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Posted in General Articles
by Leah Rush
on 1/3/2009
Lately I've contemplative about such things as poverty, minorities, and power. Being in South Africa has somewhat helped me to see what it feels like to be a minority, but not really. People can tell that I am not from here, but that doesn't mean that I understand what it's like to be a minority. Because I am white, I have power.
I was talking to a vendor in one of the markets in Cape Town last week who is a refuge from Zimbabwe. He was telling me how unhappy he is to be in South Africa. He fled two years ago because of the strife in Zimbabwe and his family just recently joined him within the year. He was forced to leave his occupation in Zim and get a commoners job here. He says that people often treat him as if he is uneducated. And because he is from Zim, he speaks Shona, not Afrikaans or Xhosa, so if he was to be stopped by the police and cannot speak their language, he is automatically a target and is disliked by the locals. But, because I am white, it is extremely rare that I will get pulled over, because of the unspoken intrinsic power that I hold.
This quote from Rob Bell and Don Golden's new book Jesus Wants to Save the Christians has really got me thinking:
"If you have the power, it can be hard to understand the voice of those who have no power. If you have choice, options, and luxuries, it can be hard to fathom the anger of those who don't. If you have always had enough food, it can be hard to understand the shouts of those whose stomachs are grumbling from hunger."
The bottom line: WE CAN'T POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND. I hate this! I am in their country, I'm trying to learn from them, I am living among them, but no matter how HARD I try...I won't be able to fully comprehen d. Something that I learned in college and I bring with me everywhere I go, is that the best thing to offer people is our humanity-the fact that we have struggles too, that we, too, are human, that we can understand. But can we?? I don't feel like I can. I don't have the life experience that some have. Even amongst my peers I don't feel like I can understand some of their struggles. And I can't possibly understand what poverty is really like.
I desire to have a righteous anger for injustice and for the broken, but I just don't relate.
Along the same lines, the book brought something else up. How can upper class American youth group kids who drink Starbucks, are making $10/hour, who have their own car, and buy a new outfit whenever they so desire, and whose church just raised a ton of money to build a bigger building, and whose government just spend a trillion on the war...relate to the little black kids whose parents are working hard to make $2 a day?
I don't have any answers. Only questions. And I'm definitely struggling through them since I'm in the thick of it all. I don't really want the power that I have. I don't want to be ruled by the god of materialism. All I want is to relate.
Love one another.
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Posted in General Articles
by Leah Rush
on 1/3/2009
My friends and I pulled in from Cape Town around 8:00 last night. It was something like an 8 hour drive to Jeffreys. We actually left CT at 6:30am, to get to Port Elizabeth at 3:30 to take Matt to the bus station, and waited around for a while in PE before getting back to Jeffreys. Needless to say it was a long day. Anyway, it was Matt, Sara, Loretta, Sydney, and myself that went to Cape Town this past week for Holiday. What an amazing city it is! It's so many different worlds coming together in one location. For all you Californians, it is something like San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and Hawaii all joining forces. It's such a beautiful place where the ocean meets the mountains. The strangest part about it, though, was driving past all of the townships that lined the highway.
Even after being there for 8 days, we still weren't able to see everything we wanted to see. But, we did get to do a lot of cool stuff. We took the cable car up Table Mountain, stood on the southern-most tip of Africa, hung out with penguins, ate Cinnabon and drank Dr. Pepper (the only place in SA you can get either!), went to an aquarium and to a few little museums, went to the waterfront, watched the sunset at Camps Bay, visited the wine country of Stellenbosch, shopped at some African markets, ate a lot of ethnic meals, and drove a lot. The place where we stayed was a friend of a friend's place and it was about 30 or more minutes outside the actual city. Driving in Africa on the left side of the road was so liberating! We are used to being taxied around everywhere in our huge Kombis (vans), so it was nice to be able to drive ourselves for once. And driving on the opposite side (and opposite side of the car) really wasn't all that different; it felt pretty natural.
Being in Cape Town was a bit like Disneyland. There was such a mix of people from all over the world. We heard a myriad of accents and dialects, and even saw numerous Muslim women covered from head to toe with only their eyes peering out. It was quite interesting how many Muslims apparently vacation there. The interesting part, though, was how English Cape Town is. Hardly anyone there speaks Afrikaans.
