Category Archives: Religious

Reflections From John

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“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3 NIV)

imageAs I look back on almost 20 years of leading Bible Study in one capacity or another, I believe the most insightful and potentially life-changing study I have ever taught was the Gospel of John. A few years after leading that study, I informed my class that I hoped to teach John’s Gospel again someday. This blog affords me that opportunity.

This series of posts, which will be interrupted occasionally as the Spirit leads me, will not attempt to be an exhaustive expository study of John. Instead, each post will focus on one or two key verses taken from John’s gospel, reflecting on how those verses should inform or impact the conduct of our lives as followers of Christ, being obedient to His commands, and drawing others to know Him better.

I see this series of posts on the Gospel of John as a good fit for Ridgetop Reflections. In fact, I debated whether to title it “Reflections on John” or “Reflections from John”. I went with the latter because while he was once pegged by Jesus himself as a “Son of Thunder”, as John aged he likely became more contemplative- more reflective. I believe that as he pondered the gospel accounts that had been widely distributed, John realized they didn’t paint a complete picture of the Jesus that he knew. If he had written his gospel in modern times, he might have titled it, “The Jesus I Knew”.

John was probably the last of the four gospels to be written. According to Christian tradition, before his exile to the Isle of Patmos, John spent his latter years at Ephesus, where he carried on a ministry of preaching and teaching and writing. He probably wrote this gospel somewhere between 80-90 AD.

He did not attempt to chronicle all the events in the life of Christ- others had already done that. In fact, he memorably observed that should all those events be recorded, “the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21:25 NIV) But he was extremely focused on going beyond the events to explore the deeper meaning of the ones he chose to include.

Another thing that makes John’s Gospel unique and a good fit for Ridgetop Reflections is his emphasis on Jesus’ relationships with individuals. After 40 years as a Christian and 20 years teaching God’s Word, I have a greater appreciation for the value of relationships in our Christian walk. We better fulfill the Great Commission to make disciples through relationships.

My favorite pastors – the ones that have had the greatest impact on me through the years – are the ones with whom I developed a personal relationship. This blog will have more meaning for and generate more interest from those with whom I have a personal relationship. And I am mindful that what others see in me will either undermine my message or create a hunger to have what I have.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote,“ For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you- that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” (Rom. 1:11-12 ESV)  Paul understood that personal interaction leads to mutual encouragement.

Lastly, John’s Gospel is a good fit for Ridgetop Reflections because John’s life is an excellent illustration of the love of God. This blog was birthed out of an overwhelming sense of God’s love- a topic I covered in “Reflections On God’s Love”. A simple understanding of God’s love is the deepest theology there is. The great theologian Karl Barth once commented that the most profound truth he ever discovered was “Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so.” And nowhere does the Bible reflect that more profoundly than in the Gospel of John.

John’s life is also an illustration of the grace of God. When Jesus chose him, he had no lofty status as a fisherman, nor was he an educated man, even by the standards of that day. He doesn’t appear to have been a magnetic personality or charismatic leader. But this lowly fisherman went on to be called “the apostle of love” and authored five books in our Bible. He is a testament to the power of Christ to transform lives.

For years Luke was my favorite gospel, because it was written by a Gentile for Gentiles, and it appeals to my logical mindset as a degreed engineer. But I find that the more I have grown in Christ, the more I prefer John over Luke. I’ve discovered that to know about Christ and to accept Him as Savior is one thing, but to truly know Christ and make Him Lord is life-changing!

