Real Jesus in a Real World

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!

Real Jesus Says...Can You Hear Me NOW?

Real Jesus - the ultimate love-powered "holy troublemaker" is on the loose - everywhere!  But people often don't notice, pay attention, listen, or follow His road of love-directed life.  And then there are those times when His "Can you hear Me NOW?  gets our attention.  For example, when ten-year-old Theo wants to change his name - until he learns about the "Theo" in the Bible.  When he starts truly listening to the voice and love of Real Jesus, his life is never the same!  And then we'll listen to a group of chaplain students as they talk about the many ways the love voice of Real Jesus echoes and guides through the wilderness times of life.  And diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a woman hears that love-powered voice in and through a tiny plant growing in the crack of her windowsill.  And finally, we'll take a tour through a child's drawing of what a life spent paying attention the "can you hear me NOW? voice of Real Jesus might be like.  Can you hear Him NOW?

At-One-Ment with Real Jesus

This week, we'll look at the word "atonement" up close and personal.  What makes up that word?  Is it just a "this for that" kind of thing?  What's underneath all that baggage (some not so great) that it often carries?  Think about it this way: At-One-Ment.  Being literally At One with Real Jesus, because that's the goal, the mission, of Real Jesus and His love-power.  At one with the power of love itself.  First, we'll listen in to a group talking about how the cradle and cross of Jesus are connected forever - at one - to continually connect and empower us to love.  Then picture a student chaplain entering a secure forensic unit in a mental hospital - only to be greeted with, "...so glad to meet you!  I'm Jesus Christ, but you can call me J.C. if you want.  What?  And we'll meet some folks in an addiction recovery group who realize the power of this "at-one-ment" in the face of temptations to "do stupid".  Finally, we'll see the amazing difference a member of a mission team makes as he steadfastly acts out his "at-one-ment" with Real Jesus - no matter what anyone else says.  Now that's the real power of "at-one-ment" with Real Jesus!

Real Jesus - Hang On!

Hang On!  Helpful words, but how can you hang on when you feel like you've got nothing left to hang on with?  And/or to hang on to?  That's when the amazing presence of Real Jesus is most powerful - and always available.  First, we'll meet Tom, a self-described "snowbird traveler", a dwelling-less guy who travels miles every year, doing add jobs in exchange for food and or money.  What he hangs onto fits neatly in his pocket - assuring him he always has something to "hang onto".  Then we'll sit with an exhausted hearth care worker in the midst of the worldwide covid pandemic, and a military veteran of six combat tours of duty.  Finally, we hear the wise, strong words of Mary, a participant in a Bible study of "crazy end times" as she describes the hang-on rock solid strength of Real Jesus love - strong from the "beginning to the end of time" itself.  Hang on!