Jesus Friend of Sinners

"What a friend we have in Jesus.
All our sins and griefs to bear."

 All of us are somewhat familiar with this classic, "hymn of the faith" written in 1855 by Joseph Scriven. The very concept of Jesus being the friend of sinners and tax collectors was what enraged the religious leaders, the pharisees and scribes. What was it about Jesus that drew people to listen to him?
Jesus was the master storyteller and he constantly told parables about The love of God. In Luke Chapter 15, Jesus tells a series of parables about God's love and care for sinners. The leaders and so called, "experts" of the law were among those in the crowd listening and waited patiently to accuse him as soon as he was finished. They were not concerned about the lost and wayward people knowing about God's love. They were more interested in trying to find something that Jesus said that was wrong and publicly denounce Him as a false religious leader.
In Luke Chapter 15, Jesus tells the story of the lost sheep, the lost coin and then His most famous and best loved parable about the prodigal son. The story of the prodigal son is very familiar to most of us. A son demands his inheritance now and runs off to spend it on himself. When he finally hits rock bottom, he longs for home but doesn't think his father will ever forgive him. In contrast, Jesus paints a picture of the father running up to his son embracing and kissing him and forgiving him of all of his sins. This enraged the pharisees and the scribes that God would forgive and love a son who did this to his father.
In The Quran, Surah 3:140, it reads, "Allah loveth not those who do wrong." This was precisely the attitude of the pharisees and the scribes. They had a view that God did not love sinners. Yet Jesus went out of his way to describe God as just the opposite. God loves the sinner, forgives the wayward child and heals the broken hearted. Jesus was not implying God condoned the sin. He painted a picture of God running to his prodigal son with his arms open wide and anxious to forgive and cleanse him. The Bible says in Romans 5:8, " God showed his great love for us by sending Jesus to die for us while we were yet sinners."
All of us wants our consciences clean and the stain of guilt removed when we do wrong. This is precisely the reason why the sinners and tax collectors were drawn to hear Jesus teach. They knew they had broken God's law and realized if they came to Jesus that they would hear about the father's unconditional love for them.

Jesus the master storyteller about God's unconditional love is still speaking to our hearts today. When you read the Bible and listen to what he says, you will then realize why Joseph Scriven wrote his famous Christian hymn. Jesus is indeed the friend of sinners and he invites us. "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

Jesus Friend Of Sinners

"What a Friend we have in Jesus.
All our sins and griefs to bear."

All of us are somewhat familiar with this classic "hymn of the faith, " written in 1855 by Joseph Scriven. The very concept of Jesus being the friend of sinners and tax collectors was what enraged the religious leaders, the pharisee and the scribes. What was it about Jesus that drew sinners to listen to him?
Jesus was the master storyteller and He constantly told parables about God's love. In Luke Chapter 15, Jesus tells a series of parables about God's love and care for sinners . The Leaders and experts of the law are among those in the crowd listening and ready to accuse him as soon as he is finished. They were not concerned about the lost and wayward people knowing about God's love. They were more interested in trying to find something that Jesus said that was wrong and publicly denounce him as a false religious leader.
In Luke Chapter 15, Jesus tells the story of the lost sheep, the lost coin and then His most famous parable about the prodigal son. The story of the prodigal son is very familiar to us. A son demands his inheritance now and spends it all on himself. When he hits rock bottom, he longs for home but doesn't think his father will ever forgive him. However Jesus paints a picture of the Father running up to the son, embracing and kissing him and forgiving him of all of his sins. This enraged the Pharisees and scribes that God would forgive and love a son who did this to his father.
In the Quran, Surah 3:140, it reads, "Allah loveth not those that do wrong." This was precisely the attitude of the pharisees and scribes. They had a view that God did not love sinners.Yet Jesus went out of his way to describe God as just the opposite. God loves the sinner, forgives the wayward child and heals the broken hearted. Jesus was not implying that God condoned the sin. He painted a picture of God running to His prodigal son with his arms wide open and anxious to forgive and cleanse him. The Bible says in Romans 5:8, "God showed His great love for us by sending Jesus to die for us while we were still sinners."
All of us wants our consciences clean and the stain of guilt removed when we do wrong. This is precisely the reason why the sinners and tax collectors were drawn to hear Jesus teach. They knew they had broken God's law and they knew if they came to Jesus that they would hear about the Father's unconditional love for them.

Jesus the master storyteller about God's unconditional love is still speaking to our hearts today. When you read the Bible and listen to what he says, you will then realize why Joseph Scriven wrote his famous Christian hymn. Jesus is indeed the friend of sinners and he invites us. "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

The Healing Of The Scars

"There are no scars too deep and there is no hatred too strong that the Grace of God cannot heal"

I was at work when I first heard the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. My initial reaction was a thankful heart for the incredible bravery demonstrated by our Military to bring to an end his reign of terror. Then I remembered the attitude expressed by God in Ezekiel 33:11, "As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I taken no pleasure in the death of the wicked. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live."
The heart of God desires that none perish but all come to repentance.
I then turned my thoughts toward my Muslim friends. I turned on my blackberry phone and wrote on facebook, "The Great impostor that caused so much pain for my Muslim friends is finally dead."
Ever since September 11, 2001, Muslims have been labeled terrorists because of this evil man's actions and for the last decade have suffered incredible pain and discrimination. I next wrote, "The healing of the scars has begun."
There is a scene in our upcoming book, "Tears in a Bottle: Seeing through their eyes," where Ariel is standing on a platform at a protest rally and giving a speech defending her Muslim friend Esther. The protesters have gathered to condemn the building of the Muslim Multi-cultural center so close to the site of the world trade center memorial. Distraught and tired of the stereotyping and discrimination against Muslims, Ariel addresses the crowd and urges them to stop falsely accusing Muslims of all being terrorists. She reminds them that true Muslims are peaceful and not violent like the counterfeit ones who brought death and destruction on 911. Ariel then appeals to both Christians and Muslims in the crowd to let go and release their bitterness because, "There are no scars too deep and no hatred too strong that the Grace of God cannot heal."
This is a very pivotal statement in the book that applies perfectly to the current situation. The real terrorist is finally dead and now the healing can begin. There can be real healing and forgiveness between Muslims and Christians through the Grace of God. Picking up on this theme, I wrote a song about the healing of the scars. The interlude of the song declares, "You were scarred with our shame and disgrace. You healed our wounds when you took our place. I never knew your love would go this far. You came for the healing of our scars."
Jesus bore our sin and judgment on the cross to bring the real healing for our scars.
We have an opportunity to be like Ariel and stand up for our Muslim friends by showing them unconditional love and acceptance. When we become true friends with no strings attached and no agendas then there is hope for the healing of the scars.

Why not begin today?