Follow the Leader

Have you ever played a game called, "Follow the leader" as a kid? 

 

In Christianity, we talk a lot about this "following Jesus." Or walking with God.

In order to fully understand what that phrase means for us we must look at the original context. Who was Jesus talking to? What would people think when they heard that phrase?


One of the examples of this is found in Mark Chapter 1:

"Jesus saw two brothers fishing with their father for they fished for a living. He called out to them, 'Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.' At once they left their nets (and their father) and followed Jesus."


Jesus was doing something radical. He was calling fishermen to follow Him. But why couldn't fishermen follow Jesus.

Well, Jesus was Jewish. And He was/is a Rabbi. (Teacher).


In the First Century, Jewish boys desired more than anything in the world to be a Rabbi but in order to be a Rabbi they had to work under a Rabbi for many years. But this was no easy task.

You couldn't go to college or seminary. No, this process began in childhood. The child needed to memorize the Torah (first five books of the bible) by age 12. If he (yes only males were included) could not memorize the Torah he would stop his education and learn his father's trade. (Fishing, carpentry, shepherding, etc).

But if he memorized the books he would continued his education. Learning most of the Old Testament and oral tradition of the Jewish Religion. Around the age of 16, If they passed on their test they would would hope that a Rabbi would pick him to follow that Rabbi.

If no Rabbi picked them(which happened often) they would have wasted the their time (many years) and be shipped off to learn their families business. But If they were chosen. They would spend years following their Rabbi (their teacher). They would learn what it meant to be a follower of God, a holy man, by following him. And then, one day they themselves would become a Rabbi.


So why am I boring you with this history lesson? (Much simplified)

I told you all this to remind you what Jesus did was radical. He bypassed the whole system. He chose the rejects. He chose teenagers to follow Him. And more than that: He chose unschooled, rednecks.

We applaud the disciples because they made a great choice. But honestly did they even have a choice? A Rabbi wanted them! He told them to follow Him and they did because why wouldn't they?

So, when we look at the words of Jesus to us: "Come, follow me!"

He isn't asking, He is telling. He is commanding. He is instructing. He is more than inviting. He is declaring what will happen.

He is saying You can do it! I chose you! I want you! Follow me! I will be your Rabbi and you will be my grasshopper.

I know, this fights against everything we are taught in American Christianity. We are taught that we need to a choose to follow God and I'm not saying there is no choices.

We have the choice if we are going to daily surrender to God.
We have the choice if we are going to love others.
We have the choice how deeply we engage God and encounter His presence towards us.


Bottom Line

It's important that we believe in Jesus but it's more important that He believes in us.


A few reflection questions to consider:

1) How does it make you feel that God chose you? 

2) In response to his love, what actions does He call you to?

Lost and Found

Last week I wrote about "Finding God!"

Remember He hides in such a way that we can find Him. Its like a loving Father playing hide and go seek with his toddler son. Does He try to win? Of course not! He hides in plain site so as long as we are looking we will find Him!

This week I wanted to talk about How God finds us!

In America Christianity we talk about "Finding Jesus." As if He was the One that was lost. But the truth is we were the one lost the whole time. The Bible is full of stories and methapors depiting us as lost/dead/hopeless without the saving grace of God.


Yet He runs after us  and saves us!

Jesus told many stories (3 really good ones are in Luke 15). They are about Lost things being found.

First a Sheep.
Then a Coin.
And Finally a Son.


But why would a shepherd care if he lost 1 sheep, he has 99 more?
Why would a woman care if she lost 1 coin, she had 10 more?
Why would a father care if he lost his rebellious son, he had 1 more trustworthy son.

These people that lost things cared because they had value.

These were stories so we must consider.... what is Jesus trying to teach us?


His main point, I believe, is He came to seek and save that which was lost.

Who? Us. Humans. Me. You. John Cena. Joe Flacco. Even Mike Fisher.


He looks at us and says, "You are valuable. You are worth dying for" Yes. YOU!"

Yet we look at our lives and think, "We are dirty, we are sinful, we are imperfect and unholy."

And declare, "Im not worthy to die for, I'm not worthy of God's love."


And if you are struggling with this idea of feeling God's love and being unworthy you are not alone. And there are no words that can cognivitely make you believe God loves you.

You must have an encounter with the ONE TRUE GOD.

But I will say one thing that has helped me along in my journey with God.

We only search for things that have value.

Would you search for a quarter? Probably not!
But would you search for a 100 dollar bill that you knew you lost? ya.


No matter what you have done or has been done to you, You are worthy of love. Not because I said so but because God literally died to prove it to you!

