Acts 9:1-2

Being passionate about something doesn't mean your right. A lot of times, especially in Christian circles, if someone speaks passionately or emotionally about something, the we feel we must support them and to not do so would be not Christ-like or sinful. I don't think that's true. You still have to evaluate the actual content of what someone is saying even if they're crying when they say it, or they speak emotively on the subject.
About a year ago someone suggested a new ministry for our church. I didn't feel like it was the right move for our church because of our cultural context. But the person presenting the idea spoke to the staff emotionally and passionately. They got choked up at a particularly sensitive and personal part. At the end of the presentation, there was no discussion whatsoever as to whether or not we should pursue this ministry. There was no discussion at all about researching it to find out more about it. The ministry was officially part of our church from that moment on. Since then, the ministry has kind of floundered along, not doing much, wasting energy and effort, and with few others who share this person's passion.
Just because you cry, you're not right. Just because you yell, you're not right. JM

Acts 7:1-60

Passion is powerful. Passion can get you killed. Passion can make other people think you are crazy, or a heretic. The problem is that other people don't care what you're passionate about. At least not naturally. Sure they may be nice and listen to you, but you have to convince people to transfer passion. It doesn't matter if you're trying to communicate vision, talk about your favorite restaurant, or share the gospel, you have to find the common ground with your audience. JM

Acts 4:15-22

A little over a month ago I took a group of middle school students to the Braves game. While I was getting a drink from the concession stand, the guy behind me starts talking to me. "We went to see the 'Walking With The Dinosaurs' thing at Phillips arena yesterday and it was amazing." Then he goes on for about five minutes about it, telling me how amazing it was, how much his kids loved it, etc.
I had heard of it and thought about taking Noah, but didn't feel like it was worth me spending the money. But this guy was so pumped about it. He felt the need to talk to me about it. He probably felt the need to talk to everybody about it. He probably couldn't stop talking about it.
That's the kind of excitement that I see that people have about God in the Bible. They can't not talk about it. But we don't act that way. We are so far removed from the spiritual and from the power that the Holy Spirit gives.
We are so the opposite of how the New Testament church was. Talking about God is not natural for us. It's not exciting for us. And it all probably comes back to the lie that we are self-sufficient. That we have earned all that we have. We refuse to see the miraculous and are mired in the mundane, so we live lives of passionless mediocrity. JM

Passion

Passion is powerful. It can make you do amazing things. Things you wouldn't be capable of without it. Monday Night Football is on right now and the Bills are beating the Cowboys 17 - 10. The Bills are passionate, the Cowboys aren't. The Cowboys should be destroying the Bills. We can do so much more with passion than we can when we just go through the motions.

It's easy to be passionate for a little while. But that usually fades. It's tough to maintain it. We get tired, or distracted, or whatever. But just imagine how different your life would be if you lived it with passion. JM

Matthew 21:1-11

The whole city was excited that Jesus was there. Jesus has finally come to Jerusalem. People have heard stories about what he's done nearby, but this is the first time that he's come to their town. Something obviously incredible is going to happen. They throw down palm leaves and their coats and celebrate.
People like to juxtapose this scene with his crucifixion 5 days later and wonder what happened. But when you read how his arrest and trial went down, it was all a carefully orchestrated plot by people in power. Jesus' impact on people was obvious, and people in charge were scared. He was bringing about change, and it was going to continue in their city.
The movement of God, and true Christian spirituality can be scary. We're unfamiliar with it, and sometimes it can be uncomfortable. It's a different mindset on how things should work within the church, and a lot of times people in power react adversely to it. I pray that I can embrace it and develop a ministry that embraces spirituality and encourages people to search for truth and fall passionately in love with Jesus. JM

Matthew 19:16-22

It seems weird to me that Jesus sometimes made himself so inaccessible. I always try to figure out why he did that with certain people. I think part of the reason he was like that with this rich young man was because that the guy was just looking for something that he could do so that he could check it off of his list. It seems that he wasn't motivated at all by a passion for God. He also calls Jesus teacher, which kind of shows that he thought Jesus was a teacher of God's laws, but probably nothing more. Interesting story. JM

