Real Jesus in a Real World

Transformed by the Love of Real Jesus

What would it feel like to have your life, bit by bit and day by day, transformed by the essence of love itself?  That's the mission of Real Jesus for each and every one of us!  Imagine your wedding is...tomorrow.  But there are a few problems.  Brothers had a huge fight, not coming.  Dad found "someone else" and moved out.  He didn't think it would be right for him to come either.  And then a surprise guest shows up.  Love transformation!  And a little girl becomes love's transforming agent in the hospital waiting area right after the death of her beloved grandma.  And what happens on a school playground as a group of bullies' home in on a little girl?  Transforming love power!  Finally, is it too late when Millie gets caught selling test answers?  Nope - Real Jesus in on it - transforming love power at work there too!  Step by step, transformed into the living breathing image of love itself!

Real Jesus NEVER Gives Up

As human beings, it can be easier than we think to get to the point of "I'm just done!", or "I give up!" Isn't it good to know that Real Jesus never, EVER gives up loving us through whatever, whenever...?  This week, I'll share the "I give up" moments of 5 very real people - the very place the love power of Real Jesus lifted and carried them through.  A mom and her daughter ponder... how much Jesus love is enough...and when is enough forgiveness enough?  And meet Staci, who has endlessly prepared and studied for her professional board exam...and just failed for the second time...ugh!  And then there's Max, a seven-year-old with Down's syndrome who waits in the obstetrician's office as his mom is being seen.  When is she coming back?  Hasn't she been back there long enough?  Then there's the crazy overwhelmed life of a high school track coach at the start of the season...and then a colleague calls to urge him to add Jess to his team.  Jess, who is nonverbal.  Where will coach find the energy and attention to handle that?  Finally, we'll travel with a child flying "unaccompanied" as the airline "hands him over" again and again...when will it end?  With Real Jesus, the answer is - the guiding, strengthening power of His love never ends - because He never, EVER gives up!

Real Jesus - Bring It!

What, and who, would Real Jesus say, "Bring it!" to?  His answer just might surprise you.  Loke when a woman named Nirvana wanders into a church kitchen and asks, "So what do you do to celebrate the winter solstice here?"  Ummmm...bring it!  Or a loud, energetic, not quite in tune group of 20 - 30 kids parading down the middle aisle during a church worship service ringing bells, shaking tambourines, beating drums, dancing, and singing.  "When We All Get to Heaven...".  Some thought it was great - others not so much.  But Real Jesus says, Bring It!  And then a man from a homeless encampment arrives at a church Thanksgiving potluck - bringing a 50-pound bag of popcorn.  Bring it!  Ad finally, the surprise of reconciliation.  Real Jesus says: Bring it!  

Real Jesus - Ask It!

Real Jesus is open to questions - lots of questions.  Especially questions about love.  Where is it?  With Him, everywhere!  Who's it for?  With Him, everyone!  When is it?  With Him, always!  This week, we'll meet some real people who had their own "ask it!" moments with and about Real Jesus.  First, a woman has a very good question:  What do the words "disciples of Christ" really mean - are they REALLY all about his real love, or...?  And then we'll meet Bill, who has just been "downsized" out of his job of 17 years.  After one of his daily "help me Jesus" prayer walks, and as the bills kept pouring in, until he discovers a surprise in the bottom of his basket of bills...wow!  And what about a struggling single dad and his daughter, as they discover the power and love of Real Jesus is all the "gray times" of their lives.  Finally, what does the future look like in the aftermath of a fire that totally destroys an under-insured church building?  Out of those ashes rises the newly named Miracle of Hope Christian Church.  Real Jesus says - Ask it!

Real Jesus: Beyond Appearances

"Looks can be deceiving" - it's a common (and true) statement.  Sometimes things are much worse than they appear.  But many times, the very opposite is true, especially when we travel life's road intentionally in the love-filled footsteps of Real Jesus.  Like the guy who is finally able to buy the restaurant of his dreams...only to find out the supplies long past their "use by" dates.  Then there's Brett, who is deaf and unable to speak.  When he decides to join a local church and claim the love of Real Jesus, the way he does that is amazing - and way beyond appearances!  We'll also meet a woman named Tuki, blind for years, who receives new physical sight.  But what she really receives is way beyond what it "looks like".  And finally, a group is given a weird choice of snacks: figs... or fig leaves.  Say what?  Seems like an easy choice, but...looks can be deceiving!

