The Worship and Leadership Podcast
Real conversations on worship, leadership, and living a faith-filled life beyond the platform. Hosted by leaders from LifePoint Church, this podcast is here to inspire, equip, and challenge you—whether you’re leading in ministry, in the marketplace, or just learning to lead yourself well.
The Worship and Leadership Podcast
The Jesus Galleries: Reimagining Christ Through New Eyes
Michael Lerman shares his latest book "The Jesus Galleries: The Christian Journey Reimagined," which takes readers on an allegorical journey through galleries that display different facets of Christ's character and ministry.
• Book concept emerged from a challenging valley experience that forced Lerman to strip away religious complexities
• Three galleries explore loving what Jesus loved, ministering how Jesus ministered, and bearing the fruit of the Spirit
• Looking at Christ as both fully divine and fully human—focusing on the humanity we can emulate
• Jesus demonstrated emotional maturity and adaptability in his interactions with different people
• Uses the metaphor of alignment, like venetian blinds, to help readers see where they align with Christ's character
• Book encourages readers to move beyond admiration to imitation of Christ
• Jesus galleries serve as mirrors (2 Corinthians 3:18) that reflect back areas where we need transformation
• Available as full book (Amazon/Barnes & Noble), "light version" PDF, and 13-week small group study
• Emphasis on not just doing more but being more—adding to our "to-be list" rather than our "to-do list"
Get your copy of "The Jesus Galleries" on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or contact Michael Lerman about the free light version and study guide for small groups.
He wields a machete that is much too large for a precious child, but with every whack of that machete he's putting food on his parents' table as an eight-year-old, as an eight-year-old Brothers and sisters, this ought not be. Hector deserves the opportunity to receive a comprehensive education, and for just 39 cents a day. That's less than a cup of coffee at your favorite coffee spot. You can sponsor Hector. Give him what every child deserves.
Speaker 1:That's less than an ice cream cone at Burger King For less than an ice cream cone soft serve at Burger King, you can give Hector what every child in this world deserves A chance at a better life. Donate today. Are you crying? These are tears of frustration and anger at the lack of empathy from my fellow man and anger at the lack of empathy from my fellow man. But for 39 cents that's less than the cost to a supersized Popeyes you can give Hector and millions of children a greater vision for a better life.
Speaker 3:That's $2.73 a week.
Speaker 1:That's less than the cost of gasoline in most rural areas in America.
Speaker 3:It's $141 a year.
Speaker 1:That's less than the cost to re-up your Netflix subscription.
Speaker 2:Tell me, brother, how, how can I contribute? How can I contribute? How can I be a part?
Speaker 1:Mike, there is a QR code popping up on the screen or you can head over to wwwstopbeingsounkindyoujerkorg wwwstopbeingsounkindyoujerkorg. And you can begin to adopt a child today.
Speaker 2:I feel it, I feel it brother.
Speaker 1:I'm going right now.
Speaker 2:I'm getting out my phone as you speak. Thank you, and and I, okay, okay, I'm there, I'm there, 39 cents, I'm in, countless, I'm all in. Thank you, thank you, thank you 39 cents.
Speaker 1:I'm all in, Thank you, Thank you. Thank you, Mike. 39 cents. You just heard it here. Folks live 39 cents For less than the cost of one-tenth of a box of popcorn at the movie theater. What are you going to do with 39 cents? You've got that change in your pocket right now. You can change the world for just one child.
Speaker 2:I for one one am in, thank you.
Speaker 3:Mike, why not 78 cents?
Speaker 1:Just double it, just double it 78 less than the cost to send a letter around the world First class. You can adopt two children. There's somebody tuning in right now. You feel the tug of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:Would I receive a double blessing for that, sir?
Speaker 1:You will receive a certificate of authenticity for these children and you will receive a document that is good for one tax write-off per year for 78 cents, wow, so you can get a tax write-off for sponsoring kids yes, your generosity will pay off in more ways than one, and uncle sam you get a tax break will truly appreciate it 78 cents less than the cost to air up one tire on your car you can.
Speaker 1:Somebody's tugging right now, somebody, somebody. I feel it, yes, sir, feel it through the screen. The Holy Spirit is poking and prodding. Will you answer or will you continue to walk in shameful disobedience and align yourself with the devil?
Speaker 2:Can I add one thing? You sure can, michael that I am Mike Lerman of the Jesus Galleries and I support this ministry With your tax-deductible donation and sponsorship, we will send you one personally autographed copy of the Jesus Gallery.
Speaker 1:Now, folks, I have to tell you, this book has changed my life. I thought that I knew about my risen saint, but I have come to see him in a whole new way. This gift, this love gift, will be yours if you choose to sponsor two children today.
