Paying Ridiculous Attention to Jesus

After a two-month “impromptu sabbatical,” join Rick for the third episode of the new series—“THE WAYS OF JESUS.” The influence of our self-narratives. The story we tell ourselves, about ourselves, can lead us into captivity—the captivity Jesus came to set us free from. Jesus wants to “de-bug” our narrative. In Matthew 5 we have Jesus delivering the “But I Say’s”—they’re a kind of complement to “Th...

Join Rick for the second episode of the new series—“THE WAYS OF JESUS.” Researchers say a strong factor feeding resilience is “the degree of control that the person has over the stressor.” When we can’t exert any control over the trauma we’ve experienced, the “agency” that fuels our hope is obliterated. Put another way, painful experiences that are “inescapable and erratic” can cut the soul’s “ten...

Join Rick for the first episode of the series—“THE WAYS OF JESUS.” There was a miraculous birth that preceded the miraculous birth of Jesus—John the Baptist. He was born of an elderly couple, chosen to “prepare the way” for Jesus by calling the Jews to repentance. John targeted their complacency and entitlement—challenging them to turn from following the way of the world to the way of the Kingdom...

Join Rick for the eighth and final episode of the series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” By mapping our responses to moral decision-making situations we can create a “moral map” for how human beings make right/wrong choices. But what about Jesus’ moral map? We discover that map in His “Sermon on the Mount.” This is Jesus’ epic proclamation of the Kingdom of God’s culture—the “deep good” in the heart of...

Join Rick for the seventh episode in the ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” In a curious encounter with His disciples and a gathered crowd, Jesus suggests that weather forecasting is a good metaphor for moral decision-making. Then He asks a question that seems self-evident: “Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right?” Of course, we can’t decide for ourselves what is morally right be...

Join Rick for the 7th episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” In January our focus shifts to resolutions—making commitments to improve. But are resolutions consistent with the way of Jesus? We all have a deep longing to move toward wholeness. Jesus says: “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Seems impossible... But in the Greek, perfect means “fu...

Join Rick for the sixth episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” The “messaging” around Christmas is deeply embedded in us—at no other time during the year is gift-giving such a major focus of our life. And there’s a lot on the line for us. People get into fights at the mall in the name of gift-giving. Every year we vow to “make this Christmas different,” but we get swept up in t...

Join Rick for the fifth episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” Jesus said: “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not!” But what happens when our life experience with God makes us think God has often given us snakes and stones instead of fish and bread? How confident...

Join Rick for the fourth episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” An ideology is “a system of ideas that aspires both to explain the world and to change it.” Another way to describe an ideology is the story we live inside. Or the self-narrative we’ve embraced. What is the greatest challenge in the church today? It’s our propensity to “edit” Jesus to conform to our ideologies, eve...

Join Rick for the third episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” We live in an age of enemies… Never has it been easier, or more likely, that we will create enemies just by living our life… Case In Point: Choose any random post on the social media site Nextdoor and you’ll see enemy-making up close—guaranteed. But in Matthew 5 Jesus delivers His blunt standard for Kingdom-of-God l...

Join Rick for the second episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” We’ll be pursuing the heart of Jesus through the lens of what’s going on in the world right now… In our culture today, we are the most connected/disconnected generation in history. Never have we had more tools of connection, and habits of connection, but the research shows that this is the loneliest generation in A...

Join Rick for the first episode in a new ongoing series—“JESUS IN THE REAL WORLD.” We’ll pursue the heart of Jesus through the lens of what’s going on in the world right now… Our goal is to connect what’s happening around us to the presence, priorities, and practices of Jesus. In this episode we’ll take a deep dive into “over-functioning”—what is it, how is it operating in your life, and how does...

Join Rick for the 8th and final episode in the series—“THE HARVEST.” In his commentary on the Gospel of John, the great contemporary theologian N.T. Wright says: “The urgent question, then, is this: How do we ‘remain' in him?” And Vaughan Roberts, rector of St Ebbe’s Church in Oxford, says: “Jesus us not a decorative shrub, useful for giving an aesthetic religious touch to life. He is not availabl...

