Dancing in the moonlight

What would it take for you to dance?

To abandon all pretense; to buck off the rules?

Why do you love your laws?

Wouldn't it be better to dance with your groom?

Would you just listen to your groom?

Shouldn't he be your master under this moon?

Isn't the music he plays for you?

Why can't you just let him lead you in this dance?

Is it the security your leaders provide?

Do you really trust the sedative they feed you?

Do you think your groom will forget about you?

After the sacrifice he made to free you from those rules?

Will you fall for the whores?

Have they fooled you with your grooms name?

You can't really be so mistaken, can you?

Is it because it's easy, are you that scared to work?

Would you prefer a waltz?

Isn't your groom worth the time?

Don't you see how much he loves you?

Won't you just go dance with him in the moonlight?

MMMMM, Tea

In my last blog I believe I used the phrase "steeping in the scriptures." I got to thinking about what that phrase could mean and how it related to our pursuit of Christ.

When tea steeps it is immersed in hot water. The hot water, by way of being in direct contact with the tea, ends up taking on the characteristics of the tea. Color, flavor, and nutrition are all affected by the tea. The water becomes something other than what it started out as.

When we are steeped with the words of God, we take on its characteristics. These are the roots put down by the river of which scripture speaks. The words of God permeate everything we do, but notice our lives must be the right temperature for it to really have an effect on us. Jesus relates this in a parable about soil types and where seed is scattered. Try brewing tea in cold water or even in lukewarm water. It doesn't work. If you allow yourself to be steeped in the scriptures, you will be changed. You will take on the characteristics of the scriptures, and by default the characteristics of Jesus.

Discipleship is steeping in the Word. Being immersed in scriptures will color all that you see. When you can see everything through the filter of scripture the voice of God becomes clearer.

Hefty, Hefty, Hefty.... Wimpy, Wimpy, Wimpy

I don't have a lot of time so this will probably be short, sweet, and to the point. I hope so, at least, because if I wander to much it won't have a point...

Do you remember those commercials for the Hefty trash bags? I was thinking about Bonhoeffer and how tough his faith had to be. I realized that his faith was typical of the martyrs and probably some of the other giants of the faith. The ultimate realization though was that he drew his strength from the Bible. You don't hear him refer to this author and that author too often. Sure he has a few scholars to whom he refers, but it's minor. No, he quotes the Bible over and over again. In Life Together he won't back down from major prescriptions of scripture.

This is very counter to most of the sought after authors of our day. Each one quotes five others who quote each other who've drummed up five others who support their position. Now don't get me wrong, I think God speaks through a lot of today's authors, but we've got to be steeped in the Word to pull the right instead of the wrong out of the books.

All I know is the more scripture I read the more God talks.... Through everything at that point. He talks through relationships, books, scriptures, life experiences, music...., etc. He only talks, though, if we've learned to recognize his voice through the study of scripture. We must get to know him before we can recognize his voice amongst the many others.

That's it. Gotta work. If I think about this later I'll have another post. Mind is working overtime right now.

I want it difficult

Why do we continue to try to make Christianity easy for people?

I've heard Christians I well respect make comments that we should not glorify being poor. I just have a hard time listening to Jesus' many words about devotion to him and think we can be anything but poor.

My sister recently quoted verses on her facebook. "Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not aboe to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, "'This man began to build and was not able to finish."' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Ge who has ears to hear, let him hear.'"

Off the top of my head there are some others, also. Jesus tells the crowds if anyone wants to be his disciple they must first go, and sell everything they have, and give it to the poor, then come and follow him. He tries to discourage those trying to follow him by saying birds have nests and foxes have holes but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. The rich young ruler wants to know what he must do to be saved and Jesus replies go and sell everything you have and then come and follow me. He adds on to the laws these people already have. He tells them they cannot divorce, if they divorce they've made their wife and adulterer, and if anyone marries a divorced woman he is also an adulterer. Go the extra mile, turn the other cheek, if someone asks, give. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Be more righteous than the hypermoral. When someone asks for your coat, give them your shirt also. Whatever bodypart causes you to sin, cut it off, for it's better to enter God's kingdom without a bodypart than to be cast out because of it.

Basically, what Jesus has to say is hard. Hard to do, hard to hear. I've heard to many people explain away whatever commands they don't want to follow. Jesus warns us early on, and over and over.

