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LIQUIDTHINKING IS: Stephen Zedler Jimmy Doyle Andy Mullins Current Sountrack
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Wednesday, December 21, 2005
What Jesus Really Said, cont. The Temptation of Jesus Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit and having received the proper physical examination and being okayed by his personal physician, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into a retreat center in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days (except, of course, during the evenings...because it would be crazy to fast for forty days without eating) and at the end of them he was fairly hungry. He had trimmed up really well by that time, too, and his self esteem was the highest it had ever been.  The Widow's Offering Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow could have put much more money into the treasury than she did, if only she had followed the basic financial principles found in the Scriptures. If she had been a better steward of her money, and had more faith, she would have multiplied it and could have given more....and could have enjoyed more of the blessing for herself, too." [Dr. Zedler has found that some manuscripts contain this variant ending to this passage: Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this woman has spent too much on herself and there is nothing left over for God. What she should do is go ahead and write a check for the amount she SHOULD give to God. Then, she should trust God to fill her account with enough to clear the check. But she won't do that, because not only is she selfish, she has no faith."]  Paying Taxes to Caesar Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn't we?" But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" "Caesar's," they replied. Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's--exactly 10% of your income." And they were amazed at him and wondered if he meant 10% of the gross income or after taxes.
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Jimmy Doyle is a dad, husband,
teacher, friend, and other things. Currently he's just trying to figure out what it means to follow Christ and be in community with others. He enjoys having conversations with fellow pilgrims on the journey.
Stephen Zedler has a wife and three kids who he loves very much. He has been called by God to study and teach history, particularly U.S.
history. He also believes that God has called him to reform the way children are educated in America.