Five Things Jesus Did / Friday Photo

"America's Pastor", Rick Warren recently stated in an interview on beliefnet.com ¹ that there were "the five things Jesus did when he was here on earth:"

• The first thing he did was he planted a church.
• The second thing he did was equip leaders. He spent three years training these disciples.
• The third thing he did was he cared for the poor. In fact, in his very first sermon, he says, "I am here to preach the good news to the poor." He cared for the poor.
• Fourth, he healed the sick. One-third of his ministry was a health ministry.
• The fifth thing is he taught. Particularly he cared about the next generation.

A couple of observations here: first, I believe the Bible is pretty clear that if all the things Jesus did were written down, there wouldn't be enough room on the planet to contain all the books that would be written (See John 21:25). So, I'm a little skeptical that Rick Warren can boil it down to "five things" and do the works of Jesus any justice at all.

Second, of the "five things," I believe there's one important thing he failed to mention. Can you say "sacrifice?" No mention of the cross, death, burial, resurrection, atonement...well, you get the idea. Nope, Jesus was just a great CEO with a large staff (11 dedicated guys plus one just along for the ride) and a plan for world peace that would one day be revealed to a pastor in California.

Honest to goodness, I was suckered by the line: "The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost" --Luke 19:10. The whole time I was thinking Jesus' mission was about salvation, He was really just putting together a five-step program for welfare and world peace. I feel like such a sap!

Friday Photo

I took this picture of my oldest son, Ryon (yes, he really spells his name with an "o") on his 19th birthday. Green background was added in Corel PhotoPaint. This picture actually looks better on the flickr website-- I think because I resized it here. Click on the photo for better look.

flickr: Friday Photo Group

¹ The "beliefnet" link should take you to page four of the interview, then look three paragraphs from the bottom of the page. There is also a link to an audio file of the same quote. Rick Warren in his own words.