Matthew 15:21-28

The power of faith is incredible. Jesus loves to compliment people who have great faith. I love this story because the woman is desperate. She is passionate about pursuing Jesus because she has a personal need. She wants to see her daughter be happy again. She wants to be able to interact with her daughter like she used to. She misses her daughter.
But Jesus doesn't want to help her. Probably because it would make everybody freak out. Whatever the reason, he only does it because of her persistence. She is passionately pursuing Jesus because she knows that he is the only one that can make her world right again. I think this is the passage that I'll use for mother's day. I'll have to try to develop this tomorrow. I'm excited about speaking, though. JM

Passion vs. Abrasiveness

I hate it when people substitute the word passionate for the word abbrasive. Example: That pastor is just passionate about God, that's why he says things like that. What they should say is That pastor is abbrasive, that's why he says things like that.
I know many people must like that style, as evidenced by large and quickly growing churches, but I am certainly not one of them. To me it just seems like a throwback to the old "give 'em hell" preachers. Why would we desire to revert to that? JM

They Don't Know What They're Missing

One of my favorite things about taking middle schoolers skiing is that for most of them it is their first time going. I'm kind of a natural teacher, so I love the opportunity to help kids have fun and stretch themselves. I convinced two little guys to get off of the bunny slope and go up the lift with me.
We go up and they're all nervous. We were just going to do a green, but if it's your first time, then it can be quite nerve-wracking. We ski down, and they both do great. One didn't fall at all, and the other one only fell once. They had a great time pushing themselves and seeing what they could do.
As soon as we got to the bottom, they wanted to do it again. On our way back up the lift, one of the kids looks down at the bunny slope and remarks about our kids that were still just doing that saying "They don't know what they're missing!"
It was awesome to hear his excitement. He was so jazzed about skiing down the big mountain.
The same is true for being passionate about God. So many people are happy to just ski the bunny slope by going to church, but not getting involved in ministry or letting God really impact their lives. They seem scared to go up on the lift and really pursue God with a passion. But once they try it, they realize that everybody else doesn't know what they are missing.

Insight

I spend way too much time in ministry trying to fix the problems. I look at a kid who is struggling with purity and I want to show him steps to living a pure life. I look at a kid who is struggling with gossip and I want to show him how to give it up.
The problem is that I'm not really sure if they want to give it up. The problem is not their sin, it's that they don't have a passion for God. If they did, then it would be much easier for them to attack their weakness.
I want to focus more on showing students how to live God-honoring lives by falling passionately in love with him. The problem is, I'm not sure if I know how to do that.
Nevertheless, we have a ski trip next week where we will have two short sessions. I now have my topic. I'm going to talk about symptoms, diseases, and having a passion for God.

Matthew 11:7-15

I love hearing passionate speakers. Jesus obviously got frustrated with people. Why wouldn't he. We're stupid.
But I love how Jesus points to John who everybody respects and admires and then says that the least person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than that. I think once we get to the new heaven and the new earth that we will all have jobs and do things. But I think that are importance there will be inversely related to our importance here.
That's at least a refreshing thought for me as I'm pretty much the scum of the earth right now. At least I'll end up well. JM

Matthew 8:1-4

Two things catch my attention here. The first is that when Jesus heals this guy with leprosy he touches him. He certainly didn't have to. I've read where people have said that it was to show compassion to this guy and the impact that physical touch can have. While that might be true, I think it also shows that Jesus is God. He can do things that are supernatural at all times. It makes the miracle even greater. I guess really it's like two simultaneous miracles, the leper is healed and Jesus doesn't contract leprosy.
The other part that is cool is that Jesus wants the man to go through the regular process of restoring himself to society because "this will show the people what I have done." Jesus chose not to buck the system. So many people talk about how he dealt with the pharisees and what a rebel he was. I think that Jesus loved the law, but he hated the pharisees' religious devotion to it as opposed to passionate devotion. Incredible. JM

Emotion

My wife and I had a discussion tonight about how frustrating it is for her when I try to solve every problem that we encounter with logic. It's my nature. It's who I am as a person to find the root cause of things, find the solution, and discipline myself to that solution. But it's not that way for my wife, and probably most women. They love emotion. They want to argue and fight and vent. It's in their nature. They are passionate people. I could learn a lot from my wife's passion.
I'm more disciplined, but what is the point of discipline without passion. That's just religion. That's not what I want to be about. I want to have passionate discipline. Man, how amazing would that be. Imagine what God could accomplish through passionate disciples. JM