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31st August 2009 by Nathaniel Brown

Some people prefer it when we're messed up. Our messed up lives make them feel comfortable, and when change comes it freaks them out.

In Mark chapter 4 we read about a demon-possessed man who was a lunatic. He had the muss of Wolverine and mental stability of The Joker, a pretty lethal combination. He was so crazy that he lived underground in old tombs because no one could handle him...He was probably a local celebrity, infamous for being a lunatic (maybe you've got one of these in your town/school/church). People were ok with him so long as he kept to himself...that was until Jesus did some cool stuff.

So Jesus came to town and this crazy guy goes to meet him. Jesus knows that he's messed up because of having demons inside his spirit and so Jesus calls out the demons and sends them into a nearby herd of 2000 pigs, at which point the pigs go nuts and run off a cliff (which would have been cool to see but a serious waste of bacon).

After the demons leave the crazy man he's back to being a normal person. People heard about the stuff that went down and came by to check it out. The funny thing is that when they got there and saw the crazy man straight they wigged out. This was the local celebrity, the lunatic, sitting there like a normal person and people couldn't handle it. They were more comfortable when he was messed up, and they would have preferred it stay that way.

You're probably not as crazy as this guy, and chances are that you sleep in a bed instead of a tomb but when Jesus changes you you're life looks different. Jesus takes people from being messed up and makes the new again, but not everyone likes this. You've got to be prepared for some backlash, and maybe there's people in your life who will give you grief; might be your school mates, might be family, might even be people in your church. Don't listen to them! When you encounter Jesus your life can't be the same, and everyone else is just going to have to deal with it.

Nate Brown

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1. 

   Shandri Brown

   August 31, 2009 at 1:41pm

   Hmmm interesting and very true that often "our messed up lives make people more comfortable" than when we get it together. I love that Jesus changes us, even if it costs a lot of bacon.

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2. 

   ....

   September 06, 2009 at 8:37pm

   chances are its the church who will give ya the biggest grief

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3. 

   Nate

   September 15, 2009 at 2:36pm

   often it can be the church that struggles to deal with change in your life which is definitely a bit sad. I think though, that rather than going on feeling burnt by 'the church' we can help change that culture and continually celebrate positive change in those around you.
   I also think there's a bit of wisdom required when change has happened in our live's...in general people don't like change and often I've come across as an arrogant young guy with no tact. I think its smart for us to do what we can to win people over when change has happened in our lives, rather than leaving them skeptical or defensive.

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