian books, and then WHAMMY! We load him up, and set off to smallgroup to gloat to all our friends about the adventure and the fact you got a 10-pointer (The poor sucker didn’t even see us coming!) or lament about the one that just keeps eluding you (I keep trying to get him to come to church, but he won’t ever commit). Many times, the poor things never see it coming – if they did, they would have taken off running, yelling at all their friends to watch out!

The Christian in me came to that thought and I stopped dead in my tracks. And I shuddered. No wonder the world loathes us ‘modern day evangalists’ – Yikes!

I was explaining all this to my boyfriend that evening, and he looked at me, and he was like… ‘OR… Jesus was just using a metaphor that his disciples (being fishermen) would understand.’

True. But in my experience, God never just has one level of understanding or reasons behind his actions. It always ends up having layers and layers of meanings and applications and lessons (to quote a large green ogre – it’s like onions). Somehow I don’t think it was a mistake or mere happenstance that he just happened upon a couple of random fishermen, or just randomly thought up the metaphor of fishing for men. If the hunting metaphor would have fit better, Jesus probably would have chosen a couple of hunters to be his disciples instead. Jesus can do that, you know. He is God, after all.

Reference: Matthew 4:18-22

Introverted iNtuiting Feeling Judging
by Marina Margaret Heiss

INFJs are distinguished by both their complexity of character and the unusual range and depth of their talents. Strongly humanitarian in outlook, INFJs tend to be idealists, and because of their J preference for closure and completion, they are generally “doers” as well as dreamers. This rare combination of vision and practicality often results in INFJs taking a disproportionate amount of responsibility in the various causes to which so many of them seem to be drawn.

INFJs are deeply concerned about their relations with individuals as well as the state of humanity at large. They are, in fact, sometimes mistaken for extroverts because they appear so outgoing and are so genuinely interested in people — a product of the Feeling function they most readily show to the world. On the contrary, INFJs are true introverts, who can only be emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few from among their long-term friends, family, or obvious “soul mates.” While instinctively courting the personal and organizational demands continually made upon them by others, at intervals INFJs will suddenly withdraw into themselves, sometimes shutting out even their intimates. This apparent paradox is a necessary escape valve for them, providing both time to rebuild their depleted resources and a filter to prevent the emotional overload to which they are so susceptible as inherent “givers.” As a pattern of behavior, it is perhaps the most confusing aspect of the enigmatic INFJ character to outsiders, and hence the most often misunderstood — particularly by those who have little experience with this rare type.

Due in part to the unique perspective produced by this alternation between detachment and involvement in the lives of the people around them, INFJs may well have the clearest insights of all the types into the motivations of others, for good and for evil. The most important contributing factor to this uncanny gift, however, are the empathic abilities often found in Fs, which seem to be especially heightened in the INFJ type (possibly by the dominance of the introverted N function).

This empathy can serve as a classic example of the two-edged nature of certain INFJ talents, as it can be strong enough to cause discomfort or pain in negative or stressful situations. More explicit inner conflicts are also not uncommon in INFJs; it is possible to speculate that the causes for some of these may lie in the specific combinations of preferences which define this complex type. For instance, there can sometimes be a “tug-of-war” between NF vision and idealism and the J practicality that urges compromise for the sake of achieving the highest priority goals. And the I and J combination, while perhaps enhancing self-awareness, may make it difficult for INFJs to articulate their deepest and most convoluted feelings.

Usually self-expression comes more easily to INFJs on paper, as they tend to have strong writing skills. Since in addition they often possess a strong personal charisma, INFJs are generally well-suited to the “inspirational” professions such as teaching (especially in higher education) and religious leadership. Psychology and counseling are other obvious choices, but overall, INFJs can be exceptionally difficult to pigeonhole by their career paths. Perhaps the best example of this occurs in the technical fields. Many INFJs perceive themselves at a disadvantage when dealing with the mystique and formality of “hard logic”, and in academic terms this may cause a tendency to gravitate towards the liberal arts rather than the sciences. However, the significant minority of INFJs who do pursue studies and careers in the latter areas tend to be as successful as their T counterparts, as it is *iNtuition* — the dominant function for the INFJ type — which governs the ability to understand abstract theory and implement it creatively.

In their own way, INFJs are just as much “systems builders” as are INTJs; the difference lies in that most INFJ “systems” are founded on human beings and human values, rather than information and technology. Their systems may for these reasons be conceptually “blurrier” than analogous NT ones, harder to measure in strict numerical terms, and easier to take for granted — yet it is these same underlying reasons which make the resulting contributions to society so vital and profound.

Copyright © 1996-2011 by Marina Margaret Heiss and Joe Butt

And apparently I share this with:
Nathan, prophet of Israel
Aristophanes
Chaucer
Goethe
Robert Burns, Scottish poet
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader, martyr
Nelson Mandela
Mel Gibson
Carrie Fisher
Nicole Kidman
Jerry Seinfeld