John knew Christ more intimately than any of the disciples. His gospel has helped me know Christ more intimately myself. And my sincere hope is that through this series of posts, you might get to know Him more intimately as well. Because it is only through knowing Him, trusting Him, and walking in step with Him that we will experience the abundant life that He desires for each one of us. (John 10:10)

“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” (Philippians 3:10 KJV)

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*Photo by Sallye Martin

 

 

Hope In The Face Of Affliction

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(One year ago today, after spending the night by my brother’s bedside, we said our last goodbyes just twelve hours before he passed into eternity. As I reflect upon his final years as he struggled with various illnesses triggered by diabetes, I have no doubt that our conversations about faith helped inspire my decision to establish this blog. If you or anyone you love has been impacted by severe affliction, I trust that this post, which is adapted from my remarks at Ronnie’s funeral, may resonate with you no matter what trials you may face.)

image“Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

In the weeks leading up to Ronnie’s passing, I was drawn not only to God’s Word for comfort and inspiration, but also to some of the writings of one of my favorite Christian authors, Philip Yancey, who offers uncanny insight and wisdom on the subject of pain, suffering, and grief with books like “Reaching For The Invisible God”, “Where Is God When It Hurts”, and “The Question That Never Goes Away”.

You cannot talk about Ronnie’s life without addressing the suffering he endured when diabetes entered his life. Yancey reminds us that while the Bible is certainly a source of great comfort in times of trouble, sickness, and grief, it never gives clear answers to many of those troublesome Why? questions we all face in this life. Even at the end of the Book of Job, where God had the perfect opportunity to address the problem of pain and suffering- the longest speech by God in the entire Bible- he seems to avoid the topic entirely. God’s reply to Job in a nutshell is that divine providence is a mystery that only God understands.

In his initial struggles with the diabetes that would dominate his life, Ronnie wrestled with those unanswerable Why? questions. He had difficulty sensing God’s presence or even accepting that God heard his prayers. He felt unworthy of God’s forgiveness for past transgressions. But through the years, as he focused on God’s Word, and as he drew closer to God through his affliction, he began to recognize the presence of God, experience the reality of God’s forgiveness, and receive the assurance of his salvation. And those things made a tremendous difference in his outlook.

Only God knows whether it required years of affliction for Ronnie to come to that assurance. But God’s Word informs us that he works all things together for good for those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28) I saw that Biblical truth exemplified in Ronnie’s life. After one of his last hospital stays, he told me that looking back on all that he had been through, he could see the hand of God guiding all the circumstances of his life. That is evidence of a mature faith- the ability to reassemble all the events of our life around trust in a loving God, believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.

As I examined his Bible before preparing my remarks for his funeral, the verses from 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 that are cited at the top of this post clearly had very special meaning for him. He had started to view this life from a heavenly perspective.

Lessons from the 23rd Psalm
 In times of grief, we often quote the 23rd Psalm, a psalm most of us likely memorized in our youth. But I doubt if many of us have ever noticed a subtle transition in that psalm. It begins with those reassuring words, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” But then the subtle shift occurs, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (KJV)

Have you ever noticed the subtle shift in perspective there? When the psalmist spoke of experiencing green pastures, still waters, and paths of righteousness, he spoke of God more distantly, using the third person, “He maketh me to lie down, he leadeth me, he restoreth me”. But when he begins to speak of the valley of the shadow of death and the presence of enemies, notice how his tone becomes more personal, referring to God no longer as “He”, but as Thou or you. “Thou art with me … thy rod and thy staff they comfort me … Thou preparest a table before me … thou anointest my head.”

God had drawn closer in his trials. Yancey says that those reassuring words, “Thou art with me” are the best biblical answer to the question that never goes away in difficult times. Where is God when it hurts? … He is with us. No matter the circumstances, we have the assurance of “Immanuel”, which simply means “God with us”.

Grieving With Hope
 Since delivering my Mother’s eulogy eleven years ago, I have spoken at several other funerals, including those for my sister, Paulette, my Uncle Frank, my Uncle Ralph, my dear friend, Jay, and most recently, my Aunt Carolyn- the last surviving sibling of my mother and father. As I look back on those messages today, years after their passing, I still grieve. Tears come to my eyes. I can be sitting in church, and the choir starts singing “In Christ Alone” which was sung at Paulette’s funeral, and I rarely get through it without choking up.