"I'm not calling you to a life of luxury. I'm calling you to die with me. Take up your cross. Your torture device. Come love people even though it hurts. Throw off all that hinders. Money, pride, possessions. It turns out you can only have one master. I died so you could choose what that master would be. I want you to choose me, but I'm warning you. It ain't easy. I'll ask more from you than you have to give. Just when you think you've given all you can and can't make it any further, I'll ask you to keep giving and keep following. You can't do it. period. You aren't capable. I am. That's why I ask this. I'm capable, therefore I can get you there. Submit. Become a slave willingly to me, so you don't have to be enslaved in sin anymore."

I'm tired of easy. I'm tired of doing it myself. I'm tired of people trying to make this easy.

When it's easy we don't need Jesus. He didn't come for the healthy, but for the sick. Guess what. We're all sick. We're all dying. Some of us are just willing to admit it and admit we need help.

I'm choosing to die with you, Jesus. This Lent will remind me to die daily. I will die daily so the impossible is possible. I will die to my will so that I may follow yours. I will kill all the self to allow you control.

Make me a servant. Humble and meek.

Fat and Happy

Make a man fat and happy and he will only worry about how he can stay fat and happy. Take away what makes him fat and happy and he will fight with all he has.

Babylon (or the empire that just won't die)

I've been reading again. Go figure. I'm not sure I'm gonna get all my thoughts out on this subject but I'm gonna try. I've been reading "Jesus for President", by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw. I've had a lot of these thoughts for a while now but never got the chance to write them down. They started talking about Revelation and the thoughts reared their ugly head again.

The United States is Babylon. There I said it, but Rome was Babylon, too. The writers made some good points about how Babylon is described in Revelation, and they related them to Rome. Most of these points ring true for the US also. I don't want to get into great detail about how the US is Rome is Babylon, maybe in a future post. I just want the thought to be out there. Let you chew on it for a bit. Look it up and ponder the possibility of it.

What I want to talk about is the Church. I want to talk about the Body of Christ. I want to talk about the people in the US that think the US is: heaven, paradise, the kingdom of God. They may not voice this opinion for fear of being labeled a blasphemer, but they live as if they believed this way. I read a post on Internetmonk about "Are American Christians "Persecuted?"." I think the answer lies in the fact that we've been sleeping with the enemy. In better terms we have been intoxicated by Babylon's wine and are sleeping with the whore. So are we persecuted? I think you're only persecuted by your enemies and we've willingly drank her wine and hopped in bed.

I believe we would do well to follow John's advice. He tells us to come out of Babylon. From what I just read, the language implies pulling out before climax during sex. He has us pegged as having an adulterous affair and is calling out for us to abandon this love affair. We participate in the economies that create sweatshops, oppression, and war. If we stood up and refused turn a blind eye on the injustices our country creates; If we started living Jesus' politics the government would be fearful that it had lost its power and would turn on us in persecution.

I think the apostles in Acts were responding to the empire they lived in. They lived together, ate together, worshiped together. I think it was a statement that we're in this world but not of it. I think they were refusing to be ruled by anyone but God. I think they were living God's kingdom in the midst of Babylon, and I believe we can and are called to do the same. The early Christians stopped being persecuted when the Roman empire made it the religion of the empire, but the Roman empire stopped being persecuted by the church, also. Babylon will always feel threatened when confronted with the kingdom of God. It will fight it unless it can get it to conform, because in conforming it has become subdued. This is the fight we are all called to and this is the battle of Armageddon.

To Believe or not to Believe, that is the question

I got to thinking and had to write this down.

I believe, Lord, help my unbelief. A man who came to Jesus for healing coins this phrase. I believe I just made it my own. I once believed, and this included many things not necessary. Things which at most were petty and distracted from the reason for and the truth of belief. I went to college and studied religion because of this belief. Then things fell apart.

How much I believed is a good question to ponder. I pose this thought because I ran away quite easily, because of many things I brought about myself. I flunked out of college because I failed to go to class and then I came home. I lived with my dad and started working at a restaurant at which I had worked during high school. I worked on Sundays and therefore didn't go to church. I could have asked for Sundays off, but I didn't. Soon, I stopped thinking of God or anything to do with him. This progressed through getting drunk at times, seeking out my lustful urges, and immersing myself in this materialistic, consumerist society. Basically, I had come close to God, got scared about how much I had to give up, and ran the other way.

And yet, he had come close enough to me that I couldn't shake him no matter where I tried to hide. Though I got drunk it was rare, I couldn't push myself past my conscience very far. I never could bring my lustful urges to fruition, and though I bought plenty, I hated the very things I bought. This running and hiding lasted for five years. Near the end of it I had stopped shaking it off and was slowly turning around and searching for what I had ran away from.

