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Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst 

Paul Miller

In this podcast, Paul E. Miller, author of A Praying Life, invites you into a conversation about Jesus and how he lived as a person. Ministry and conversation partners, Liz Voboril and Jon H., join Paul in exploring the details of Jesus' earthly life. In attending closely to the cadences of the one person who lived a perfect life, we gain a clearer vision of what it means to be human. Learn more about Paul Miller and his ministry at seejesus.net.

Seeing Jesus with Paul Miller

Paul, Jon, and Liz explore the beauty of submission and why Jesus, fully submitted to his Father, became more vibrant and free.
 
"The modern word that is almost anathema to our culture is submission. Jesus' primary driver for his entire life was his submission to his Father, and he would not call us to do anything that he himself had not done."
 "Jesus didn't get flatter by submitting to his Father. He became vibrant." 
"Jesus appears to be in bondage since he is so submitted to his Father, but he's freed to love an incredible variety of people. And his brothers, who appear free, are actually in bondage to other people's opinions."

[WONDER] 7. Dependence: To Pick Up the Crayons or Not?

Paul, Jon, and Liz continue their conversation about Jesus and how he loves. In the podcast, they reference a chart on the four ways Jesus loves that you can view here.
 
"When Jesus sets up a boundary, it's because people want him to do something that, in the world's eyes, would be way more glorious or easy. He'll put up boundaries to keep to his mission that's actually much harder and more painful. The boundaries he sets up keep him on track to not what the world wants, or even what his friends want, but what his Father wants."
 "We talk sometimes about having our loves rightly ordered, but we also need our fears rightly ordered." 
"The act of gentle intrusion is fading away. People are so fearful of triggering someone. What keeps them from loving is their risk assessment, with the result that people's lives are narrowing around the self."

[WONDER] 6. Expanding the Range of our Love: Good Walls, Gentle Intrusion, and Self-Control

Paul, Jon, and Liz continue their conversation about Jesus, reflecting on one of the ways Jesus loves: receiving what other people bring into his life.
 
"Selfless openness is simply being willing to let other people intrude into your world. With Mary Magdalene in the garden, Jesus stays in the background. He's the receiver of what's going on. Jesus receives Mary's tears quietly. He leaves space for her. Then with Pilate, Jesus receives his verbal abuse and mocking, which gets worse as the trial goes on. And in the footwashing, he receives the disciples' pride by washing their feet. He absorbs it."
 "We can potentially be very productive, but we miss opportunities to love all the time." 
"It's easy to see the seeming 'disorganization' as a problem. Like, Jesus could have benefited from a really good travel agent or team manager. 'He's not able to come help your daughter today, but you can book an appointment using our online form.' But, by design, he's responding to real life unfolding around him. That's something we can learn from him, too."

[WONDER] 5. Expanding the Range of our Love: Selfless Openness

Paul, Jon, and Liz continue their conversation about how Jesus lived as a human, looking at the footwashing scene in John 13.
 
"Though footwashing was everywhere in the ancient world, it's only in John's gospel where we read a detailed description of the process of footwashing. And this account only exists because of the incarnated Son of God taking each step to do it. It's breathtaking: that the humility of the Son of God comes through in the very description of footwashing itself."
 "John wrote his gospel 60 years after the footwashing, but John had been so shocked by it, that he remembered every move." 
"When Jesus washes the disciples' feet, the room is filled with awkward silence. You'd think Jesus would talk as he goes, to get his point across, but it's so like Jesus to leave space. He's so riveting that his silence helps John remember what happened."

[WONDER] 4. Footwashing and the Mechanics of Love

Paul, Jon, and Liz continue their discussion about what Jesus is like as a person, looking at the rest of his conversation with Pilate.
 
"Jesus' authority is so real that he doesn't roll over when talking to Pilate. There are times he stays silent, like at the Jewish trial, but he's actually very active through his passion."
 "Jesus talks about what holds him steady, what his ballast is, and it's his communion with his Heavenly Father." 
"Jesus talks about his communion with his Father all through the Gospel of John. And it's just good for us to know, because we tend to put Jesus in a deity box and not see that we are looking at a fully human person. Jesus is showing us a whole new way of being human: you can love a bully, like Pilate."