Speaker 1:And it'll be signed by the author himself A personally autographed copy by L Michael Lerman. For less than the cost of one K-cup pod, you can change the lives of two children today and this copy will make its way up to you. Thank you for responding to the call, not to the call from cousin Willie, but to the call of the spirit upon your life, and I want you to look for the blessing to rain down in abundance. Checks in the mail. Families restored promotions at work that halitosis you've been struggling with gone in Jesus. Mail Families restored Promotions at work that halitosis you've been struggling with gone in Jesus' name. This time the Listerine treatment, it will work.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:That was so easy.
Speaker 3:Oh my lord. Hey Jacob, are you recording? Cameras are going.
Speaker 2:I'm recording this too. Is this live? This is live. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 3:It's a one take. So here you go, ready. Yeah, what's going on? It's been a minute. This was good. Yes, sir, this was good, we needed it. We're going to have to break it down for our guests today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're going to have to.
Speaker 3:What's going on everybody? Welcome to Worship and Leadership by LifePoint Creative. This is Elmer Elmer Elmer Elmer. Elmer Come on Elmer it's been a while. It's Elmer C Simpson.
Speaker 1:Jr. Yo yo. What is going on, family?
Speaker 3:It is good to be here with you today, yes sir, yes sir, and today we have a special episode of the podcast. We have a very, very special guest. Yes, we do, and I'm going to turn it over to you, Willie, with the big words.
Speaker 1:Listen y'all, here we go. You are in the presence of true greatness. Right now. We have the ebullient, the evavescent, the vivacious and the magnanimous Michael Lerman in the building today. Come on somebody.
Speaker 3:What's going on? Hey, they're lined up outside. They're lined up outside, man.
Speaker 1:They don't want to speak to you, but they're trying to get an autograph man. You have to lock the door.
Speaker 2:I got to say. I've got this feeling that I remember back a Johnny Carson show and Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon. And I just I'm having this flashback.
Speaker 3:You're having these vibes, all right. Who's Ed McMahon?
Speaker 1:I'll take. Yes, yes, johnny, ha ha ha, come on, yes.
Speaker 3:Does that mean I'm Johnny Carson, or is that you? I don't know. I'm the guest star. You're Johnny Carson.
Speaker 1:I'm Ed McMahon. I'm here livening it up. Did they have cameras back then? Yeah, I'm just kidding, it's not like it was in the Stone Age. How old do you think Mike is my guy? Yeah, pretty old, pretty old. He said you high-five, jesus, mike.
Speaker 3:My Lord, oh man. Hey, brother Mike, we're so glad you're on today. Thank you so much for being here with us and it's going to be special. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 2:I am honored, this is a pleasure, and you guys are such great friends and such great examples of Jesus. To start with, yes, sir. Thank you brother friends and such great examples of Jesus to start with. So this book is right in line with who you guys are and what LifePoint is all about, what Pastor Mike is all about, and it's just perfectly aligned and I thank you for giving me this opportunity. Yes, sir.
Speaker 3:So we're going to break it down a little bit, because it's your first time with us on the podcast, and so we're going to break it down a little bit. Yeah, because it's your first time with us on the podcast Right, and so we're going to be talking about this incredible book that you just released called the Jesus Galleries.
Speaker 2:The.
Speaker 3:Christian Journey Reimagined. Yes, and so cool thing, now that we have a video for our podcast, is that we get to show the images to those of you that are watching on YouTube, and so we encourage you to go ahead and get the book. It's available on Amazon. Is there any other places they can get it?
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm going to be talking about the. The light version, which is in PDF form, okay, but the full version, yes. Amazon or Barnes and Noble, sweet, okay, great.
Speaker 3:And we'll dive into it. We do have some questions. We'll let you share on some of it, but let's start with the very first thing. It's like we don't always have an author on our podcast. That's very rare.
Speaker 3:The only one that we've had is Pastor Mike.
Speaker 3:That's it, absolutely. And so to be an author and to write any type of work, it takes a lot of dedication, commitment and, I think, on the creative side, inspiration, because I know as a writer myself, a songwriter that sometimes you could be inspired to write, but things get difficult and you'll hit writer's block or things come up, you get distracted and when you're not inspired, you kind of just leave it and it just kind of goes away. But when you're committed and inspired to write something like you go all the way. And so and this is this has been a great book I remember when you sent us the draft to kind of skim through it and, uh, just kind of seeing where you're going with the book, I'm like I can't wait to see where you end up with it. And it's incredible to see now we have the final product and that you tell such a beautiful story. And so again, first of all, like what was your inspiration for the book and the commitment to actually put it on paper for people to take it in?
Speaker 2:Thank you, brother Elmer. That's a great question and I have to say I've always loved writing and back in the day my wife and I wrote programs and plays for the big church productions for Easter and Christmas, and so I have a little background. But where this story actually started was about 10 years ago and the Lord had Kathy and I go through a valley place in our lives and, as it said, the soil is richer in the valley and it causes you to look at what's important and to distill it down, of what our Christian life really is meaningful and what is not so meaningful, and all the trappings and all the ministries and programs that we were into and were so involved in, what of it really matters, what of it really matters At the end, what is the hay and stubble and what's the precious stones of it. And so what we did is we really took time to go slow, roll through the Gospels and look at each Gospel story and look behind it to try and absorb the full picture of what the meaning of each. I don't own a red letter Bible, but if I did, it was studying.