The thing is, I wonder, quite often, if I'm still trying to hide. I came back but I still don't feel like I'm giving up myself. I want to, and yet there are things to which I still cling that hold me back. It is a constant battle and that doesn't surprise me. I'd like to get to the other side and fight from there, though. So I have come to own the phrase, "I believe, Lord, help my unbelief."

Us Silly Protestants (or is it just the whole western Church)

I've had this problem for a while. I love the Church. It's been a problem for a few years. The problem stems from the fact the Church isn't perfect. It never has been. It's a painful problem. It takes up vast amounts of my time and energy. What makes my love for the Church a problem is that just like a close friend you dearly love, you love it so much you can't let it stay in it's less than whole state. I must admit before we go much further that it's in my nature to fix things. That's right, I'm a problem solver. It's a curse but I believe I was made that way for a purpose.
I've been reading again. Eugene Peterson, Thomas Merton. Those have been my recent staples. Merton reminded me today of my love for the Church and my frustrations with it's imperfections.
I've been reading "The Seven Storey Mountain." In it he told of people his father and he boarded with in France. Though only a small amount of time was spent with them he seemed to have received a very lasting impression from them. Their lives were lived as normal lives, with normal professions, and normal actions. Yet, love shined through everything they did. So much so, in fact, that it is really all he remembers of them. Even when they brought up religion the one time, they didn't argue it they only questioned how he could live life without the influence of the Faith.
Shortly thereafter he contrasts these people with his perception of the English (Anglican) Church. This is a rather long quote but it's required to get the point across.
"And, as a matter of fact, the Church of England means all this. It is a class religion, the cult of special society and group, not even of a whole nation, but of the ruling minority in a nation. That is the principal basis for its rather strong coherence up to now. There is certainly not much doctrinal unity, much less a mystical bond between people many of whom have even ceased to believe in grace or Sacraments. The thing that holds them together is the powerful attraction of their own social tradition, and the stubborn tenacity with which they cling to certain social standards and customs, more or less for their own sake. The Church of England depends, for its existence, almost entirely on the solidarity and conservatism of the English ruling class. Its strength is not in anything supernatural, but in the strong social and racial instincts which bind the members of this caste together; and the English cling to their Church the way they cling to their King and to their old schools: because of a big, vague, sweet complex of subjective dispositions regarding the English countryside, old castles and cottages, games of cricket in the long sumer afternoons, tea-parties on the Thames, croquet, roast-beef, pipe-smoking, the Christmas panto, Punch and the London Times and all those other things the mere thought of which produces a kind of a warm and inexpressible ache in the English heart.
I got mixed up in all this as soon as I entered Ripley Court, and it was strong enough in me to blur and naturalize all that might have been supernatural in my attraction to pray and to love God. And consequently the grace that was given me was stifled, not at once, but gradually. As long as I lived in this peaceful hothouse atmosphere of cricket and Eton collars and synthetic childhood, I was pious, perhaps sincerely. But as soon as the frail walls of this illusion broke down again - that is, as soon as I went to a Public School and saw that, underneath their sentimentality, the English were just as brutal as the French - I made no further effort to keep up what seemed to me to be a more or less manifest pretense.
At the time, of course, I was not capable of reasoning about all this. Even if my mind had been sufficiently developed to do so, I would never have found the perspective for it. Besides, all this was going on in my emotions and feelings, rather than in my mind and will - thanks to the vagueness and total unsubstantiality of Anglican doctrine as it gets preached, in practice, from most pulpits.
It is a terrible thing to think of the grace that is wasted in this world, and of the people that are lost. Perhaps one explanation of the sterility and inefficacy of Anglicanism in the moral order is, besides its lack of vital contact with the Mystical Body of the True Church, the social injustice and the class oppression on which it is based: for, since it is mostly a class religion, it contracts the guilt of the class from which it is inseparable. But this is a guess which I am not prepared to argue out."
I think a great deal of the problems of American Protestant Denominationalism is that it divides our beliefs into class religions. We feel the emptiness of being disconnected from the rest of the Body. The many races are divided into separate churches even within denominations. I agree with Merton that we lack the vital contact with the Mystical Body of the True Church, but I would define the True Church across many denominational lines.
I also believe our doctrine is very vague and without depth. We fight over our petty differences on whether we should be allowed to dance, drink, sing hymns or choruses. We've lost touch with an historic commonality. Do we know anything about the saints? The reformists? Those who contributed to the Great Awakenings? Orthodoxy? The Wesleys? What about today's amazing men and women of God? Mother Theresa? Nelson Mandella? Merton? Lewis? Peterson? I could name names all day. Jesus has worked throughout history and we've thrown it out. We're blind because we refuse to look at our pasts and we are leading the blind.
Unity is my prayer. I long for Grace, contact with the body, Love, Justice. I want to be justified by faith, but I want to do Christ's works so my faith isn't dead. I want to follow Jesus and that has never come about by believing and not acting. Do I believe enough to get out of my chair?
I love the Church and because of that I hope we can be reunited. I hope our faults are ironed out of us. Trials must come and we will be strengthened by them. It's for my Saviour to fix but I must, as must we all, be willing instruments.

