I remember shopping for Bibles and looking for a red letter edition. Someone had taken the time to identify all the words ascribed to Jesus in red ink. After all, that is the most important isn’t it? At some point I remember hearing the term red letter christians. A course in American history taught me that perhaps Thomas Jefferson was a red letter guy.
As disciples of Jesus; another way of saying students of the teacher, we should be interested what Jesus says. In fact we are interested in what the scriptures say about Jesus also.
Red Dirt Disciple is a way of saying we are interested in what really matters. It may mean beginning with the red letter words but not stopping at knowing what Jesus had to say, or what the Gospels say about him. The real question after we have learned all that scripture has to teach us we are left with the question, “so what?” What do I now do with all these words to live a more abundant life? To improve my community? To be saved?
At the very core of relating to God or anything unseen is faith. And just because we believe something and hold fast to unwavering faith doesn’t make it right! Or Godly! Faith must be exercised. In this process of testing, truth remains and all else falls away. The key to exercising our faith in the words of scripture and those of Jesus, is to trust them. One way of understanding how to trust Jesus and the Bible is to hold to our faith that what we believe will ensure our entrance into heaven when we die. Hopefully that makes some difference in how we live our lives. The final results will be proven after our death,
Another way of exercising our trust in Jesus’ words is to put them into practice in our lives. That matters most when we don’t want to trust them. When they disagree with our instincts or threaten our reputation and sense of security. Then we often resort to parroting soundbites like “in a perfect world” or “well after all I’m not perfect.” In spite of that the truth remains and we miss the mark, again.
The truth is forgiveness is hard; peace begins with charity and not force; serving others is essential and serving self always leads to a dead spirit. Losing is more important than winning. The first are last and the last are first. Our lives are not a gift to hoard but a gift to be shared. Love for others is not passion but charity and it doesn’t depend on the person receiving it but rather the one who chooses to give freely. These things are true whether we trust them or not. It is of course risky. It is not an attempt to earn one’s way to heaven. It is a way to live our lives in response to God and to the Gospel. These things will proven here in our lives and communities not just in heaven to come.
These things are Red Dirt Disciple.
…for the summer months I plan to write more here in this space about what we mean by Red Dirt Disciple! Keep watching…
As disciples of Jesus; another way of saying students of the teacher, we should be interested what Jesus says. In fact we are interested in what the scriptures say about Jesus also.
Red Dirt Disciple is a way of saying we are interested in what really matters. It may mean beginning with the red letter words but not stopping at knowing what Jesus had to say, or what the Gospels say about him. The real question after we have learned all that scripture has to teach us we are left with the question, “so what?” What do I now do with all these words to live a more abundant life? To improve my community? To be saved?
At the very core of relating to God or anything unseen is faith. And just because we believe something and hold fast to unwavering faith doesn’t make it right! Or Godly! Faith must be exercised. In this process of testing, truth remains and all else falls away. The key to exercising our faith in the words of scripture and those of Jesus, is to trust them. One way of understanding how to trust Jesus and the Bible is to hold to our faith that what we believe will ensure our entrance into heaven when we die. Hopefully that makes some difference in how we live our lives. The final results will be proven after our death,
Another way of exercising our trust in Jesus’ words is to put them into practice in our lives. That matters most when we don’t want to trust them. When they disagree with our instincts or threaten our reputation and sense of security. Then we often resort to parroting soundbites like “in a perfect world” or “well after all I’m not perfect.” In spite of that the truth remains and we miss the mark, again.
The truth is forgiveness is hard; peace begins with charity and not force; serving others is essential and serving self always leads to a dead spirit. Losing is more important than winning. The first are last and the last are first. Our lives are not a gift to hoard but a gift to be shared. Love for others is not passion but charity and it doesn’t depend on the person receiving it but rather the one who chooses to give freely. These things are true whether we trust them or not. It is of course risky. It is not an attempt to earn one’s way to heaven. It is a way to live our lives in response to God and to the Gospel. These things will proven here in our lives and communities not just in heaven to come.
These things are Red Dirt Disciple.
…for the summer months I plan to write more here in this space about what we mean by Red Dirt Disciple! Keep watching…