3 Questions About Jesus: Cari Jenkins

This week we asked Cari Jenkins to respond to our 3 Questions About Jesus: Who is Jesus the Christ? What has he done? And why does it matter?
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I was in front of my home taking down twinkle lights one year just after Christmas when I saw a young girl walking down the street towards me. She was too young to be walking alone and I noticed tears streaming down her cheeks. I ask if she needed anything two times. And two times she turned me down. She paused at the end of my driveway and I asked a third time. This time she responded with a yes. She used my phone to call someone to come get her.  Over the next hour I learned that she had run away from home the night before. Then my door bell rang. A man stood desperate at my front door. He was singularly focused, “where is my daughter!” I invited him in and watched as the two were reunited. I stood in the kitchen, giving them space and trying to keep myself composed as I was invited into this very intimate event of a relationship being restored. It was beautiful and powerful.

A friend had an old piece of furniture. It was cracked, paint was peeling and it was literally falling apart at the hinges. He didn’t see the dilapidated mess which I saw, he saw what it was originally designed to be. Over the next few months he spent hours restoring this piece of furniture. He poured over it with love, sweat and patience. Then one day I got the call, he had finished. I stopped by his home and before me was a beautiful, masterpiece. The once old chest of drawers was fully restored to its original design and it was beautiful.

Both of these stories speak of Jesus. He restores broken relationships. He restores people, like my friend restored that chest of drawers, He restores us to our original design. He restores us in our misguided beliefs and He constantly is making old things new again. Jesus, He is the one who brings restoration to this planet and to all people everywhere and His restoration is perfect and we, you and I get to share in it. It is powerful and beautiful and it constantly invites others into restoration as well.

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Cari lives in downtown San Diego, Ca where she founded The 11:29 Project. An initiative that seeks to connect people to the rest and restoration found in Jesus and advocates for the marginalized. She blogs a carijenkins.wordpress.com.

Technorati Tags: 3 Questions About Jesus, Cari Jenkins, Gospel, Jesus Christ, Stories

3 Questions About Jesus: Jesse Schroeder

Today we continue our Monday series “3 Questions About Jesus,” where  ask different people how they would explain Jesus Christ to someone who had heard about Jesus, but knew nothing about Christianity. The questions are: Who is Jesus the Christ, what has he done, and why does it matter?

I kicked off the series with last week’s installment. This week’s guest is Jesse Schroeder.
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Jesus is a person I know. If I tried to describe him, I would fail to capture what I know. Instead, I’m going to share some events in which I’ve connected with Jesus. My hunch is that maybe you’ve connected with Jesus too.

In high school, I was really angry. My questions were bigger than any proposed solutions. But “something” from “somewhere” compelled me to “believe” that Jesus is real, and that he loves me.

Later in life, when I became a teacher, I would talk with my students about their lives, and sometimes I would pray for them. Jesus was with us, and in fact some of the words I would say were actually coming from him, not me.

Sometimes my students and I would spend a Saturday cooking breakfast and playing games with neighborhood kids. If I would step back and look around the room at the smiling faces and the running feet – I could see and hear Jesus.

Before she turned 18, one my students became pregnant. She decided to keep the baby, and I was at the hospital when Landon was born. Jesus was there too.

I visit Guatemala every year. I meet children, parents, pastors and workers. We mix concrete, build homes, sing songs, and share meals. Jesus is definitely there with us too.

Most weeks, I meet with a small group of friends and we talk about life, share questions about God, and ways we can try to help each other. I definitely feel Jesus when we get together.

I’ve had many experiences with Jesus, but I will tell you about only one more. One night in college, I told Jesus that he had to show me that he was real. The next evening, I went to church, and for an hour Jesus and I talked about life. There was never another doubt that Jesus is a real person who is sharing life with me.

That’s just a few. Maybe some of those stories sounded familiar to you. I can’t describe him very well, but I know I’ve lived my life with Jesus.

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Jesse Schroeder is a teacher who lives in the Columbus, Ohio area with his wife Kel. He has been involved with the Central Ohio Emergent Cohort since 2007 and blogs at Moving Away From the Mirrors.

Technorati Tags: 3 Questions About Jesus, Jesse Schroeder, Jesus Christ

3 Questions About Jesus: Jason Coker

Today I’m beginning a new series called “3 Questions About Jesus.” The idea is to ask different people how they would explain Jesus Christ to someone who had heard about him, but really knew nothing about Christianity. Their questions are:

• Who is Jesus the Christ?
• What has he done?
• Why does it matter?

I’m of the opinion that most presentations of the gospel tend to answer only one or two of these questions, or answer all of them in a way that reduces the scope of the gospel drastically. The challenge of this series will be to try answering these questions in a way that does justice to the depth and breadth of the gospel without trying to give people a pocket-sized systematic theology (because nobody would sit and listen to that).

Every Monday for the next few months I’ll host a different person who will attempt to answer those questions in 300 words or less. I’ve encouraged people to be as creative as they like. And, of course, we’d love your interaction and feedback.

I’ll go first with, “The Parable of the Apple Tree.”

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Jesus is like the story of an apple tree.

Once there was a farmer who gave his three sons an apple orchard, saying, “This is my gift to you. The orchard will care for you all your days if you will care for it.” But the sons despised their father’s gift and neglected it. Soon the trees died and the sons grew hungry. They called their father for help, who came and said, ”I will feed you.” Then, he knelt on the cracked earth and planted a seed.

Every day the sons begged their father for food, and every day they watched him water the seed and pull the weeds, saying, “I will feed you.”

Every day they watched him prune and tend the tender branches, and every day they begged for food. “I will feed you,” their father said.

Finally the tree grew strong and apples hung heavy from its branches. “This is my gift to you,” the father said. But the sons were bitter that they had been neglected for a tree. In a rage they cut it down and tore its limbs apart until their evil was exhausted.

As they sat ashamed at the foot of the desecrated tree their father brought apples plucked from its branches, saying, “This is my gift to you. Take and eat.”

The first son did not trust him. He refused the food and cursed his father, rejecting the gift. The second son bit into an apple but despised its flavor and cursed his father, rejecting the gift.

But the third son found the apples sweet and gratefully ate his fill. The father dug out the seeds and placed them in his son’s hands, saying, “This is my gift to you,” and beckoning toward the other sons, who were still hungry and ashamed, he added, “Now feed my sons.”

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Jason Coker is the host of Pastoralia.org. You can read more about him at the About page.

Technorati Tags: 3 Questions About Jesus, Jesus Christ, Parable of the Apple Tree, Parables, Stories, The Gospel