Wow, twenty-four last week!!! And a bunch of new folks hanging out, playing football, jamming some music and sharing about Jesus...sweet time with Nomad, ya'll.
Been getting asked again: "Why do you call it Nomad?"
The short version - there is a long and boring version, for sure - I didn't name it Nomad. It just kind of happened. The more it was repeated, the more "Nomad" made sense. Nomadic people do not stay in the same place. They are on the move. Many Native American tribes were nomadic until they were forced by the government to stay in one physical location. The same thing has happened in Jesus' church: we've forced people to stay in one physical location when he has said, "Go!" from the start.
This is where I squint my eyes and clench the jaw, and my words growl from the throat because there is thunder in this truth and I want you to hear it:
If we do not go, we are not Jesus' people.
If you think the thing that united the disciples during Jesus' life was his teaching....you are dead wrong.
The thing that united their lives, relationships, mission and purpose was always Jesus' road to the cross.
It was always the "Go!" Jesus teachings, his miracles, the fact he fulfills over 300 prophecies...all of those things point to the cross (and, of course, the empty tomb!). Jesus always knew what united his core group....even when they weren't straight on what the core-uniting-element was.
We still can miss the heart of the mission...even today.
Bible studies are good. So are small groups. But there are small groups and Bible studies all over where people sit and "dig deep" and yet never seem to grow - and certainly never, "Go!" - because Jesus mission is not at their core. I've been in these groups, so trust me when I say they exist. I'm sad to say I've facilitated them as well.
Jesus has something simple to say about those kinds of groups. "Why do you call me Lord, Lord....and do not do what I say?" He says spiritual life like that is like building a beautiful house on sand. When the storm comes and the thunder rolls, the house is destroyed.
But those who do what Jesus says....their house is built on rock.
So Nomad goes.
A second question: Where do we go? I'll save that explanation for next week's entry. But being "nomadic" means we are only at home when we are together, and we're only ourselves when we are "going"....as Jesus has commanded.
Follow me. Go, make disciples. I send you to the ends of the earth.
Follow him.
Come on and join us at Westchester Park! That is on the corner of Lincoln and Manchester @ 6:20ish pm. Cooking out! Bring something to share if you can. Be ready for a family-style time of fellows hip and fun, and expect God is going to teach you something when we gather. Because he will.
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