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Who do you say I am? by Kevin DeYoung

The greatness of God is most clearly seen in His Son. And the glory of the Gospel is only made real in His Son.
Matthew 16: 13-17 “Who do you say I am?”

That question is still so important today because Jesus is a popular man.

- Republican Jesus – who is against tax increases and activist judges, for family values, and owning firearms.
1 Democrat Jesus – who is against Wallstreet and Wal-mart, for reducing our carbon footprint and printing money.
2 Therapist Jesus – who helps us cope with life’s problems, heals our past, tells us how valuable we are and not to be
hard on ourselves.
3 Starbucks Jesus – who drinks fair trade coffee, loves spiritual conversations, drives a hybrid vehicle, and goes to film festivals
4 Open-minded Jesus – who loves everyone all the time no matter what (except for people who are not as open-minded as you).
5 Touchdown Jesus – who helps athletes run faster and jump higher than non-Christians and determines the outcomes
of Super Bowls.
6 Martyr Jesus – a good man who died a cruel death so we can feel sorry for him
7 Gentle Jesus – who was meek and mild, with high cheek bones, flowing hair, and walks around barefoot, wearing a sash
(while looking very german).
8 Hippie Jesus – who teaches everyone to give peace a chance, imagine a world without religion, and helps us
remember that “all you need is love.”
9) Yuppie Jesus – who encourages us to reach our full potential, reach for the stars, and buy a boat
10) Spirituality Jesus – who hates religion, churches, pastors, priests, and doctrine, and would rather have people out
in nature, finding “the god within” while listening to ambiguously spiritual music (enya).
11) Platitude Jesus – good for Christmas specials, greeting cards, and bad sermons, inspiring people to believe in themselves.
12) Revolutionary Jesus – who teaches us to rebel against the status quo, stick it to the man, and blame things on “the system”.
13) Guru Jesus – a wise, inspirational teacher who believes in you and helps you find your center
14) Boyfriend Jesus – who wraps his arms around us a we sing about his intoxicating love in our secret place
15) Good example Jesus – who shows you how to help people, change the planet, and become a better you

Then there’s Jesus Christ
 -The Son of the Living God
 -Not just another prophet
 -Not just another Rabbi
 -Not just another wonder worker
 -the one they (the Jews) had been waiting for
 -the Son of David
 -Abraham’s chosen seed
 -the one to deliver us from captivity
 -the goal of the OT Law
 -Yhwh in the flesh
 -the one to establish God’s reign and rule
 -heals the sick
 -gives sight to the blind
 -freedom to the prisoners and proclaim Good News to the poor
 -the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world
 -the Ultimate Sacrifice

This Jesus was the Creator come to earth and the beginning of a new creation. He embodied the covenant, fulfilled
the commandments, and reversed the curse. This Jesus is the Christ that God spoke of to the serpent, the Christ
prefigured to Noah in the flood, the Christ promised to Abraham, the Christ prophesied through Balaam before
the Moabites, the Christ guaranteed to Moses before he died, the Christ promised to David when he was king, the Christ
revealed to Isaiah as a suffering servant, the Christ predicted through the prophets and prepared for through John the Baptist.

This Christ is not a reflection of the current mood or the projection of our own desires. He is our Lord and God.
He is the Father’s Son, Savior of the world, and substitute for our sins–more loving, more holy, and more wonderfully
terrifying than we ever thought possible.

The thing about this is just the other day I was with my nephew and he is always texting his friends. He’s only 10 years old, but he’s always texting someone. At least when I see him. So the other day he was with me and i said, “Isaac, you are always on your phone. You text so much. You’re like a girl, texting all the time.”
And he said, “no its my friends who always text me.”
Then I said, “girl.”

Then I realized how much I’ve been on my phone and a giant pie full of humble-ness smashed into my face.

Steve = girl.

maxin and relaxin

i love those eyes

my girls

look at those feet!

She’s awesome.

We’re almost ready.  Her room is basically ready, but ours isn’t.  The Queen Creek house still has stuff in it (mainly us) and we still have some packing to do.

Man its gonna be awesome to see Chloe face to face.  Geez, imagine how big my foot is compared to her…I have a size 13 foot, and she probably has a size .09 foot.

that, my friends, is like camping.  (intense)

Tonight was an amazing night.  It didn’t start off to well.  Parents trying to take control of the group is never a good battle to be in.  Nor is trying to tell a parent that their son/daughter isn’t as good as they think they are.  Its like walking on eggshells.

No joke.

Dave Hageman came and led worship through music for the group tonight.

Awesome.

I love that guy.  I wish I got to see him more often.  I had a blast with the games tonight.  We played Taco Bell Grande and Musical Baby Food.

Classics!

I showed a Nooma dvd called Noise.  The point was to emphasize what the staff and I have been trying to say the past couple of weeks.  Then I had them take a few minutes of silence and write down on a piece of paper what they are dealing with in life or if they had any questions about God/Jesus/Christianity/Whatever. 

I just got done reading them at home.  Frickin blew me away.

God blew me away.  He’s still chipping away at my heart.  Thanks Lord, for not giving up on me.