A few years ago, at our church in Hendersonville, we hosted a singing group called “This Hope”. I love that name- it is based on Heb. 6:19 which says “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” They sang a song I had never heard- “There Is A Heaven”. The lyrics hit me like a brick. The writer laments about a friend who has died too soon. He talks about the days they could have had together. But then he reflects on his friend’s destination as he gets to the chorus, singing “But I know there is a heaven. And one day I’ll see you there. Where Jesus holds us through forever. There will be no goodbyes when I see you in Heaven. I close my eyes and see you basking in the presence of our Lord. The fullness of His grace you now know face to face.”

As I processed those words, I began to cry once again. But for the first time since my sister and mother’s deaths, they were not tears of grief or sadness. They were tears of joy as the thought of them together in their heavenly home overshadowed my grief.

As I remember those loved ones, I grieve only for myself and those of us they left behind- but not for them. They are basking in the presence of our Lord. The fullness of His grace, they now know face to face. While times of grief are always times to reflect on experiences from our past, as Christians we must remind ourselves that there is also a future. Based on God’s promises, we grieve knowing that because of our faith in Christ and the promises of God’s Word, we’ll be together again one day with all those loved ones who preceded us in death knowing Christ as their Lord and Savior.

And my prayer is that because of your relationship with Christ, you can be as confident of that as I am. And that on the day The Lord calls your name, you can face it with the same dignity, grace, peace, and positive expectation that they did.

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In memory of Ronnie and all those loved ones who are awaiting us in Glory, please enjoy “I Will Rise” performed by Chris Tomlin.

Note: All Scripture references from the New International Version (NIV)

 

The Paths Of Life

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“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Ps. 16:11 ESV)

A number of years ago, my wife and I went on our first cruise- a Bible Study cruise with Charles Stanley and Adrian Rogers, two of my all-time favorite preachers. After purchasing one of Dr. Stanley’s books, we stood in line for his signature and a photo. Above his signature, he inscribed Psalm 16:11, as cited above.

As my spiritual journey has continued since that day, this verse has reminded me that as a follower of Christ, I need to seek His direction daily. It informs me not only of the pleasures that are mine as I recognize His presence day by day, but also the eternal pleasures that are awaiting me when this earthly life is over. Hearing of the passing of a high-school friend last week was a sobering reminder that at the age of 65, I have many more years behind me than lie ahead of me in this world.

When I look back on my life and reflect on all the ways God has directed my paths in the past, it motivates me all the more to seek divine direction as I move forward. Pondering those times that I have sensed and followed God’s clear direction, at least nine significantly memorable occasions come to mind- the most recent being a call to establish this blog. From time to time, when appropriate, I will share some of the details of those encounters.

One that stands out prominently with me is my call to move to Denver, Colorado at the end of my career. At the time, I was serving in a staff position with the Bureau of Prisons in Washington, DC. Nearing retirement eligibility, and having moved a number of times throughout my career, I intended that Washington would be my last duty station. But as someone once said, “If you want to make God laugh, just tell him your plans!”

Out of the blue one day, in a quiet time, just minding my own business, a verse of Scripture invaded my mind along with an image of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains that border the city of Denver. The verse was Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you … plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (NIV)

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At the time, we were considering a change in the management of our Denver operation which was under my supervision, but I had never considered myself as the replacement. And I suppose God started to chuckle just a bit. After discussing the possibility with my wife and receiving several divine confirmations in the days that followed, I made no other moves regarding the filling of the Denver position, leaving it entirely in God’s hands.

A couple of months later in my personal Bible study before catching the carpool for my daily commute into DC, I came to Jeremiah 29:11. As those words seemed to leap off the page, I knew in my heart that the day had come. Within an hour after arriving at the office, though we had never discussed the possibility of moving my position to Denver, my boss called me in and opened the conversation with words I’ll never forget – “What would you think about moving to Denver?”

