#called up

New York, NY- The New York Rangers, trying to solve their scoring issues at Madison Square Garden, have called up young, exciting prospect Gabe Perreault from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League, and hopefully, he will be in the lineup for their home game against the Nashville Predators. UPDATE: Gabe Perreault has been recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack and Jaroslav Chmelar…

It seemed to the young paladin that the attacks were non-stop. Banny brought up his shield again as another wave of flame flowed around him. Once it had passed, he could see wisps of smoke curling off of the edges of his tabard, but the rest of his armor seemed none the worse for wear. Lowering his shield so that he could look over it, his eyes widened at the sight of a large bear barreling towards him. 

Banny braced his shoulder against his shield and planted his left foot just before the bear struck his shield. The paladin grunted. He managed to stay upright, but was pushed back several feet by the weight of the attack. Finally, Banny’s foot found a rocky outcropping. His backward momentum stopped, he then turned his shield slightly to the right and rolled to the side of the bear as it continued forward.

The bear planted its paws to stop and then turned to face its enemy. As the bear’s head looked back, Banagan raised his mace and brought it down on the bear’s flank. There was a flash of light as the weapon struck. The bear stood motionless, a dazed look in its eyes. Banagan raised his mace again and brought it down on the momentarily stunned bear. There was another bright flash as the mace struck the head of the bear. It rolled to the ground and was suddenly replaced by an unconscious Druid of the Flame.

New Post has been published on https://andybondurant.com/2022/05/17/a-challenge-to-challenge/

A Challenge to Challenge.

Jesus didn’t condemn. Jesus challenged everyone he came into contact with. Two stories of Jesus come to mind.

In John 8, a group of men bring a woman to Jesus who they say was caught in the act of adultery (let’s not get into why they didn’t bring the man with them too). Jesus addresses both the crowd formed around him and the woman. He condemned neither. Jesus challenged both.

Jesus Challenged: Weapons Dropped

To the crowd, he gives the famous command, “He who has no sin, cast the first stone.” Jesus doesn’t condemn this group of presumably men by saying, “You are all a bunch of sinners too! Let’s talk about your sins that might be worth death.” Jesus could have easily condemned many of them to the same punishment as this woman. 

Instead, Jesus challenged the crowd. He challenges them to think. Jesus pushes the group of people to consider the grace God had showed them. Challenged, the group slowly drop their weapons of stones and melt away. All that were left was Jesus and the woman.

Jesus Challenged: Go and Sin No More

Again, Jesus chooses to challenge her. Jesus starts by asking the woman two questions:

Where are your accusers?

Do they still condemn you?

The answer is simple: “No.”

Jesus then makes two statements (one comment and one challenge): 

I don’t accuse or condemn you either.

Go and sin no more.

Jesus didn’t excuse her sin. He acknowledged she is a sinner. Yet, Jesus does challenge her to be better. He calls for her to turn or repent from this sin in her life. 

Jesus Challenged: Join Me in Paradise

The other story is similar. Luke records Jesus death on the cross including a brief interaction with the two criminals hanging on either side of him. One mocks Jesus, but the other defends Jesus. The second one asks for Jesus to remember him when Jesus enters into heaven. Jesus could have easily responded with condemnation. The man admits to his sin and guilt. Instead Jesus challenges.

However, Jesus doesn’t challenge the man with his statement. Jesus challenges us. Jesus says, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” As a follower of Jesus, I struggle to have this same posture toward the people I encounter in my life. Many of them are clearly sinners – both in the world and in the church.

Challenge Requires Care

Condemnation is so much easier than challenge. If I condemn someone, then I no longer need to interact or care about them. They deserve whatever punishment they get, and I am absolved of responsibility. I don’t want to be with them – now and definitely not later in heaven!

Challenge requires saying hard things and encouraging change. It forces me to invest in the person or people I challenge. I have to care for them.

Challenge + Call Up

My job is to challenge people in my life – those who follow me and those who I follow. My job is to call people up to be who God created them to be. God’s job is to judge and condemn those who are worthy of punishment.

New Post has been published on https://andybondurant.com/2021/09/21/jesus-in-your-boat/

Jesus in your boat.

Throughout the Gospel narratives, Jesus consistently did three things:

Picked out men and women to be followers.

Invited them into community.

Called them up to greater things.

He did many other things of course, but this was a core of Jesus’ ministry. My last three posts, point to a passage in Luke showing this pattern with Peter. Jesus picked Peter out among a host of fisherman. Jesus invited Peter to be part of his community of disciples. Finally, Jesus called Peter up to a greater purpose – from being a fisherman to a fisher of men.

Small but life altering.

I’ve read this passage (Luke 5) dozens of times over the last 30 years. It’s a popular passage to preach from. I’ve seen it in portrayed on television and in movies. I never noticed one small but life altering truth about that passage until just recently.

To remind you, Jesus was teaching a crowd along the Sea of Galilee in the same town Peter lived and worked in. In order to give himself some space from the growing group of people listening, Jesus borrowed Peter’s boat to teach from (Jesus picked Peter out). 

After he was done teaching, Jesus challenged Peter to push the boat out into deeper water and cast his nets. This was an unconventional fishing tactic. Fishing in the middle of the day doesn’t usually bring results. Peter alludes to this, as well as the fact that he had been fishing all night without much luck. Jesus remains silent to Peter’s protest, so Peter casts the nets.

The rest is history. 