[WONDER] 3. How to Love a Bully: Jesus and Pilate, Part 2

Paul, Jon, and Liz begin a two-part conversation about Jesus and Pilate, looking at how differently Jesus navigated this conversation than his Resurrection announcement with Mary.
 
"Usually if a conversation begins with mocking, it can spiral into a serious quarrel, or it can just become immature with a lot of insults. Jesus diffuses the situation, as an act of kindness to Pilate. 'I'm not a threat to you, Pilate.' He's so calm and quiet."
 "What you're seeing is Jesus' communion with his Father. Pilate is technically the one in charge, but Jesus is the one showing hospitality to Pilate." 
"If anybody should be relaxed, it's the person in power. But you can feel Jesus' power in his stability and quiet. We like to talk about Jesus' meekness and mildness, but here Jesus also shows his power, his mastery of his spirit and mind, and he's willing to use battle-commander language. Pilate is discovering the mettle in Jesus; Jesus is like no one he's questioned before."

[WONDER] 2. Jesus Sees Through Pilate's Mock

Paul, Jon, and Liz begin a new series about Jesus, called Unexplored Wonder, in which they look at familiar stories and draw our attention to the way Jesus lived as a human. The series begins with the Resurrection Announcement.
 
"What so struck me is how much Jesus leaves space. I think that's partly because I tend to fill space. And I should explain what I mean by that. When you're talking, you're filling space, relational space. Jesus leaves space, and lets Mary emerge as a person. What's beautiful about the resurrection announcement is that we get to know both Jesus and her."
 "Jesus is able to make the actual announcement by mentioning her name, not his. It's pure poetry!" 
"If there's any moment in all of cosmic history and any person who had the right to put the spotlight solely on himself, this was it. But Jesus does the opposite and centers on the person in front of him."

[WONDER] 1. The Resurrection Announcement

Jon recently returned from a trip to Asia, where he was training church leaders, many from the persecuted church. In this episode, he shares some observations from his travels with Paul and Liz.
 
"A recent trip to Asia really brought a lot of eye-opening clarity to me. It wasn't necessarily designed this way, but it ended up that I had multiple opportunities to work with the persecuted church broadly in Asia. I've had that opportunity over the past few years, but I think as I get to know people on the ground more personally and hear their stories, there are some common observations and themes I'm just beginning to notice and really appreciate."
 "Suffering brings a lot of clarity." 
"There's no middle ground when the environment is extremely intense. You're either in Christ or you're not. You're either for Jesus or you're not. You're either a Christian or you're not. It not only brought clarity for them, but also a tremendous amount of hunger. It's really been, indirectly, a kind of poke to my own heart…"

[SPECIAL] Reflections on Suffering and the Persecuted Church

Paul and Liz talk with seeJesus Arab World Trainer "Mafdi" about what we can learn about discipleship from someone who lives in a country ruled by a King.
 
"Every believer has things in their life that are 'footwashing' – where you have to do humble tasks that someone might have shoved in your face, or they're just difficult to do and they're every day. Seeing them as something my King is asking me to do changes those tasks. And we know he told the disciples after the foot washing, 'if I, your Lord and master have washed your feet, so you are to wash one another's feet.' "
 "It's an honor for me that the King is asking me to do something for him." 
"If the King asks me to do something for him, I will joyfully say, 'Yes, sir.' With a big smile on my face. It's an honor for me that the King is asking me to do something for him. Like if someone asked me to help with something while I'm busy doing something for the king, I'd say. 'I'm sorry, but I'm doing so-and-so for the King.' "

[SPECIAL] Life Under a King: Interview with Mafdi

Liz and Jon interview our Student Ministry Director, Robert Row, and Mid-Atlantic Coordinator, Christian Graham. 
"I do think the tide is turning, and there's a shift in the middle of the coming generation, in the younger half of it. I wouldn't describe them as an anxious generation anymore. I'd describe them as a generation that's bringing revival to the country, to our country. I can't speak to it necessarily around the world, but I know it's happening here."
 "We have to be ready, because this generation is bringing revival in some really beautiful ways." 
"It seems that evangelism has been based on how much knowledge you have, so that you can answer all the questions that come at you. But we're really training students to study God's Word by asking good questions and then to enter into these interactive studies. Jesus is the King of question-asking, and before he even says a word, you have wise men and shepherds, who come experience this Messiah laying in a manger and then go tell others."

[WONDER] 7. Dependence: To Pick Up the Crayons or Not?

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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