Denver would be my last duty station, and it could not have been a better place to close out my career. We met folks there who would become lifelong cherished friends. Though it was so far from home and family, Denver was a fantastic place to live- in fact, our favorite of all the duty stations we called home through my 25 years with the Prison System. The work was so rewarding that I stayed almost two years beyond my retirement eligibility date.

The Lord led us to Riverside Baptist Church (which is a testimony I’ll share at another time) and we sat under the preaching of Pastor Rick Ferguson, who continues to rank as my all-time favorite pastor. Adding to God’s plans to prosper us, the real estate market conditions allowed us to build more equity in a home than ever before, providing a much needed down payment toward our retirement home.

Since that experience, I have had several other occasions of clear divine direction, but I’ve learned that it is not something I can force God’s hand about, no matter how urgent and fervent my prayers. It always comes in God’s perfect timing and for his purposes rather than my own anxious inclinations. All I can do is create the environment for divine direction to take place by maintaining a strong intimate relationship with The Lord through the spiritual disciplines of Biblical prayer, personal Bible Study, regular worship, and exercising the spiritual gifts the Lord has granted me.

Through these 65 years, I have made my share of poor decisions. I can certainly relate to the song I’ve linked at the end of this post. But I have never regretted obeying the clear directions of the Holy Spirit. The Lord has led me down many rejuvenating, fulfilling, and purposeful paths. And those paths have taken me to a much deeper faith and a more intimate relationship with Him. In fact, this post was a divine redirection from my plans to begin a series of posts from the Gospel of John. I’ll start that on my next post, unless of course, the Boss has other plans. (Are you laughing, Lord?)

Perhaps you are at a point in your own life where you need divine direction. Perhaps God changed my plans for this post to speak through me to you. If so, I encourage you to listen for his voice. Make those spiritual disciplines I identified above a part of your daily routine. It is time well invested. And when He clearly speaks to your heart, ask for divine confirmation, and obey that still small voice. And He will fill you with the gladness of His presence, and perhaps he just might direct your paths. And if he does, just step out on faith and enjoy the journey!

Until next time,

“Trust in The Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Prov. 3:5-6 KJV)

Enjoy ” Through All Of It” by Colton Dixon.

 

Reflections On 2015

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“You were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph. 4:22-24)

I have never been a big fan of New Years resolutions. After many failures through the years, I have come to view them as a waste of time and energy. I also came to question why anyone would wait until the start of a new year to make a change they desire to make. As that great philosopher Bono once sang, “Nothing changes on New Years Day”.

I’m often reminded of one of the most memorable sermons I have ever heard. It was preached by Brother Bob Melvin at Spotswood Baptist Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I remember few of the details of the message, but I’ll never forget the title – “Why Spend Another Night With The Frogs?”. It was based on the Exodus account of the plagues that God sent to convince Pharaoh to release the Israelites. After the plague of frogs, Pharaoh agreed to release the Israelites if Moses would pray that The Lord would take the frogs away. When Moses offered to allow Pharaoh to set the time when he would offer that prayer, Pharaoh replied, “Tomorrow”. (Ex. 8:10)  When you stop to reflect on that response, it begs the unspoken question, “Why spend another night with the frogs?”

That expresses how I feel about New Years resolutions. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for setting goals, whether they be physical, educational, spiritual, or otherwise. But if there are frogs keeping you from reaching those goals, why wait until January 1 to address them? Why spend another night with the frogs?

By the way, my wife apparently understands that principle better than I do. I informed her last week that I planned to start the new year off by following the Atkins diet regimen for several weeks to shed a few pounds. She started me on it this past Monday. I guess she took Brother Bob’s sermon to heart! Either that, or she is really anxious for me to lose that weight.

In keeping with the implication of the title, I planned to make this my last post of 2015, but then a frog jammed up those plans. The frog that interfered is best known as the BCS College Football playoffs. So this will be my first post of 2016. I’m nothing if I’m not flexible.