Speaker 2:What does Jesus really ask of us? What is the bottom line? And you know what I came to is he said follow me. That's what he told Peter. It wasn't a big theological, philosophical discussion, it was follow me.
Speaker 2:When he sent the disciples out, two by two, they didn't know a lot, they hadn't attended a four-year Bible school. He said just go out and do what I do Just love people, touch them, heal them, speak to them. It's not complicated. I've never taken a course in economics, you know. I can't tell you why the stock market goes up and down, but the economics of God, the economy of God, is really pretty simple and we as people tend to want to complicate things and want to make things so much more deep and add our own spirit of religion into it and complicate it. But really, if we just love God and love people, recognize the lordship of Jesus, seek unity, teach others to do the same, but most of all, to follow him and become more Christ-like. So my inspiration was and I guess the theme, if you asked me, would be to pursue, but passionately pursue, christ-likeness.
Speaker 1:Okay, and that's so good. You know, mike, when I was reading your book, it gave me a very similar feeling to the Pilgrim's Progress Remember the Puritan classic? And again, this is it's drawn from scripture. It's not necessarily you know, a true story, like, hey, this happened. But I'm curious, like the motif of the gallery. What, creatively, what led you to go with that right there? Because, again, I've never read a book like this. Yeah, and I love that motif, the Jesus galleries, which appears to be like this kaleidoscopic look at who Jesus is multifaceted look at Jesus.
Speaker 1:So what led you to use that particular theme and motif?
Speaker 2:Probably that our experience in writing plays and that I'm a visual person and I want to be able to see it and imagine myself being there. And so also I recognize the importance of being conversational and having people join the conversation and join the journey. And to do that I came up with this idea of an allegory but I mean, I'm no CS Lewis, I didn't try and go that deep in it, but just an allegory of me and you. And so the main characters of the story are me and you, and it's the me of when I first came to the Lord, when I was in college many, many years ago, and I was seeking, I wanted to know more about the Lord and, seeing Jesus in each of the gospel scenes, I wanted to revisit that feeling of what is that like, what's the first time you see Jesus and what are my emotions and what do I see and what do I sense in the other people in the scene. And so I wanted to take the reader on this allegorical journey with me and that concept of, hey, let's travel together, let's go on a trip, let's go on a field trip, road trip, and so let's go and check out this Jesus galleries. And so there's conversation about hey, what did you think about that? Wow, I never realized that. And so it engages the reader in being able to kind of experience or flow along with that journey idea.
Speaker 2:And so it goes through three galleries, and so I want to look at the facets of Jesus, the many aspects, because we are to grow in all aspects into his full stature. Well, how many aspects are there of God Infinite? So how do aspects are there of God Infinite? So how do we come up with that? And so I kind of tried to put it in categories, if you will, right, right. And so what I came up with is three galleries. Number one, to love the things that Jesus loved, to really take a deep dive into what specifically are the things that Jesus loved, because if I will love what he loves, then I will become more like him. Yeah, and that's my goal. So I want to focus first. In the first gallery, we go through nine rooms looking at nine aspects of the things that Jesus loved.
Speaker 2:In gallery B, we want to do the ministry, as Jesus does, looking at the different facets or the different aspects, or the different ways, so multi.
Speaker 2:Jesus was so adept to adapt to the different situations, the different people, the different needs, and how he did that and where he did that Sometimes he was loud, sometimes he was quiet and the beauty of that and how we often take a ministry opportunity and first evaluate how well that matches up with our strength.
Speaker 2:Right, and really, if we're to be like Jesus, we have to be in season and out of season We've got to be ready for whatever scenario or whatever divine appointment God sets up for us, and so wanted to look at nine aspects of his ministry styles and the methods and the modes and the ways that Jesus touched people. And then the third one has to do with the fruit of the Spirit and having the attitudes and bearing the fruit that Jesus does when going through the many trials and whatever the path of the journey that the Lord leads us through, and maintaining the right thoughts and the right attitudes, as Jesus did as he encountered the trials of his life. And so we go through each of these three galleries examining really the life of Jesus. Three galleries examining really the life of Jesus, but in a different way and with a drawing, the the reader to look in a in a fresh, a fresh look.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I love the, the fact when you, when you introduce the concept of galleries right, I love going to art galleries myself, and so I I envisioned walking through the grand hallways and everything, and when you're at art gallery, there is, you know, people are talking and they're they're discussing the artwork, and so, as, as we read through the different characteristics of jesus and his works and what he's, what you know he's done, um, it's, it's easy in this, in this creative motif that you've, you know, created, um, to be able to have those conversations and and kind of see how you're leading the reader in a conversation. And so, again, I love.
