Saturday, April 28, 2007

From Matthew 3

Matthew 3:8
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

In keeping with repentance… What does this mean?

The command is there: Produce Fruit. My first assumption was that the fruit is supposed to be good fruit. But perhaps that is what the “in keeping with repentance” is there for. Jesus does converse on both good and bad fruit. It could then be describing the kind of fruit that is produced. A repentant heart will not produce bad fruit. So this is saying that we should produce not just any fruit but Good fruit.

In addition, I know that if keep short accounts with God and confess my sins as soon as I commit them then I am more productive. Perhaps the application of this verse includes both aspects: goodness and productiveness.

12 comments:

Nick Jesch said...

Noticed your response to mine over at L's blog...clicked the tulip, and that got me here for my troubles. Your profile notes are, well, interesting. This: You moved the pot before the coffee stopped brewing. Do you smell the mountains or the burro?

I have a burro? Neat!

You have a burro, mountains, AND coffee brewing. Nw the coffee's done brewing, take your cup, sit the burro, and explore the mountains...most satisfying. I am just finishing one of the more amazing cups of coffee ever--and I've had some great coffees. Its a blend of 60% Brasilian Bourbon select peaberry (I've met the man who planted the trees, and whose 89 year old Father yet works them) and 40% Guatemalan from el Quiché, the northeast corner, high in the mountains..my importer has a long standing relationship with the estate where it is produced. Roasted them both yesterday evening, then blended them for my breakfast cup (no burro here to ride, though). You are in Moscow...one of the more amazing espressos I've ever had is at Bucer's, their café cubano..once I taught them to draw it over azucar cremado rather than the blah white sugar they used to use. Your photos amongst the Kurds are amazing..I've some long-time friends who just returned to the US after five years in Mongolia, working amongst the Kazakhs...rather a similar people. Amazing stories and pictures they have. Amazing, how God has us so unique, yet similar, and scattered across this dirtball, demonstrating the results of our salvation in so many ways--yes, producing the fruits (results) appropriate to our changed minds/hearts. Your reading/film list is rather different--and amazing, too...and I've gone long enough. Just HAD to up and say something....

thebeloved said...

Whoa. It is a small world...Yes, I am originally from Moscow, that is where my blog home still is. I keep running into people who have been there. I miss coffee here, 11,000 miles away from Moscow. How is my film and reading list "different"? Okay... thanks for commenting.

Jeff Moss said...

Nick, good to see you here. How's life? It's funny how many different ways there are of running into people.

And this comment of yours certainly reminds me of the way you talked about coffee when you were here...

-Jeff

Nick Jesch said...

Oh, yes, the reading/viewing list. Lewis/chesterton/Wodehouse for a lineup of esoteric Brits..throw in DIckens, Mac Donald, Austen for the more, uhm, socially astute. OK, so far, not too unusual, though far more weighty than most would have. Add in Elliott, the classics...but I suppose the one that really surprised me...Quo Vadis...this is the FIRST time I've ever seen anyone else even aware of that book. Did you know it was made into a film, years ago? Never seen it on video, I believe I saw a 16mm B & W film version, with sound, likely produced in the fifties....never seen it since that first time. Very moving film. The rest of your filmlist---Pirates of Carribean over against Master and Commander...unusual partners. Walk in the clouds, VERY few people ever mention that one any more---wonderful film. Pride and Prejudice, for some emotional fun (and more Brit culture, I shouldn't wonder), and Wedding Planner? Hmmmm...it would appear the main factor making them all into a set is cohesiveness and quality, and portraying strong, deep characters and exploring relationships....not a shallow one is mentioned....Very rare to find a list of this quality these days.

Nick Jesch said...

well,it appears the first comment I made last night got lost in cyberspace...it was late, or rather, early, I don't know.....anyway, Jeff, it's been a while, but I believe it was your home that so graciouly hosted me when in town for T Fest...and yes, we shared some decent coffee in your home....great to have you pop round here.

