Following the rules seems to be the hardest thing to do.

A lot of us think we have it figured out.   I mean we follow the rules, go to church, we’re  a good citizen, etc…  Along with this we might even be followers of Christ.  So what else is there?  Is there anything else I should be concerned with.  Have I made it?  From this point on does it  just keep getting better by making sure that my sinful nature stays checked?

Listen to what Jesus had to say;

18 A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 “You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY , DO NOT MURDER , DO NOT STEAL , DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS , HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER .’” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! 25 “For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”

Luke 18:18-26

Along with following the rules comes the sacrifice.  You see it was easy for this guy to follow the rules and because of his cushy lifestyle he didn’t have to sweat too much.  Then Jesus dropped the bomb on him and basically said that following Him would have to cost something.

Where are you at?  I don’t think this means that having things is bad but you have them for a purpose.  Your ’stuff’ belongs to God anyway.  Are you ready to give it up?  When you serve does it cost you anything?  Is there a level of discomfort that comes with it?  Or is it easy for you to serve because your life is cushy?

Jesus seemed to put a big emphasis on it (eternal life), shouldn’t you?

This view on leadership and the church comes from an ongoing synopsis from the observations of Band of Brothers.

Next topic about the church and how it should be like today:

• Talk about open communication!  When your life depends on the other person you don’t hold anything back.

This point is similar but different to what we covered about being open with individuals and sharing your secrets.  This is more about how to communicate and what could be the possibilities if we took the time to listen before speaking.

Not to beat a dead horse but here are the differences and why good communication is worth it:

• They (the soldiers) knew to shut up when someone was talking so they could here the whole message.
• They also gave direct eye contact so they could see the guys emotional responses to what the other person was saying.
• Usually they started their answer by acknowledging somehow, “This is what I heard you say.” (Usually with colorful language )
• When they were sure they understood the bottom line then they decided to act on it.

What’s this look like for churches:

• Staff that understands how each other feels and what is important to the other person.
• Staff that feels that they are supported and that their contributions count.
• Bad eggs are weeded out because individual agendas are discovered and exposed.
• It allows for the clarification of vision and why you are doing something.
• Everybody knows how to speak for their team mates because they have a grasp of what the other is trying to accomplish.

I have been in situations where communication is non existent.  People believe that communication is getting louder and voicing your opinion more aggressively.  When this happens you lose moral and the respect of others.  Then your best leaders will leave.

Forget about good, average communication is hard to achieve but it is well worth it.

Those of you that have experienced the two different types of workplaces know what I am talking about.  Challenge to you is if you are in a place with bad communication how are you going to make it better?

Old Thoughts Die Hard from Jody May on Vimeo.

Ok I know, "Live Long and Prosper", but it means the same thing.

• The following was the post I wrote for our Jesus website this week.  Check out the link on the side of the page for more info.

When looking this past week at the story from Luke 7: 50 Jesus looks at this woman that washed His feet, with a years worth of wages, and says, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”…

One of the unusual things here that we talked about was that in the previous verse he tells her, “Your sins are forgiven.”  Which blows everyone away.  Why? Because no one on earth has the ability to forgive sins.  Only God could forgive sins.  But, here is this Rabbi that is traveling through the country-side, doing miracles, forgiving people of sins.  This was the calling card of the one destined to come, the Messiah.  Kind of like the Jewish Superman.

But there is also this cool, underlying meaning, behind another phrase that only the Messiah could have gotten away with…”Go in Peace”.

You see, everyone in the world is at odds with God until they confess sins, repent (to turn away from there sins), and believe that Jesus died for them and accept that sacrifice.  Scripture states that we cannot serve two masters.  The world is in direct defiance of its creator.  Because of this we are against God and He cannot be for us, nor turn His wrath away, until we come to His terms.  By the way I do not think that God is out to get you until you become a Christian but we cannot live with God, neither now or in eternity, until we surrender to Him.

To, “Go in Peace.” Means that Jesus was stating to this woman that she was no longer at odds with God.  She was safe and now in His care.  She didn’t have to think about an eternity away from Him.  She could live the rest of her physical existence in peace.

As someone that has experienced this I would urge you to seek God and make this peace with Him.  At Oak Leaf we are here to talk about this with any one but we want you to know you can do this on your own.  But if you want to talk you can contact me and we will talk about how you too can have the peace that this lady had.

Here’s my blog Post on the observation of Impatience while is the midst of dealing with it:)

“Just a little Patience Yeah, Yeah” from Jody May on Vimeo.