Speaker 3:You know you say you're no cs lewis, but hey, bro, you're close man oh yeah, like, like when you're able to take people on a journey in spaces that they're familiar with, like you think of a lot of authors you know that have been able to put us in places that we're familiar with and then, and then bring the gospel to those spaces, like that's, that's what you've done through this, through this book, of that you've written, and so it's, it's, it's. You've done a great job and so I, I, I again, I love the creative aspect, the, the direction, the simplicity of it. You go from all the different emotions that Jesus experienced, you know, and there's even humor in it and stuff like that and things that we don't really address. You know, we come on Sundays and if the preacher's pretty, you know, just monotone, then the message, the Jesus that you're getting, is pretty monotone, you know, for some people, cause that's the only Jesus they know, it's whatever they're being taught, you know, on Sundays, but when, when it comes to life and the preacher's dynamic, that's great, you know.
Speaker 3:But in this book you're shaping his personality and his characteristic and you're letting the reader know like, hey, like he's not like what your preacher might be. Right, you know he's. This is who Jesus is, this is how he was made up. These are the attributes of who he was and how he dealt with people and connected with people, and so you're you're bringing him to life in another sense, outside of like a normal for those that go to church on Sunday. You know a Sunday Jesus, you know, so I truly appreciate that.
Speaker 2:And projecting ourselves into the scene that I am there. I can see this for me. I think it's too easy for Christians to look at Jesus as a historical or a philosophical leader and to say, yes, that's admirable, Jesus led an admirable life, he was a good man, he had good teaching. But that's not Christianity. Christianity is when we are there and we experience it ourselves and we meet Jesus. We encounter Jesus, we have that relationship and we then become part of the journey that he has called us all to, in that we become the disciples. You know, pastor Mike talks so much about becoming fully devoted followers of Christ, but what does that mean? I mean it's easy to pursue many things in our Christian walk and we do and unfortunately there's a spirit of religion that calls us to, as I said before, to complicate it and to dive in, make majors out of the minors and look for the hairs to split and the denominational distinctives to elucidate.
Speaker 1:Come, on, that's a good word, that's a big word. I like that Elucidate, look it up. That's a good word there. Denominational distinctives Come on with our ecclesiastical half hearts, come on.
Speaker 2:Let's see how much we can divide the kingdom.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, let's exactly.
Speaker 2:Let's look for things to argue about on Facebook, you know. But of all the things to pursue, what if it all got stripped away? What if I mean? God forbid. I love our church, I love everything we have, but what if, suddenly, all the churches were outlawed? Where would the body of Christ be? Well, we'd be looking for the preacher. Preacher, help, help, help. What do we do when we meet someone in need? Speed dial, brother Willie, he knows what to do.
Speaker 2:But God has called the Christian church to be a body of believers that are not just spectators, but that it is a, it is a kingdom of priests, um, that we are all to be the intermediaries and the and the spokespeople and the representatives, and that that we're all called to be, um, not not just followers, as in okay, I'm a sheep and I just follow, and okay, I give when I'm supposed to give and I'm just a member of the flock.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah.
Speaker 2:But he's called us to be so much more that he wants us to be ministers of reconciliation. Yeah, and to do that we have to follow the minister of reconciliation and to absorb and to adapt and adopt and to change and to allow the Holy Spirit to create in us his spirit of reconciliation and to be that to the world, in our own circle of influence, wherever that may be.
Speaker 1:So good.
Speaker 3:Can I take you back to the gallery concept. Was there? Was there a particular gallery in the book or moment that personally impacted you the most when you wrote it, when you were kind of like in that headspace?
Speaker 2:Yes, the first gallery of loving the things that Jesus loved, I borrowed from Hebrews. I love, okay, I have to say I am. My dad was a full-blood Jew and I came into Christianity not raised in a Jewish faith but with that ethnic and a heart toward the Jews. And so the book of Hebrews has always been very special to me, and although we don't know who the author is for sure it is a long treatise on so many things of the Jewish faith, the whole history. But then, at the last, chapter 13, the writer of Hebrews goes through what I am calling sort of the Ten Commandments, if you will, of the New Testament, and he goes through, the author goes through in Hebrews 13. First he says Philadelphia, right, love the brothers, okay. And then he says xenophilia, that's love of the stranger, yeah, love of the stranger. And then it goes into loving those who are bound, uh, and loving marriage and loving. And so there I take nine of those from that I adopt.
Speaker 1:Uh, those are the nine rooms borrowed from that, and so to me that was it was revelatory of.
Speaker 2:I want to love. I want to love the brothers, I want to love the strangers yeah, I want to love the strangers. I want to love those that are bound. I want to love marriage. I want to love the sacrifice of praise, all those that are the need for leadership and to come under one another and to be submissive. Those are the things that Jesus, that the essentials, and I guess that, to answer your question that spoke to me the loudest of, I want to first love the things and love the people that Jesus loved that's so good and I love that you know?
Speaker 3:hey, willie. Yeah, do you know how Moses made coffee?