What's my body to me?

Paul tells us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God for this is our spiritual act of worship. This is him telling the church how to be the church. Be Christ's hands and feet. Love is all we have to give so give it. We are Christ's body in this world. We must seek out the lost, sick, desperate people of this world and be Christ's hands and feet to them. This is our sacrificing of the body. This is our spiritual act of worship. How do you give value to something without giving your life to it? Storing up treasures in heaven should be our life. This is an instruction to you, to stop putting on a show and start feeding the hungry, visiting prisoners, take the homeless home with you. Until we start caring about those we are caring for we aren't being Christ's body.
Every day, in everyday life, we have this opportunity. Love. Paul says we are nothing without love, a resounding gong. Noise. In fact, really annoying noise. Maybe that's why the world is so annoyed with American Christianity. We stopped loving people. We stopped caring enough to sacrifice ourselves. Without love they see right through our legalistic actions and are turned off by our hypocritical piety.
Can we sacrifice our busyness, our need to accomplish, our desire to produce? Instead, can we love those put in our path every day? Those you work with, those you pass on the street, those you live with and next to, and those you call friends and family. They are needy people and their deepest desire is to be loved. Our act of worship to the one we love is to sacrifice our bodies (well being, money, future, time, etc.) for the sake of our neighbors. Have you died yet today?

The Tribute (or how the Spirit is contagious)

I was visiting my old youth pastor recently and it was invigorating to say the least. One thought came to mind after I returned. The Holy Spirit is contagious!!! I'll probably dig into that theme in a different post but I couldn't help but think this is why the early Christians laid hands on each other. It was the Spirit-filled group showing approval towards the new believers, and sharing (literally) the Spirit with them. Anyways, I wanted to thank those who have filled my life with the Spirit. I know there are more of you out there but these are the major contributors that I could recollect right now.

Brad, you are my Paul. I don't know that I'd be following Christ without you. You gave me a foundation on which to build everything God has made me into. Even though physically you weren't around, you are what kept me coming back to God during my five years away from the Church. Your passion for Jesus' will in your life is unsurpassed this side of the saints. You are contagious, and I want to thank you for following Jesus because he has made a difference through you. Thank you for loving me, through it all. Thank you for your guidance and direction in all areas of my life.

Mom, I don't know the words to express how thankful I am for you. You have had unwavering faith throughout your life. Even when you are mislead you refocus on God and continue on your journey with him. To have been through as much as you have and to still trust God completely is so amazing to me. Your faith in God could never be questioned. You raised me to the best of your ability and you provided the two most important things a parent can: Unconditional Love, Unwavering faith in God. The Holy Spirit obviously resides in you.

Erin, your perspective on life is wonderful. Having you to share this faith and these beliefs with has meant more than you will ever know. No matter what I've said in the past I've come to realize you are my best friend and you have been such an encouragement in my walk with Christ. It has been a joy to teach and be taught by you. Your joy in serving God is contagioius. Your view of America is refreshing. Your determination has made you strong. God's Spirit shines through you every day, don't ever let it stop.

Candle (Wick), you come fairly late in the game, but you still have contributed so much. Your love for the teens and you commitment to the word can never be questioned. You are wise beyond your years. You genuinely care and love those teens. The passion to teach is something I can relate too. Just know, that you have affected my life.

Thank all of you for contributing to the Spirit residing in me. Everyone of you is amazing and makes me thank God for all of you.

Are you dressed properly?

I'm reading "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster at the moment. Something he said triggered God to reveal the meaning of a parable and I felt compeled to share. It was really just a side note explaining a concept he was using in the full discussion of the book. He wrote, "Where are the people today who will respond to the call of Christ? Have we become so accustomed to "cheap grace" that we instinctively shy away from more demanding calls to obedience?" He then quotes Bonhoeffer "The Cost of Discipleship" by saying, "Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross." That definition smacked me across the face and said, "Hey, do you remember the parable about the wedding banquet? You know, the one where noone comes so they invite a bunch of losers; then, the losers come but one shows up dressed like a loser and gets kicked out because of it." I couldn't help but admit that I knew which parable I was being smacked with, and so without further ado, here is the parable and where the definition took me.

