CityView Magazine

Discove r Cit yV iewN C.co m's fre s h up d ate d loo k ! | 15 to give the children a religious education or to talk with them about matters of faith. Some guys seem to think that following Jesus is ONLY for women and children, that they might have to give up their "man card" if they become serious about following Christ. Jesus of Nazareth was no namby-pamby "Caspar Milquetoast;" he was no wimp. In fact, He was precisely the opposite. He came from a poor Jewish family in rural Galilee, was a carpenter by trade and spent the last three years of his life as an itinerant preacher/teacher/healer who regularly did "ruck marches" (Fayetteville speak) from one end of Palestine to the other. He was a poet, but also a prophet who questioned authority and challenged hypocrisy, snobbishness, shallowness and social injustice wherever he saw it. e scriptures show us that he was normally gentle and mild, but also capable of scathing language when speaking of the puppet king Herod, whom he called "that fox" (Luke 13:32) or the "religious" crowd, for whom he had such obvious disdain. Upon entering the Court of the Gentiles at the Temple in Jerusalem and seeing that the place of prayer had been overtaken by retailers, he plaited a whip and drove them out of the place, overturning their tables and causing general panic and chaos. Jesus was "fed up" and he didn't mind showing it. When Jesus called his first disciples, Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew, he found them fishing. He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." He called them to leave their boats and nets and to follow him to something great. He called them out of the ordinariness of life, to do something that matters. He called them to adventure! Jesus calls us today to join Him in his mission, to become involved with him in the hard work of peacemaking and reconciliation. We are called to be transforming influences, change makers, paradigm-shiers. We are called to tell the Good News of God's love for all people, to love as he loved and to serve selflessly as he served. We are called to invest our fleeting, limited lives in the Kingdom of God, which is limitless and eternal. Songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman sings: Come on, get ready for the ride of your life Gonna leave long faced religion in a cloud of dust behind And discover all the new horizons just waiting to be explored is is what we were created for. Saddle up your horses, we've got a trail to blaze rough the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown is is the life like no other – this is the Great Adventure. I was once told that there are three kinds of people in the world: (1) ose who make it happen, (2) those who watch it happen and (3) those who stand around, scratching their heads, wondering "what in the world just happened?" ink about it. Life is not some kind of dress rehearsal. is is the Real ing, your one shot, there's no re-do. is is the Great Adventure of life. Make it count. Dr. J. Richard McDuffie Jr. is pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville 69.6% CityView For advertising opportunities contact sales@city viewnc.com or call 910.423.6500 OF CITY VIEW READERS purchase products or services from ads seen in CityView magazine johnny leonard

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