Terry Storch

Writing about life, leadership, faith, and anything else I find interesting.

Facebook Jesus

 

Facebook Jesus  - Colossians 2

This is the seventh letter of Paul that I have read in a row. I felt lead to read them in the order in which he wrote them, and it has been fascinating and powerful. Lots of excellent teaching and wisdom has come, as well as a few themes I am picking up. First, the most prominent theme in Paul's letters is Jesus, the gospel, and is the answer to all things. Another theme is the church and its leaders falling away from the pure teaching of Jesus and falling into twisted versions of Christianity or falling back on traditions of the past. There are more, but it seems as if Paul is the Chief Reminding Officer to church leaders, and us. 

Colossians 2 is just that, a big reminder to stay centered on Jesus, and in Jesus. Paul is dealing with the distortion of truth in the church known and Gnosticism. 

“I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.” - ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭2:4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Fine-sounding arguments, but they are not based in truth, and they are not the teachings of Jesus. That is what Gnostics did and still do today. Take a little bit of Christianity and add to it, and take a few things away and you end up with the jumbled mess of a version of Christianity that is not pure truth. It kind of sounds right, or on the surface it does, but it is distorted and false. 

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” - ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭2:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This sounds significant, and it really can be. But I have also seen that this can be little things that can take us off course as well. We can turn to Jesus by Facebook memes and Christian antidotes that we get from social media. We can turn to human wisdom from the latest personality test craze and focus on a new philosophy that is our guide to understanding self. These and so much more are nothing more than a new version of Gnosticism that twists Christianity up and mixes it with human thoughts and delivers it into a nice new Tweetable sound bite. This can be dangerous, and we must follow Paul’s advise...be alert and aware. 

The closing of chapter 2 is focused on freedom from human rules. This was a challenge for people and the church of this day. Many sliding back into old traditions and customs around following the law, following the rules, and propping up each other by how “spiritual” they were based on following the law. Jesus fulfilled the law and set humans free from this bondage. 

“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration, or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” - ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭2:16-17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Life is found only in Christ! Freedom is in Christ, and not things of this world. This is what the church was struggling with at the time, and maybe it is where you find yourself. Focused on rules and looking or desiring to feel spiritual. I do not see this much when I look around. What is see is people following Facebook Jesus. A little quote here, a dash of a meme to add to my thoughts there and pinch of human wisdom from some new psychology, and there is the truth of the day. A new twisted Christianity that does not offer the truth, and will not have the foundation we need to live fully in Christ Jesus. 

“For in Christ, all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ, you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.” - ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭2:9-10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus is God. As we read in chapter 1, for in Jesus, all things were created. The fullness of God dwells in Jesus, and he has reconciled all this to himself, making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. This is Jesus! The savior of the world, our savior, and our God. Facebook Jesus, snippet meme Jesus or Jesus plus or Jesus minus something is not Jesus. 

In times like we face today, we need hope, strength, peace, and a solid foundation to place our faith. Jesus is what we need. The full gospel that Jesus offers, not a fake substitute version we are feed by some feed we are scrolling. Our spiritual fullness is in Christ alone. 

Lord, may we be centered on you today, finding peace and hope in Jesus alone. Draw us to you today, may we be full with your Spirit that lives in us and may we feed on your Word that offers us life. 

other writing
John 20 - The Gospel

John 20 - The Gospel

The Gospel, the Good News! Jesus, Son of God, was born of Mary, lived as the Son of Man, died, and rose to life to rescue the world and bring about a new life. The central message of the gospel. Jesus, the centerpiece! John 19 & 20 cover the brutal death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

In this scene, I can not imagine how the disciples felt. John describes them as overjoyed...but those words just fall short of what I can imagine this moment was like.

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

The day of Jesus' crucifixion fulfilled 28 Old Testament prophecies. Scripture was fulfilled! Beyond that, trying to wrap my mind around what happened this day, on the cross, and fully grabbing the magnitude of the cross is mind-boggling.

Sure, we can dumb this down or simplify it to a place where I just don’t believe it is anywhere near accurate. We can get into penal substitution and argue over was God full of love or was God full of wrath and hate that he killed his son. To me, John 3:16 is pretty clear on the love part.

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

In John 18, we come to the great betrayal. Judas came with the soldiers, officials, and chief priest and Pharisees. We know the scene. But this morning, I saw something I don’t remember reading and surly don’t remember learning about.

“So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭18:3-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 is Jesus looking heavenward and praying to God the Father. So much beauty and mystery in this prayer. One thing that jumps out to me is that Jesus, fully God, and fully man prayed. Jesus is God fully. Why did he need to pray, He was One with the Father, He was God...and yet he prayed. This is so powerful;

“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭17:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

By the end of John 16, Jesus had done countless miracles, preached some amazing sermons, transformed so many lives, and developed a close and personal relationship with his disciples. So, when reading these verses, I am just utterly confused on so many levels.

“I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:28-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

Jesus’ time on earth is quickly coming to a close, and he finishes up his last sermon or teaching to his disciples as they walk to Gethsemane. This final teaching was a heavy one that no doubt left his disciples with a heavy heart. Jesus said it this way;

“...None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus goes on to say;

John 15 - Constant Growth

John 15 - Constant Growth

We were built for growth, constant growth. From birth, all the way until our death, we were designed by God for constant growth. The problem is, we often can find ourselves stuck in a belief, a phase, or a part of life where we stop growing.

One of the most brilliant investors embodies this understanding. Charlie Munger, at 96 years old, is still learning and growing as a person. I love this quote:

“Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.”
- Charlie Munger

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 opens with Jesus, saying, Don’t let your hearts be troubled. And the chapter closed down with Jesus saying Don’t be troubled or afraid.

A message that needs to resonate with our spirit and our inner self. This was such a good reminder, reading through John 14 over and over. This passage lifted off the screen.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart…

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

The world today seems so volatile and chaotic. Everywhere you look, whatever we read and see on TV just seems to be troubling. Last night, I noticed my lovely wife Tweeted this;

“I can’t be the only one who watches the news and is simply embarrassed right now, right? (Dear Jesus, we tap out. Come on back.)”

I find this first humorous, but then I also find it sad. It’s true, watching the news as a Christ-follower is pretty embarrassing. In John 14, we see Jesus…

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

Summarizing John, chapter 13, looks like this. The Lords Supper takes place. Jesus washes the disciple's feet. Jesus calls out Judas, and Satan enters him. Night comes, Judas leaves, and Jesus says he must go, and where I am going, you can not come. To cap it all off, Jesus also calls out Simon Peter and tells him that he will deny and completely disown Jesus three times. Whoa, a really full chapter, and historical day.

Nestled in the wrap up of the day is the parting message Jesus leaves his disciples, a message Jesus is sharing with us right now.

 
thoughtsTerry Storch