Jesus was not a SOFTY

I have a really great conversation with a friend the other night who has been in minsitry working with athletes for many years. He expressed to me a concern in our churches that things come across very feminine in our worship and our expression of Jesus. He told me that he took his college football team to church the last two weeks to two differnt churches and was concerned that the majority would not want to go back because they were turned off by the softy Jesus that was presented. I am not saying that we should not have intimate or meditative worship because I love to worship God passionately, but we need to be careful because Jesus was not a SOFTY!!! Jesus was a man's man! Sometimes I think our preunderstanding and presuppostions that are created by maybe a picture we have seen of Jesus in a diaper or whatever distort our view of Jesus. We sometimes create worship services that are all sweet and soft and that's great, but that is not the full picture of Jesus or the Church!

If Jesus were a softy He would not have ran the money changers out of the temple with a whip and turned over their tables in John 2, Mark 11, and Matthew 21. If Jesus were a softy he would not have called the Pharisees out on thier wicked ways in Matthew 23. A softy would not call them out! If Jesus were a softy, then how could he endure 40 days in the desert fasting and endure the temptations of Satan! If Jesus were a softy, then why would he have endured the beating that took our transgressions upon him. If Jesus was soft why would He go to the cross and die, so that we could have life? If Jesus was soft, then He would have stopped all of the beating and crucifixion (He could He was GOD in the Flesh), but He was tough, strong, loving, compassionate, good, and forgiving. Jesus was the ultimate warrior and we need to celebrate that and remeber who Jesus was becasue to often I think we have this image of a soft, gentle, timid, sweet little Jesus, but He was so much more than that, He was a warrior! By the way His disciples also gave thier lives for the sake of others. They were warriors of the gospel and they learned from Jesus, so we can learn from Jesus and the disciples. If we want to be real men we need to have the strength and courage of Jesus along with the compassion and sacrificial love for other people!

Kids stay in school

I was reading my friend Scott Wilson's blog this morning while I am working on reading 7 books for a class next month. Why am I doing this? Scott was talking about growing in his faith and leadership and I was reminded this is why I am doing this. I am doing this so that I can hopefully grow in my faith and leadership. Sometimes I wonder is school really worth it? But I know that God is preparing me for something. I am not sure exaclty what yet, but I am trying to be faithful even though I am tired of doing my this work on my days off from work. My point is that it is hard to stay focused and driven, but I have to remember that it is not all about me! THAT IS HARD!!! Pray that i get all this done.