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I pray for those reading this blog today that they will know that they are loved without a shadow of doubt. I pray that they will encounter Your true love in a tangible way and nothing on earth can steal their joy. Amen.

Where is God? (A call for a life of balance)

This past Sunday our Senior Pastor told our congregation that the best thing for some people in our church community would be to skip church for a week.

His sermon centered on the theme of resting on God and just "being" who He created us to be.

Of course, we NEED church. We are the church. And we need each other. But the point remains.... we do, do, do and wonder why we are tired.


That is part of the reason I love our church. There is a lot of freedom. When we are singing songs, some weeks I am dead tired and I just need to lie down and let the words wash over my body and I have the freedom to do so.


I have found (or maybe better worded) been found by God within the context of church. And I have continued to encounter God countless times inside our church building.

But not always. If you are anything like me, you like to meet God in other places.

Because God doesn't live in my church, or your church, or any church. (Yes, HE is there, but NOT JUST there).

So what connects your soul to God? 

Is it going to Pittsburgh to watch a pirates game? Smelling the fresh cut grass and looking at the awe-inspiring skyline?

Is it going to Paris or another European city and being amazed by the cities of old?

Is it going to Starbucks and enjoying a really expensive cup of Joe?

Is it going for a walk in the woods, where you can scream and laugh and cry and no one else can hear you?

Is it in the delivery room watching your wife give birth to your first born son?

Is it serving? Maybe in a soup kitchen or cutting the lawn of an elderly couple.


 So what, now what?

I remember when I was in college and one of my professors said "whenever we present a problem (so what?), we should give a call to answer (now what?).

So, what do we do?

Do we abandonen organized church and become hippies living in the wild? NO!


I believe we need to have balance in our lives. We need to be able to encounter and connect with God for ourselves and within a community.

I go deep with God on my own but can go wider when I have friends to speak into my life. 

But Just because you are not hearing from/ connecting with God does not mean He has left you. It just means you need to try a new way to find Him.

God loves to play hide and seek like a loving father plays hide and seek with their toddler children. He hides in such a way to be found.

Let's go walking

A ministry that I am starting this summer is calling "Trail Walking with Jesus." My goal is to help you connect with God through one of my favorite places to connect with God: "The Rails to Trails."

We will be meeting at the Trail Head by Ace Hardware in Ridgway at 9am. You will need to bring a notebook and pen because as we walk I will pose a question for you to spend time by yourself to journal.

Final Thought

Summer is a great time to connect with God. To meet Him. I mentioned a few above but I want to give a few more ideas of how you can connect with God this summer.

• Read the Bible. But Ask God to teach you what you need to hear for that particular moment. 
• Go for a canoe or kayak ride. 
• Connect with a friend you have not seen in a while and ask him/her how they are doing. 
• Serve 
• Give away something to someone in need. 
• Try something new (something that scares you) and ask God to give you the faith to do it!

So these are just a few. You are different than I am. So JUST DO IT.

Because God has promised us in his word that when we "seek him, we will find him, when we seek him with all our heart."

Wait, Where is your Brother?

The Parable of the Prodigal Son. 

A familiar passage. Two Brothers living with their daddy.

The younger decides to be rebellious, asked for his share of the estate, and indulges in wild living. However, the money quickly fades away and so do his shallow friends and is forced to work the worst possible job for a jewish boy: Feeding the dirty, Unclean Pigs.

The Younger Son decides he would be better off as a servant in his father's household than working with the pigs. So he returns home expecting to work off his debt (he even memorizes his speech that he wants to delievery to his father). However, he is meet by the unconditional compassion of his father. FORGET THE SPEECH my Son who was lost is now found, he was blind but not he can see.

Meanwhile back at the ranch. The Older Son has been working his tail off for many years. He is in the field working when he hears music. "What,why is there music?," he must wonder. So the Older Son asked one of the servant what was going on. He then informs the older Son, Yes, your lost brother, your rebellious brother, your lazy brother, but yes your brother is HOME. We must celebrate.

But does the Older Son want to celebrate? Of course not! He has been working and this lazy son of gun comes home and gets the party?


 "Which of the two sons is truly lost?"

Is it the brother that rebels, realizes his folly, and returns Home or The brother that stays by his father side through thick and thin but refuses to welcome home his lost brother?


Remember this is a story!!!!!

 By the way, this is a story. So why is Jesus telling this to His First Century Audience?

His audience were two groups of people: 1) Sinners and tax collectors and 2) Pharisees (religious people that thought they had it all together).

The Younger Son was meant to symbolize the Sinners and tax collectors while the Older Son was meant to symbolize the Pharisees and teachers of the law.

And the Father was meant to symbolize God, our Almighty Father.