I have so many favorite parts of the trip. The drive to Stellenbosch was the most beautiful, in my opinion. We literally had the ocean to the right, and lush green hills to the left the whole way. Stellenbosch wasn't too much different than any other wine country in California I've been to. One winery, though, had a cheetah exhibit, an eagle exhibit, and other cool things for families to do. It was a really gorgeous campus.
I also love fine dining. A good restaurant will make a trip worthwhile to me. We set a goal to eat ethnic food every night. And we did pretty well. We had Italian, Thai, Seafood, Mexican, but my favorite was Ethiopian. What a fun experience that was! We all huddled around a small basket-weaved table and ate all these different meats and sauces with a kind of sponge-like bread/pasta that I've never even seen before.
The penguins were at the top of my list of things to see. I got to see them at Boulder Beach, and also at the aquarium. They are kind of weird looking, but so cute and have so much personality!
Here is the view from Table Mountain, and below that is Cape Point. We were lucky that we went on nice clear days.
Here is our whole group at Cape Point and some other fun pictures to enjoy...
If you ever get the chance, Cape Town is a great place to be, with so much to see. I can't wait to go back in April!
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Posted in General Articles
by Leah Rush
on 12/20/2008
The Awakening Program is over. I'm now looking forward to next semester: Outreach.
I've had to rid myself of my old ways and old ideas. Things that have held me back for years. This program has helped me to look forward into the future and want to live different. To desire greater things and to have open eyes to God's heart for the world. I think the biggest challenge, though, is coming back into life as I know it and ACTUALLY living changed. To put my hand to the plow and not look back (see Luke 9:62). I already have some ideas of practical ways live back in Livermore for however long I'll be living there. Things like spending time at a local coffee shop getting to know regulars and employees, investing in the youth, maybe starting a girl's Bible study. I want to get serious about my time since it may be split between two worlds from now on.
There are things that we should break ties with, but other things that we have to leave behind simply because of current circumstances. This past week during the four days of debrief we've been able to process the things we've experienced from the last three months. God has really done some amazing things and I wish that I could write them all down for everyone to see. Here are just a few highlights and things I'll miss from the first half of my trip:
- September UCSA camp
- Beat the Drum week in Pearston
- Horseback riding
- Getting to know the girls in my house...shout out to Alene, Sara, Brittany, La, Layne, Beth, and Jess!
- The families of St. Francis
- Asking Mandy and her husband Johnny hard questions about angels and demons, and learning from them as well.
- The Talhado kids racing our van all the way down the street
- Discipleship class, especially Chris and Tag's teachings
- Reading Exiles
- Deep conversations with good friends, really challenging each other to search the Father's heart
- Walking two minutes to the beach
- Trying to figure out life in South Africa
- Calculating the exchange rate from USD to Rand
- Constantly using "T.I.A." as an excuse for everything (This Is Africa)
- Doing Ryan's dreds
- The ghetto blue van
- The big four leaders who are going home...I learned so much from you guys! Thanks for everything!
- Chilling at Potter's Place drinking smoothies and having really weird service every time!
We've also had to say our goodbyes as well, which is so weird and definitely hasn't hit me quite yet. There are a number of people that I won't see again except for one day in May when we all get on the airplane and fly back to Georgia together. So weird.
It's like a few days before Christmas, right? It does not feel like it at all. For one, it's like 90 degrees today. Christmas Day is Thursday, and we leave for Cape Town the day after! I think some of us who are going to be around are going to cook a big turkey. It won't be the same, but we're definitely going to try to make it special.
Love makes life worth living.
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Posted in General Articles
by Leah Rush
on 12/13/2008
All these pictures were taken earlier this month in St. Francis. The kids are precious! Here's a taste of my every day life...
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Posted in General Articles
by Leah Rush
on 12/13/2008
I can't believe our time is winding down so fast. It doesn't seem like our time in JBay is already up. Only a week of debrief to go before I move to P.E.! Apparently we are staying in a mansion in St. Francis Bay for our week of debrief. It sleeps 40! And it's right on the river so we'll be playing on boats and sea doos. I guess the whole week will be a time for us to wind down and process all the things we've learned and experienced during the last three months. We will also be saying goodbye to a handful of our leaders who won't be returning next semester. But we'll have tons of time just to chill and relax and get ready for holiday! And this means that Cape Town is just around the corner.
