Alex Tran

John 12:3-8 (NIV)
³ Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. […]

⁴ But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? […]

⁸ “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. […] ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

There’s no question Jesus has called us to serve the poor.

But this story in John demonstrates something interesting. Namely, how obeying a commandment such as feeding the poor may not glorify God as much as you’d think.

Imagine what would have happened if Mary had sold the perfume and the disciples used the money to meet the needs of the poor? That would have been awesome. It would have totally honored and glorified God (Matthew 25:40).

The problem, as Jesus said, is that the poor will always be around. But Jesus and the opportunity Mary had would not be.

While there would be countless Christians able to serve and meet the needs of the poor, Mary was the only one uniquely positioned to anoint Jesus with perfume.

And she seized it to Jesus’ honor.

John 17:4 (NIV)
⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you asked me to do.

God is glorified when we are obedient to his voice.

The truth is, I could spend the rest of my life crusading and fighting against human sex trafficking but bring God zero glory. Similar to if Mary had sold the perfume and fed the poor. There are plenty of other Christians who God has called to that. I’m just not one of them.

In my own way, I can, however, anoint Jesus with perfume.

What has God asked you to do? What has God uniquely positioned you for? What jar of perfume do you have?

John 12:3b (NIV)
³ . . . And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

I pray our lives glorify God with the fragrance of that perfume.

Let’s compare lists and find out!

I’ve grouped movies into three categories: great, very good and good. Since there’s a bazillion movies out there, I’ve selected only movies made after 2000 and that are in IMDb’s Top 250.

Each section below is sorted alphabetically. There’s no internal ranking in each group.

Great

• Batman Begins (2005)
• Finding Nemo (2003)
• Inception (2010)
• Monsters, Inc. (2001)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
• Star Trek (2009)
• The Dark Knight (2008)

Very Good

• Gran Torino (2008)
• How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
• Ip Man (2008)
• Memento (2000)
• No Country for Old Men (2007)
• Ratatouille (2007)
• Requiem for a Dream (2000)
• Snatch (2000)
• The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
• The Departed (2006)
• The Incredibles (2004)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
• The Prestige (2006)
• The Social Network (2010)
• There Will Be Blood (2007)
• Toy Story 3 (2010)
• Up (2009)
• WALL·E (2008)

Good

• Amélie (2001)
• Avatar (2009)
• Big Fish (2003)
• Black Swan (2010)
• District 9 (2009)
• Donnie Darko (2001)
• Gladiator (2000)
• Hotel Rwanda (2004)
• In Bruges (2008)
• Inglourious Basterds (2009)
• Into the Wild (2007)
• Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
• Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
• Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
• Million Dollar Baby (2004)
• Mystic River (2003)
• Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
• Shutter Island (2010)
• Sin City (2005)
• Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
• Spirited Away (2001)
• The Wrestler (2008)
• V for Vendetta (2006)
• X-Men: First Class (2011)

Movies I’ve Watched But Didn’t Make the Cut

• Children of Men (2006)
• City of God (2002)
• Downfall (2004)
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
• Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
• Infernal Affairs (2002)
• Let the Right One In (2008)
• Mary and Max (2009)
• Oldboy (2003)
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
• The Lives of Others (2006)
• The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)

Movies I Have Not Watched

• Amores Perros (2000)
• Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring (2003)
• The King’s Speech (2010)
• The Pianist (2002)

What do you think? Do we have similar movie tastes? Any movies you think I should watch?

As I’ve been reading through the Psalms lately, there’s been a major theme I’ve noticed.

Many start off with a less-than-ideal circumstance; enemies surround me, wicked prospering while the righteous struggle, prayers falling on deaf ears, etc., but they inevitably end with a declaration of trust in God.

I love the Psalms for their transparency. They are a realistic portrayal of what it’s like to live as a Christian desiring after God’s heart.

The Psalmists do an amazing job of expressing that peace and trust despite the circumstances that surround them.

Psalm 55 (NIV)
[…]
² My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
³ because of what my enemy is saying,
because of the threats of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering on me
and assail me in their anger.
⁴ My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen on me.
⁵ Fear and trembling have beset me;
horror has overwhelmed me.
[…]
¹⁶ As for me, I call to God,
and the LORD saves me.
¹⁷ Evening, morning and noon
I cry out in distress,
and he hears my voice.
¹⁸ He rescues me unharmed
from the battle waged against me,
even though many oppose me.
[…]
²² Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
²³ […]
But as for me, I trust in you.

You’ll notice the first part of this Psalm explains the situation. It’s pretty bad. Sounds like the Psalmist is on the verge of breaking.

But it ends with a simple, yet powerful phrase. “But as for me, I trust in you.” It is that trust, I’m confident, provides the peace to live in a troubled world (John 16:33).

Never be afraid to have a realistic view of your current situation; no matter how good or bad. But also never forget to have a realistic expectation of the God we serve.

According to this Psalm, we serve a God that saves us, hears us, rescues us, sustains us and never lets us be shaken.

But as for me, I trust in you.

Who can you ask? Who can you bring along? What can you do together?

I’m a pretty strong introvert, so I tend to want to do most things by myself. Unfortunately, the discipleship process is not an introverted, single person activity. It requires we engage in the lives of others.

We follow Christ in our lives, therefore, we should teach others to follow Him as well.

An easy, informal way to do that is by answering the questions above. When you look at your spiritual life, what are some areas/things that could be done with another person?

Here are some things I could ask someone else to do with me.

• Weekly Scripture memory.
• Follow the same Bible reading plan.
• Do a S.O.A.P. devotional once a week together (journal privately, but share openly).
• Have a night of prayer and worship.
• Attend a small group.
• Do something fun.

Taking what we already do and bringing someone along is a sure-fire, easy way to spiritually impact someone’s life.

It’s as simple as asking.

Jesus asked his disciples to follow him. That simple act was the start of a long-term, fruitful relationship (minus Judas Iscariot).

All with a simple question.

As with most things, it’s easy to say “I want to make disciples,” but much harder to do.

On a practical level, what does that really mean?

Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. […]”

Here we have the main “make disciples” verse. From v20, we can extract three key areas.

• Knowing
• Obeying
• Teaching

Knowing

First off, you can’t teach jack squat if you don’t know anything about what you’re teaching. To teach God’s commandments, we have to know them. That means eating, drinking and farting the Bible.

It’s the single greatest physical tool God has given us. Take advantage of it.

Memorizing some Bible verses is a good place to start.

Obeying

It’s one thing to know the Bible and have sound doctrine/theology. But ultimately, knowledge (by itself) puffs up. The true desire of God’s heart is that our knowledge would lead to obedience (action).

So as we strive to know the Word, we also need to be very intentional about obeying it.

Teaching

Knowledge has to be shared. God’s Word has to be taught.

The discipleship process doesn’t continue, doesn’t multiple, doesn’t have it’s greatest impact without imparting our collective wisdom to the next generation.

We have to teach people the value of discipleship. The value of God’s Word. The value of obedience. And the power of living a God-first life.

Those three things (knowing, obeying and teaching) are the marks of a disciple.

What other characteristics do you think mark a true disciple?