Love

Two thoughts from the passage I read today (Exodus 20:1 - Exodus 22:15):
1. I think it's a beautiful picture of leadership that the judges that God set up to rule his people are referred to as "God". For instance Exodus 22:9 says "Both parties must come before God for a decision, and the person whom God declares guilty must pay double to the other." I think it reiterates what I was talking about yesterday, that when we are in leadership appointed by God, we just need to follow Him and not worry about any complaints.
2. Exodus 21:5-6 says "But the slave may plainly declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. i would rather not go free.' If he does this his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever." I think that is probably the most accurate picture of sacrificial love that I can imagine. I have my freedom, but my family is enslaved. Rather than embracing my freedom I choose to remain enslaved because of my love for my family. It's kind of a picture of salvation. At any point, I can run away from God and be "free" from my commitment to him. Instead I voluntarily sacrifice because of my love. Because I realize my life within the confines of my voluntarily servitude is infinitely better than freedom apart from it.
May I constantly be drawn to devotion God because of my great love for Him.
JM

Larry Norman

Larry Norman died. I don't know much about him. He's referred to as the father of Christian rock. I've heard some of his songs before, but am largely unfamiliar with his stuff. His funeral sounded incredible though. A party. A celebration of life rather than a culmination of regret. What was cool to read about was how he impacted people. Here's part of what happened at the funeral:

I think many of us expected a bunch of famous musicians giving testimony of the greatness of Larry. Instead, the family gathered a bunch of everyday people who’s lives were touched by Larry. After the musical collage, a man came on stage and said, “Hi, I’m Jerry, Larry’s mailman. For years I have delivered Larry’s mail” — he spoke of Norman’s kindness and love for him.

I wish I took the time to get to know the periphery people of my life. To show kindness and love for the people who I don't have to have a relationship with, but I choose to. JM

Acts 14:19-28

Love keeps no record of wrongs. If we really love people, then we'll be able to overlook the dumb stuff that they do. Our love will override it and make it seem like it didn't happen. That's what's hard about love. It hurts a lot sometimes, but it's worth it. I hope that I can love people the way that Paul did, even after being stoned and left for dead, to go back to them. JM

Matthew 26:69-75

I like to think Peter is such a bad person for vocally denying Jesus. I would never do that, or at least that's what I tell myself. At least I would never vocally deny Jesus. But I do it all the time with my actions. If I were in that same situation nobody would have ever come up to me and accused me of being a disciple. My actions so often don't look like those of a disciple.
I mean, I don't smoke, or cuss, or drink, or kill people, but I seldom do things that are befitting a disciple. I don't go out of my way to know people or to show that I care for them. I guess my biggest battle is the one that rages inside of me tempting me to just keep to myself. I argue that it's just the way I am. Irregardless of that, we are called to minister and I can't do that if I won't engage people with love. JM

Matthew 24:10-12

I'm always amazed by examples of love. Especially when it's completely random. Like I love those commercials for Liberty Mutual ad that talks about people randomly doing the right thing for other people. I hate to imagine a world where most people will stop showing their love for each other. It saddens me to think about it. JM

Matthew 22:34-40

Jesus boils all of the commands in the Mosaic law down to just two, and they are still incredibly difficult for me. Love your neighbor as yourself is just so insanely hard. I've been trying something that Mike Yaconelli suggested by reminding myself that each person I encounter may be the only Jesus I'll ever meet. It's kind of a cool thought, and it helps you really realize the value of each individual.
But I also struggle on the other part of what Jesus is talking about here. We're to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. My soul is easy, because I've given it to Jesus. My mind is easy because that's how I fell in love with Jesus because I think he is truth. The toughest part for me is my heart. Sometimes it is tough for me to be passionate about Jesus.
The speaker at this program we went to tonight talked about loving Jesus and letting that be all we're trying to do. Not doing things for God so that we can get recognition, but simply because we love Jesus.
I don't really struggle with wanting recognition or anything like that, but a lot of times I struggle with doing things for God because I like to do those things. For instance, leading worship is fun, but I can't always say that I do it because I love Jesus. I also love music, I love the idea of worship, I love the mystery of God, I love the creativity involved in worship experiences. All of those things are good, but they aren't because I love Jesus. JM

Our Dying Days

My dad is having surgery tomorrow. He was diagnosed with parkinson's disease 14 years ago and will be having the first of two surgeries as part of a sub-thalamic deep brain stimulation procedure. It's not really a risky surgery or anything, but it is brain surgery and he will be in there for about 5 hours or so.
I talked to my dad tonight on the phone and he told me something that I can only remember him telling me 2 other times: "I love you." I know my father loves me, but most of his life his shyness and inability to embrace his emotions has prevented him from telling me. The first time that I can really remember him saying it is when I was a junior in college.
I'm not sure if it's because of that, but I tell my wife and my kids that I love them at least 10 times a day. I want them to know it, and for them to remember me saying it.
JM

Valentine's Day

My wife is awesome. She threw a Valentine's Day party for all of the kids she watches. She spent $70 of her own money on this. It was awesome to see. I wish I could have been here for it. I love her.

The other day someone asked me what my favorite attribute was of my wife: the way she loves our children. JM