The Trouble with Jesus is what he said about himself, where he came from, and for what reasons can make you feel like you’ve got no chance of getting anywhere near something in which to believe. Yet, if it was easy, would it mean anything, have any real significance?

The Trouble with Jesus is he wants to be a Lover in the fullest sense a soul could know.

They had no idea what they were getting into when he had recruited them for his purposes. Some say they weren’t the brightest bulbs on the street. The only attribute which spoke most for them was they were teachable…

The Trouble with Jesus is relationships take work, and the even the best, the closest will have rough spots. But the rough spots are the growth spots.

The Trouble with Jesus is he had this insightful and irritating knack of asking people ridiculous questions, questions that bury the real question.

Got to give it to you, Jesus. It’s your best line, perfect for pastoral memes and sticks well on car bumpers. “New commandment,” you said, “Love one another.” Why didn’t anyone else think of this? ... But to be real, for all the wonderful sentiment, it’s better known as the Hallmark of Hypocrisy, chief among them those who claim you as Christian. When it comes to divisiveness, angry labels, and best of all, judgmental attitudes, your people take the prize....

Jesus, just for the record, tell us again, are you who you say you are? Or maybe who some say you are? Give it to us straight, in plain words, no dodging the question like a politician in prime-time cable interviews. Lord have mercy, the question never goes away. Jesus heard it face to face, answered it so many ways hoping to connect people’s heads to their souls. For some, it worked; for others, not so much.

The love Jesus required was a love that would leave everything behind again, to leave one’s net and all that is held vital in life. It was a God-consuming love that meant nothing could be in front of it, not one’s security and safety in life nor one’s understanding of all God meant nor even one’s right to oneself.

Could it be that faith is not actually a fully convinced mindset? Could it be that to truly have faith an element of doubt, perceptions that rest in possibly not as much as in possibly so, is necessary? Do faith and doubt exist not as opposites but as integral parts of each other?