Real Jesus: Love Inventory

Every now and then, something happens in our lives that leads us to "take inventory" of where we are in life.  Often, how much love is in our lives is a big category in that inventory.  This week, I invite you to hear the stories of some real people who found themselves in just a such a place in their lives.  First, we'll meet Bill, a 20+ year homeless man who finds himself in the middle of a health emergency and parked on a gurney in a busy hospital hallway.  Both Bill and the doctor new to the ED dig deep into their inventories of love, and both their lives are changed.  Then we'll meet a teacher named Todd and a boy named Jay who sneaks into his classroom to "inventory" his trash can.  Their lives will never be the same, as they open themselves to a restocking of the love in their lives.  And a little girl meets a blind Santa who has no legs right before Christmas.  Right there in the mall, our heart's love inventories were refilled.  And finally, a police officer pulls a faded picture out of his wallet - a powerful, life-saving reminder of his own lifechanging, steadfast love-power inventory.  Real Jesus - He'[s all about refilling and restocking our life's love inventory!

The Turnaround Power of Real Jesus Love

Turnaround Power.  What comes to mind when you think about that?  Perhaps it's realizing that there's no "quicksand" times in life that the love power of Real Jesus can't and won't pull you out of.  Or maybe it's in the difference between what one child calls "science teacher heaven" and "Jesus' teacher heaven:  And then there's the high schooler caught with drugs in his school locker who's given a choice: juvenile detention...or community service time spent helping at a place called the "Death to Life House".  Talk about turnarounds!  Last, we'll meet a "travelin' man whose afternoon "weeding with Jesus" draws him into the turnaround lane of Real Jesus love.  That's the amazing turnaround power of Real Jesus love!

Fill Up! - with Real Jesus Love

Take a mi8nute to ask yourself - What am I "full of"?  There's a common expression, "They're full of it!", which might make you wonder...full of WHAT?  Then, you might look for evidence to help you decide the answer to that question.  A very good question indeed, because what we are "full of" defines who we are.  But no matter what we find ourselves "full of", the love-fuel station of Real Jesus is always available to clean our life's fuel tank of whatever isn't lifegiving and refill it with His love-power.  Filled...and refilled...all the way through our whole lives.   Like when Tim visits a real village well like he'd read about in the Bible and is surprised at the variety of containers people bring to fill.  It makes him think of all the different people ("potential love containers") Jesus is ready to fill up with His love.  Then, what could a recent lottery winner and a child coming to the Communion Table in a worship service have in common?  Fill it up - with what?  And what about a young person preparing to be baptized who plans to be a "100% Jesus' guy"?  Now that'll need continual Real Jesus love tank fill ups for sure!  Finally, when a man seeking to escape gang life comes forward for prayer during a worship service meets a church deacon, both are changed forever at together their life's fuel tanks are cleaned and filled brim-full with the love power of Real Jesus.  Fill up!

Real Jesus: The Habit of Choices

Choices.  You may have heard something like: "Choices add up."  Or maybe: "Choices make habits, and habits define who you are."  Both quite true.  And Real Jesus?  His choices are always all about love.  Not just any love either, but last-through-and-beyond-anything love.  That's the habit of living love.  So, when you're alive and living into and out of THAT kind of love.  what are you "dead to"?  We'll listen in to a high school hallway conversation about just that: dead...to what?"  And then we'll consider the difference between "careful" and being "care-FULL".  Where might a growing habit of being care-FULL lead?  Next, we'll hear about where a habit of "fishing with love" might lead.  Imagine that...  And finally, what would you think of an invitation to join the "God's Gang of Love" in the midst of some very different choices?  What's the power of building a life habit of Real Jesus love choices!

Real Jesus - The Love Evidence Adds Up!

Evidence.  When we're trying to figure out of something is true and reliable, we look for, and collect, evidence.  This week, we'll look at some of the powerful evidence for the presence and love-power of Real Jesus at work in the world.  And it adds up!  First, we'll meet Dana, a resent nursing school grad who thinks he has his future career path figured out.  And then...the evidence starts adding up to something quite different than he'd ever imagined.  Then we'll sit with a group of kids thinking and talking about the time twelve-year-old Jesus disappeared in the middle of a busy city festival - without His parents' knowledge or permission!  Grounded, right? That's what the initial evidence looks like.  But then, a whole different kind of evidence starts adding up!  And when you think of the power of pennies and nickels, you might think you'd need a whole lot of them to make a difference, but then that love-evidence says something surprising...  Finally, we'll listen in to a group of children sharing a song about joy deep in our hearts.  A child in the group shares his grandpa's sadness at having "nothing to leave you when I die", and his realization that everything his grandpa is leaving him adds up to an amazing, love powered inheritance.  And the evidence of that is still adding up!