Another John 3:16

Most people who are familiar with Christianity are familiar with the words found in the Gospel of John Chapter 3, verses 16 and 17:

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. "
John 3:16-17 (The MSG)

But there’s another John 3:16. It’s Chapter 3, verses 16 &17 of The First Epistle of John to the Church of Ephesus

“This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear" I John 3:16-17 (The MSG)


No one's life reflected this passage of scripture more than the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In remembrance of the 40th anniversary of his assassination, I’d like to share excerpts from one of his last sermons.

Excerpts from:
Remaining Awake Through A Great Revolution
Delivered at the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., on 31 March 1968. Congressional Record, 9 April 1968.

There can be no gainsaying of the fact that a great revolution is taking place in the world today. In a sense it is a triple revolution: that is, a technological revolution, with the impact of automation and cybernation; then there is a revolution in weaponry, with the emergence of atomic and nuclear weapons of warfare; then there is a human rights revolution, with the freedom explosion that is taking place all over the world. Yes, we do live in a period where changes are taking place. And there is still the voice crying through the vista of time saying, "Behold, I make all things new; former things are passed away."

Now whenever anything new comes into history it brings with it new challenges and new opportunities. And I would like to deal with the challenges that we face today as a result of this triple revolution that is taking place in the world today.

First, we are challenged to develop a world perspective. No individual can live alone, no nation can live alone, and anyone who feels that he can live alone is sleeping through a revolution. The world in which we live is geographically one. The challenge that we face today is to make it one in terms of brotherhood.

Secondly, we are challenged to eradicate the last vestiges of racial injustice from our nation.

The hour has come for everybody, for all institutions of the public sector and the private sector to work to get rid of racism. And now if we are to do it we must honestly admit certain things and get rid of certain myths that have constantly been disseminated all over our nation.

We must come to see that the roots of racism are very deep in our country, and there must be something positive and massive in order to get rid of all the effects of racism and the tragedies of racial injustice.

There is another thing closely related to racism that I would like to mention as another challenge. We are challenged to rid our nation and the world of poverty. Like a monstrous octopus, poverty spreads its nagging, prehensile tentacles into hamlets and villages all over our world. Two-thirds of the people of the world go to bed hungry tonight. They are ill-housed; they are ill-nourished; they are shabbily clad. I’ve seen it in Latin America; I’ve seen it in Africa; I’ve seen this poverty in Asia.

As I noticed these things, something within me cried out, "Can we in America stand idly by and not be concerned?" And an answer came: "Oh no!" Because the destiny of the United States is tied up with the destiny of India and every other nation. And I started thinking of the fact that we spend in America millions of dollars a day to store surplus food, and I said to myself, "I know where we can store that food free of charge—in the wrinkled stomachs of millions of God’s children all over the world who go to bed hungry at night." And maybe we spend far too much of our national budget establishing military bases around the world rather than bases of genuine concern and understanding.

Not only do we see poverty abroad, I would remind you that in our own nation there are about forty million people who are poverty-stricken. I have seen them here and there. I have seen them in the ghettos of the North; I have seen them in the rural areas of the South; I have seen them in Appalachia. I have just been in the process of touring many areas of our country and I must confess that in some situations I have literally found myself crying.

Jesus told a parable one day, and he reminded us that a man went to hell because he didn’t see the poor. His name was Dives. He was a rich man. And there was a man by the name of Lazarus who was a poor man, but not only was he poor, he was sick. Sores were all over his body, and he was so weak that he could hardly move. But he managed to get to the gate of Dives every day, wanting just to have the crumbs that would fall from his table. And Dives did nothing about it. And the parable ends saying, "Dives went to hell, and there were a fixed gulf now between Lazarus and Dives."

There is nothing in that parable that said Dives went to hell because he was rich. Jesus never made a universal indictment against all wealth. It is true that one day a rich young ruler came to him, and he advised him to sell all, but in that instance Jesus was prescribing individual surgery and not setting forth a universal diagnosis. And if you will look at that parable with all of its symbolism, you will remember that a conversation took place between heaven and hell, and on the other end of that long-distance call between heaven and hell was Abraham in heaven talking to Dives in hell.

