Jonathots Daily Blog
(3998)
That Just Might Make a Difference in the Landscape of Human Harmony
1. Pursue, promote and point out goodness instead of condemning, chatting up or capsulizing evil
2. Improve one small thing in your life each and every day, and sit back and enjoy the results
3. Stop honking your horn
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Jonathots Daily Blog
(2753)
The latest piece of pseudo-intellectual drivel seems to be the jaded proclamation, “People don’t change.”
It’s especially disheartening when coming from the mouth of a prison warden, a psychiatrist or a minister.
I suppose we could take this entire essay to discuss the validity or over-simplification of such a decree. Matter of fact, as Christians we could cite that even though the disciples spent at least 38 months with Jesus of Nazareth, the amount of personality and ethical change inside each one of them was questionable.
Peter may have confessed his faith, but he was still prone to over-exaggeration and eventually, denial.
James and John may have ceased to be fishermen, but maintained much of their prejudice, wanting to kill a group of Samaritans.
Thomas certainly had a conversion experience, which he often chose to doubt.
And Judas was elected treasurer, only to betray his position… and his friend.
So it is obvious to me that Jesus was the Christ, but not necessarily able to completely change goats into sheep. No, it seems that we get lost in that process and end up basically being asses.
Yet I must tell you, if I thought that change was impossible, I would not be able to tolerate the mediocrity of the world around me.
So what is the truth?
Actually the truth is a coagulation of two principles. Whatever you are, whatever you were, whatever your inklings or whatever your genetics, you can be transformed by a pair of unchanging and necessary conclusions.
We call the first one the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Yet I must tell you, that single concept becomes merely idealistic if you don’t take the “rule to school.”
In other words, if you do not allow the truth of the Golden Rule to enter your daily activities, you will worship the premise as you simultaneously defile it.
There has to be an application for the cleansing power of “love your neighbor.” This is found in John the 8th Chapter, verse 15. Jesus makes a simple statement.
He says, “You judge according to the flesh. I judge no man.”
We do become different people when we realize that “loving our neighbor as ourself” is the survival mode for human interaction, and that the only way to apply it is to never judge anyone.
You may feel an inclination towards a lifestyle, a genetic predisposition, or have just developed habits which seem to cling to you like feathers in the wind, but you can still be completely reborn by realizing that loving your neighbor is refusing to participate in any judgment about him or her.
Are you ready for some truth?
I am often confused why we think it is necessary to hold a conviction and then force others to comply.
For instance, I do not like alcohol and never have. Yet I would be completely against Prohibition.
I think smoking marijuana is granting yourself a license to be inept in the name of recreational drugs, but by the same nature, I think it’s wrong to condemn and incarcerate those who want to puff.
An obvious way we can all change is to admit that “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is the essential chemical compound of life, but the only way to take that rule to school is to refuse to judge anyone.
It is never all right, and certainly is never God-ordained.
Even though the Apostle Paul had his experience on the road to Damascus, by the time he got on the road to Corinth, he had somewhat turned back into an officious, overly opinionated Pharisee.
But there is one thing he never lost: the realization that we are to love one another … which means expressing mercy instead of judgment.
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Jonathots Daily Blog
Condemn, condone, console, consider.
These are the four basic approaches available to us when dealing with our fellow-humans.
Jesus had his angle. The Jews, the Romans and the culture did not agree.
Just this week, one of my sons asked me what I thought about marriage equality. I smiled. Because honestly, you cannot approach individuals as a group and develop an opinion of “them” and think you’re doing anything that resembles righteousness.
In other words:
So Jesus had his criteria for evaluating life.
Jesus did condemn. It is ridiculous to assume that he was “liquid love” seeping into every hidden crevice of human existence. It’s just that he didn’t condemn what most people condemned. It’s popular to condemn things that are different from us and try to make them look weird.
Jesus condemned hypocrisy.
It would be easy to get along with Jesus of Nazareth as long as you didn’t go into your bull-crap mode. You could make mistakes, fall short, have inconsistencies or even sin, and his profile would basically be, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
Likewise, Jesus always condoned those who insisted on finding a way to love. When James and John became infuriated with the Samaritans because the disciples were forbidden entrance into the city, Jesus cautioned them that when we fail to give a loving response, we lose control of the end result.
Jesus did console. Yet when they asked him to express his empathy and pity for those killed by a tower falling on them, he surprised them all by saying, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
But Jesus always consoled those who repented. Repentance is the first journey we must take on our way to receive our gift of grace.
And Jesus certainly was a man who took time to consider. He considered the lily. Why? Because it did what it was supposed to do without demanding attention while producing great beauty.
Jesus always chose to consider those who knew there was more to believe, more to receive and more to retrieve.
What you do with condemn, condone, console and consider will determine the quality of your life, and possibly even your eternal destination.
So as a Jesonian follower I will condemn hypocrisy, condone those who pursue life with love, console the repenter and consider the individuals who comprehend, yet still know there is more.
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Jonathots Daily Blog
(2386)
There is something comforting about finding yourself in the care of a professional who is willing to clarify and make things easier.
It is a beautiful thing.
It takes what would seem to be insurmountable–or even punishing–and transform it into merciful and workable.
Jesus was a pro.
He was a professional savior who was well-geared for ministering to human behavior because he, himself, was human.
But the first difficulty he faced in procuring this acumen was dealing with four “cons:” condemn, confront, control and console.
For generations, religious fervor and political bondage had created a climate of condemning and controlling. Matter of fact, even to this day a large percentage of those who claim to pursue the faith of Jesus Christ do so by condemning what they have determined to be iniquity, teaching their congregations that “God is in control of everything.”