The catch comes in. It nearly tears the nets and requires Peter’s partners to come and help haul it all in (Jesus invited them into community). Peter is convicted of his unbelief, and begs for forgiveness. Jesus calms his fears, and makes the most famous of callings, “From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” (Jesus called him up to greater things).

I’d seen all of that before. I knew that part of the story. I didn’t notice one fact about Jesus in all of action swirling around him.

Jesus never left the boat.

After teaching from Peter’s boat and the challenge to head into deeper water, Jesus remains with Peter. Peter wasn’t alone. Jesus was in the boat the entire time.

When Jesus calls you up to greater things, you will be challenged to do unconventional things. Jesus will ask you to do things that may make you look foolish to the world around you (“We’ve never done it that way before!”). Jesus will remain in your boat.

King David realized this centuries before Jesus walked the earth when he wrote, 

“I can never escape from your Spirit!  I can never get away from your presence!  If I go up to heaven, you are there;  if I go down to the grave, you are there.  If I ride the wings of the morning,  if I dwell by the farthest oceans,  even there your hand will guide me,  and your strength will support me.” -‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139:7-10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus is in your boat!

Jesus isn’t directing you from the shore. He’s not calling you to do scary, hard and difficult things from a distance. Jesus is in the boat with you. He’s right next to you. You can’t escape him. He will guide you. His strength will support you.

So as he told Peter, as Peter is falling to his knees in repentance, Jesus is saying the same thing to you, “Don’t be afraid.” Jesus picked you out. He invited you in. Jesus called you up to greater (and harder and scarier and more amazing) things. 

New Post has been published on https://andybondurant.com/2021/09/14/called-up-to-greater-things/

Called up to Greater Things

When I was 19 and just out of high school, I thought I wanted to be a elementary school teacher. I figured if I was going to teach, I should have some experience working with kids. I approached the children’s pastor at my church about volunteering in the kids ministry. 

This pastor, a guy named Rod, who I consider one of my first mentors, called me up. He saw something in me I didn’t see in myself, so he offered me a job. It wasn’t much — just a few hours a week, but that part-time job became a calling. That calling became my career. Twenty-five years later, here I am working within my calling in my church.

Picked out. Invited in. Called up.

Jesus, during his ministry on earth, consistently picked people out, invited them into community and called them up to greater things. It’s the story of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. It’s the story of Jairus and his young daughter. It’s the story of Jesus calling the disciples. 

It’s the story of Jesus finding Peter.

Peter was a fisherman by trade. One morning, as Peter was cleaning his nets after a long night of work, Jesus “randomly” borrowed Peter’s boat to use as a podium as the crowd gathered around. Out of a community of fisherman and their boats, Jesus picked Peter out. 

After teaching the crowd, Jesus asked Peter to push the boat out a bit further, and he commanded Peter to cast his nets again. Reluctantly, Peter obeyed and to his amazement, hauled in an amazing catch of fish. During this process, Jesus invited Peter into community. He began with Peter’s friends and partners, James and John. Jesus expanded the group to the twelve disciples we think of today.

Called up to greater things.

Jesus, doesn’t end there, though. If Jesus simply picked Peter out, and then he invited Peter into a group of new friends, it would have been a fine story. What makes any story special is the ending, and this story is no different. 

Peter was overwhelmed by the catch – especially since he doubted Jesus from the beginning (What can this Rabbi know about fishing?). Peter fell to his knees in repentance. Jesus responded with one of the greatest lines in the Bible. 

Jesus brushed aside all of Peter’s concerns by saying, “Don’t be afraid!” Then instead of calling Peter out for his lack of faith or sin, Jesus says, “From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” (Luke 5:10)

Our culture celebrates the call out. Twitter is at it’s grimy best when everyone is pointing out everyone else’s faults and failures. There is a time and place to call out the sin and injustice in the world, but we too often find joy in destroying people’s lives.

The beauty of the gospel is hope. In spite of my sin, my failures, my faults, there is hope for my future. As a follower of Jesus, I am called to both accept the gospel for my own life but for others too. Just as much as I need hope, so does my neighbor. I need to be willing to cover the mistakes of someone else with forgiveness.

The gospel, this hope, is more than just forgiveness. It’s a step further. I am challenged to call those around me up to greater things. I should see something in them that they can’t see themselves, and then urge them on to bigger things. I should point out the work of art they are.

Masterpiece

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is found in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians was a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the church founded the city of Ephesus. The letter centers on the idea of how we are to get along with one another. In Ephesians, Paul has this to say about each of us,

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”  -Ephesians 2:10

You are a masterpiece. I am a masterpiece. It’s an unbelievable thought. God looks at you and me, and He sees us as we will be. He sees perfection. God doesn’t see the mistakes, failures or past. He sees you as forgiven – now and into the future. 

I wrote this in a past post, but it needs said again. God is more concerned with your future than your past. I don’t believe I am a masterpiece because I know my past. However, if God is true to His word, then as a believer in Jesus, my past is not just forgiven but forgotten too (Psalm 103:12). With my past forgotten, God looks toward my future. 

This is how God sees you as a masterpiece. God has forgotten your past, so He sees you in this moment, but He also knows your future. God knows all the amazing things you will do. It is what God created you for.

Since you are a masterpiece, then go on and do the good works you are created to do. It’s what God has planned for you. It’s the future God sees in you.

Called to call up.

Calling others up is part of the call of God on your life. It’s part of the work you are to do as God’s masterpiece. Calling others up to greater things is the future God sees in you.

Remember, anyone can call someone out. It takes someone special to call that same person up to greater things. Years ago, Pastor Rod called me up to something greater. Thank God he did.

Who will you call up today?