To be honest, the whole community thing is getting a bit challenging. I've had maybe a total of 6 or 7 hours of alone time in three months. Think about that for a second. That's nothing. Some of you might have that much alone time in a day or two. It gets difficult when there is no place to talk on the phone by myself, no where to do quiet time by myself, or simply read. I live with 7 other girls, so it's nearly impossible. I promise that I'm not complaining; I really do love everyone in this community and I love my life in Africa. It's just that it gets difficult at times not having any space to just be. I'm hoping that this holiday will help tremendously. I really just feel the need to get away!
I will really miss the relationships with the locals we've met through our ministry. There were days when I would feel stuck and feel like we could be doing so much more, but then God would reveal himself to my team. A quick story from a few weeks ago: my team and I were praying by the side of the road for each other, the people in the community, and the people we've built relationships with. I felt like we could be so much more affective in that moment. But a few seconds later I looked up and a man was walking toward us and said that he felt that we were good people and he wanted to come talk to us and ask for prayer. He saw the peace that we brought to his community. His name is Shaun and is searching for Jesus in people. Stuff like that doesn't just happen by accident. That is all God. This isn't the first time it happened either. I've heard straight from a number of people's mouths that they can see that Jesus is walking with us and that we have a Word to bring to the people of St. Francis. ...Coincidence?
I haven't really talked about it very much, but my aunt died last week. She's been sick for a number of months with a lung disease caused by emphysema. I got to see her while she was in the hospital back in May, and also right before I left for Africa. I considered that she might pass away while I was here, but I still haven't really processed her death yet. I found out on my dad's birthday, and have been crazy busy ever since. It will probably hit me once it gets a bit closer to Christmas.
So all of this is really random and not really in any kind of order, but hopefully someone will make sense of it all.
Praying for my friends and family this holiday season.
Love makes things possible.
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Posted in General Articles
by Leah Rush
on 12/5/2008
Being in Africa really isn't too different from being here. But there are definitely things that I miss from home:
Thai food directly from Thai Café, Redding, Ca (best in the west!)
Peanut butter M&M's
Dr. Pepper
Reece's peanut butter cups
Oreo's
Ranch Dressing
Mom's Chili
The Stirring!
My old roommates
Lucky Charms and other sugar cereals
My rocking musician of a brother
Snowy December
Mayo and mustard on sandwiches
Whole Wheat Bread
My American cell phone
Driving
Privacy
Round Table Pizza
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Posted in General Articles
by Leah Rush
on 12/5/2008
At times, the Awakening program seems a bit like college. We had a project inspired by the book we've been reading, Exiles, to make up a five-year plan as if we were to move to a city foreign to us. So, here's my exilic life for the next five years:
YEAR ONE
I've been with the bank for 3 years now, and love that we are like a family. I've always enjoyed the ease of making friends with my customers as well. My bank just transferred me to a branch in New York City. I just moved into a two bedroom apartment in the middle of Greenwich Village. It's really cute and even has rooftop access. I like the fact that it's big enough to have people over on a regular basis. I definitely can't afford to live here on my own, so I'm going to start looking for a roommate. I've been scoping out local coffee joints, clubs, bars, comedy clubs, and theatres trying to feel out the vibe of the community. It feels like a semi-young town, where the average age is about 30, at least in the spots that I've found myself in. I am beginning to get to know people in the community as well as people in my building. There is a real Bohemian, artistic flare to the Village. They are very much inspired by poetry, artistry, theatre, and music. I decided not to bring my car here because there is no real need for it. I can walk everywhere in town since it's only about 1.5 sq miles in area. I can always take a cab or other public transport if I need to go anywhere farther. I think that's what everyone else does anyway. The city is extremely dense with people. Everything stacks upward. The population of Greenwich is about 2000. That's a lot living in a small area!
A co-worker of mine was looking for a place to live, so it worked out perfectly that she move in with me.
YEAR TWO
For the past six months, I've been going to a young revolutionary church that meets on Sunday nights in the basement of an old building. It's called the Gathering. People generally find out about it by word of mouth and by inviting people to become a part of it. Apparently, a lot of people know about it in the area because they are doing such great things in the community. I am involved in an all girls home group as part of the Gathering, and we meet once a week to share a meal and share life together. I like that I've found like-minded people around my age to do church with. I started inviting church people as well as my coworkers, and people in my building over to my house on Thursday nights. There are two gay couples in my building that my church friends have been great about getting to know and not being judgmental. We are all learning about how to show Christ through our love and actions. On Thursdays, we usually end the evening with a glass of wine on the rooftop. It has a great lookout. I've been thinking how great a place this would be to turn it into some sort of a hang out with live music and snacks and such. I'm talking to the superintendent about painting and decorating the roof; I'd have to get his approval since it's public property. I hope he'll go for it, since it's for the betterment of our apartment!
