Tim Nolte : My Life, My Blog

The First Disciples

Timothy J Nolte — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:27:35 +0000

(John 1:35-39 ) We see here that John the Baptist had disciples of his own. Actually, later in the Scriptures, Jesus gives us the great commission to go and make disciples. Now the disciples that John had were following him, until they heard and saw Jesus. Really, it was John that pointed his followers to go follow Jesus.

Something that is interesting, however, is the fact that John calls Jesus the “Lamb of God”. This was pretty early in Jesus main ministry and I wonder how many people really understood what that meant? Jesus being called the “Lamb of God” really meant that he was a sacrifice given by God. At the time most people were waiting for a Messiah to come and save them, but I don’t think they were thinking that the Messiah would be coming to die for them.

Obviously these first 2 disciples were very curious what Jesus was all about. They didn’t go up and just start asking him questions. They just started following him around. It wasn’t until Jesus approached them about it that they asked their first question and he simply responded with “come and see”. They were in for more than just seeing where Jesus was staying.

John Confirms Jesus

Timothy J Nolte — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:26:57 +0000

(John 1:29-34 ) So, John didn’t know Jesus really, other than what God had revealed to him. However, the key things that God revealed to him was how he would recognize who Jesus was. We see here that Jesus came to John to be baptized. Even though, as far as John was concerned, he wasn’t worthy to baptize Jesus that is what Jesus required of him. He did this and then John saw first hand the Holy Spirit come down onto Jesus, and this was exactly what God had told John would happen. At that point John had no doubt at all that this was Jesus. He told everyone what he had been told and experienced.

Tags: Jesus,, John,, baptism,, holy,, spirit

The Other John

Timothy J Nolte — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:13:31 +0000

(John 1:15-28 ) - One thing that can be confusing wen you are reading through the Scriptures is the fact that the same names are used in more than one context. Here we’re reading the book of John and right at the begin he begins talking about John. The John that is talked about here is actually John the Baptist who, if you read more of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) you’ll find out is actually Jesus cousin. Now John the Baptist was called by God to go ahead of Jesus and prepare people for his coming. John was a pretty wild looking guy and got pretty riled up when speaking about Jesus coming. Since he was baptizing people the Pharisees were pretty interested to find our who claimed himself to be. Some people thought he was the Christ. When asked about who he was he made it clear that he was not the Christ or anyone else they might think, that he wasn’t even fit to untie Jesus’ sandals.

What amazes me is that John the Baptist, while he was Jesus cousin, hadn’t even ever met him yet was on fire and wanted to bring others to him. He didn’t seem to care at all what people thought of his wildness. Where is that same fire in me or in any of us as Christ followers? Why is it that we find ourselves so timid in the face of the world?

Tags: John,, baptist,, Christ,, Jesus

In The Beginning

Timothy J Nolte — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:34:53 +0000

(John 1:1-14 ) - John starts out describing a little about what the beginning was like. The Word was another name given to Jesus. It’s interesting that John starts out this way. It is very clear that the importance is placed on this description to setup the rest of the book. Jesus claimed he was God, was equal with God. The very fact that he also had the name of the Word and that these verses explain exactly was Jesus claimed is not insignificant. Jesus Christ always was and is equal to God the Father & God the Holy Spirit.

John 1:12 , this is a very popular verse. It explains the truth that all those that believe in Christ and follow Him become apart of God’s family as sons and daughters. This can be something that is hard for many as there is so much brokenness in families today. There is however a family that loves you just as you are. That’s the family of God.

Tags: word, Jesus, beginning, God, John

Been A Long Time

Timothy J Nolte — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:56:01 +0000

I haven’t posted on here for so long I’m sure no one is following me anymore. It’s crazy to think that there was a time when I was posting like everyday, sometimes twice. Things are of course different now. I think the thing is that when I was posting before it was all about what was going on in my life. Now my life is not just me but my wife also. I think if I put myself out here, I’m taking her along with me, and I don’t want that. The other problem seems to be finding the time. There are just a lot more important things, like my wife, than blogging. I do try to post little updates on my Facebook or Twitter, but those aren’t that often as well. Oh well. BFN.