Speaker 1:Yeah, he brews it. Come, I don't, he'll be here all week.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry when you're like, I love the book of Hebrews. My dad jokes.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you I had the daddidex going up in there. One more, one more. What kind of car did the disciples drive?
Speaker 2:They were all in one Accord. They was in a Honda Because they was all in one Accord.
Speaker 3:Oh man, he's here all week. I'm here all week, except Fridays, except Fridays. Oh man, you had a question.
Speaker 1:Well, I love. I want to specifically ask you about one of the galleries of tears, when you're talking about like Jesus, the emotional side of him. He weeps for Lazarus, but it's more than just like the weeping, like the emotional side, and I love. Let me just say this I love when you said like this book invites us into, like familiar spaces. And I think what you've done, Mike, is you've invited us into a familiarity with Christ.
Speaker 1:Because I think part of the reason why people, what they stumble over, is they see Jesus, case in point, when he does the miracle with the fish, with Peter and his brother, and Peter's like get away from me, because I'm an unholy man, Like you know, I don't deserve to have you in my presence. And Jesus is like no, come along, we teach you to be fishers of men. Why do you think it's so important, especially in this book here, to portray Jesus as human? Yes, he's God, but he's also human. Why? Because you spend a great deal of that in getting us to see like the emotional side of Jesus. So what do you hope that the reader connects and how do you hope that the reader connects with Jesus through this emotional display that we see?
Speaker 2:Obviously we worship Jesus as fully God Right, and his omnipotence and omniscience and omnipresence Right, and those are the things we worship God for. We can't ever become that. That's blasphemous, right. But Jesus was also 100% human and that side of him he absolutely wants us to become more like him and to break it down. We're men here. We men like to break it down, we want to put everything in a little box and a little cube and it helps us to organize things. And so, looking at these different spaces or aspects, for me it helps me to kind of look at each thing and note how different Jesus will walk from one scene, turn and in the second part of the same scene and I'm thinking of the woman with the issue of blood, and he's on the way there. And then the centurion comes with the, or he's on the way to heal the Jairus' daughter yeah, jairus' daughter, that's what I'm thinking the centurion comes with the or he's on the way to heal Jairus' daughter.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Jairus' daughter. That's what I'm thinking. And the centurion's son comes. The centurion comes with his servant I'm sorry, the servant that was dying and how Jesus quickly spun and turned and had that attention. I love that about Brother Mike. He does that so well. He's talking with one person and then he sees you and he turns and he is instantly, 100% engaged with you.
Speaker 2:And how sad it is as Christians, sometimes we see men as trees and we see somebody going by and hey, how's it going? Fine, see you Bye. They could be dying inside. But we don't really have time. We're on our way to something else more important. Yeah, you know, we're like the, those with the, the um, the one, uh, beaten up by the road. Yeah, you know, we've, we've got to go minister. Uh, we don't have time for this one laying bleeding on the road. We've got to go do church work, you know.
Speaker 2:But back to your question. Jesus fully displayed an emotional side of him where, you know, with Martha, he didn't answer Mary and Martha the same way, when Lazarus had died, you know, with Martha he did some explanation she needed that but with Mary he wept, that's all he did. Sometimes God needs us to give answers, sometimes he needs us just to weep and to be there and to hold someone in their time of need. Sometimes we go loud, sometimes we go quiet. With the girl that had died, he said Talitha Kuhn. He spoke in Aramaic, he spoke quietly and he drove everyone else out. He didn't want anybody but Peter, james and John and the parents and the dead girl. There's times to be discreet, there are times to be bold, there are times even—I love it. One of my favorite things is bringing out how Jesus said to Peter after the resurrection you haven't caught any fish, have you? Now, that's not a thing to say to a fisherman, right? I mean, fishermen want to hear hey, how's it going? Are they biting today?
Speaker 3:Hey, your business has been struggling.
Speaker 2:Yeah, y'all be struggling, huh.
Speaker 1:Well, they look like you ain't paying the bills today.
Speaker 2:But he said that in a negative way. Why did he say that? Why did he say you haven't caught any fish today, have you? And? And they had to, and it made them think. Sometimes we need to feel, sometimes we just need to make people think and to reflect back and reflect back on oh, last time this happened, wow, he told us to cast the net on the other side. We said no, we know better than that, we're professionals.
Speaker 3:So what do you think? His emotion? So you think of Peter in that moment, what was Simon's reaction? Like do you think he got upset, like who's this guy? Or like in your imagination, what was that emotional response that Jesus was trying to get?
Speaker 2:Oh, I think. Remember he put on his robe and jumped in the water. And it was like that's strange, you put on your robe and jumped in the water. Why? He was embarrassed. Shame. Why do you put on clothes, for shame's sake.