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: ²‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. ³He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. ⁴Again he sent other slaves, saying, “Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.” ⁵But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, ⁶while the rest seized his slaves, maltreated them, and killed them. ⁷The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. ⁸Then he said to his slaves, “The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. ⁹Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.” ¹⁰Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 ‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, ¹²and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” And he was speechless. ¹³Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹⁴For many are called, but few are chosen.’ - Matthew 22:1-14

So, first of all, this is describing the kingdom of heaven. I'm pretty sure that makes the king, God. The slaves the king sends would represent the prophets to me. Those invited to the wedding banquet are the Israelites/Pharisees. They mistreated the prophets and thouroughly chose to not believe them. The king says those invited were not worthy because they returned his love with contempt and killed/abused anyone sent to them. The king tells his slaves (disciples) to go out into the mainstream and invite everyone they meet. The king comes in and sees a man not following the dress code. He asked him how he was able to get in without a wedding robe and the guy was speechless, and they threw him into the outer darkness.

All of the wedding attendees all experienced the grace of the King. The guy who attended without wearing wedding attire (changing his life) thought he could experience cheap grace. This is where verse 14 comes into play. Many are called, few are chosen. Few are chosen because few respond by coming prepared. Jesus said, "If you love me you will follow my commandments." This cheap grace guy thought he could show up and get free cookies without any type of a commitment to the occasion. The King thought otherwise, he had a wedding banquet to honor his son and his marriage. This guy came unprepared and was therefore kicked out. So the question is are you dressed properly? Or will you show up for the wedding banquet without the proper attire?

Fear of God

The fear of the Lord is something a lot of modern christians have a hard time understanding. I've come to love this phrase because of some insight I've received. We think of fear as being scared of something and our God isn't something of which we'd like to be scared. I've learned to think of fear in a new way, though. Fear is the proper response to something which is aweful. So in stating this we're going to redefine a few words.
First we'll redefine aweful. Aweful comes from the same root word as awesome, and even awe. If we look at aweful as full of awe we start to realize aweful isn't purely bad as we like to present it. I present a grizzly bear as evidence. Aweful, in regards to a grizzly bear, is fear, terror, beauty, and commanding of respect. Fear makes a little more sense now but we're going to look at a different phrase here. This creature, because of it's power, commands respect. There are even consequences for a lack of respect for it, including death. God is aweful, in a sense that he commands respect. He has no choice. He is so holy compared to us. Holy= above or set apart. He is so holy that for us to approach him is impossible. He sent Jesus to bridge that divide by being a blameless human, clean, pure, HOLY. God can only be approached through Jesus, the "bear tamer". This phrase is actually funny because anyone who tames animals will tell you the animals are never tamed, they just tolerate the human when the humans show them respect. God, even through the expert at approaching him, Jesus, must be respected.
In a sense we've already redefined fear. We've redefined it to mean respect but it entails more than that. A healthy fear brings out respect, reverence, awe. Jesus prayed this way when he taught his disciples how to pray. He said hallowed be your name. Hallowed, revered. Feared, producing awe. So I leave you saying fear your aweful God.

Are we doctors?

Jesus said he came to heal the sick; that it is the sick who need a doctor. In thinking about this why do we insist on trying to cure the healthy, over and over again. The church in America, as a whole, is so self centered. We offer help to those in our inner circle who need it, and we give to the charities so they can give for us. We pass the person on the side of the road whose car broke down because they may not be safe. We offer no assistance to the homeless beggars we come across because the government has put in programs which keep us from having to get our hands dirty. We have become the Pharisees who refuse to mingle with the world's outcasts. This is our battlefield. Do we believe that our Jesus can overcome the powers of this world's Ruler? We should! Because he already has. Do we believe the Adversary holds no power, that it has been confiscated. These people, the downcast, need only see in us the power of Christ.

Yet, instead, we insist on mingling with the powerful, and partake in the greed that is America's consumerism/market economy. America, like every other nation, is a harvest waiting to happen. Our problem is we've been Westernized so we are blind to our blindness. The American's everyday life oozes greed from its pores. Aldous Huxley and Orwell were right, we've been socially conditioned through commercials, the "American Dream", through our "Christian" president calling for Americans to help the economy post 9-11 by buying things, even through "Christian" bookstores and the rest of Christian subculture. In our churches we seek out the money because it has the influence to get done the things we think should be done. We have built mega-churches which if they outreach at all outreach to the creme de la creme of our society. We have worship services that feed our upper middle class's craving for entertainment. We have building projects that will make our church more appealing to those who have money and think things should look as if we've spent money. I have another challenge from Jesus. One can serve only God or Money. One cannot serve two masters, he will either love the one and hate the other, or serve the one and despise the other. I've heard many arguments that we can be rich and use those resources to reach the lost but the more I read these verses the less I believe that is true.