Six months later
I've really found my creativity deep down in my soul that I never knew was there. When the whistle blows five o'clock, I pick up my paintbrush and get to work. The roof of my apartment building is almost completely covered in poetry and murals. I enlisted the artistry of my neighbors and also some people I've met from working at the bank. The people in my building loved my original idea and we've been working hard to make it our own ever since. I've found that this space of ours is so scared because all of our ideas, philosophies, and dreams cover the walls and floors. Not too many people know about our "hang out" spot, but they will. The people in my building and I have been working hard to invite lots of people up there for drinks and whatever. I think it will eventually bring in a lot of traffic just because it's so different. Also, my home group has started meeting on the rooftop to eat together midweek. I bought a big hot water thermos for coffee and hot chocolate. During the summer months, though, I'll try to keep lemonade on the roof; all at no charge to anyone of course.
YEAR THREE
I became really good friends with a guy from the Gathering after working together on a project. He plays guitar really well, and he and his friends get together and jam every once in a while. I asked him if he'd come and play on a Friday night one week on the rooftop and people really loved it. He and his friends play some fun 70s and 80s hits that everyone knows the words to. When there isn't music playing, there is a communal stereo system where anyone can pop in a CD of their choice to give it a homey personalized feel. Because we all want to be able to eat together, word has gotten around fast to bring snacks when you come to the rooftop and people are more than willing.
I wanted to bring more flare to the rooftop experiment, which by the way has lovingly become its name. In order to bring a bit more excitement, I asked if some of my friends and building mates would make some funky art to display on the roof. We have everything from chickens made from clothespins to a handmade rug to an all fruit wall hanging. It seems like every month the rooftop gains more and more excitement and exposure. The only thing that's been difficult is standing on the roof at nights during the winter. We are still trying to perfect it. We go through a lot more coffee on those nights, are more bundled, and go in a bit earlier, but still have a good time because it's our place of communion.
Oh, and my roommate is moving out in a few months because I'm getting married!
YEAR FOUR
I couldn't love my life more. My husband and I are doing "ministry" together with our rooftop experiment as well as being on leadership at the Gathering. I can't believe how many people come on Friday and Saturday nights to the roof. So many local artists have asked to play music. We've also implemented a poetry reading two times a month, and even a mock theatre. The Gathering has been financially supporting the rooftop ministry for two years now. It doesn't require a ton of money, but they are happy to help us out. They can see the fruits of this ministry. My neighbors and many others that regularly come to the rooftop have attended the Gathering every once in a while. They like the church setting, but like the small community setting a lot more. Some of the women have started coming to my home group and meeting other Christian women, and some of the guys have been able to come to my husband's home group which meets at the coffee shop a few blocks from our apartment.
YEAR FIVE
The rooftop experiment including Friday and Saturday music nights is still going strong. New people get really excited and love the vibe. I want to bring this sense of community out of our little rooftop and into the whole of Greenwich Village. Ever since I moved here I felt the "us" and "them" mentality that the Village tends to have. They are so caught up in sharing the community mentality within themselves that they forget there is a whole world out there to care for. I'm planning on an every Saturday afternoon outreach into downtown NYC. I'm not sure exactly what it will look like or entail, but I know that people need to know they are important to somebody. I'd like to show my friends from work and the rooftop experiment how to love like Christ loved- in tangible ways.
I feel like this is what Jesus actually meant by making disciples.
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Posted in General Articles
by Leah Rush
on 12/1/2008
I just had the most incredible, unreal experience! Myself, Sara, Layne, Matt, and Tag just went horseback riding along the beach. It was crazy awesome. The horse guide people were with us, but didn't care how we rode our horses or if we stayed in a single file line. At first, when we were  on the trails, we all stayed together, but when we got onto the beach, our horses were running wild and it was a blast! The view was incredible no matter where we were, parts looked like Hawaii. The horses even galloped for part of the time and I felt like I was going to fly off. There were moments when all I could do was laugh hysterically because the whole experience was so beautiful and thrilling. We went through grassy trails, huge sand dunes, and through the edge of the water. The horses liked to splash through the water. The ride was about 2.5 hours long for the equivalent of $20. It was sweet.