In case you’re concerned, I have no intention of recounting all the details of my 2015 like some of those letters we sometimes receive with Christmas cards this time of the year. But I would like to reflect on my blogging experience which began in February.

First of all, my heartfelt thanks to all of you who felt my posts were worthy of your time. For the year, I published 16 posts on Ridgetop Reflections and those posts received over 1500 views. I don’t know if that would be considered a good first year or not, but it was very encouraging to me.

My most popular post was “A Tribute To Mama“, which was taken from the eulogy I imagedelivered at my mother’s funeral in 2004. More of you shared that post on Facebook than any other – no doubt a leading factor in the number of views it received. Mama could have never imagined that people would be reading about her life on something called the internet eleven years after her passing. Knowing her humble spirit, she would have been more embarrassed about that than proud.

The second most viewed post was “Lessons From The Treehouse” which was taken from my brother Ronnie’s eulogy earlier this year. Knowing him, he would have been both amazed and proud of that and pleased that the post about him did not surpass “A Tribute To Mama” in popularity.

Blogging is more challenging than I anticipated. I have been writing Bible Study lessons word-for-word for years and expected blogging to be not so different. But I quickly discovered that when you write for public distribution, proof reading for proper grammar, punctuation, and narrative flow adds a whole new dynamic to the process.

Mountains of doubt entered my mind every time I pressed that intimidating “Publish” button staring at me on the screen. Is this worthy of publishing? Do my words convey the message I’m trying to communicate? Will anyone read it? Why should anyone care what I have to say? Those frogs of doubt plagued me so much at one point that I didn’t publish anything for three months.

But your encouragement, a guilty conscience, and a divine nudge helped me shake those doubts long enough to get back on the blogging horse. Many thanks to all of you who have served as my Barnabas with your encouraging comments on the blog as well as Facebook. I’m especially grateful to those of you who have shared my posts with your own Facebook friends and retweeted my posts on Twitter. (For those of you scratching your head wondering what retweet means, just ask your Grandkids.)

I hope that moving forward in 2016 you will continue to find my posts worthy of your reading time and worthy of sharing and commenting on. Your feedback and contributions to the dialog are always welcomed and appreciated.

My plan this year is to publish more often. Many ideas for future posts are in various stages of development, but I’m contemplating focusing most of my writing this year on the Gospel of John. As I mentioned in The Word Became Flesh, none of the disciples had a better understanding of the person of Jesus Christ than John. No one knew Christ more intimately than John. No one had a deeper insight regarding the purpose of His coming than John. And no one can help us know Christ better ourselves than John.

Like the Apostle Paul, I want to better know Christ and the power of His resurrection in my own life and make Him better known with my writing. While nothing I have to say should ever take the place of your own study of God’s Word, I hope that my words may deepen your hunger for and enhance your understanding of the Holy Scriptures.

Happy New Year to you all. I pray that 2016 will be prosperous for you in all the ways that would be pleasing to our Lord and that every day, in some small way, your spirit will be refreshed and your faith renewed.

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“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Cor. 4:16)

Note: All Scripture references from the New International Version (NIV)

 

 

The Word Became Flesh

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“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)

It is always challenging as a teacher, preacher, or a blogger this time of year to approach the account of our Savior’s birth from a fresh perspective. The story from Luke’s gospel is so familiar to us all. One of the ways that I did that as a teacher was to explore some unique perspective of the Christmas story through whatever book of the Bible we were studying at the time. That was especially challenging the year we were studying Ezekiel. But even in Ezekiel, I found it not nearly as difficult as I had anticipated. Because the Christmas story- God’s plan for mankind’s redemption- is woven throughout Scripture.