So, here's my challenge, to those few of you who bother to keep checking my blog, though I rarely write. Uncondition yourselves that you might love and follow our Jesus whole heartedly. Start today to give of yourself, your time, and your possessions (be they money or something more substantial) to those less fortunate than you. My suggestion would be to seek out the most desolate people for they are the sick to whom Jesus refered. In doing so, you may be saving your own soul without realizing it. You say to me that we are justified by God's grace by faith. I couldn't agree more, but faith without works is dead. Let us love the dying, hurting, sick, needy, imprisoned people of this world, so we may be known as his disciples by our love. Without this love, so often dubbed Charity, we are a clanging cymbal.

The Gospel

I'm studying the Gospel right now. Actually, I'd better clarify, I'm studying what the Gospel has to say about the Gospel. My first thoughts. The Gospel that Jesus preached was "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." I'm reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell right now. He's talking about how Jesus's preaching was for a life now that extended into eternity. His Kingdom is here right now.

Jesus died for our sins, Everyone's, and we are all forgiven. The question is whether or not we will realize it and live accordingly. I don't see any way you can realize what Jesus has done for you and not respond graciously. Grace was given and the proper response is gratefulness, gratuitity, and grace toward others. In other words, Loving the Lord your God with every ounce of your being and loving your fellow humans as you would yourself. Jesus used the story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate how to love someone but also to illustrate that everyone is your neighbor.

I think we need to start preaching the Gospel again. That the kingdom of Heaven is near, has come in Jesus. As St. Augustine is credited with saying we need to, "go and preach the Gospel, and if you have to, use words." Augustine was saying what Jesus once said that they will know we are his followers by our love. Christians today have done a great job of being known by their intolerance and even sometimes their hatred. I don't think Jesus would claim them. We must love everyone, and I'm talking about a love that comes out in our actions. We need to bring the kingdom of Heaven to the sick.

I may have already said this in a past blog, but I've heard people say that Christianity is a crutch for the weak. My response to them is that in a sense this is dead right. The problem is they don't realize how weak they are and they don't realize that instead of a crutch to lean on it's like a whole new leg. We are all fallen and fall short of the glory of God. Jesus died so we could all walk again. We've never known what running was like till we've ran head on into Jesus. Now the world begs for redemption and we are the workers who must carry out our masters plan to bring this world to fruition and ready to be harvested. I've went on a bit of a tangent and must stop.

Life and the lack thereof

True life. What is it? Is there a way to determine that a life is more true than another? I have to say there is because I've lived it. I love the way the Bible answers this question. Jesus claims to be the way, the truth, and the life. I like to combine them since they are all ands. Jesus is the way to true life.
Jesus is full of all kinds of weird thoughts about life. He says, "He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it." I look at his thoughts this way: He who seeks out his own life will have passed up true life, but he who gives up his own life for my life will find true life. Because we've already established that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, this makes perfect sense. Moving on to that life, the life Jesus calls us to is difficult. The good news is there is a wonderful life for each person out there that continues on into eternity. There's a failsafe built in ,though. The next part of the verse we've looked at adds, "No one comes to the Father but through me." You see, true life, is a life spent in connection with the one that created you. Only the one who built you knows all that you're capable of. Therefore, your true life, the purpose for which you were built, is known only to the Father.
So, if we give up our own life to live Jesus's life we come to the Father. We must give up anything we are about. Paul said he died daily. Jesus called it picking up your cross and following him. This life of Jesus held much suffering and sorrow. If we are to follow him we must also trudge through suffering and sorrow. Our awareness of our surroundings depends on how close we are to God. We may walk through these things and barely see them because of the strength of our focus on the loving God. Or we can lose our focus on God and instead focus on our surroundings. We tend to drown when that's the case.

A cult?

I started thinking the other day what would today's Church think of the early Church. I came up with it quickly and couldn't quit chuckling about it all day. In all seriousness, I believe the early Church would be labeled a cult. You know, the things we all worry about our friends and family possibly being fooled by.

I actually had a small discussion about this with a fellow member of my church. I wonder what our families would think if we sold all we owned. If we lived with the rest of the Church, and came together at least once a day to worship, would we look a little insane? Would our churches think we had lost it if we stopped having someone preach and instead asked the people to share what God has laid on their hearts? We would go into a gathering without a plan, singing whatever songs expressed our thoughts. The Church would care less about the materialism with which it's plagued in our country and care more about each other's maturity, our neighbors needs, and loving our enemies. We would join in communion every day, and employ other traditions and symbolism while striving to keep these practices pure and not rote.