Today is day 4 of a great four-day weekend. I really have had an awesome and relaxing weekend. Another fun thing we did a couple days ago was eat out at this crazy expensive seafood restaurant in JBay. It was on the beach, with our toes in the sand and we stared at the water as we ate. After all these years of traveling, I can finally say I've eaten something weird. I ate crocodile!! It's actually really tasty if you even have the chance. I also ate oxtail, which I've never heard of before, but it was probably my favorite, among other things like prawns, crab, lobster, lamb, springbok, venison, mussels, oysters, and calamari. I don't even want to know how much I would have to pay for that in the States.
Anyway, it's been nice to have a few days to just chill out and relax after going strong for more than two months.
And one more thing, if anyone feels like they want to send me a letter, please feel free. It's just that I'm feeling a little left out because I haven't gotten any mail since being here and everyone else gets letters and packages quite a bit. I'm not trying to get sympathy, but just if you think of it...
My address is
PO Box 921
Jeffreys Bay 6330
South Africa
Love and prayers.
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Posted in General Articles
by Leah Rush
on 11/28/2008
In my previous blog I talked about the radical Jesus and how He began a revolution. I want to continue with this idea, but applying it more to the church. I want to warn you that some of these ideas may be new and offensive. So keep an open mind.
I will be speaking both about THE Church (with a capital C), meaning the universal Church, the body of believers everywhere as Christ intended THE Church; which is separate from church (small c), meaning the building or single congregation of believers.
I feel that Americans have a very skewed idea of the Church. What exactly is the Church? Some might say it's an organization, others might say it's the people. I believe that the Church is definitely not a place, but it's the Body of Christ with not a lot of guidelines. I feel that my church in Redding is doing great things and is seeking the heart of God and pursuing the things that He is passionate about. Their mission statement is "We love, we make disciples...We love God, we love each other, we love the world, we love the least." When the disciples ask Jesus what the greatest commandment is, He tells them it is to love God and to love others. Forgive me if you disagree, but honestly, arguments about baptism, communion, denomination, how or when to worship, and other secondary issues, are really just that: secondary. They don't affect a person's salvation. What matters most is the belief in the Holy Trinity, the Catholic [Universal] Church, to care for God's children (believers and non-believers), and to be missional in their intent.
What did the Acts Church look like? If you read the book of Acts you will see that the Church revolved around the people and looking out for each other and meeting the needs of each one. Most times the churches met in houses and weren't concerned about preachers, buildings, or any of that. The Exiles book that I've been reading has challenged me to look outside the box of what a church should look like. A church is the people, and though we've generally confined it to four-walls and pews, this isn't the Church. This is one place where a church may meet, but we shouldn't limit it to that. I get excited when I think about expanding the walls of the Church. In my opinion, a church can meet anywhere. When we think about what Jesus was doing while on the earth, he went TO the people. Like I said in my last blog, He wasn't idly sitting inside a building waiting for something to happen. He sought people out and ministered to them. And isn't this the main purpose for the Church? To reach others who do not know Christ while encouraging each other? I believe that we need to be more intentional about going out to where the people are. I recently read about a guy who was ADD and had a hard time sitting still in church. So instead, he got together with some friends and they went out boating each Sunday morning. Before they would go out, he would read Scripture and they would pray together. Soon more and more people were showing up to learn from and pray with this guy. It turned into a group of more than 50 that would do Church together, go boating, and break bread together every Sunday. This guy brought people to Christ because he met them where they were at. This is the kind of church I want to be a part of. One that is limitless. An Indian church planter is quoted as saying, "You have a Bible? You can read? Then you can start a church."
Of course there are challenges to this as well. We can't simply depend on this type of occasional, irregular gatherings of people. We definitely need more than that. We are called to live life together, a type of communal faith.
What should a church do? It should meet the needs of not only those in the church, but those in their community and those in the world. This is huge! We live in God's world and we are called to take care of His physical world, and also to fight injustice. If we as the Church aren't going to fight for the rights of people in this world, who will? The dehumanization of people is happening globally, and it's real! Injustice is a whole other topic that I won't address at the moment. It's equally as important, but just so happens to be one that we can easily be apathetic about.