So talk about walking into a hornet’s nest, or better phrased, a gathering of “shewbread conservatives,” Jesus arrived at the pinnacle of this judgmental juggernaut.
For the Jews had a system for condemning people for breaking the least little Sabbath rule, and the Romans had created such fear in the populace that the masses were contained and controlled by perpetual apprehension.
Our “Pro” had to dispel condemning and controlling. Had he not succeeded at that, all he would have accomplished was a new sect of Judaism, which would have no chance whatsoever of gaining attention in the Gentile world.
So the ministry of Jesus consisted of a confronting consolation, or sometimes it was a consoling confrontation.
As in the case of the woman caught in adultery, it was necessary to free her of the condemnation of the Pharisees, while snatching her out of the control of the murderous mob in order to console her and tell her that she was not condemned and confront her–to go and sin no more.
And in the case of the disciples, he confronted them in the Garden of Gethsemane–to stay awake and watch with him one hour, only to return to find them asleep, and relent in consolation: “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
There is a great sense of relief when you’re in the hands of a pro–when you know that the God who made you has become the God who is like you, and has shared a message that does not condemn your ineptness, nor does it control your destiny.
Jesus was a pro.
His philosophy cost him his life. So please honor him by doing the Jesonian thing:
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Jonathots Daily Blog
(2325)
I have come to give you abundant life.
I have come so your joy can be full.
I have come to fulfill, not destroy.
I have come to give you rest.
I have come to serve, not to be served.
I have come to give you the power to become the sons and daughters of God.
I have come to bring a sword of dissension, which leads to true discovery.
I have prepared a place for you.
I have come to lay down my life.
I have come to be the light of the world.
I have come as the way, the truth and the life.
I have come to show you the Father.
I have come to proudly be the son of man.
I have come with a child-like heart.
I have come to separate the wheat from the chaff.
I have come to be the first fruits of many creatures.
I have come to preach the gospel to the poor.
I have been tempted in every way.
And most importantly, I have come to save … not condemn.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
The Sermon on the Mount in music and story. Click the mountain!
Click here to get info on the “Gospel According to Common Sense” Tour
Please contact Jonathan’s agent, Jackie Barnett, at (615) 481-1474, for information about scheduling SpiriTed in 2014.
Click here to listen to Spirited music
Jonathots Daily Blog
(1971)
You meet the nicest people at the swimming pool.
Water is just wet with possibility: it’s good for splashing, swimming, drinking and even, I hear, washing away sins.
Yesterday I encountered a dear lady during my time of pool play. We had a rather lengthy conversation which placed me in the enjoyable position of “listener” more than “speaker.” (I actually rather prefer that as long as my attention span doesn’t drag me away to drowsiness.)
At the conclusion of our little rendezvous, she said, “The problem in America is that the younger generation doesn’t have any respect for morals and goodness.”
I know that’s a popular opinion. It’s probably the same thing my parents said about me and my friends when we were mere burgeoning bumpkins. But it’s really not the dilemma. The problem is that we suffer from social amnesia, forgetting how to keep things straight and knowing when to narrow down our choices so that we don’t become so pliable that we lack common sense.
I put some thought into it. Now, I don’t consider myself a scholar, but I did come up with three things to help us humans stay on the “strait and narrow,” so we don’t become seething contradictions to those around us:
1. If I want the blessing, I’ve got to be willing to take the blame and if I’m going to take the blame–darned tootin,’ I deserve the blessing. Since people in our culture are frightened of appearing inept in any way at all, the human family seems to scatter in all directions, seeking a corner in which to hide whenever a dish is broken. In doing so, they sacrifice the ability to confess their bumbling, become well-trusted and be part of the team that gets to go out dish-shopping. As long as we extol the technique of subterfuge and hiding our weaknesses, we will never actually be able to participate in the kind of discovery that unearths miracles and blessings. Which leads to:
2. Lying sucks. I hate it when people lie to me; I would assume they feel the same way about my mistruths. Lying sucks because it puts such a cheap price on conversation that we never quite know what is important and what is just another foolish posting on Facebook. We also have no idea whether we can trust the words that come from the mouths of our friends, so we dangerously find ourselves second-guessing for fear of being duped. And how about this?
3. Leave people alone. Just yesterday, driving between my headquarters and the shopping center, a mere mile-and-a-half away, I saw at least six things that my fellow-humans did right in front of my eyes which I found at least stupid, if not unethical. Who cares? As long as we believe that stupidity has a chance of being successful, we will be grumpy about folks who take short cuts and cheat.
It sometimes takes a while, but no bad deed goes unpunished.
And it isn’t a choice between condemning and condoning–it’s really a decision to keep your eyes on the prize of your own life and leave people alone. I will not condemn you, but I’m not necessarily going to condone everything I see, either. My gift is to leave you alone and let it play out. After all, nothing is more annoying than brothers and sisters trying to correct one another instead of letting Mom and Dad do their jobs. And for me, Mother Earth and Father God can take care of it. I’m just going to show up for dinner and make sure I wash behind my ears.
There you go.
Tomorrow I will be sharing at the Church of the Straits in Mackinaw City, Michigan. 
Even though I know the “strait” in this case refers to a body of water, I am taking the poetic license of hoping that they also understand that the “strait and narrow” referred to in the gospel is not “strait-laced and narrow-minded,” but rather, straight-forward and narrow in focus to the truth.
I hope they will agree with me–to get the blessing:
When you do all of these things, it makes pool time so much more pleasant.
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Please contact Jonathan’s agent, Jackie Barnett, at (615) 481-1474, for information about personal appearances or scheduling an event
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A voice writing in the wilderness
Jonathots Daily Blog 
