Four Things

Here's a passage:

18And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Matthew 28:18-20

I see four things here that I am supposed to do:

1. Go
2. Make
3. Baptize
4. Teach

Here are some comments about these four things:

1. We have it backwards. We think if we build it they will come. Jesus tells us to go and get them.
2. People are not naturally God's disciples - they have to be made into disciples. We have the ingredients and they are the things of first importance. Paul states them in 1 Corinthians 15.
   
3. As we make disciples, part of the process is baptism. We are born again. We die to ourselves, we are buried in a watery grave and we are raised to walk in that new life. We are, in other words, born again.
4. Once we have made disciples there is still much teaching to do.
   

Sounds like an awesome responsibility. I better get at it before it's forever too late.

Josiah Tilton

A Split Second

The talking heads and late night MC's had a field day with Hillary's picture. Jokes of all kinds were made and laughs were had all around. Many people drew conclusions about what type of person Hillary was/is just from seeing this picture. I'm sure she lost votes as a result of this split second in time. What a shame - not about votes, but that we would judge someone by a single incident or a moment out of a lifetime.

I sin. I also teach Bible class on Sunday morning. Which one defines me? If the people who are in my Bible class saw me sin and that was all they remembered of me then they would have a very difficult time trying to hear anything I might say in class. They would limit me to my sin. The truth is, however, that I am more than my sin. I am more than a snapshot; more than a moment in time.

Fortunately, the Father of all has made it plain that He thinks more about us than our sin(s). He is like fathers everywhere. We know our children are not perfect, but we do not see them just as their imperfections, we see them in their totality. We see them on good days and bad. We know they are a combination of happy and sad, of good and bad, of righteous and unrighteous. We do not see them as fodder for humiliation and bad taste joking. We see them as someone worthy of our love and loved whether worthy or not. So it is with God. He sees us as His creation. He loves us because that is what He is. It is not what He does, but what He is - God is love. And love finds a way.

It is not that split second that tells honest people what we are it is a lifetime of living that says "this is me."