Let me stop and examine the church as we see and experience it now. This isn't an opportunity for me to disagree with what church looks like today, but rather an opportunity to compare it with Jesus' original intentions. Already when you walk into a church, there tends to be an "us" and "them" mentality. The preacher/minister/pastor stands at the front and preaches, the worship team leads in musical worship, and everyone else sits passively in their seats. I think it's common knowledge that something like 10% of the church body is doing 100% of the "duties" like teaching, preaching, and serving. Jesus didn't call us to be passive!!
The church as a whole is doing good things. We have food distribution programs, outreaches, youth camps, clothes distribution, homeless ministries, etc. These are all great things. But I believe there is so much more and there isn't a formula to it. God isn't a formula God. He has called His Church to live outside of society, work together on the task at hand, be outwardly rather than inwardly focused, and push society forward. Are our churches communities of honesty, openness, hospitality, and genuine love? I mean really, are they? What do people think when they walk in the doors? Is it a community or is it just a once a week gathering to make us feel like good Christians? What are we doing for the people who walk into our doors? What do they see? Do they see a lifestyle? Because it should be.
This is a lot to take it and process. I'm still doing just that. Hope my thoughts haven't been too jumbled.
 Here's a picture of the St. Francis beach for your enjoyment. :)
Do great things.
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Posted in General Articles
by Leah Rush
on 11/27/2008
First of all, Happy Thanksgiving all! We had a really great big dinner earlier today, all 50 of us. We each cooked an assigned dish and all chowed down together. Overall, it was pretty American. We had 6 turkeys, mash potatoes and gravy, homemade stuffing, mac and cheese, bread, veggies, and apple pie. What I'll miss the most about this Thanksgiving is Grandma's cranberries and yams, (I don't even think they have them here) Auntie Joy's pumpkin cheesecake, and a good salad (I think mom usually makes it). Ok, take a deep breath ‘cause here comes the deep stuff...
I've been reading a book for the last week and a half that has completely rocked my world. And when I say that, I don't mean it's simply a good book. It's a book that has completely turned my perspective about life and the church upside down and calls me to action. I know this may seem cliché, but I'm serious! If you want to have a paradigm shift about who Jesus REALLY is and how he ACTUALLY wants us to spend our lives, check out Exiles by Michael Frost. And keep reading...
 After reading this book, I feel as though I've never really read the Gospels as they were intended. Just reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John will shake things up. Jesus was a radical! He did not live His life idly; He did not simply sit in a pew in the temple for an hour and a half each week and listen to a preacher. He truly lived; He messed up people's lives. Most of the time, we tell the awesome revolutionary stories of the Bible as children's bedtime stories. We talk about Jonah getting swallowed by a whale in a soft, sweet voice and tell little kids that they, too, need to listen to God's voice. But do we really hear ourselves?? Do we believe what we're preaching? How about the fact that Jesus gave sight to the blind, fed thousands, healed the infirm, and raised the dead on a daily basis! Does that ever cross our minds? Sometimes we make Jesus into this super of-course-He-could-do-all-these-things-because-He-was-God, man. But remember, though He was 100% God, He was also 100% man. Ok, my head's spinning already and I'm just getting started, but stay with me.
In light of all this, the apostle John, who wrote the Gospel of the same name, wrote two important things that I want to note. First, "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" John 21:25. Jesus performed even more miracles than were recorded! He began a revolution.
Now here's the kicker, this one gets me every time. Jesus tells us that we will do even GREATER things than He! Here are His words: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father" John 14:12. Jesus is talking about miracles here. He believes in us so much that WE will do even greater things than He. Because Jesus no longer lives on earth, but has gone to the Father and, thus, sent His Spirit to guide us and be with us as we perform "greater things."
So let me try to sort this out. While Jesus was on earth, this God-man, He performed miracle after miracle. And He calls us to follow Him? And He says that we'll do even greater things? YES! We have a tendency to over deify Jesus and proclaim that we could never live up to His example. Guess what? That answer is also YES!-we can never live up to what He was, but he calls us to try and follow in his footsteps. He says that we will have an impact on this world. He was 100% man. He cried, got angry, frustrated, found joy in the small things, and had many other emotions, so we know that it is possible for us. We forget that Jesus was normal! He spent the most time with hookers, the poor, and the lost. He never forgot them; they have His heart.
So what is required? Well, if we go back to John 14:12, all that is required is faith in Him. The One who gives us power, the One who has sent His Spirit, the One who performs miracles.
There is so much more that I could say on that subject, but I'm going to stop there for the time being and let that soak. Jesus began a revolution and invites us to join Him. He was not passive. Nor does He want us to be.
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