Q & A: Floyd McClung & Cheryl Bridges Johns

Q & A: Nish Weiseth & Conrad Gempf

Q & A: Andy Braner, Rick Lawrence & Kathy Maskell

Q & A: Jonathan Martin, Tamrat Layne & Jawahar Gnaniah

Q & A: Floyd McClung & Dick Foth

Q & A: Leah Kostamo & Mark Braverman

Q & A: Idelette McVicker & Len Sweet

Q & A: Brian Zahnd & Jonathan Martin

Q & A: Dave Schmelzer & Lina Abujamra

Q & A: Lynne Hybels, Paul Young & Ted Dekker

A boy whose parents continually reminded him of washing hands, saying prayers, not getting germs, learning more about Jesus, eventually wondered about the importance of these two things — germs and Jesus — neither of which he could see! We can, though, see both germs and Jesus. The important thing, Jonathan suggests, is getting infected by them. In the story of the lawyer who asks Jesus what he must do to have eternal life, Jesus brought him to a different level that was not just cultural or theological. He wanted the man to be infected by Jesus, to experience his love. A love that comes from an inner makeover that changes one’s worldview, a love that comes only by grace, a love that is both contagious and dangerous.…

Nish shares with us her story of becoming a mom. Through pregnancy and birth and the dark moments of postnatal depression, she reminds us of that small voice that speaks when we are at the edge, the voice that speaks when the lies are loud. It is the voice that says, “You are not alone. You are rescued. You are seen. You are valued.” And it is the voice of the one who went to find the one lost sheep when the 99 were already safe. That same Jesus who rescues us for eternity rescues us daily. He is a resurrected, alive, saving Jesus.…

Mark, feeling at home in the synagogue where the Simply Jesus Gathering is taking place, reminds us of the meaning of “synagogue”: a place of assembly; and he tells the story of his becoming fully Jewish as he progressively knew more of Jesus, the best Jew. Among other incidents, this happened when he was in the Holy Land, daily walking back and forth across the dividing wall between East and West. A woman living in the heart of the conflict told him that to live with all the walls she followed Jesus, the Palestinian Jew who lived in an occupied land. When he was once asked in a Catholic church building which was his synagogue, he responded: “You’re sitting in it.” When it’s all about Jesus, what he’s doing and what he wants us to do, there is joy in the assembly place because he has brought down the walls.…

Dick loves miracles. And he believes the world is hungry for them. He shares about miracles in his life and draws our attention to the miracle of Jesus first forgiving and then physically healing the paralytic who was lowered through the roof by his friends. Those friends, whose actions were affirmed and whose faith was commended by Jesus, literally held the ropes so their friend would receive a miracle. First responders, like those who saved Dick’s wife’s life, are rope-holders for modern miracles.…

God is a God of all people. And we, as the church are a “group of people who get to express what is already true for everybody.” Paul tells of how his friend Jim “bought” an atheist’s soul online for $500. For every $10, Casper, the atheist, would go one time to the church of the buyer’s choice. Paul then met Casper who told him that after having visited all those churches he was still an unbeliever, and Paul asked him some revealing questions about what he does believe. Surprisingly, perhaps, Casper showed true belief in love, life and truth, and, Paul asserts, we are all included in God’s love; though we do have the option to say no. If the Holy Spirit is poured out on all flesh and Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would teach us, then, though “most roads don’t go anywhere, [God] will go down any road to find you.”…