Tag Archives: reaching out

Deep Wounds

As a child, you tend to place your favorite people up on a pedal stool, doing no wrong in your eyes.  However, when reality sets in as these people shatter your perfect image of them, heart break often follows.  Subsequently, deep wounds open, inflicting your soul with anguish unlike anything you’ve experienced before.

During the days of Israel’s exile, the prophet Jeremiah pours out his heart in a letter entitled Lamentations.  Weeping through his writing, Jeremiah refers to wounds as deep as the sea floor, Lamentations 2:13.  Perhaps Jeremiah is struggling with his expectations of God’s promises compared to the reality of his current condition.  Like being rejected by the man or woman of your dreams, deep wounds form which some never recover from or take years to heal.

If you stop for a moment to look around, you are probably surrounded by individuals hiding their pain.  Whether it’s the reckless driver on your way to work, the disgruntled employee or quiet neighbor, each is trying to cope with their pain.  Depending upon your response to their needs, you will either sooth or worsen their wounds.  Let your light shine today, Matthew 5:13, to help others begin to heal from the deep wounds of life.

Please comment on how you have been healed or helped someone else start this process.

by Jay Mankus

Roxanne

 

The song Roxanne was re-released by the Police in Europe after the band’s popularity gained some traction.  The lyrics of this song was inspired during a walk Sting took through the red light district while visiting Paris.  Initially, the band thought their manager Miles Copeland would not like this non-typical song, imagining what it would be like to fall in love with a prostitute.  As history unfolded, American listeners were introduced to Roxanne 4 years later through Police’s Synchronicity album in 1983.

 

Sting was not the only person intrigued by prostitutes as Matthew 9:9-13 conveys the audience Jesus concentrated on during his 3 year ministry.  Jesus recognized that the healthy and righteous did not need his help.  Thus, he spent his time outside of the disciples meeting with sinners like a divorced woman in John 4, another caught in adultery in John 8:1-11 and 2 different prostitutes named Mary.  Although his own disciples did not understand Jesus’ reason for accepting prostitutes like  John 12:1-8, he was a living example of compassion, forgiveness and love.

 

More than ever, there is a great disconnect within American culture.  People dress differently, pierce multiple body parts and express themselves like never before in our lifetime.  As a result, walls of prejudice, stereotypes and a wide range of beliefs have separated people before you even get to know them.  Like a prostitute, who get’s strange looks from observers, preconceived opinions prevent strangers from ever exchanging words.  May the love of Jesus, John 3:16-17, inspire individuals to display genuine concern like Sting to the Roxanne’s you encounter in life.

by Jay Mankus

Reinvention or Revolutionary?

K.I.S.S. is one of the first acronyms I was introduced to in high school, referring to the expression Keep It Simple Stupid.  Whether you are talking about a complex matter, difficult course or the meaning of life, individuals must be careful not to over analyze things.  As long you can narrow a topic down to its most basic ideas, the less confused you will be and if yourjob relies on explaining details to others, the clearer your message will become.

Jesus modeled K.I.S.S. by regularly talking to people on their level, using stories that a vast majority of citizens could relate to and understand.  Jesus wasn’t concerned about theology, emphasizing who God the Father is, their relation to one another and how you can enter into a personal relationship with the Creator of life, John 3:16-18.  In regards to discipleship, you don’t need a PhD to grasp how to grow a Bible Study, Church or Home Group.  Go into the world, where light is fading or snuffed out, take the gift or talent implanted within you, 2 Timothy 1:6 and go develop like minded believers just as Jesus invested 3 years of his life in 12 men.

Unfortunately, some where along the way, people have begun relying on self-help material, trying to reinvent the wheel instead of simply keeping in step with the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:25.  Book after book, theory after theory, video series and the like  claim to be revolutionary, yet are they?  If King Solomon claimed nearly 4,000 years ago there is nothing new under the sun, Ecclesiastes 1:9, why are many gullible people who are persuaded by their sales pitches?  I’m not sure what the answer is, but I do know this: Nike’s motto is noteworthy for those hungry for change, Just do It! – Matthew 28:19-20

by Jay Mankus