I would like to suggest that the question of identity is not only the theme of Jesus’ story but it’s ours as well.  The good news is, Jesus was sure in His identity and because of this, we can also become sure in ours…

Naeem Fazal, founding pastor of Mosaic Church, and author of Ex-Muslim, talks about deconstruction or reimaging God. Naeem talks about the importance of being able to recognize God outside of our personal context, how to view sin, how to approach scripture, and a beautiful gospel that’s not just about a Jesus who saves but about a Jesus who is restoring humanity and all creation.

We are designed to live a life of risk and trust, to do valiant acts of faith, to live out our radical acts of surrender, to leave it “all out on the field,” all for the glory of our King, so that when we get to heaven we will experience in those 3 beautiful seconds, those 6 stunning words. We are all living for the, “Well done.”

“The bible, minus love, equals false teaching, false living, and fosters an anger in the soul of man.” Brian Simmons, author of The Passion Translation, talks about approaching scripture with a love theology, the oppressive impact of hyper literalism, women in ministry, equality, union, Jesus’ humanity inside the Trinity, the finished work of the cross, and the passionate, powerful, transforming love of God.

I would like to suggest that sovereign control is flat earth thinking, it’s an institution unto itself, a broken paradigm, a ruler by which so many have measured everything since the fall of Adam. This devastating narrative has dominated humanities thoughts and perceptions for far too long!

John had a revelation of God and described it as a uniquely shared love that was only available between the two of them. Essentially, what John communicated through his gospel was that as far as he was concerned, he was Jesus’ favorite. Jesus loved him best.