Thought 6 on what Jesus would Blog or Twitter about: The disenfranchised.

Read the lead-up to this here.

You can catch most of this in the oft misquoted Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel: "Blessed are the etceteras..."

I know...

In his famous Sermon on the Mount Jesus had a fair bit to say about how he understood the human condition. My guess is he'd be saying the same things today:

To more or less paraphrase, he said - 

I know you are hard done by, depressed, feel ordinary, live in a spiritual vacuum.

I know you are bullied and I know you are full of self doubts.

I know the world gives you a raw deal at times - maybe all the time.

I know people in authority can act like pompous self-interested despots and some of them seen hell-bent on making you miserable.

I know you get insulted, rubbished and criticised over nothing.

I know that just as the hurrier you go the behinder you get; sometimes the nicer you are the nastier the response.

I know in spite of everything, you love to show mercy and live in peace.

In fact I am here now looking for peacemakers. If you're one, good on you. Don't give up on being the best you that you can be. It will work out in the end.

To infinity and beyond, then.

Cheers

Colin Pearce

Thought 6 on what Jesus would Blog or Twitter about

The disenfranchised.

Get this in your email inbox -

You can catch most of this in the oft misquoted Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel:
"Blessed are the etceteras...”

I know...

In his famous Sermon on the Mount Jesus had a fair bit to say about how he understood the human condition. My guess is he’d be saying the same things today:

To more or less paraphrase, he said –

I know you are hard done by, depressed, feel ordinary, live in a spiritual vacuum.

I know you are bullied and I know you are full of self doubts.

I know the world gives you a raw deal at times - maybe all the time.

I know people in authority can act like pompous self-interested despots and some of them seen hell-bent on making you miserable.

I know you get insulted, rubbished and criticised over nothing.

I know that just as the hurrier you go the behinder you get; sometimes the nicer you are the nastier the response.

I know in spite of everything, you love to show mercy and live in peace.

In fact I am here now looking for peacemakers. If you’re one, good on you. Don’t give up on being the best you that you can be. It will work out in the end.

To infinity and beyond, then.

Cheers
Colin Pearce
Speaker, Author, Coach

Disclaimer: My views are my own.

What would his message be?

You can catch most of this in the oft misquoted Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel: 

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”  

Don’t be a bogus leader

There’s a church meeting in the Parish Hall to discuss the salaries of the church leaders.

The Bible School teacher stands up and says, “I have had another child since my last stipend review, my car is old, my eldest child is entering high school with more books and tuition fees and I need a new suit. Could I please have a $20 a month raise?”

The administrator submits, “I need new books for my library, my accountancy association fees have doubled, and I need to buy a new coat for winter. Could I please have a $10 a month raise?”

The children’s worker says much the same thing about the cost of living, the price of petrol and telephone calls and asks for a raise of $10 too. The same for the gardener.

Then the room darkens, a spotlight falls in a circle on the closed stage curtains and a head pops out. It’s the Senior Pastor. “Puh-raise Ju-yeezus folks!” he beams. “I want you to know I love my job. I love my new sports car in the parking lot, I love my new suit, I eat out 5 nights a week and I have breakfast with the visiting bands and performers that come through and I fly business class around the nation as I spread the good news. And I gotta tell ya (as he breaks into song) 'There’s no business like show business like no business I know... '”

**So...**

Only some pastors, priests and bishops are wolves in sheep’s clothing but it’s a condition not far from any of our doors. 

Just for example, if you’re a pastor there’s no need to tell people you’re the “senior” pastor unless you’re on the old age pension. Cancel your reserved parking space. Trust me. You’re not that important. You’re the servant of many. And while you’re on the subject of bogus titles, have you noticed that the latest trend is to adopt the title of “Apostle”.  Apparently that entitles you to con other “old aged” pastors to pay you to adopt them as followers. Ah dear! 

Titles like Music Pastor and Youth Director are so enticing. Funny thing is, Toilet Cleaning Administrator, Senior Chair Straightener, Chief Sick People Visitor and Master Poverty Reductionist don’t attract the same level of glory.

Beware Bogus Leadership: There’s a ferocious wolf in all of us just waiting for our moment in the limelight

To infinity and beyond.

Cheers

Colin Pearce

Speaker, Author, Coach

Disclaimer: My views are my own.

What was on the minds of the people to whom Jesus spoke?

What was on the minds of the people to whom Jesus spoke? (i.e. in this context we are pretending about to whom he blogged and twittered)

The native Jews were wondering when they'd get a decent change in the government i.e. when the Messiah would come and when the Romans would leave. We just had that in Australia with Kevvie the Messiah leaving and Julia the new Messiah coming in but we are wondering if she is really the Messiah she promises to be or just a Roman in disguise.

The native Jews (like all citizens) were extremely wary of foreigners immigrating and taking space they weren't entitled to.

Superstition was rife. People wanted to know what a sick person's parents had done to cause him or her to be sick. What had others done that made a wall fall on them. People were aware of signs and omens and looked eagerly for a solution in the alignment of the stars and planets.

Sexual promiscuity was a laughing matter -爁or men. So was getting plastered. So was home violence, home invasion, and homelessness.

Independent well-to-do women were a rarity.

Religion was stale, a ritualistic out-of-touch politically-correct waste of the common people's time.

Sports were a common relief from the drudgery of poverty.

The tax man was everywhere and could take what he liked.

A war could pop up at any time for any reason whatever - or no reason at all and you could find yourself in it whether you liked it or not.

The rich were unnecessarily opulent

The poor were unnecessarily destitute.

Isn't that just a a bit more that a smidge like today's internet community?

So what did Jesus say that caught their attention?

Catch up on the archives at http://twominuteswithgod.blogspot.com/

Until next time, To infininty and beyond!

What was Jesus' audience thinking about?

What was on the minds of the people to whom Jesus spoke (i.e. in this context we are supposing about to whom he blogged and twittered)

The native Jews were wondering when they’d get a decent change in the government i.e. when the Messiah would come and when the Romans would leave. We just had that in Australia with Kevvie the Messiah leaving and Julia the new Messiah coming in but we are wondering if she is really the Messiah she promises to be or just a Roman in disguise.

The native Jews (like all citizens) were extremely wary of foreigners immigrating and taking space they weren’t entitled to.

Superstition was rife. People wanted to know what a sick person’s parents had done to cause him or her to be sick. What had others done that made a wall fall on them. People were aware of signs and omens and looked eagerly for a solution in the alignment of the stars and planets.

Sexual promiscuity was a laughing matter – for men. So was getting plastered. So was home violence, home invasion, and homelessness.

Independent well-to-do women were a rarity. Women thought about their drudgery and abuse.

Religion was stale, a ritualistic out-of-touch politically-correct waste of the common people’s time. Thinking about religion was for people who had time to think.

For non-Jews, sports were a common relief from the drudgery of poverty.

The tax man was everywhere and could take what he liked. They spent a lot of time trying to hide from him.

A war could pop up at any time for any reason whatever – or no reason at all and you could find yourself in it whether you liked it or not. They lived in fear.

The rich were unnecessarily opulent.

The poor were unnecessarily destitute. They wealthy feared theft and the poor feared being thrown into debtor's prison.

Isn’t that just a a bit more that a smidge like today’s internet community?

So what did he say to them? Next week.