Jesse Colburn

What Works

jcolburn — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 17:22:56 +0000

Seeking God is an art. Knowing and connecting with God seems to be a mystery that looks more like a constant game of hide and seek. I find myself looking for a method that works, a system that works, or anything that works in inspiring me spiritually. Instinctively I know this is only accomplished on an individual basis, but now i realize this is also experienced moment by moment. I have found what works today might not work tomorrow. When we finally discover that nothing works 100% of the time it becomes the greatest test we will ever endure.

How will we continue to pursue God even when becomes obvious that there is no perfect way to do this? Will we still seek God even when that perfect experience is illusive and undefined? Not looking for a perfect method is the only perfect method. The moment we discover that nothing actually “works” when it comes to how you journal, meditate, or pray defines our spiritual journey, and ultimately will be the most powerful turning point to knowing God.

Childlike Contribution

jcolburn — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:19:21 +0000

Imagine a 4 year old boy going to work with his daddy on a construction site. He puts on his tool belt with plastic tools, his toy hardhat and cowboy boots… he is ready to do the hard labor with his father… huge smile on his face as he gets into the truck. When his dad puts on sun glasses, he does too. When dad is hammering he lets his son hit a couple of times too. When dad is cutting wood, his son is on the side going through the motions of cutting wood with his pretend saw.

Is the boy actually contributing anything to get the job done? not at all… in fact he would probably he a hindrance to completing a project quickly. Is the boy proud to be working with daddy?

God needs me… and God doesn’t really need me at all. In fact, my ideas make things worse… and he allows that sometimes. The results are not his primary aim – the relationship is. God wants it to be a team effort between him and I… not because I have anything to bring to the table, but because i am his child, and he wants to involve me.

God Does Not Show Favoritism

jcolburn — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:07:11 +0000

This statement is found in the conclusion of the story about a man named Cornelius… a Roman Centurion, in the Italian Battalion, a Gentile, living in Samaria. Peter is a Jewish fisherman turned follower of Jesus, but is still struggling with the idea of a non-Jewish person being accepted by God. Then God shows up.

Peter is hungry, falls into a trance right before dinner, has a vision of all kinds of animals, and a voice tells him to kill and eat. I have totally had that same dream, but for Peter this was new. The animals were not to code according to Jewish food restrictions, and Peter being a good Jew refuses to do it. The voice in the dream tells him it’s cool… God has made it clean, it is no longer unholy.

Cornelius has a vision too. He was told to find a man he doesn’t know (named Peter), bring him home and listen to what he says.

It works. Peter agrees to visit Cornelius and tells him how to become a follower of Jesus, Cornelius goes all in, Peter understands the dream is about people not food, it’s a beautiful story… if you’re Cornelius. This is much more difficult for Peter. This experienced rocked his world.

In Acts 10:34 one of the first church leaders finally gets it. “It” still remains one of the great truths of following Jesus… Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”

Every nation. Accepted. No favoritism. How true. Realize.

The Same Language

jcolburn — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 14:00:34 +0000

I was teaching in rural Africa about sharing wealth (crops, education, and other resources) among neighbors and I was shocked to find that rivalry between tribes still existed. I believe love doesn’t recognize tribal lines and God certainly doesn’t separate us by ethnicity, so I was left wondering… why would they be skeptical about the idea of letting go of tradition to share food with another family? Why do they compete with each other for ideas and technology? How could they be so consumed with only taking care of themselves?

Then it hit me… Here I am – the typical white American man thinking of scolding this group of West African men for their individualism and selfishness. This is ironic because individualism and self-centeredness are deeply rooted in my culture and my existence, and something I would expect to see in my community… but not in rural Africa.

What I thought was only an American problem might be a human problem. Apparently we have found a way to separate and reject each other in every language and culture.

Won’t You Be my Neighbor?

jcolburn — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 14:31:24 +0000

When Jesus said “love your neighbor as yourself” he was talking about treating unequal people as equals. This was a command to love people who are not like you. We get caught up on the word neighbor, and so did his audience. Someone asked “Who is my neighbor?” and Jesus answered with a story. The story of a Samaritan helping a man in need. This was offensive because he was talking to a Jewish crowd who did not like Samaritan people. (Luke 10:30-37)

He was being asked about the greatest commandment, and he said this is one of the rules that sums up the entire law of God. He was probably quoting from the Jewish Scriptures in Leviticus (19:33,34) where the command is stated like this, “When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself”.

There are plenty of reasons to not love someone: ancestry, tribe, race, politics, nationality or religion. Following Jesus means looking beyond the reasons and seeing a neighbor… an equal.

Raising the Bar

jcolburn — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 03:18:58 +0000

A strange thing happens when we take a position, join a team, make the cut, or are accepted into a group: we immediately and instinctively raise the bar for entrance behind us. If it was easy for us to get in, we make it complicated for others. If there weren’t any expectations, guidelines or procedures in place before we were hired, we create them. If there wasn’t a minimum standard for acceptance before we enter, give any of us enough time and will create one.

This might work great for business or quality control because we want experienced and qualified people working for us. But…

Imagine if we use this method to approach God. No one gets to God by being good enough, or more experienced. A friendship with God cannot be bought, earned, or qualified by a great moral performance.

John 6:1-15

jcolburn — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 03:14:30 +0000

After he mysteriously provided food for a large crowd of people the book says, “After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

This seems like a good thing – people are finally catching on to who Jesus is. Jesus appears to be at the top of his game, doing the right things to get noticed and possibly on the verge of a breakthrough in popularity. This is a moment to capitalize on. This is the moment to start a revolution. This is his moment to shine. Jesus should step up and say, “Yes! You are right. I am the Man. You really should recognize and worship me. I am the King of kings.”

Imagine what he could do with a huge crowd of people who loved him. If Jesus had a facebook he would have millions of fans at this point. Time to take it in and recognize how far he’s come… how much he has accomplished.

He probably has every right to do that. He would probably still be crucified in the end. No one who knew him, or witnessed what he had just done would question it for a second.
How does Jesus respond?

“Jesus knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew…”

Well that’s pretty counter-intuitive. Talk about a momentum killer. You are the Son of God and a large crowd might want to promote you to the highest, most influential position… a king, and you run.

This perplexes me. Either Jesus knows something we don’t – maybe about timing or God’s will, or he consistently chooses the hard path – the long and low path. Maybe both.

Climbing the Ladder vs. Hiking the Canyon

jcolburn — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 01:34:08 +0000

Sometimes success is called “climbing the ladder” and we work to get higher, and have more…
more pay… more responsibility… more recognition… more staff… more points.
The symbolism of climbing up means we are working to get closer to the top…
winning a higher, better position is what everyone wants.

Following Jesus is nothing like that.
It’s more like a hike down the Grand Canyon than a climb up the corporate ladder. The life of Jesus was a series of humiliating circumstances, misunderstanding, and illogical choices and following Jesus is a long… hard path downward.
This is the most difficult principle to swallow. This is where we get lost or confused. This… the journey to the bottom… is at the core of the Jesus way of life.