A fanatic Jesus person isn’t someone who carries a gun and kills people; a fanatic Jesus person is someone who carries the good news and lives* people

I recommend the whole sermon.

*this word is read like the number of lives you have left in a game of mario.

the British Church leaders, seem to have defined two roles (only) for a bishop: administrator and chaplain. Therefore a bishop’s primary (perhaps only) expectations were to administer the existing churches and care for faithful Christians. (A local priest’s job description was similar, stressing pastoral care of the local flock.) So the British leaders were offended and angered that Patrick was spending priority time with “pagans,” “sinners,” and “barbarians.”

This perspective had surfaced four centuries earlier. Jesus had been savagely criticized by the Pharisees for practicing the same kind of fraternizing priorities that Patrick . . . practiced

May the church, may the entire body of Christ do the kinds of things Christ did. I like potlucks, I like team huddles, but huddles are to prepare for action, they are to prepare those huddling to act. BREAK!

“What’s the big deal about a lion eating you? It’s painful for a little while, but so’s going to the dentist.”

It was a good reminder to delight in the realization that Jesus is more than I might sometimes want him to be, not less. Jesus has come to do more than make me comfy.

While I’m commenting on Sunday mornings, allow me to share a question that really rattled some of the foundations in my brain:

“How much are you willing to pay to give up your rights?”

Don’t get me wrong, I know on the surface (and even a little below the surface) that God’s way is the best way and that surrender to him is worth far more than anything else, but something about the way the question was asked last week brought that truth deeper into my being.

Distinctives of the Anabaptist heritage are separation from the world, modesty and simplicity of lifestyle, and a life of peace. Distinctives of our Pietistic tradition are the new birth, the transformation of conversion, and the heartfelt experience with Christ. Distinctives of the Wesleyan tradition are holiness of life, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and the overcoming of the sinful nature.

Now I just need God’s help to actually live out the distinctives.