The Joshua Victor Theory

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Some of us are the types who dread an unexpected visit to our homes, where someone drops in unexpectedly, and discovers the mess or the chaos you live in. For some, that’s an embarrassment we’d do everything to avoid. Others just don’t mind whether their home is cleaner or messier, and if anyone sees it. What do we do when Jesus pays an unexpected visit to our hearts? When He opens up all the closets and checks out the garage and our storage areas, and sees what we’ve been keeping in our hearts? What do we think or feel when Jesus lays our hearts bare, with everything to see in His plain sight? Vulnerable? Exposed? Ashamed? Or defensive? Defiant? Or we act as if we simply don’t care? Think of another context—in relationships. Whether it’s a very close friendship, or in your marriage, between you and your spouse. In the best of marriages, a husband and wife can have true transp...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. This vineyard parable is complex in many ways, but today we’ll focus on why God became vulnerable? The vineyard owner in the story takes a gamble in sending his son. Not a gamble we’d be willing to take. We’d expect him to opt instead for violence or retribution, seeking justice. Kenneth Bailey tells the remarkable story of King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan: learned from security police that 75 Jordanian army officers were plotting against him that night. Military overthrow. The police wanted to storm the building and arrest the conspirators. Instead, the king had a helicopter pilot fly him to the building, gave instructions that he should fly away immediately without the king if he heard gunshots. Entered the building unarmed, calmly told them he learned of the conspiracy, warned of the devastation to the country, the civil war, the thousands of innocent deaths at stake, offered th...