Speaker 2:He was no doubt a fisherman. He had convinced everybody else after the resurrection hey guys, let's go fishing. This is what we know how to do. Wow. And Jesus wanted to say excuse me, what did I call you to do when I said follow me? What was I saying? And he wanted Peter to think. And I'm imagining this a little bit, but I don't think it's too far out of, I don't think we're stretching too far to imagine that Peter said oh wow, I'm supposed to be fishing for men. Huh, not fishing for fish. This is not my living anymore is living with these nets. I laid these nets down and Jesus said lay it down, follow me, you know, become a fully devoted follower of me, not just wrapped up in the economy of the world, but get yourself wrapped up in my economy and what's of value in my kingdom.
Speaker 3:But you hear of stories like of people encountering Jesus for the first time. There's been several people in our church here more recent that have gone through growth track that they admit admit that, hey, I'm full atheist, I'm just checking this out. And then a few weeks later they're an alpha or they're rooted in, trying to get more out of Jesus. They wanted to know more about Jesus and just going back. I love that, mike, cause you go. You have these moments. I think we all have these mile marker moments with Jesus where, like he rubs us the wrong way.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:And it's like we remember that, like, oh man, I remember man, I got called out for the way I was living. Like, in order for me to be in heaven, I had to surrender this to Jesus.
Speaker 3:Like you know like I'm not catching any fish, like I'm not doing well on my own, you know, type thing, and I think that's part of the journey. Again going back to the galleries of, you know, looking at our life and every aspect of it, including the emotional side speaking for all the dudes out there we tend to discard our emotions, but you know, when we allow Christ to discard our emotions, but you know, when we allow Christ to engage our emotions, you know you talk about strong men. You have to deal with the internal being before you deal with what's on the exterior.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, there's a book that I just finished reading called Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Pete Scazzaro. He wrote the Emotionally Healthy Leader and he just created a whole ministry out of that. And he makes a statement. He says it's impossible to be spiritually healthy and emotionally immature. And what you've done through this book is to paint Christ as an emotionally mature man. Paint Christ as an emotionally mature man. And you know, since you brought that up, you know our Strongman's Discipleship happens on Tuesdays at 6.
Speaker 1:For those of you that are in the area and want to become a part of it, that are, you know, all you guys, I think there is something to be said of looking at Jesus as this paradigm, like he's this pattern, like he is the model for this. And that's what I love about this. It's more than just admiration, it's more than just adoration, it really is discipleship, it's imitation. I want to be like him, like you were saying. I've been to art galleries before. One thing I've never said is I've never said, man, I want to be more like the artist that made this masterpiece. And I've certainly never said I want to be more like the object that has been created. But when you look at Christ, I don't know. I want to emulate him. I want, I want to emulate this object of this gallery. I want to emulate the subject.
Speaker 3:Because what people say is like I could do this. Right yeah, when they're like oh it's $5 thousand dollars what I could do this yeah, right, like everyone, that's people's responses. Like, at all different stages, like I've been with people that are like bougie and people that's like what's an art gallery? But everyone looks at a piece of art and and in their mind they're like I can.
Speaker 3:I think I could do this yeah, but they probably don't have the time to scale or they have no idea what materials and there's a lot that goes into art, but everyone feels at some capacity is like, oh, if it's that valuable, I think I could.
Speaker 3:I could do that that's a good point, you know and so I I love that imitation part because it is like, yeah, we, we want to do that. Yeah, when we see the price tag and that's what I love about galleries it's not just things that are on the wall, aren't just random things, they're things of value and uh. And so when you look back at your own life and you're putting all these emotional experiences which you did in in this book, it's, it's valuable lessons, valuable characteristics about christ.
Speaker 3:You know valuable moments that we should reflect in yeah and uh, that are going to really change us yeah, so absolutely good something else.
Speaker 2:Something else that I I really wanted to incorporate in the gallery concept to your question, um, is that, uh, not just pictures to look at, but also pictures that look back at us, and and for that I used second Corinthians 318. We all, with unveiled faces, are looking, as in a mirror, at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. This is from the Lord, who is the Spirit, and so in each of the rooms we see a picture of Jesus and it reflects back at us. And early on I talk about the word alignment, and I think, in terms of like Venetian blinds, that Venetian blinds can be closed where you can't see the window, but if they're open, if they're aligned, then the concept is that as we stare into Jesus, jesus is looking back at us and we're looking at the alignment of what is aligned, and then suddenly we see what's not so aligned. That's good, and so it's not a condemnation, it's not a oh, I can never be like Jesus. There's a character in the book that says you know, this is ridiculous. You know, to try and be like Jesus, I'll never be like, you know.
Speaker 2:But there's a song by Zach Williams that I've really come to love.
Speaker 2:That says to be a little more like Jesus, a little less like me.
Speaker 2:And I just want to, step by step, look in each gallery, at each facet of Jesus and ask myself what part of me is aligned and why. How did God help me to become that? How did I become more like him? And I want to thank him for the change he's already done and he's changing us from glory to glory. And then again there might be another room we step into and you go oh, that's not my alignment, that's not my wiring, and we start making excuses for ourself. But this causes us, in a gentle but scriptural way, to examine ourselves and to say, wow, who could be blessed If I exhibited more of this Christlike quality? Who might be blessed, who might be reached? And so, using that, as we go through the gallery and at the end, where we have these moments of looking at ourselves and looking at Jesus and saying, wow, I want to be more, I don't want to just do more. It's not about adding to my to-do list, it's adding to my to-be list.
