Good morning, Zane.
Well…it’s been a few days since dropping one of these messages on you. Sure been busy with all manner of stuff. Then last evening we encountered a little crisis where our car (2013 Kia Sorento) shut down on us while we drove on 205 in Clackamas. The “check engine light” came on flashing and the engine nearly stalled. We made use of our AAA service and had a tow truck come to pick up the car and haul it to our place in Molalla. The 3 of us were able to ride along. I’ll go out soon to load the car up onto a flatbed trailer so I can haul it to our mechanic about 5 miles away.
Have a great day…as you pursue being in the 3rd class of people I describe below.
Love and prayers—Tua/Ray.
It is mind-boggling for me to note how many people living in the same world, maybe even the same culture, having the same resources available, yet hold such a wide range of vastly different perceptions of Jesus. To Festus in our reading He was simply a “dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.” As I contemplate this range of perspectives and attitudes, I’m thinking of grouping them into three classes:
THERE ARE THOSE WHO VIEW JESUS AS IRRELEVANT AND UNIMPORTANT. These are are the skeptics and/or unbelievers—either by ignorance or by choice. They may recognize His place in history but not regard Him in any way as deity. They may regard Him as having been a nice, moral, and influential man, but that He is presently no more relevant than “a dead man named Jesus.”
THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY JESUS IS IMPORTANT BUT LIVE LIKE HE IS UNIMPORTANT. These are the nominal Christians who may say Jesus is alive but live like He was dead. They may pray nice Christian prayers and sing worshipful Christian songs, but the practical output of their lives does not support their claim.
THERE ARE THOSE WHO SINCERELY BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS OF SUPREME IMPORTANCE AND SUPPORT THAT BELIEF BY A CHANGED LIFE THAT FAITHFULLY FOLLOWS CHRIST. To begin with, they are people who personally accept the Biblical diagnosis of their need—that they are sinners in need of a savior. They know Jesus is definitely alive and that He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. They know by faith and experience that He imparts His life-giving and life-changing Spirit to those who sincerely seek Him, are sanctified by Him, and passionately love and live to please Him. Their lives become practical demonstrators of the Life of Christ.
Let’s state the obvious—that the first two classes of people/attitudes really play out to be the same in the long run—and, of course, the last one is the right one. It is the only way that leads to Life—to righteousness and peace and joy and blessing and purpose and success and fulfillment and wisdom and victory—and we could go on and on.