Now, as to our Hostess..I had to leave for our fellowship meeting after reading your response..and some details began to come together. Not in Moscow, 11 thousand miles away, the K-tribes...my hunch was that you are teaching in a private school in a country much in the news of late, perhaps even the very same one of which we learned much last summer in Moscow. I prowled about in the archives...and sure enough, you are in that country, teaching in a school seemingly the same...then I read the account of the fire drill, and I KNEW---I've read that same story, from the viewpoint of the MAN who organised and promoted the drill...and at this point, I'm fairly certain I know your name, which is quite Irish...because another friend of mine (who lives just across the water from Victoria, BC) has mentioned you along with Mr. Fire Drill...amazing how, in all the cyberworld, this incredible network of connexions comes along...I have been VERY fascinated by the accounts I get by email from Mr. F D.....amazing work there. It is particularly encouraging to watch, from this great distance, as the light slowly and steadily penetrates that great darkness. What an amazing concept, that school.Speaking of fruit being produced..of the appropriate sort. I can't imagine fruit much more suitable than what we see in result of that work. I've grown very attached to those K-people as a culture. When once the crescent moon no longer sheds her weak light upon them.....

thebeloved said...

Wow... yes. I would have to say you hit that nail on the head... To tell you the truth--it is a little bit creepy. Especially being that I have no idea who you are. Suffice to say, however, that the body of Christ is an international and far reaching family. It is one that makes me continually amazed and blessed. Thanks for being interested in "my" people, as they continue to become more and more on my heart. There are so many things going on here, and all over the world. Sometimes I just feel that if I could give others a glimpse of what I see God doing, of what God's love really does, they would all drop whatever they are doing and get right with the truth. Please keep all of us here in your prayers...

thebeloved said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
thebeloved said...

Oh, and I knew that there was a movie of Quo Vadis, but I have never seen it. I have always been fascinated by the fact that it was written by a Polish man...

Nick Jesch said...

I can understand it being a bit "creepy", some chap halfway round the world seeming to have worked out so much of who you are and what you're about...BUT--just consider that we are, perhaps, both working for the same Master, and that Dame Rumour does get about...and often with GOOD and positive things. What was that, anyway, about the things that are good, true, beautiful, honest, of goood report....? It is likely we have met face to face---if you were in Moscow either T Fest, I was there. At the Windy, I likely asked you to dance--and unless you're the one who turned me down, I've no clue which one YOU are!! At Leave it to Psmyth...perhaps at the Nuart when Jeremiah spoke...being forced to fill the time with his words, as the laptop would not feed the projector...I stayed and chatted with him quite a while. I stayed with Jeff and the gang at his house---perhaps you were one of those who popped round visiting...though I've no clue which one. I had heard another had gone out to teach in that school...and when I saw the few details in your latest posts, I simply put you and she together...and it seems you are one and the same. Yes, do carry on with unchecked energy. Those students so desparately need what YOU have..which is rather different than what Mr. Fire Drill has. I've been in other cultures, enjoy it immensely..and know I have made some impact by being who I am, there. Which is amazing when I consider my own weaknesses, foibles, failures..but God..........

thebeloved said...

Haha... no we probably have not met face to face... I was already half way around the world during the T-fest and missed all that sort of fun. Thank you for the encouragement. It is so good to continually be able to come back to that "but God..."

Nick Jesch said...

so you were off in realspace during TFest..no matter. If we HAD met f2f, you'd likely be in the same category with most of the others...new faces I'd likely recognise, in context, next year with no clues as to names..except for the pieces of paper hanging round our necks!!! SO MANY new faces/names. I do hope you'll be able to join in the fun SOME T-fest to come, soon..whether I'm there or not. It IS such great fun. Those folks in Moscow really DO know how to celebrate!!! Something the church at large desparately needs to learn--and DO. I often marvel at how God has us, His people, gathering round food and drink. (I had to laugh at your delight in finding PITTED olives in the market. Personally, I prefer them stuffed---jalapeño being my preferred inclusion. Hard to find, though. I loved your photo of the local market, too---interesting how so many "developing" peoples have such wonderful fresh foods...travelling through Mexico, the local outdoor town markets were a continual delight. Cans and bottles...BLECH!!!

thebeloved said...

No, I am not going to be attending the T-fest this year either. Again, I won't be in the country. It seems God has called me to return back here during the season where walking outside feels like you are stepping into an enormous blow dryer. But I actually have never attended a T-fest. I have served at them, even attended the balls and plays, but that is the best time to get babysitting jobs!