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Honorable Mention

7/19/2016

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Have you ever paid close attention during awards ceremonies or listings of award winners? Of course the winner gets most of the attention, recognition and glory, but the 2nd and 3rd place winners are usually listed as well and get “some” appreciation. But have you noticed that often there are names added below the “winners” lists under the title “Honorable Mention”? What is this all about?
 
Merriam-Webster defines “Honorable Mention” as “An award or special praise given to someone who has done something extremely well but who has not won any of the official prizes.”
 
The Urban Dictionary is a bit more brutal in their definition: “Another word for last place in a contest or race, also used for a position very near last place. It is often used by the family and friends of the "mentioned" as they congratulate his/her effort.”
 
In other words, an honorable mention is kind of a token mention, almost an afterthought. It recognizes someone’s effort, but it is clear that they are not high on the priority list of praise and recognition. It’s a nice gesture to keep from hurting someone’s feelings.
 
So here’s what the Lord has impressed on me… how often do I just give Jesus Christ an “honorable mention” in my life? Is my time and attention (and my resources) spent on other priorities… hobbies, work, my iPhone or computer, friends, etc.? Are these priorities winning all the prime awards in the competition for my time and passion?
 
Do I occasionally realize that Christ is being crowded out of my life so I try to make Him (and me) feel better by making a token mention of him to someone, throwing a few “Praise the Lords” into my conversations, or dropping a few extra bucks in the collection plate. Has the Lord slipped down my priority list to the “Honorable Mention” level, or what the Urban Dictionary more accurately calls “very near last place”?
 
If I have allowed the Lord to be crowded out of my life, I pray that He would turn my list upside down. Jesus best captured His order for our priorities in Matthew 22:37-40: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
 
Randy McMahon

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The Upside Down Kingdom of God

7/11/2016

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Recognizing that our world is upside down and spinning out of control is pretty easy to do, and pointing out that things aren’t right is also pretty easy. Today’s culture of outrage has many people shouting, “This should not be!” and a wide variety of solutions in the form of, “This is the way things should be!”-but this stops short of what Jesus intends for his followers to do. In fact, the proclamation of the gospel is that all things are being made right already!

The entire message of the Scripture is upside down, where God raises up the lowly and the humble and brings life, peace, and justice into impossible and hopeless situations. Nothing illustrates this more clearly than the life and ministry of Jesus, where the Messiah gave Himself up to be crucified; but when He rose from the grave, He founded a new earthly Kingdom and sent out His followers to proclaim to the ends of the world that Jesus is King and that all things are being made right in Him.

The challenge for us as His followers proclaiming the gospel is to not love the things of the world more than the Kingdom of Jesus that is overcoming it. Jesus has called His followers to live differently, just as He did. Our lives are supposed to look strange to the people around us. The way we use our resources, spend our free time, and treat one another should not make sense to our coworkers and neighbors. My prayer is that the world will see how the church lives and know that it is not possible without a living God and the power of the Holy Spirit. We know that the world isn’t right, but we also know that Jesus is making it right; our call is to live as the people that Jesus is using to draw the world to Him.

James Walker

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