go attack your nineveh!

so i recently watched Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie and it made me think about the story of Jonah. so here is the link to watch the movie and here's a selection from the first chapter of Jonah :

The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: ² "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." ³ But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD. ⁴ Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. ⁵ All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. ⁶ The captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish." ⁷ Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?" ⁹ He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." ¹⁰ This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.) ¹¹ The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?" ¹² "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you." ¹³ Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. ¹⁴ Then they cried to the LORD, "O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased." ¹⁵ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. ¹⁶ At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.

this is the part of the story that i want to focus on. this is the part that makes me think the most.

in this story we have jonah and in this story jonah is one of the biggest prophets of the time. he is popular and when he has something to say everyone drops what they're doing. he has total respect of the people and when he speaks they believe (and it is) coming directly from the Lord. so one time God tells jonah that he needs him to go to nineveh. during this time nineveh is the bottom of the bottom. it's horrible. the city is full of greedy people that don't know right from wrong. anyway, jonah is like yeah right.. i would go anywhere but there.. i can't save those people they're horrible people. God insist that jonah make the journey, but the next day jonah heads out of town to tarshish. (the opposite direction of nineveh) and from there we all know the story.

but in this story jonah is a big part of the faith of the people at the time. they believe what he said to be the word of God. and jonah was a leader for God and a follower of God. he was a prophet because he had a sound relationship with God. but this great relationship failed when jonah didn't want to go to nineveh. for lack of a better term, jonah "rocked the boat" on the great relationship he and God had because he was afraid. he didn't want to waste his time on people he felt we're already a lost cause.

this story makes me reflect on this weekends youth leaders conference. we talked a lot about "servant leadership" and i think that jonah's story is a story of a leader who was afraid to be a servant leader. see jonah was happy in the town he was in. he was even comfortable leaving and going to anywhere in israel. but was afraid and unwilling to travel to nineveh. jonah was afraid to do "God's dirty work" he didn't want to travel to tell people unwilling to listen that they would perish.

i believe that God often puts our faith to very similar tests. tests of servant leadership. God knows when we are faithfully following him and he knows when he can test us. so he sends test to check our faith. in these tests he has a do things outside of our comfort zone. maybe it's that feeling you get inside that says you should go talk to them. or maybe it's a call to stay in the kitchen a scrub a pot.

now those examples aren't examples exactly like jonah's but they are still a call to something that we are uncomfortable with and a call to be something bigger than ourselves.

so maybe the next time you'll think twice about that person you thought was a lost cause. jonah thought nineveh was a lost cause yet the city changed their ways and turned to the Lord. the story of jonah tells all about grace, mercy, and forgiveness, but i think that the bigger lesson is in his leadership.

we can be comfortable in our own leadership positions, but we need to comfortable anywhere. God calls us to be more than leaders. he calls us to servant leadership. it's a big concept but if you can grasp it and, more importantly, but it in to practice you'll be a better person. God is calling you to go sit at the other table in the cafeteria. he is calling you the kid sitting by himself. but the question is how will you respond?

will you be jonah? will you turn and run the other way in fear or will you willingly accept the challenge? will you be a servant leader for God? the choices are yours. do what you please, but just remember you could end up inside a fish for three days!

go attack your nineveh! much love and peace, dmaloney

chyeah

random picture..

today's post is going to be short. tonight i'll be at church for the district lock-in. i'm pretty pumped. but the fact that i can't participate is a little upsetting. anyway tomorrow is a triple-header. and yeah. i think that's all for today. enjoy the weather and the beginning of spring. much love and peace, dmaloney

right now.

in history we've been studying the holocaust. as supplements for the class discussion we've been reading selections from elie wiesel's 'night'. if you haven't heard of or read 'night' it is based on elie wiesel's experience in the auschwitz-birkenau concentration camp in 1944-1945.

i read the whole book as a freshman in english and when i read it then it hit me. i recognized the horror of the holocaust. but this time i looked at it in a new perspective. certain parts really stood out. in particular the part where elie wiesel tells of the death of his father. i spare you the graphic details. but this made me think about a bunch of different things and some of them are unimportant. but one thing was the regret he had for his father's death. he felt like he had done something wrong by not responding to his father's last words. the words. 'eliezer.' it made me think about holding on to our earthly bodies. our grief. i'm not saying that dealing with grief is easy. it is hard to do. but if you can it's so much better. our bodies are nothing after our life on earth. they mean nothing. we shouldn't be afraid of death because it's only the start of your real life. the life that is unimaginable. and unfathomable. so life well. but don't be afraid or the end. live in the moment. right now. right now.

much love and peace, dmaloney

all game. no talk.

everyone knows someone or has heard someone who talks a big game and doesn't act. it's frustrating, isn't it? i'm not talking about the jokes you have with friends. or anything like that. i'm talking about people who say think like 'yo, i'mma get my people on you.' or ' i'm perfect because i got to church.' sometimes we need to think before we speak. are you really going to get your people on me? or are you really perfect? because i'm pretty sure you've never opened a bible and i just heard you swear like a sailor back there.

and maybe these are harsh judgments that i'm not qualified to make. what i think doesn't matter. but i think if you're going to talk big you need to act big.

now, there's no beating the biggest act of all acts. (the creation of earth and humans) but you can still act. God gave you a mouth, ears, nose, legs, arms, and brain. and each of those are separate entities. yet work together. the body is a team and your mouth shouldn't do more work than your brain, arms, legs, ears, and nose.

'Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.' -1 corinthians 12: 14-26

this selection from paul's letter calls us to more than to just working together. it is open to its own interpretation. and the letter continues with what it really calls us to do. but i'm telling you back up your words. don't fight some idiot. show people that you are a real follower of Christ and that God's grace is there for everyone, anytime. the best part is that it never stops. never ends. and never stops giving.

much love and peace, dmaloney