Speaker 2:That's good and I want to be more like Jesus. That's how the world can taste and see that the Lord is good. Come on, they may not read the Bible that we hand them, they may not respect the Jesus in the Bible, but they can recognize the Jesus in us. That's so good and, honestly, that's how I came to the Lord through the witness of my sister, and that's part of the story in the book and that's part of the story in the book. But how, sometimes we are stricken, not necessarily by a preacher, by a sinner's prayer, by a Bible verse, but we're struck first, initially by people. And when we say, wow, what's that guy got? What's Willie got going on in him, and that's not the Willie I used to know. You know, willie, what is the hope that is in you? You always got a smile. What is that? And that to me is the most organic and natural form of witnessing. That is lifestyle evangelism at its best.
Speaker 1:Man that is so good. Mike, as people are reading this book which, again, it's available on Amazon and Barnes Noble platforms what is your hope that someone who reads this book would do in response to it? You know it's often been said, you know authors, you know you want to communicate a message, you know about yourself and about something, but you also desire that there will be an action step taken. So, if somebody's reading the book the Jesus Gallery, no matter where they're at in their spiritual walk, what is your hope, what is your prayer that they would do? What is an action step or something that you hope that they would take away and do from this?
Speaker 2:book.
Speaker 2:When you say step, I think of order my steps, lord, and what is the order of my steps?
Speaker 2:What's the priority, what's the first step, what's the most important thing that I want to get right If I'm taking a trip, I want to start my journey down the right path. I don't want to have to do course corrections, I want to start the right way, and I believe starting the right way is to set the azimuth of Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith. That, as we look away from the things that so easily entangle us, that we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and not just in this ethereal, far away, fuzzy Jesus of the sky, but that we look at face to face, at who Jesus was, how he reacted, what his attitudes, what his feelings, what are his loves, and that we, as you said, their life and however many different paths they've traveled, that they will realign and refocus on who Jesus is, who I am, who I want to become. If I could add one more thing, I guess the other thing I would like is, as Paul said to Timothy, give these things to responsible men who will in turn teach others.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And so what I would love to see is others take on the idea of group study. So I was asked early on about oh well, mike, is there a study guide for this? And I went, oh okay, no, but let me think about that. And so I did, and it took a little bit of time, but I have come up with a study guide. Also, I found with my men's group who I first worked, the study guide and trying to make it a 13-week format, I found that guys don't always read. So you say, okay, read the next 25 pages before next week. And everybody, you get there. Okay, how many read?
Speaker 2:And yeah, brother, mike, it was a busy week, okay, so what I did is I came up with a light version. So that's a popular way to talk about it, that you know there's light versions a lot of things. Well, there's the Jesus Gallery's light, okay, and so what I've done is I've kind of boiled down the 240 pages into a 92 page and actually it turns out in eight and a half by 11, it turns out to be three or four pages. Wow, so this is something that I now send out to the guys in my group every week is just this three or four pages to read this with the scriptures. It doesn't have all the Greek word studies and all the personal stories. It is a trimmed-down version, but it is the essence of the Jesus galleries. It is a trimmed-down version, but it is the essence of the Jesus Gallery. Yeah, and so I've built the 13-week study guide so that anyone and I mean anyone, even if you've never read the book, you can make it.
Speaker 2:Hey, let's journey together. Well, that's beautiful. That's exactly what the theme of the book is. And so let's journey together. And so your question what would I love to see? Your question what would I love to see?
Speaker 2:I would love to see those who would journey together with others, that would get a copy of the book and to know the full book, but then, with the group, just give them the light version, just send them the weekly light version. Also, there's an audio book being still in development, all right, and the audio book is going to be just on the light version, okay. Development, all right, and the audio book is going to be just on the light version, okay. So it would be a simple uh, listening to a 10 or 15 minute before you come to me. That's much more palatable for for today.
Speaker 2:Uh, many people they want a, a simple version, sure and uh, but this way everyone can be better prepared for the discussion in the meeting and have and they come already with some thoughts and for the group leader, the study guide. The leader's guide has the questions and the scriptures that you can just cut out, hand out and and, and really you don't have to be a Bible teacher, you don't have to be have any credentials at all other than what the church asks for leading a small group. And so everyone can become a part of the Jesus Galleries in walking through with others, by means of the light version and the study guide, which are free.
Speaker 1:That's so good. Well, thank you, mike. Yeah, we'd love to, with your blessing, make this available as a resource the light version and the study questions for all of our small group leaders. I think it would be a great resource. When I when I said that you know you had done a webinar and training for small group leaders as well, is that something that you would be open and interested in doing again?
