It happens all the time: friendships forged through shared experiences. . . teammates who compete together, colleagues who work together, classmates who study together, combatants who endure hardship together. We could go on and on.

SpendaYearwithJesus attempts to create a shared experience with someone who walked the earth a long time ago. Our tag-line is Connect with Jesus’ experience.

As we start our year withJesus, let us receive some encouragement from theologian Raymond Brown who invited his readers to enter into the world of the Gospel of John.

Brown offers three exhortations for those who wish to communicate Jesus’ experience.

1. Do not be afraid to use ingenuity in rendering Jesus’ story dramatically.
2. Do not domesticate … Jesus.
3. Do not be too sophisticated or abstract.**

Inspired by Brown’s recommendations, my desire is to communicate Jesus’ story experientially, dramatically, humanly, and concretely. I invite you to “Connect with Jesus’ experience” to enhance your relationship with Him, and in doing so affirm and strengthen experiences which build healthy relationships among all people of the world!

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**R. E. Brown, “The Johannine World for Preachers,” Interpretation 43, no. 1 (1989): 64.

One day in October at 8am, SpendaYearwithJesus will send this text-message:

Heads down, Jesus and disciples shuffle silently in shoulder-to-shoulder traffic up the stairs to the Men’s Court on Temple Mount.

I can’t think of anyone who enjoys getting stuck in traffic. And I haven’t met anyone (yet) who hasn’t been pleasantly surprised by the thought of Jesus getting stuck in traffic.

There is something life-changing about the intersection of Jesus’ experience with our experience.

Scratch that. Life-changing evokes images of inheriting unexpected millions. There is something day-impacting about the intersection of Jesus’ experience with our own daily activities, especially with the seemingly mundane and boring.

Jesus’ life story reads like ours with wake-up routines, work, meal-times, friendships, conflicts, and even getting stuck in traffic.

Pausing to reflect on our shared daily experience with Jesus is more than a pleasant diversion. The significance of Jesus’ life infuses the rhythms of our daily lives with consequence.

No one likes getting stuck in traffic, but getting stuck in traffic with Jesus seems a little more bearable.

Check out an overview of the story at wjes.us/story-nav.php

Sign-up for the text messages at wjes.us/signup.php

30 days after the election of Pope Francis, a CNN blogger made this observation, “Whenever given the choice between clerical privilege and everyday human experience, he opts for the human.”**

It is a curious implication for one of Jesus’ followers, the gap between “clerical privilege” and “everyday human experience.”

“Clerical privilege” isn’t new. The culture of the ancient temple cultivated it, even the one in Jesus’ experience.

Jesus even told a story about loving one’s neighbor that contrasted the temple hierarchy with a looked-down-on foreigner (Luke 10).

Jesus himself: he rejected the choice and embraced everyday human experience. Yet clerical privilege persists.

Become better acquainted with Jesus’ everyday human experience. We invite you to follow this year to Easter withJesus.

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** Michael D’Antonio, “One month in, Pope Francis is on the right track” <http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/13/opinion/dantonio-pope-francis-first-month/index.html?hpt=op_t1>, Date Accessed: April 13, 2013.