Now Abraham was a very rich man. If you go back to the Old Testament, you see that he was the richest man of his day, so it was not a rich man in hell talking with a poor man in heaven; it was a little millionaire in hell talking with a multimillionaire in heaven. Dives didn’t go to hell because he was rich; Dives didn’t realize that his wealth was his opportunity. It was his opportunity to bridge the gulf that separated him from his brother Lazarus. Dives went to hell because he was passed by Lazarus every day and he never really saw him. He went to hell because he allowed his brother to become invisible. Dives went to hell because he maximized the minimum and minimized the maximum. Indeed, Dives went to hell because he sought to be a conscientious objector in the war against poverty.

And this can happen to America, the richest nation in the world—and nothing’s wrong with that—this is America’s opportunity to help bridge the gulf between the haves and the have-nots. The question is whether America will do it. There is nothing new about poverty. What is new is that we now have the techniques and the resources to get rid of poverty. The real question is whether we have the will.

© The Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr.

A Guide For Responding to Current Events

From "The Message" (MSG)

Matthew 5

You're Blessed

When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

"Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

Salt and Light

"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

What If There Isn't A Plan?

If I have learned anything about myself it is that my favorite word is "Why". I must use that word in relation to some event or topic at least a dozen times a day. And the topic that seems to evoke that question most often is God's plan for my life.

Why am I here and what am I supposed to be doing?

Why did this or that happen?

Why can't I figure out God's plan for my life?

Why won't He make His plan clear?

And somehow after all of the prayer, fasting, study and spiritual counsel, I am no closer to finding an answer to "Why" than I was when I was twelve. In fact, the passing of the years has only resulted in an abundance of questions -- very, very few answers.


A friend recently wrote me and asked what I thought God was telling me about a particular issue in my life. My answer was an embarassing "I'm not sure".

So I ask myself, What if there isn't a plan? Or, if there is a plan, am I really supposed to know it. Or worse yet, what if there is a plan and I figure it out too late.

I unashamedly envy those who know with certainty why they are here. I count them as the most blessed people in the world because to go through life unsure is a bit of a curse.

Of course none of you have these thoughts. But if you have a friend that does, tell them they're not alone.

Allowing the Adventure to Happen

an excerpt from Opening Your Mind to the Possibilities of God
By John Paul Jackson


We have to change our thought processes. We have to stop limiting God. Yes, this might be the grandest experience we’ve ever had, but it surely isn’t all that God can do.

However, each of us has a hard time with this admission, and great men and women of God have built denominations on what they thought was the root of Christianity. When we have this mindset and God goes beyond the boundaries we have set, we don’t advance in His plan because we are trying to keep the old anointing alive. When we do this, we are agreeing with the Pharisees: “The old wine skin is good enough. This is supposed to be new wine? It couldn’t be! It’s too bitter to really be wine! It’s not as sweet as what we have!”

This could happen to anyone. It could happen in my church, and it could happen in yours. God could move, and we could think, This is all there is. The buck stops here.

I don’t want God to move in my church and for us to say, “We have arrived!” I don’t want that to happen! I am praying that God moves, and I am also praying that we will have the heart and mind to not say, “This is all there is. Everybody should come here because we have it and nobody else does.” What a tragedy that would be!

Stop Cutting God Short

Whatever God chooses to do in my life and in yours, it will be at the threshold — and only the threshold — of what He could do! It is the entry point. How we respond will determine what He is going to do in the future. We don’t want to cut Him short because we thought we had the best.

From a slightly different perspective, when you are having your quiet time with Jesus, don’t assume that you’ve gone as far as you can go. God is always so much more, and no matter how far we go in Him — the roads we travel, the heights we traverse — we will have only scratched the surface. And that is the true adventure.



© 2007 John Paul Jackson, Streams Ministries International. All rights reserved. This article may be freely distributed electronically as long as no changes whatsoever are made to the contents. Every copy must contain appropriate attribution that includes the Streams Ministries website, www.streamsministries.com.

This article and previous Streams e-letter articles can be accessed at www.streamsministries.com/blogger