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Luke 21:8 “And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he! and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.”

We’ve probably heard these words before, but I believe we usually limit their impact on our lives.  We zoom in on the literal translation, and miss out on what Jesus is actually offering us here.  He was speaking to 1st Century Jews about the coming destruction of the temple, etc.  But His words also carry much into our lives as well.

“..many will come in my name…”  We’ve lost some of what Jesus is saying here, simply because we usually reduce “name” to that which a person is called by or responds to.  The word here (onoma) means so much more than simply someone coming and saying the name “Jesus”.  As I’ve posted before to help understand similar texts in the New Testament, we can think of the word “name” in the same sense as “nature”.  Think about the nature of Jesus.  His nature is to bring healing, restoration, forgiveness, right-ness, and to reveal Truth.  To be something we can put our eternal Hope in.  Jesus is saying here, “many will come saying this is also their nature”.  We see this on a daily basis, in advertising and other areas.  Products, people, powers, situations and systems, and “get rich quick” ideas that all offer/promise to be something it makes sense to put our hope or fear in, and receive life from/be anxious over..

May we not be led “off the path” by these things.

Then he ads an extra blow. “..and say, ‘I am he!’ ”  Most of our translations say “I am he!”  But the actual word here (eimi) does not actually include “he”.  It was added to reinforce the “come in my name” statement.  The word here is the same used in  1 Corinthians 1:28, “God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are (eimi).”

The literal translation of these words, then, is “come in my name and say, ‘I am‘..”, which says much more that our first glance.  It’s not just warning us against people who come and say “I’m Jesus”, or “I’m with Jesus”.  It’s warning us against everything that comes and pretends to BE something to worry/concern/live for/give priority and place in our life.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are on us once again.  We can fly right past being thankful and into the deals, ads, and shopping for gifts, because the Christmas shopping season proclaims “I AM”.  Many of us will spend time with family and friends, and there may be relationship issues and brokenness in our midst that needs forgiveness and healing.  We need freedom from these things in our life that are shouting “I AM!!”.  Jesus offers us that freedom…and community with others who are living as people made free.

In your life this week, what is shouting “I AM!!”?  Jesus offers freedom even now.  May God free us, and may we live as thank-filled…

Recently I was given this “Life Discipler” (follow link for site) to review, along with a letter from its’ creator, Tony Guard.  I was kind of excited at first, to actually receive a small electronic trendy looking device for free, simply for promising to write a review online. 

Then I opened it.  I took their advice and used it for at least 5 days. I even gave it extra time…a whole week. 

I agree that some of the goals are being met here:  It’s cheap, retailing at $29.99.  But it should be, for basically being a calculator that displays Bible verses and has an alarm.  The simplicity of design is nice, with just one central button, and one outer button for navigation.  But the amounts of clicking down and up make me really wish the outside button would spin for a scrolling feature.  I found myself thinking “it’d be nice to read a verse on another topic, but I really don’t want to do all that clicking.”  Yup…I’m thumb lazy.

Being someone that is fond of lamps in my office, the first thing I noticed was the display is very dimly lit.  You need a bright sun, or a very well lit room to use it.  But it is small, and has a ring to be clipped to a keyring or something.  So the presentation is nice.  But with so many teens having iPods and similar gadgets these days, this product seems to be superfluous and uses outdated technology.  Perhaps make them more rugged, and ship them to 3rd world countries?  Although his letter states an elderly woman “over 80” was able to use it…so maybe give some to the local nursing homes too.

Let me quickly go through of the “Important Details” they gave us:
1. Never before seen tool for Christians. (Okay, ice cream cones with Bible verses would be too.  Doesn’t make them necessary, even though they’d obviously be cooler.)

2. You can get God’s guidance immediately, like never before.  (Never before?  I found it much easier to pray, or even open a Bible, than take the time to click through this to find a single scripture out of context.)

3. No searching/No remembering, it feeds you verses using an audible alarm.  (Really?  An alarm to remind you not to memorize scripture?)

4. Keeps you focused on God instead of your problem or the world.  (I could write a lot about this one.  But I will simply say – no it doesn’t.)

In closing, if you’re looking for a gift for your Jesus loving teenager/young adult, or one that you want to encourage in their pursuit of Jesus….this doesn’t seem like the gift.

But if you read this, and still really wanna buy one for that special person in your life…I’ve been authorized to give you a code “GROW20” that will get you 20% off.  Which is really nothing special, since the website has a similar discount offered to anyone.  I will say, Tony’s letter sounds like he cares a lot about “getting Christians into the Word more”. I just don’t see how this product will encourage that, beyond encouraging an “a la cart” approach to scripture and frustrating those of us with dim rooms and lazy thumbs.

Recently I received a copy of “Homeless for the Holidays” to view and write a review on.  If you know me, you know I’m not a big fan of movies made by Christians for Christians.  So I invited my wife to sit and watch it with me, because she, admittedly, “loves cheesy movies”.

One of the main points throughout the story is that God can take immense suffering in our lives, and use it for His purposes.  That point is brilliantly illustrated by the simple act of watching the movie.  As expected, there are major reasons this movie was never in theaters, and won’t sell well to the general market.  A whole bunch of cheese, and scenes you just wish would move on because the acting feels way too unbelievable.  In the words of the advertising I received, “This film was made on a much lower budget than originally planned and many of the actors involved even worked for free in order to make the film possible.”  I hope so.

But bad script and acting aside, we find God at work even through the immense suffering of this movie if we allow.  It is, after all, based on a true story.  So while watching, perhaps it’s helpful to imagine one person telling us his testimony.  Less as entertainment, and more as a story of God in a man’s life…it’s worth hearing in a world that emphasizes things like “success” and “material wealth/comforts” over humanity and family.

He loses his job for some pretty unjust reasons, and savings only keeps them going a few months before the bills begin stacking up beyond their ability to pay.  They lose services, power, and finally even gas before ultimately being evicted from their home.  If you can get past the moments in the movie that make you groan, there are some good questions to discuss:

– How can this movie be a reminder to change my natural inclinations this Holiday season?
– How do I model “what is important” to my family? My children specifically?  My spouse?
– Where have I shown compassion on someone in need in a new or creative way recently, recognizing we are all children of God?
– How can I live my daily life more simply, so that when unexpected crises’ occur, it’s easier to continue with what matters?
– Am I thankful for the things I often take for granted?  Electricity, water, heat, food, etc?

So yeah, over all a movie worth existing.  Get it for your church library.  Of course, those of us who need to watch it are probably renting movies, or watching them on Hulu….while the people who live simply without cable/internet will be the ones who watch a movie like this, for lack of other options.

But who knows…”Fireproof” seems to have been a big hit. 🙂  This definitely competes, and you don’t have to deal with Kirk Cameron.