My church right now is involved in remodeling extensively. I feel as though this money could better be used to meet people's needs. I understand the prostitutes gift of love consisting of pouring out perfume on our savior's feet instead of selling to feed the poor, but I really don't see how updating our church to seem like the dry, businesslike place which resembles corporations, is going to glorify God.

That is the Church's ultimate purpose: To glorify God. If the Church isn't producing mature christians who reflect God's glory then it's worthless, except to our enemy. I believe Satan loves the churches of America because we encourage mediocrity of spirituality. We've become content to let the pastor do any connecting with God we might think is necessary. Yes, our pastor should guide us, but they shouldn't be the only one crossing the river.

In glorifying God, a true relationship with God must be nurtured and the first step is prayer. Prayer had dissappeared from America's churches. This is how we must return to our first love. God must once again take first place in our lives.

True worship should be played out in our lives. We automatically worship whatever is first in our lives and only by placing God there do we truly worship him. Feel good songs, chants, and raucous praise do nothing for God if they aren't backed by love for him, and if love is the motivating factor these acts are transformed miraculously to a gift to God, as are all of our actions no matter how mundane.

I'm going off on a tangent now so I'll save this for another day. NeWayz, the question was, would the early church model seem like a cult to our devolved way of doing church?

Sacrifice

So I've been reading Christ Plays in 10,000 Places. Good book. Anyways, it's got me thinking about sacrifice. Eugene Peterson (the author) says the Eucharist(Communion) is only properly seen in light of the sacrifice Jesus gave us. True. Easy stuff. He then goes on to say sacrifice is our only proper response to Jesus' sacrifice. Again true. Again easy stuff, except that practicing this sacrifice isn't so easy.

Sacrifice is amazing really in so many different ways. Literally, we give pieces of ourselves to others, for others. An article on Relevant magazine's website put it a little more in perspective for me. The author said there are two reasons we choose our careers in America. One reason is money, as mentioned in a previous post our favorite life filler. The other is happiness, as in having a job that we love to do. We as Americans love to think fulfilling our own lives is the best thing that can be done. We even do this in our spirituality.

The author of this article proceeds to let everyone know there is a better reason for choosing our path in life. I use this phrase instead of career because I believe the only career we have is following Jesus. So the author says instead of pursuing money or happiness, we should pursue sacrifice. I have to agree. People who have made the most impact for Christ have given up their lives for his better cause. Some have given up the chance to make millions. Some have given up the chance to play professional sports (it would make me happy). Some have left the comfort of their own country, been placed in dangerous situations, and even refused to leave those situations because the people to whom they were ministering didn't have that option.

I'm not saying you must stop working. Paul claimed he was a tentmaker. This makes me assume this is what he did to be able to eat. I've only seen it mentioned once, though, which leads me to believe there were more important things in his life. Probably the things which he talked about all the time. He sure mentioned the church a lot, and I don't mean the building. He actually mentioned sacrifice a lot. One of his favorite things to say was that he died to himself for Christ. I think he may have been on to something.

I think the remedy for what is ailing The Church, is sacrifice. It seems the early Church put this into practice quite well. They sold their houses, even their possessions, and gave all of it to The Church. That's sacrifice. They gave up their time, every day, to gather to break bread and remember why they were there. They went to foreign cities and observed strange customs, all for the glory of God. And many were added to their numbers each day. The Church today claims to want to save souls. It claims to want people to hear the gospel. Unfortunately, in America, we seem unwilling to do what is necessary to accomplish these goals. We must sacrifice. Daily. We must stop targeting the middle and upper class since they reject us on a daily basis. We must start having meals with those who have nothing. It might help remind us that we have nothing. All we own is not ours. God gives and God takes away. Why not help our Father and sacrifice what we have so that he may be glorified to others?

Fishing

So I've started fishing lately. I love it. I get up early (5:30 a.m.), pick a spot with a friend, and start casting. The problem so far this year is that I haven't caught a thing. Well, other than snags, trees, rocks, and about anything else you can find in a lake other than a fish. So I started thinking. Jesus might have been onto something when he said he'd make us fishers of men. I mean, I know they used different methods of fishing then, but it still works darnit.

I start by waking up, getting dressed, and breaking out my equipment. I then, must find a spot I believe will be conducive to catching fish. I settle down and start throwing out a lure, hoping this is something they will like to eat. After casting a few times I decide if this spot is a viable option for catching fish or if I might need to move further up or down stream. If I'm getting a few nibbles I can discern fairly well that the spot and the lure are probably good for my purposes. If nothing is biting I usually will try a few different lures before moving on to another spot.

