The Lost Message of Jesus

If your standard of being a good Christian is to read the bible EVERYDAY, then I’ve backslide to the end of the world because God knows when was the last time I read that Holy Book.

I’m not saying NOT to read the bible. 

Don’t get me wrong. And don’t twist my words. 

I’m just in a season where I’m absorbing from other sources.

I believe God can speak through anything and everything. 

If a person can be saved through a good view of sun rise or durian, why can’t God speak through good books right?

The latest book I’ve completed is “The Lost Message of Jesus” by Steve Chalke. 

I got to know the author through Shirley and he caught my attention. 

I did my usual stalking and googling and found out that he wrote a few books. 

I immediately checked the website of Canaan Land and thank God they have it! 

I drove over after work the same day and got the book!

Is mind blowing!

And here’s a glimpse of it! 

Be warned! Is gonna be long!

One of the most controversial aspects of Jesus’ message was that it moved all the fences. He redrew the boundaries of the Kingdom of God to include very definitely those who previously had been excluded. He blew away both the social and geographical limitations imposed by the pious Pharisees and other religious leaders as well as the hot-headed revolutionaries. According to him, God’s Kingdom knew nothing of the political, social or religious boundaries placed on it by these groups. Jesus’ radical blueprint for the Kingdom of God would mean the opportunity of a return from “exile” for all peoples who had become estranged from the creator God, whatever their spiritual, social, ethic or economic standing. Indeed, it would ultimately include the whole of creation. ~ pg. 30

God didn’t sit in heaven making a list of all the things he knows human beings like to do and then outlaw them all to spoil out fun. Rather he knows the pain and heartache that we will cause others and ourselves if we pursue agendas that are contrary to the way he made us to be. The Ten Commandments is a loving God saying, ‘Look, I am the God who loves you. I’m on your side. I got you out of slavery. I’m the best deal you’ve got going for you. Trust me. Don’t steal. Don’t lie. Don’t abandon me. Don’t commit adultery, because if you do it will unleash destructive powers that will slowly over shadow you, destroying you, your families and your society. Trust me. Don’t be stupid.’ ~ pg. 52-53

If God is love, then anger is a legitimate, indeed intrinsic expression of that love. But because God’s anger is born of pure love, it is never fickle or malicious – it is measured and shot through with mercy and compassion. For this reason he reserves it until all other hope is lost, until the door of reconciliation has been irreversibly shut in his face by those who have tested his love to the limit and stubbornly rejected it, throwing it back in his face and walking away. ~pg. 62

This event [the healing of the women with blood issue] was far more than a miracle; this was Jesus’ subversion of an entire worldview. After all, things weren’t suppose to happen this way. According to the doctrine of the Pharisees, the “power” flow should have gone the other way: Jesus should now be “unclean”. However, it was obvious to all that the complete opposite had taken place. ~ pg.89 

God accepts us as we are, without judgment or condemnation, and gradually, through his love and acceptance, draws us ever closer to understanding and living out his shalom in our live. In other worlds, acceptance precedes repentance – not the other way round. ~ pg. 99

Jesus’ greatest complaint against the temple officials wasn’t the bad exchange rate; it was that they had dared to put a price on forgiveness at all, when God had always intended it to be free. ~ pg. 107

We have developed a “them” and “us” culture with two distinct categories – saints and sinners, ins and outs, saved and unsaved. We have separated what we refer to as “evangelism” from “discipleship”. We have designated two different tasks for two different audiences and using two languages. And on that basis we have convinced ourselves that we need two messages – the first for the outs to get them in, and the other for the ins to make sure they stay there. ~ pg. 140

As far as Jesus was concerned, it wasn’t how close someone was to him at any given stage in their life that mattered as much as the direction in which they were travelling. ~ pg.142 

Rather, he [Jesus] came to show them [us] how to be human. He encouraged people to follow him, to become his disciple, to get re-connected to God and other people. Salvation isn’t about having the right labels; it’s about becoming truly and fully human. It’s about living the way God created us to live, in harmony with him, with each other and with the rest of creation. ~ pg. 153-154