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On the Nature of a Call or On Eating Sh**<\/p>\n
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Luke 1:1-4<\/p>\n
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Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,<\/p>\n
Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;<\/p>\n
It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,<\/p>\n
That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.<\/p>\n
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Luke 4:14-21<\/p>\n
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And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.<\/p>\n
And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.<\/p>\n
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.<\/p>\n
And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,<\/p>\n
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,<\/em><\/p>\n To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.<\/p>\n And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In the modern age, the idea of a \u2018calling\u2019 is an almost impossible concept to understand.\u00a0 Besides the fact that most people don\u2019t believe in much more than themselves, there is a real struggle with any sort of particularity at all.\u00a0 People think that their entire life is supposed to be about making money.\u00a0 Have you ever heard someone say that they have a calling to be a payday lender?\u00a0 What about a venture capitalist?\u00a0 Or maybe even the executive of a predatory health insurance company?\u00a0 I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.\u00a0 Most people are in it to get paid.\u00a0 There is no \u2018calling\u2019 when the sole objective is to get paid.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the idea of \u2018calling\u2019 is nothing more than something that a few superstitious people embrace.\u00a0 Jesus didn\u2019t feel that way at all.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In Nazareth, Jesus went into the synagogue and opened one of the most well-known scriptures of the time and loudly declared his \u2018calling.\u2019\u00a0 He did not come to save the pious or the paid.\u00a0 Jesus came to save the poor, heal the brokenhearted, release for the captives, recovery of sight to the blind and to set at liberty all who have been abused.\u00a0 Nowhere in his \u2018calling\u2019 did Jesus talk about making money or gaining influence.\u00a0 Jesus is claiming who he is.\u00a0 The \u2018calling\u2019 of God is about embracing who God has created you to be the first place\u2026not making or doing anything.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n One of the misleading ideas I hear bantered about all of the time is that people are making money and gaining influence so that they might use such things to help other people.\u00a0 The problem is that rarely do I meet people who are actually doing such work.\u00a0 Most of the time, I just see such people collecting bigger houses and nicer cars.\u00a0 The idea of \u2018calling\u2019 is not about collecting\u2026it is about being.\u00a0 We are all called to be something.\u00a0 If such a \u2018calling\u2019 does not align with the \u2018calling\u2019 of Jesus then such a \u2018calling\u2019 is bullshit.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In the passage, Jesus doesn\u2019t hesitate to claim his calling. \u00a0If we are truly connected to him, we won\u2019t either.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Over the last few days, my family and I have received an outpouring of hate and death threats from those who are very angry that I denounced Donald Trump and his dehumanizing policies.\u00a0 In a fiery sermon, I unapologetically declared, \u201cMay God damn Donald Trump if he enacts these evil policies, and May God damn us if we allow it to happen.\u201d \u00a0To those who have spewed hate and threatened the lives of my family and I, I unequivocally say,<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,<\/em><\/p>\n To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n These words are the measure of a \u2018calling.\u2019\u00a0 I make no apologies for following Jesus.\u00a0 I make no apologies for following my \u2018calling.\u2019\u00a0 If you don\u2019t like it, eat shit.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 On the Nature of a Call or On Eating Sh** \u00a0 Luke 1:1-4 \u00a0 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2509,"featured_media":13031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[7184,1799,2979],"class_list":["post-13022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-freshwritings","category-thoughts","tag-father-jeff-hood","tag-jeff-hood","tag-rev-dr-jeff-hood"],"yoast_head":"\n