The Apostle of Love

For those of you who will not be at White Station Church of Christ tomorrow (or if you are a woman and going to the ladies' class) I want to give an overview on the lesson that I will be teaching for the men's class. I will be teaching a lesson about the apostle John. John's story is an amazing one and his journey can be inspiring to anyone. When we think of the apostle John we think of a loving, caring man. However, John was quite the opposite. In his younger years he was rugged, hard-edged, ambitious, zealous, brash, and self-assertive to name a few. But as John aged and became more mature, the lessons that Christ taught him and the Holy Spirit changed John's weaknesses into his greatest strengths. The so-called negative characteristics that John displayed had been balanced by his love for others.

There are many lessons we can learn from John, but there are three points that I would like to point out (from "Twelve Ordinary Men" by John MacArthur). The first point is that John learned the balance between love and truth (Mark 9:38; Luke 9). Christ taught John that even though he needed to pursue truth, he also needed love and compassion. For us today, we need to have a willingness to pursue the truth of God's word by showing love and compassion to those around us. The second point is that John learned the balance of ambition and humility (Mark 10:35-45). In Mark 10 Christ teaches John the lesson of humility by teaching that one must become a servant to be great in the kingdom in heaven. John had a lot of ambition, but here he learned the balance between ambition and humility. In his gospel, John never uses his name, but uses "the one whom Jesus loved" to describe himself. He did this because he wanted to be humble and give Christ all the glory. In our lives we need to learn to have ambition to reach the heavenly kingdom, but to also do that with humility towards God. The last point is that John learned the balance of suffering and glory (Mark 14:50). When Jesus was arrested, his apostles, including John, fled. Here John realized the suffering that was to take place. He ultimately came back to Christ and learned more fully that one must suffer to earn a heavenly glory. John was the last of the apostles to die, but he did not die of cruxificition or stoning, but of old age. I believe that he still went through persecution and what it takes to have a heavenly glory. As Christians, we need to realize that we will go through persecution, but we also need to realize that there is a heavenly glory waiting for us.

These lessons that John learned can also be applied to us today. But one thing that is for certain: we need love in our lives just as John had love for others. Christ turned his greatest weaknesses into his greatest strengths. He turned him from a ruthless, rugged person into a loving caring person. He is also doing that for us today. Let us be children of God that shows love to others just as John did.

The Semester Approacheth!!!!

Well, I am finally done with my summer classes just in time for my fall classes to begin. I have some pretty good classes this semester and I am excited about them, but at the same time I wish I could have a longer break. Oh well. I also have all of my books for these classes...all 800 of them!! No not really, but there are quite a lot of them. Anyway, we shall see how this semester goes and hopefully keep you guys up to date. Also, I have added some more speaking dates so if you are in the area and have nothing else better to do then drop by and hear me speak! Until then, goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow!