Blessed Are the Unoffended

I am doing a Bible Study that uses the King James Version of the Bible. Having grown up on the New King James/ NIV and more recently spending lots of time in the New Living Translation, I have become spoiled. It's been an adjustment to use the King James, but it makes me strain to understand the words and mull over their full and deeper meanings. The richness and depth of the text has me thinking I might just start toting a large leather-bound version of the KJ Bible and letting phrases like "he who endureth and bringeth forth..." slip out in daily conversation:)

A particular verse in Matthew 11 has blown my mind and I know it's late for me (10:54 PM EST, to be exact), but I can't go to bed without sharing about it! So, Matthew 11:6 says in the NLT "God blesses those who do not turn away because of me." In the NIV it says "Blessed is the man who does not fall away because of me," but in the King James version it says: "And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me."

OFFENDED! What a marvelously descriptive and accurate word to characterize what we have all felt by God. Offended. It's not going our way. It's hard. That is offensive to us.

Jesus is sending a message along to John the Baptist who has been imprisoned and is now doubtful that Jesus is the Messiah... the one he worked tirelessly to prepare the way for. Was his purpose to prepare everyone for Jesus' coming or was there someone else? Jesus was nothing like anyone thought the Messiah should be. If He was indeed the Messiah, then why did John find himself in this cell? I can only imagine the great disillusionment and confusion.

Sometimes I think that Jesus' answers are the ancient equivalent to our modern day "duh!"
"Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor" (Mt. 11:4-5). What great evidence!

Here is where Jesus brings up the whole offensiveness part. Verse 6, "Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me."

John was beheaded and never saw the full fulfilment of the prophecies here on earth. He was one who "earned a great reputation because of their faith, yet did not receive all that God had promised" (Heb 11:39). In a similar way, Moses died just short of the promised land, never entering in.

It's totally and completely offensive. We are talking about John the Baptist! A quote was used in my Bible study from an excerpt of Gene Edwards book The Prisoner in the Third Cell. It has shed some light for me on this predicament and, I believe, gets to the heart of things. It's a fictional inner monologue of Jesus at the point after he had responded to John's disciples.

"If any man ever lived who had a right to have an explanation given to him, that man was his own flesh and blood, his own cousin. 'John, your pain is great. I feel it. Tonight you so desperately need to understand me, to fathom my ways, to peer into the riddle of my sovereignty. Your heart is breaking. But, John, you are not the first to have this need. You are but one in a long train of humankind stretching across all the centuries of man who have called out to me with questions and doubts. You are but one voice among so many who wonder, and who agonize over my ways.'"

Who on this earth will not, at some point, be horribly offended by God? I can think of the countless times that I have cried out to him, saying "Why now? Why me? Why them? Why not quicker? Why aren't you coming through for me?"

You see, we have no right to anything here on this earth and our entitlement gets us (ME) into lots and lots of trouble-- fogging up our view of our real purpose. It's so tempting to give up, to let the person of Jesus Christ become our stumbling block-- to be offended, like the Pharisees, because we can't get past who Jesus is and what we think our savior should be.

John needed reassurance--the knowledge that he, although nearing the end of his time on earth, had indeed prepared the way for the one true living Son of God. In verse 11 Jesus affirms John's profound importance in ushering in the Kingdom-- he was the leader of the charge.

Beth Moore has an amazing quote in Believing God, the book I'm going through, that just gives me chills:

"Blessed are we when we could be offended and choose with every shred of tattered faith not to be."

Oh, you see because it's about so much more than you and me, and yet He uses us in incredible and extraordinary ways to bring about His Kingdom! That is part of our inheritance! It's what we do not deserve, but have so graciously been given!

I'm challenged to open my eyes to the bigger picture here--to see what is going on, beyond the immediacy of my situation and life on this earth, which is only a blip on the screen. It's positively offensive and wonderful :)

Caffeine Conundrum

Today, as I sip my daily mugfull, I am realizing that I do not like Trader Joe's Organic Breakfast Blend. Can't put my finger on the reason or why it's taken me 3/4 of a can to come to this conclusion, but I just don't have a taste for it. Not being much of a coffee snob, just a coffee lover, I'm on the verge of running back to my no-frills Dunkin' Donut coffee beans. They are delicious, but sadly not free trade:(

Have you ever tried to convince yourself you like a certain food or beverage? Dutifully selecting said item at the grocery store or off the menu.... "I'm developing a more mature palate," you tell yourself as the gag reflex struggles to break free. "Oh yes, I love ____," your friends hear you say.

Hmm, yeah well I'm going through a coffee crisis. Your suggestions would be much appreciated:) I'm looking for a good medium roast bean that is bold and fresh without any flavoring like vanilla or hazelnut. I tend to gravitate towards the central american, but am willing to try anything.

Perhaps you find yourself in the same dilemma. Might I suggest this website that has helped me to understand a bit more about coffee and provided some good reviews:

http://www.coffeereview.com/

The jury, however, is still out.

It Flies

Today is our Monthaversary! I am amazed at how quickly time has flown by and yet how comfortable and wonderfully "normal" it all feels. Married life is great:) I love Nick more and more every day-- that's in spite of all the quirks and stubbornness (I'm not just talking about him)! Cancun was beautiful and deserted (thanks to the Swine Flu), so we had the beach all to ourselves! Now we are settling into our new life together in Hotlanta. I will be sure to update you with stories of life down south. In the meantime, I thought you'd like to check out our online album of wedding pics...

Please visit http://www.collages.net, and fill in the following information:

Username: may30wedding
Password: 26523-1234

Love,

Stephanie
BRADAC

Sunny With a High of 75

So far, so good...

Saturday

May 30th

Sunny
75°F

Precip 0%

:)

Nuptial Nightmare

I dreamt about the wedding last night. Now, I have already had a few wacky wedding dreams, but this one takes the cake!

The ceremony went off without a hitch (let's hear it for puns!) but things went downhill at the reception. For some reason our photographer told us we were just going to take pictures at the reception hall. That seemed logical in my state of reverie...

Instead of the reception being held at Shannon Hall, it was at a campground eating shelter like this one:

For whatever reason, everyone jam packed themselves inside the shelter and didn't use any of the open space outside to mingle. Every time I tried to walk, my dress would get trampled. It was extremely warm. Both Nick and I were sweating buckets and my hair was starting to look a bit like this:

Holly, our photographer, was trying to take a bunch of candid shots and we were never in the same frame. "Oh I can do wonders with PhotoShop,"she said.

Ryan, the best man who will be in charge of emceeing things, was off in a corner, drink in hand, completely unresponsive to my repeated attempts to get him to tell everyone to gather around for the cutting of the cake. Which, by the way, had not yet arrived to the picnic shelter. I somehow knew that Jim, our friend who is making the cake, could not bring it out yet because it was so warm that the frosting kept melting. So, he was in some remote location applying layer after layer of frosting to see if it would stick. What?

Our reception, which is supposed to run until 5pm, was dragging on and on. It was 9pm and no food had been put out on the tables and people were complaining. At this point, my mom runs up to me (wearing a capri pants and a tank top, by the way) to tell me that we need to wrap it up and send everyone home.

And then I woke up in a cold sweat. Immediately I called Nick and he tried to comfort me, but mostly just laughed. I know it was just so ridiculous! (I love you babe!)

So, all day today I have been thinking about how anything can and probably will go "wrong." I'm just so glad to be marrying the man I love and beginning our life together-- with or without cake.