I'm Crossing Over to the Dark Side...

The new blog (I promise, this is the last time I'll be changing in a while) is at:

http://wesblackburn.wordpress.com/

Catch me there!

I'm Focused on the Bread.

Have you ever just not understood?

I feel like I have those moments somewhat frequently... a person will be trying to talk to me about one thing, and I'm just not getting it. Sometimes they're just going way over my head. Sometimes I'm way overcomplicating it. But a lot of the time, it's simply that I'm not understanding. What that person is saying to me is just outside my realm of possibility, comprehension, whatever. I'm not understanding it.

In the gospels, we discover that Jesus' closest followers often just didn't understand. In Mark 8:14-21, Jesus is on a boat with his disciples, travelling. He starts to tell them that they need to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herodians (in other words, "Don't be like these guys!"). The disciples, though, think Jesus is criticizing them for not bringing enough bread on the trip with them.

A little off base, but not terrible, right? Wrong.

Well, it wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that already in Mark, Jesus has done two miracles where he miraculously took just a couple loaves of bread and multiplied it to be enough to feed a group of 5,000 (Mark 5:30-44) and 4,000 (Mark 8:1-10). Jesus obviously doesn't have any problems making bread appear if He and the disciples need any. Jesus explains this to His disciples and they still aren't getting it. I can only imagine the exasperation in Jesus' voice as He asks in Mark 8:21, "Do you not yet understand?"

I've read this passage many times before and just thought, "stupid disciples." But as I read, I think I'm seeing something deeper here, and it's this:

Jesus wants to give me something so much greater, but all I can focus on is the bread.

I think we can all agree here that God is a big God. Jesus knows what He's doing. He wants to do some big stuff in my life, and He wants to teach me some big, important things. Yet, just like the disciples, I miss the point by focusing on something totally trivial and mundane that doesn't even matter. Take this story for example. Jesus wants to teach His disciples about the kind of people He wants them to become, but they don't grasp it because they are so fixated on a question as stupid as "Do we have enough bread?"

I wonder how many things in my life I'm missing because instead of focusing on letting God do something amazing and life-changing, I'm instead focused on the little "bread" stuff of my life. I'm never going to experience the incredibly awesome stuff God wants to do in my life if all I can focus on are the small things that a long time ago Jesus showed me He can take care of.

So where are you focusing on the bread? Is Jesus asking you, "Do you not yet understand?"

The Called Ones.

"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

-Jesus in Mark 2:17, esv

Over the course of February, I've sort of been taking some time to just read through the four gospels, taking some time to try my best to re-familiarize myself with the story of Jesus; who He is, what He cared about, that sort of thing. I just started Mark a few days ago, and out of the first four chapters that I read, this was the verse that stuck out to me.

In this particular situation, Jesus has just asked Matthew, the heathen, cheating, scoundrel tax collector to be one of His disciples. Matthew invites Jesus to come and have dinner at his home, and invites some of his sinner friends to join them. The Pharisees had a real problem with that, and inquired why Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. Mark 2:17 was His response.

To me, this was a great reminder that the moment I think I am perfect, the moment I think I've got it together and I've got it all figured out that I am outside of the people Jesus came to save. Jesus didn't come to save people who feel like they've got it all together. He didn't come to save people who think they're pretty righteous. He came to save people that freely admit they have faults... who freely admit they have problems, they have sin, they have dirt, they have doubts, they have all the stuff that people like me so often turn our noses up at.

Jesus came to save people who are sinners, not the ones who think they have it all together.

May we all be reminded that we are all broken, messed up people who need Jesus.

Center. (Or, More Aptly, "What's Your Favorite Worship Song?")

I've been leading worship on a regular basis for about six years now. Over those six years, I've led probably hundreds of different songs in several different venues, but to me, my favorite song will always be the song "Center," by Charlie Hall. If you're unfamiliar with it, watch here:



I think there are a lot of great things about this song, but I'm still just struck by the simplicity of it. I can still remember noticing that when I listened to it for the first time. "Be the center of my life" is a prayer that I think I need to be praying to God on a frequent basis. Seasons of my life will come and go, but in each one, God asks me to keep my life focused on Him. I tremble to imagine the incredible life that I would live if I could simply get that prayer to be lived out each and every day in my life.

What about you? What's your favorite worship song? Why?

The Power of Friendship.

I am learning the incredible power that there is in friendships.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 is probably one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible about friendship, and I think I am just now discovering the truth in that. Over the past six months, I am finding deeper meaning than I ever thought possible within the friendships and relationships that I am forming with the amazing people God has chosen to put in my path.

The past week has not been great. I think "crappy" would be an accurate description. I've seen a friend go through something exceedingly difficult. I've had a bunch of little frustrations this week. But through it all, I've had some incredible people standing right beside me to talk things out, dream about what life could be, and know that in the end, all will be set right. Even though this wasn't the greatest of weeks, I wouldn't change it for the world.

Thank you God for being kind enough to show Your love for me through the incredible love of those You have placed in my life.