Of course, the most familiar Christmas accounts are found in the pages of Matthew and imageLuke. But in recent years I have been drawn more to John’s account. You might argue that John did not write of the birth of Christ in his gospel, but you would be mistaken. As was his style, John just presented it in a different way because John had a different agenda or purpose for his gospel than the synoptic gospel writers. Those other gospels focused heavily on presenting the detailed events of Jesus’ life- John focused on capturing the person of Jesus Christ.

John’s account of Jesus’ birth was very plainly spoken- it can be easily memorized- but it speaks volumes theologically. It is found in John 1:14 which says “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” We sometimes miss the awesome impact of that simple truth in our own Christmas traditions. We are thrilled each year by the thought of the spectacle of that night. We imagine the majesty of the angel and the heavenly host that appeared to the shepherds; the simple, yet touching manger scene with the precious little baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. We gaze in awe and wonder as skilled actors, musicians, and singers attempt to recreate the majesty of that night in drama and song.

All of that is part of the Christmas experience as we celebrate it each year – the Christmas traditions that connect us with other Christmases going all the way back to our childhood. It is all part of our effort to keep Christ in Christmas. And it is all good and pleasing and very much needed in this increasingly secular world we live in. But sometimes we let even that focus on keeping Christ in Christmas cause us to miss the most important truth about Christmas – that when Christ was born in that manger in Bethlehem that night, God himself left the splendor of heaven, humbled himself by taking on flesh, and made his dwelling among us.

I love what Luke says concerning Mary’s reaction to all the events of that night. While the shepherds gazed in awe and wonder at the spectacle and all who heard their story “were amazed at what the shepherds said to them”, Luke says Mary “treasured” them up and “pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) At Christmas, we need to spend less time hustling and bustling and more time just treasuring and pondering … treasuring and pondering the person of Jesus Christ – who He is and why He came. And nobody answers those questions better than John in the pages of his gospel. Nobody makes a stronger case for the deity of Christ than John. Nobody knew Christ more intimately than John. And nobody moves us to know Christ more intimately ourselves than John.

My wife and I have a grandson who has Asperger’s Syndrome. After his initial diagnosis, I sought out much information about this particular form of autism spectrum disorder which can be highly functioning but characterized by difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication. One of the most interesting books I read was “The Journal Of Best Practices” by David Finch. This book was unique because it was actually written by someone with Asperger’s. Prior to his diagnosis after his marriage, Finch’s condition caused tremendous conflict in his relationship with his wife. He recorded this journal to help him remember basic rules for social interactions and problem solving that most of us learned from an early age through everyday life experiences, but which never registered with him because his brain processes information so differently.

As I read his account, I was struck by how well the author describes his thought processes as he deals with situations most of us never even think about. After his diagnosis, many of the conflicts with his wife began to resolve themselves as she learned more about Asperger’s and began to understand why he responds differently to things than she does and as he began to understand why the things that seemed perfectly normal to him were so upsetting to her. He began the journal to train himself to act more in line with her expectations.

Finch was able to articulate his thought processes in a way my grandson cannot. When I read books about autism and Asperger’s, I know more about my grandson. But there’s a big difference between knowing about someone and truly knowing someone. After reading this very personal account from someone who actually has Asperger’s, I felt as though I truly knew my grandson more intimately and personally.

I thought of that as I reflected on this simple passage from John. “God became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” Jesus came to show us the Father; To speak to us the very words of God so that we can better know the Father more intimately and personally. He told Phillip, “The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” (John 14:10) Jesus walked in our shoes; He faced the same temptations that we face; and yet was without sin- thus qualifying Himself to make atonement for ours.

That is the unparalleled message of Christmas- a message so well articulated by John with those memorable words, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” I pray that this Christmas you will ponder those words, treasure them in your heart, and reflect upon their implication for your life. El Shaddai, The Almighty God, is also Immanuel, God with us. God Most High is also God Most Nigh. May you experience the reality and the power of His presence this Christmas as never before. And the Gospel of John would be an excellent place to start!

“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

Note: All Scripture references from the New International Version (NIV)