Speaker 2:Of course, and even if it's live, even if it's a quick get together some evening and those who wish to lead and we can also Zoom it for those that can't come but just a way to encourage others and to kind of talk about some of the things we have here today and and to share with them and the joy of journeying together.
Speaker 3:Let me ask you this question. It's a, it's a, it's a little shift. If you could have any artist, living or dead, be the, the illustrator, the artist that creates all the portraits in this gallery, if it was a physical, like actual gallery right now, who would you pick?
Speaker 2:Someone asked me why don't we have pictures in here? Wouldn't it be easier if there were pictures? And for some reason, I don't know why, but there weren't many photos taken in Jesus' day and all the paintings thereafter? In my mind they're distracting and Jesus either is to me too pasty or too cheesy, are too cheesy. I've seen many programs and many uh examples and and not to um, not to say anything negative. I mean I love watching the chosen, but I get distracted by other characters. I get there's there to answer your question.
Speaker 2:I, I, I intentionally, although I thought in the middle of it I could come up with a picture for every scene, but I believe the mind's eye is much more creative and can make it. And I want each person to you know the word tells us to work out our own salvation, and that word, sotia, from the word soza, is wholeness. It's not just salvation of our soul, but it's to work out our own wholeness. And to work out our own wholeness, we need to get our own picture of Jesus and see him and become whole, become in the full stature, and so I can't come up with a single scene. However, I will say this I got to travel to Israel a couple years ago and was in a—it was a—oh, what was it?
Speaker 2:It was supposedly Mary's house in Nazareth, and you know all these sites. It's like, yeah, maybe and maybe not, it's a traditional site or whatever. But there were all these pictures and paintings and there was a mosaic of Jesus that I thought I like that Jesus, it's a traditional Jesus, the shepherd with a sheep on his shoulders. But this Jesus, he—the dude was built. I mean, he looked like he had been working all day and he had—I mean, he's got these rock solid thighs and muscles. And I'm thinking, okay, I like that. I don't like the little pasty wimpy. I don't think Jesus was. You know, he was a working man, yeah, and he was a man's man, yeah. And so if I had one, it would be this one picture. It was a mosaic actually, and I don't know who the artist was, but I liked seeing Jesus as a man's man carrying that sheep.
Speaker 1:Working hard. He worked hard. He did.
Speaker 2:He was a carpenter slinging them hammers man Kind of looked like Willie actually.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, come on, man, nothing wrong with admiring a brother's physique, or a brother of Jere, now brother.
Speaker 2:Jere. Now I want to see him play Jesus.
Speaker 3:His physique. I think Jesus was taller than Jere, was he?
Speaker 2:Was he? Is that in the Bible? Love you bro.
Speaker 1:Love you oh man had Love you, oh man.
Speaker 3:Had to go there. Oh man, oh Brother Mike, thank you so much for taking the time and being here with us. Yes, and this was fun. And again we want to encourage anyone that might be watching or listening go and get your copy of the Jesus Galleries by L Michael Lerman. Come on, Can I ask you a question, Sir? What's the L?
Speaker 2:Lewis.
Speaker 1:Lewis Lewis, I never knew that. What Lewis Michael?
Speaker 2:Lerman yes, sir. Well, now it's better than that. Really, the Lewis is an Americanized, anglicized version. It's really Libish. Libish was my grandfather. I was the first child born after my grandfather died and I had the uh, the, the, the honor of getting his name. That's the jewish tradition and so I got his name so libish uh, which is lion in uh in in hebrew. Our variation of the word lion.
Speaker 2:And so I am. I am a Libish, Libish, Ben Shulam. My father's name was Solomon, so my name if you want to get technical, my name is the lion son of peace.
Speaker 3:Come on, I want to revisit my name Elmer Abdallah. I want to revisit my name, elmer Abdallah.
Speaker 1:We got to revisit that.
Speaker 3:We got to figure that one out.
Speaker 1:That is awesome I love that, brother Lion, brother Lion I'm going to have to find out what his son of peace is. I'm going to have to find mine. Mine is William Clarence Simpson Jr. Now I do know this. My name, my first name, william. It means determined guardian.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:Determined. I got to figure out Clarence.
Speaker 3:I feel that I got to figure out Elmer. I tell people like Elmer's glue, boom Boom.
Speaker 1:You bring people together, you do you bring them together.
Speaker 3:It's the unity of the brethren. Oh man, hey, this was fun. Thank you guys. I'm not going to play that pad because we're going to go back to the sponsor, your child, we're not going to do that. Oh man, brother, mike, thanks again for those of you joining us. Maybe it was your first time with us. Thank you for the. It was your first time with us. Thank you for the honor of spending this time with you. You can check out more episodes on our YouTube channel, on all streaming sites. If you have any questions, we are here to serve you. Just email us at info at lifepointchurchtv. Find out more about our ministry here at LifePoint Church in Clarksville, tennessee. You could visit our social media at LifePointChurch or you can even visit our creative handle on Instagram at LifePointCreative. We love you, guys, and until next time, peace out, peace.