Who was lost in this story?

The easy answer? Both. The Younger Son for rebelling and the Older Son for not accepting his younger brother back into the family...

But 

Something stuck out to me the last time I read this story. A Story I have read over a hundred times.

Why did no one go get the Older Brother? Think about it this way. Imagine you had a relative from California. They have been gone for three years but now they have returned. Wouldn't you make sure you retrieved the brother?

Yet, He was overlooked. They killed an animal, cooked it, and already started eating and dancing by the time the older brother realizes what had happen.

I get it. The story is suppose to hold the Older Brother as the religious type who doesn't think they need Jesus because they can merit their own salvation. They have "Earned it!"

Welcome All?

No one went out to get the older Brother....yet he was so far away from God.

But that's what we need. When we are operating in a mindset of "I GOT THIS!" A mindset of Pride. The thing we need most is for those that have encountered the forgiveness and love of God to reach out and remind us of his goodness.

Arrogance does not work in the kingdom of God and is in need of a Savior. And sometimes those are the hardest people to include in our community. And to be honest they are the ones we give up on too quickly.

We say things like, "Fine, if they think they can do it themselves, let them try!"

So Jesus finished telling the story to two vastly different people group's. And they didn't love each other. And they didn't accept the other but they could.

What if they chose love?

What if the Pharisees said "We welcome you tax collectors in! You are not perfect but neither are we. You have rebelled but you are welcomed in!"

Or Maybe the Tax collectors started by saying, "I know Jesus seems to be more focused on saving us but we know you need that same grace. We welcome you into our community. We have a lot to learn from you about obedience to God's law."


HELP US JESUS!!!

 More times than not you don't see that happen! Why? Why are we so stubborn. We see the other group as immoral, corrupt, or at the very least misinformed.

Can you believe what Democrats believe about..... Or can you believe what Republicans believe about....

Or maybe its not political maybe it's religious vs non-religious people... or Rich vs Poor, or black vs white.. or even one type of Christian Religion vs another.

If I went into St Leos saying I have all the answers because I was raised in a Protestant church I would rob myself of learning what they have to offer.

Maybe its time to let down our shields. Maybe its time to stop thinking we have all the answers. But we can trust in the God who has all the answers. And welcomes ALL in. If God welcomes all who am I to exclude anyone from His love?

What are you chasing? (Shawn's Yellow Car)

 My Dog loves to chase the wind. Not literally but when he sees the effects of the wind, leaves flying across the street, he gears up and tries to chase them down. 

He also likes to chase down chipmunks, cats, and little kids. 

All to no avail. 

Just like Gunner, my German Shepherd/Black Lab, likes to chase after meaningless things I have notice we are prone to wander after meaningless things. 

The book of Ecclesiastes teaches this theme. "Everything is meaningless!" Man, Am I inspired for greatness!

The point: we try to find satisfaction in many areas.  Maybe you try to find it through Pleasure, wealth, popularity, power, possessions. Or maybe you try to find it through good things like Family Relationships, or doing good works for others, or your job. 

You see, we can do the right thing for the wrong reason if we are chasing anything but God and Him alone. 

Our church actually read a book a few months ago called, "Chase the Lion." In this book, we are told to Chase down our dreams. And this is very empowering because I believe God has given us dreams in our hearts and we should not be afraid and we should chase those dreams. 

But not without God. And Not without God being the primary Person we are chasing Down. If the idea of "chasing down God" dose not work for you maybe a better word is our Focus, our devotion, our passion. The One in which deserves our attention and energy.


Maybe I can share a story??

On Wednesday Night, God gave me a new idea to do with Tribe. 
 

I gave each person ten dollars with the instructions, "listen to God and use it to bless someone else."

The first place we went was Rite Aid. I saw a yellow toy car. It was 9.99. Perfect. God told me, "give it to a st Leo's boy." In the parking lot was Darien, a third grader at St Leos School. Figured he would love it but by the time I walked outside....he was gone! Did I miss my chance?

I was upset, thinking. "I missed it! I couldn't give a toy/gift to a kid during school because that would be favoritism. Hmm maybe God had someone else in mind.

We decided to walk to dollar general. As we are walking I saw four boys that went to SLS standing outside by Northwest Savings Bank. As I crossed the street, I asked God, "Who do you want to have this car?"

I knew I was suppose to give it to a kid named Shawn. Shawn is a handful to say the least. I love having him in my Kindergarten Gym Class but He pushes the boundaries. 

I gave him the toy as his mom came out telling me I didn't have to give him the toy. And I knew I didn't have to. I wanted to. And more importantly, as I told Shawn, "God loves you so much and He sees you as his treasure. He wants you to have this toy to show you his love."

