JeremyLaDuke.com

In my conversation with Christine (a shipmate on my boat cruise to Olympos in Turkey) I’ve somewhat compiled my thoughts regarding the simplicity of our purpose.

Matthew 22:34-40
34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36″Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[b] 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

John 13:34-35
34″A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

How do we please God? We follow His commandments. What are his commandments? Love God and each other, this is the fullfillment of the whole Law. So how do we love God? We love each other. How do we love each other? We love each other as Jesus loved us. How did Jesus love us? He became the ultimate servant going so far as to give up His own life for our benefit.

“Paul brings out the same truth when he develops the metaphor of the church as the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4:11-16). Each individual in the church is to develop deep relationships with other members so that the body can grow and “build itself up in love” (Eph. 4:16). To be mature Christians who reflect God’s image, we need vital relationships with others. ” [1]

1. Love feels compassion.
2. Love is intentional.
3. Love denies self.
4. Love acts.
5. Love gives.

Love is a VERB!

It’s fantastic when someone realizes the simplicity Jesus spoke. When he turned the Jewish faith upside-down and reveal the true nature of the Law it was amazing! But what I really noticed, after my conversation with Christine, was that it wasn’t just the Jewish faith being flip-flopped, it’s also popular Christianity as we see it thrown about today! When I explained to Christine the simplicity of Jesus’ words, she asked “Then why do they make it seem so confusing and complicated?” Maybe “they” was refering to her perception of Christian leaders or maybe just Christians in general–some who today look just like the Pharisees of Jesus day. They complicate the simple formula.

I think that was one of the issues I had in understanding Jesus’ message. I saw hypocrisy on every level and it didn’t seem like anyone was addressing it. I still don’t know why we humans complicate things so simple, but what I did discover was that I didn’t need a religion. I needed a relationship–with God. I also realized relationships can’t be maintained vicariously. I can’t have a mediator between God and I–not a priest, not a pastor, not a friend and not a parent.

Matthew 7:1-2
1″Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ”

1 Cor 2:11
11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Jeremiah 17:9-10
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

10 “I the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward a man according to his conduct,
according to what his deeds deserve.”

Proverbs 20:27
27 The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man;
it searches out his inmost being.

I wanted to quote all these verses I discovered because it goes along with the actions and attitudes I believe we are called to have towards others. This is a reminder and opportunity for me to work out some thoughts.

I remember a verse Matt 5:27-28 where Jesus says
27″You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’[e] 28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Lust is discribed in the dictionary as
1. Intense or unrestrained sexual craving.

The word in greek is epithumeo {ep-ee-thoo-meh’-o}. Which is defined as
1) to turn upon a thing 2) to have a desire for, long for, to desire 3) to lust after, covet

You can’t define a word with the word so we’ll go with desire.

Desire is defined as
1. To wish or long for; want.

Want is defined as
2. b. To seek with intent to capture

Now we have a broader more acurrate view of what lusting means. Often our terms lose their true meaning thru inaccurate word association. And the best way to understand a word is to find it’s roots. Lust > Desire > Want > To seek with intent to capture. I think most of us have been socially conditioned to believe that lust = fantasy, more specifically: sexual fantasy. It doesn’t. Lust is to seek with intent to capture–sexually.

It becomes pretty clear that no one but God and the man lusting is going to know that he is truely lusting. Therefore it becomes even more clear that no man can judge another man based on his secret intentions. Only God knows and only God can judge a mans heart, mind and soul.

I chose lust as the topic because of its controvery regarding its definition in everyday conversation. I constantly find my self arguing over the semantics and wanted to document clearly how I’ve arrived at my understanding. This same principle can be used with ANY situation. Just as it is illegal to conspire to commit murder, Jesus is saying it is also a sin to conspire to commit adultery even if you don’t get the opportunity to actually commit the act.

In short, no one has the ability to judge another man’s secret intentions. You don’t know if he has secret, sinful intentions or not. So watch yourselves because you too will be judged with the measure you used.

I was reflecting after watching amovie here in Athens, and reaziled a truth. One of the major down falls in our society, our culture and our generation is a lack of knowledge on the topic of Honor. I see people finding absolutely no problem with lying, making empty promises, disregarding others, disrespecting themselves, etc.

This has lead people into financial ruin thru debt and backruptcies, broken familes thru adultry and divorce, broken souls and minds thru depression and suicide, and so much more. All because one priniciple lost its way in our culture and is hardly expressed as important to our generation. This is a sign that our society is depraved and coming to an end.

Think of what changes we would see if Chivalry and a code of Honor were restored. Here’s a code of honor I found on Google. It’s a nice example. Maybe someone has the time to find one in the Bible for me.

The Summer Knights Code of Chivalry

A Knight must:

• Respect themselves and others
• Demonstrate loyalty and strong leadership
• Exhibit courtesy, compassion and generosity
• Devote themselves in service to their community
• Display courage and fear no challenge
• Strive for excellence with tenacity
• Defend the weak and oppose injustice
• Search for wisdom, purpose and truth
• Remain faithful to their pledged word
• Exemplify Nobility, Humility and Knightly Honor in Every Word and Every Deed, Every Day!

Christian or not, anyone could find use for this! It would flip the world upside down.

I’ve discovered the BEST place in the world. And you may be shocked to discover where it is. I learned that the BEST place in the world is where your friends are. More specifically, where people who care about you are. The places I’ve had the most fun were the places where I had friends to enjoy my time with. Even in the most boring towns I’ve had fun, because I had friends there.

Jon is planning his bachelor party. The best place to go? Wherever you can get the most people together that care about you. Which is Thailand…. Just kidding.

Anyways… Relationships are what life is about. A relationship with God and with people. The places you are while those relationships are taking place are just backdrops. If you feel dead, you need to fill your life with more meaningful, deep relationships. I’ve also learned that if you aren’t expereincing these deep meaningful relationships, it’s almost definately your lack of participation. You want people to love you and show it? Do you love people and show it?

Next time you are hanging with your friends, tell them how much they mean to you and why. Everyone needs that. Everyone needs to be assured of their worth. The worth that is inherent to being a creation of God, the creator of the Universe.

So I’m at the hotel bar. I see this girl who is of course very beautiful, and I’ve been noticing her all week. Unfortunaetly I think most of us know that if you don’t go talk to a girl right away–and this window may be something like 30 seconds–she may move to Goddess status. A place in your mind where you’ve already gotten married, had kids, moved to a topical island and live happily ever after with no worries and everything taken care of. And if you blow it, your life ends. The world is over.

She moved into this zone. But I have good news. I went up and talked to her anyways. Holy crap is that hard to overcome! She ended up being a complete bore. This of course is inevitable. Goddesses can never live up to their place in your mind. They are doomed from the point of christening.

So, the moral of the story? Don’t wait. Go talk to her immediately, before she becomes a Goddess, because Goddesses don’t exist.