The Problem with Judging

The presidential campaign is in full swing, and the political rhetoric and retorts are flowing. Whether it's candidates or pundits, party faithful or the peanut gallery, everyone's got something to say—most of it reactive. But it's not just politics, strong reactions and judgments abound on a myriad of issues—scandals, "stand your ground," militants and terrorism, religion, morality, and so on. Reaction and overreaction isn't limited to the public arena, it's been going on since humanity existed.

What Moves You?

This past weekend I had an interesting Saturday. It started off with a sweet, simple time of worship with a few young people at the beach, where our church met last Sunday for a sunrise service. It was a beautiful sunrise and an enjoyable way to begin the day. This past weekend our city hosted an annual Blues Festival. Musically, I cut my teeth playing the blues, so I look forward to this opportunity each year. But what a contrast of purpose.

At the Blues Festival, several bands played a diverse mix of blues music while people of all walks of life gathered to enjoy the music. Lots of beer is sold and drunk by people wearing questionable attire while gyrating to the music. It wasn't pretty. As a young friend of mine characterized it, "It was like a hippie-fest, the bad kind of hippie." But...that's what moved them—the blues music, the beer, and the fantasy of days long gone.

Remembrances

This past weekend was an important time of remembrance for Christian believers. Depending on how traditional one is, it can begin with observing Lent (40 days of fasting), Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday (Easter). And don't forget Passover, which has great significance for looking at the Gospel story through a Jewish perspective.* It's the precursor to the Christian observance of communion, and gives a greater depth of meaning to Christ's death on the Cross. The most important lens of perspective is celebrating the Lord's resurrection from the dead. I especially love sunrise services!

What Should We Do?

When John the Baptist began preaching and challenging the status quo of his day, he caused quite a stir. Nowadays it's called revival. He was a non-conformist, an independent preacher. But he was not self-ordained, he had a prophetic call upon his life—even before his conception (Luke 1:13-17). His role in life and ministry was preparing people for the coming Messiah. When he preached—and it was strong preaching—people listened and responded (Luke 3:3-9). After hearing the strong words of John's message the people's response was simple—"What should we do?" (Luke 3:10 GW).

Learning, Listening, Leading

Last week I bandied about some thoughts on WWJD and my own acronym WDJD. This week I'm looking at what got me thinking about all this. The point of last week's post is not wondering what Jesus would do in a given situation, but learning what He did do. The Gospels reveal plenty of situations applicable to those arising in our own lives each day.