He didn't care too much about my words (Remember he is 5!), he was fixated on the yellow car toy. 


What a fun story. It remembers me of a spiritual activity I did as a youth. It was called Treasure Hunting. In Treasure Hunting, you would pray to God about people He wanted you to pray for as His treasure. Maybe this is Treasure Hunting 2.0? 

Because it is through the generosity of God's people that people on earth see God move.


I don't know how you are feeling today. I don't know what you want in life? And to be honest I'm still working on all of those details myself. But in the meantime "Let's chase down God."

Let's follow Him. Let's seek His face. To what end? To manifest his love to others. Because Honestly what else really matters?

What's the catch?

So pretty cool God story from last night.

We went to the OutCry Tour in Pittsburgh yesterday. It is a Christian event with powerful worship....

And we had a few extra tickets. So we stood outside the arena and yelled, "free tickets! No gimmicks! Actually free!"

We were able to give away the tickets to a man and his two children. They were thankful and tried paying us but we refused. 

We told him we believed that God wanted us to give him the tickets as a blessing and you can't pay for a blessing.

Now, here's the cool part.... a worker from the arena has been watching this whole time and he walks over to check it out. 

The worker said, "I've worked with the penguins at this arena and the previous arenas in town for over twenty years and this is only the third time I've seen someone give away free tickets to ANY event."

There was no "come to Jesus" moment, there was no miraculous healing, yet this man encountered God.

This worker saw Christians giving generously. Refusing to receive payment for a gift. 

He saw that God is good and he is working through his church.

Yet, when we hear that something is free we think "it's too good to be true."

We become Skeptical declaring, "What's the catch?"

But when God came down from heaven to show us the love of the father by going to the cross it was a free gift .

We say the Gospel, Salvation, free relationship with God, it's all Too GOOD TO BE TRUE. 

We say, "Someone has to pay!"

And God says, "I'll pay!" 

Someone did pay for those tickets. We did. 


And when we gave generously we showed the world (or at least one person) the generosity of our Heavenly Father.

Here's a quick example from the Bible

In one parable of Jesus, everyone was upset because all the workers received the same wage despite working different hours. Some worked 12 hours while others worked just 1. 

The owner of the vineyard in the story ends the parable by saying an insightful statement: "Are you envious because i am generous?"

I share this story with you this morning not to brag, not to say, "LOOK AT US! WE ARE SO GENEROUS!"

Because to be honest, I struggle with this. More times than not the amount I tip is based on the service I receive and not out of generosity. I think "What can MY MONEY do for me?" Instead of "How can I use my money to help others?" 

OR probably better written, "How can I use the money God has entrusted to me to show others His generous love?" 


So here's the catch!

Here's Your homework..... 

Show someone the love the father today. Give an encouraging word. Leave a 20 dollar tip to your deliver driver. Don't wait and ask permission to be generous. 

In the words of Nike, "Just do it." 




 

Neil James slattery

What a crazy 24 hours.

At 8pm Tuesday night, jasmine started having contractions just a few minutes apart. So we rush down to Dubois to the hospital. Long story (which are better told in person) short. Our little miracle baby was born at 6:18am on Wednesday April 19th, 2017.


I say miracle because how else could a baby fit through that hole! But seriously after two miscarriages we decided late spring of 2016 to try a third time for a baby.

When we found out jasmine was pregnant, I was so scared. Could it happen again? Would we have to deal with another miscarriage. And I understand, I know some people have more difficulty than us but it was still hard because we knew God promised us a child.

But God came through. Because he's awesome. 


But I wanted to talk about his name. 

We chose the name Neil James slattery

James is a tribute to my grandfather. That is his name. It's also my brothers middle name. And my dad's saint name. 

But Neil? Why? Well, it's normal. In a world with people naming their kids crazy things it's nice to have an old fashion name.

But what does Neil mean?

The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", or "champion".

Most authorities cite the meaning of Neil in the context of a surname as meaning champion.

One of favorite bible verses is romans 8:37, "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

I also saw this picture of my son kneeing at the cross where Christ was killed and defeated death. 

This idea of being a champion makes sense to me. I wrestled. Who doesn't want to be the champion?

But I have been ppraying/declaring that as my son grows he will know he is loved. Love by God. Loved by his community. And loved by his family.

I pray that as he knows he is loved and fully accepted just for being who he is.... a child of God.... that  he will be able to overcome anything Life brings his way. 

After all he is our champion. 

I think there is more to upload here but it will have to wait. It's time for my nap! 


We love you Neil! Thanks for gracing us with your presence.