There will always be times when you fish and don't catch a thing. There will also, almost definitely, be times you catch so many fish you know there was something other than you that made that possible. So it is in life, when fishing for men you will have times you spend so much time and so much energy trying to catch someone but you just can't get them to bite. There will be other times, though, where you will feel like you didn't even need to be there; the fish would have just jumped into your boat without any offering other than "here is my boat."

Just as in fishing, I believe you must prepare to fish for men. Being awake helps the preparation, and I mean this in a spiritual sense as well as in the physical. I get dressed by praying and listening to the words of God. It protects me from spiritual sunburn (going into a situation unprepared). I check my equipment, which I believe Paul does a great job of illustrating with his Armor of God.

Many times, finding the proper spot to fish is the key behind how successful your endeavor will be. If you don't find a place where these men for which you are fishing congregate, you will never get the chance that they will notice your lure. You will continue casting, oblivious that there are no men gathering here to even glance upon what you are offering. Yet, if you find the proper arena in which to cast your lure, you will be rewarded with many interested men.

If you find no interested men, you must first try offering your message in a different way, because where some men will scoff at a minnow they will engulf a frog. Not all people will respond to a message that tells them they are worthless. Some will only respond to a message that God has made them worthy. Sometimes, though, you will find a spot as Jesus did in his hometown which will not respond to you no matter how you offer you message. As Christ told his disciples, you must brush the dust off your feet and move on to the next town.

I write all these words to say this: Jesus is your fishing map, your river guide, even the reason that we fish. So in all your endeavors in fishing for men, make certain you have your map/guide, and don't despair if you catch nothing one day, because there are just certain spots at certain times that will be unproductive for you. You will catch the fish Jesus asks you to, though, as long as you keep fishing.

Prepare to Suffer

Are you ready to suffer? It's inevitable, suffering that is. We're all human, we've all fallen; therefore, we all will suffer. The real question I wanna ask, though, is how do we respond.

It seems to be in the American culture, we like to run from it, avoid it as much as we can, even when we are already suffering. We block it out with alcohol, sex, drugs, or our favorite American fix-it-all Money. We stare at a screen that makes pictures so we don't have to think about anything. We call every friend we know so we don't have to be alone with our selves and our thoughts. We stay out till we're asleep so we don't have to deal with our problems haunting us as we lie in bed. Then, we wake up with only enough time to rush around and get to the places we need to be. Yet, in all reality, we suffer through it all and the full force will catch up to us.

I've read that eastern religions, sometimes including my own, embrace suffering. Some of these religions claim all life is suffering. If this is so, we ought to embrace life as what it really is. Unfortunately, these religions start out with the best of intentions and end up loving the suffering. Suffering becomes a pleasurable thing for them. If pleasure were what we're seeking this would be great. The problem is that this pleasure only covers the surface. It doesn't reach to the depths of our souls.

So the only response to suffering is to seek God. The answer to any problem is God, not because he solves these problems necessarily, but because he is the answer to our only problem. Our only problem is being void of God. Suffering is a tool. A tool that God uses to shape us. A tool which when used by our hands distorts and disguises what it touches, yet when used by God helps us realize our only problem. Everything is suffering without God, nothing is truly suffering if you have the only thing you truly want-GOD.

Hello and welcome

Hi, I'm John. I've been wanting to get started blogging for a while and tonight just seemed like the perfect time to post. I was sitting in church this morning and had some thoughts occur to me which I decided I must write down. I pose these questions to you; please respond if something comes to mind.

What if we all came to church because we wanted to?
What if we worshipped because our hearts overflowed with Joy, Peace, and worthiness/value of God?
What if we looked forward to intimacy with God? To hearing God through his Word?
What if we dared to Love? to love God, each other, those in need, and even ourselves?
What if we loved God enough to turn over our money? all of it, to whatever purpose for which you require it? If we loved you enough to not waste anything which you have given us?
What if we cared enough to change whatever is required to change this world to reflect your love?
What if we believed enough to sacrifice time and talent to benefit your people?
What if peace hit us hard enough that we couldn't harbor any animosity toward anyone? If we loved peace enough to fight the battle against the rulers, and authorities, and cosmic powers of this present darkness, and the forces of evil in the heavenly places?
If someone asked us if they were GOOD enough to get into heaven could we answer the true way? No, noone is!
How do we straighten things out without destroying? How do we draw together the rest of God's churches? How do we become a complete body?