Join Rick for the seventh episode in the series—“THE HARVEST.” We are all intimately attached to sources of life—a flower planted in soil, for instance, has more life flowing into it than cut flowers in a vase of water. Our attachments make all the difference… So let’s explore what wholeness looks like in Jesus, and in us—through the lens of how we attach (and detach) from our sources of life. We’...

Join Rick for the sixth episode in a new series—“THE HARVEST.” We know that Jesus is a storyteller who’s trying to tell a story of beauty in our soul—the story He’s telling in your life is a Romance. In the last episode we explored what the “Farmer” is doing about the “weeds” growing up in our field of “wheat”—our soul. Let’s uncover what Jesus is doing to set the stage for transformation in the p...

Join Rick for the fifth episode in a new series—“THE HARVEST.” We’re hard-wired for story, because we’re created by a storyteller. Our life is about our story. Story works to construct, give meaning to, and set boundaries around our experience of reality. It’s the “narrative code” that unlocks the meaning behind our experiences in life. The story we tell ourselves about ourselves determines how we...

Join Rick for the fourth episode in a new series—“THE HARVEST.” We know that Jesus defines goodness, and that boldness is one of His primary characteristics. So however Jesus lives out boldness is good. So let’s explore the many different ways Jesus lives and acts boldly, and discover how that might challenge or fuel the way we live… Rick’s new daily devotional, the Jesus-Centered Daily, is now av...

Join Rick for the third episode in a new series—“THE HARVEST.” Delight is central to the personality and relational norms of Jesus. We think we understand delight as a simple concept, but it’s really the portal into a deeper life with Him… So here we explore an encounter Jesus has with a woman as He travels through the region of Tyre and Sidon—pagan territory and the traditional home of Jewish ene...

Join Rick for the second episode in a new series—“THE HARVEST.” Jesus has invited us to attach to Him, like a branch in a Tree. And when we do, we produce fruit “after its kind.” Service is one of His tastiest fruits. So, is serving others a natural thing for us to do, or is it unnatural? Is service to others necessary for the survival of the species, and therefore motivated by self-interest, or i...

Join Rick for the first episode in a new series—“THE HARVEST.” Fruit, we know, comes from a tree. Without the tree, no fruit. And each tree produces a certain kind of fruit. Jesus has invited us to attach to Him, like a branch in a Tree. And when we do, we produce fruit “after its kind.” But Jesus is no ordinary fruit tree—out of one Tree many varieties of fruit are naturally produced. So, we’ll e...

Join Rick for the ninth and final episode in the series—“JESUS-PEOPLE.” Jesus had 11 encounters with the demonic in the New Testament—and those are the encounters we know about. It’s clear that dealing with demonic entities was a common part of Jesus’ everyday life. And, as we’ll see in the story we’re about to explore, Jesus didn’t just, well, whack these demons when He encountered them—He had a...

Join Rick for the eighth episode in the series—“JESUS-PEOPLE.” Even though Jesus makes the heart and essence of children a major theme of His teaching and His everyday life, His relationship with children has largely been ignored. The heart of children and the questions of children and the dependence of children and the habit patterns of children are the key to living into the Kingdom of God… In t...

Join Rick for the seventh episode in the series—“JESUS-PEOPLE.” Let’s ask a big question: WHAT did Jesus come to do? We say, and it’s true, that Jesus came to redeem us. To offer His life in exchange for ours. To give us abundant life and a place in the Kingdom of God that He’s “gone ahead to prepare for us.” All of this is true—and yet, from His own perspective, WHY did Jesus come? What is His pa...

Join Rick for the sixth episode in the series—“JESUS-PEOPLE.” We’ll explore the heart of Jesus through the lens of a woman who never actually meets Jesus, but plays a significant role in history because of Him. Noticing what Jesus notices is vital in our relationship with Him. It changes everything. So, what does Jesus find beautiful, and why? Perhaps the best example of noticing the beauty Jesus...

Join Rick for the fifth episode in a new series—“JESUS-PEOPLE.” We’ll explore the heart of Jesus through the lens of two otherwise obscure men who happened to experience an extraordinary encounter with Jesus on their way home to Emmaus, a small village seven miles from Jerusalem. We know the name of one of these two (Cleopas), but not the other. We traditionally think of these two travelers as mal...