Sin in Particular

     Let's talk about sin a bit shall we? Sin is an evil thing, a destructive corrosive thing that devours and distorts everything it touches. From our perspective there are bad sins and worse sins and minor sins and slight sins and more, but to God there is just 'sin.' Now one thing we as Christians are getting accused of more and more as of late is picking and choosing which sins we condemn -specifically in others. I have to say I've seen this but really I think this idea stems from our own poor work at explaining reality as the Bible describes it.

     Take homosexuality for example. Just about everybody knows (or should) that Christianity is not fond to say the least but do they know why? Do they understand that God is the rightful ruler of all things and that He has made the world in a certain way. The world may be contaminated but that doesn't change the standard, any deviation from His order is wrong. We create more problems than we fix by always harping on this subject because it creates a skewed perspective both for those outside the faith and for ourselves. How many times have you heard someone ask about the other old testament laws and why we don't uphold those? People see us not living what we preach and it creates a wall of misunderstanding that keeps them away from the truth.

     People need to know that homosexuality is not particularly sinful. By that I mean that it is no more or less sinful than stealing or lying or any other misdeed. Personally I don't find it hard to believe that someone could be born that way, we are corrupted by sin after all however, the Bible tells us that it takes a will to make sin.  Choice is a key component. You cannot have inherently evil objects because it is always a consciousness that defines evil, a willful choice. People get outraged at us partially because we fail to explain that it is not the feeling of a desire that is the sin, it is the embracing and acting on that desire. When we point out the sin without explaining this people naturally feel as if we are telling them that they -as an individual person- are inherently evil. Of course people actually are evil but you get my point.  The understanding that you are guilty of a crime is different than being told that the feelings you have no control over and that seem to be a natural part of you are evil. Again, they are and it is the same for all of us not just homosexuals but the understanding of that comes with a greater knowledge of God and the plight of man.

     We need people to know that we don't think that homosexuals in particular are going to Hell. Everyone is, because we are all deserving of it. Homosexuality is just another sin, another example of man's fallen state. We need to focus less on pet sins and specific infractions and more on the overall condition of humanity. God will punish all sin and evil, not just the ones that are publicly obvious. God hates evil, it is an affront to His purity and righteousness and because He is also just, He must punish and deal with that evil. But God is also love and He loves us despite our sin.

     Because God is just, He must punish evil but since He loves us He made a way of escape. Jesus came down to earth, the Son of God took on the form and nature of man and lived here as we do but without sin. His life and identity made Him the perfect and only sacrifice worthy to pay for our debt. Ultimately it comes down to who bears the burden of your sin, you or Jesus? You can pay for your own sin but it will take an eternity of suffering and punishment, or you can lay your burden at the cross and Jesus can bear it for you. Your individual sins do not set you apart for your evil, they simply mark you as human. We are all sinners, whether in much or in a little, and we are all in need of a savior.

Attempts at _ _ _ _ _ _ ianity

     You may have recently heard about the American pastor who no longer beliefs in God. From what I've read the man states that the ideas of God and creation and the infallibility of scripture are legends that have long since been if not disproved then found to be illegitimate. He claims that you need not believe in God and doesn't like it when people say he is not a Christian. I have to ask though, if he doesn't believe in God, the Bible, Jesus as we know him, miracles, creation, Heaven, Hell, or the need for salvation...what does he believe in? You cannot take away everything that is Christianity and still claim to be a Christian.

“This is the uniqueness of the Christian message: You can take any philosophical system and any religious system, you can remove the founder from the system, the system will remain. So if you remove Buddha from Buddhism, if you were to say to a Buddhist: “Did it have to be the Buddha who gave us this system, theoretically Could it have been anyone?” They'll be very insistent that it was the Buddha but yes, theoretically anyone could have given us Buddhism and if we even try to argue that Buddha never existed, it doesn't matter; the teaching of the system remains. We can do the same in Islam. Now, Muslims will be even more strongly insistent but if you push them to the theoretical point eventually they will concede. Did God have to give this revelation to Muhammad or theoretically could it have been anyone? They'll be absolutely insistent, it was Muhammad but could God have chosen anyone? Absolutely....You can remove the founder from the system, the system remains but you cannot remove Christ from Christian. If you remove Christ from Christian you are left with the letters I-A-N and Ian cannot help you!”

-Michael Ramsden

     This is not the first time nor the last that people will try and insist that belief is not necessary, that you can still be a Christian without dedication to what it means to be one. Jesus gave us no room to slide past His claims. He claimed to be God in flesh which means He was either a liar, insane, or God. We cannot simply cling to His teaching as His teaching are tied inexorably to His claims. He quoted the old testament and upheld its accuracy and authority so we cannot put aside scripture. He held up creation as how we came to be so we cannot discount it at poetry. We cannot believe in that which we don't believe in, that is the exclusive domain of the lunatic and the fool.

     We live in a world marked by a distinct lack of scholarship. Nearly anyone you find who believes in evolution as the means of our existence will have very little if any actual knowledge of how the system is supposed to work and those who do will most likely not have worked out its implications. We have become so literal a people that we simply “believe” things with no bases, we trust what we're are told is true like we trust the auto-maker when he says our car will carry us safely along the way. Modern man has the same faith in God (or “not-god”) that he has in his computer; he really has no idea how it works but as long is it does what he needs it to he does not care. Sadly this behavior which is beyond foolish and obviously dangerous has bled into the church. Many of us no longer care to learn the truths of God and to really understand what we believe. This results in pastors and people like that man, who find themselves a system that works for them, rejecting a God that they don't really know in the first place.

     Christianity is all about Jesus, there is nothing apart from Him. If we divorce ourselves from this central truth than we will find ourselves with no solid ground beneath our feet. This foundation cannot be destroyed if our castles are to stand. I pray for those who have turned away from the God they never looked at, who believe in essentially nothing. I pray for them and I thank God for the firm foundation upon which I stand. He has revealed Himself to us but we will never know how the story goes if we never read the book. Belief is essential, but what we believe in matters all the more.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

(John 15:4-6)

A Letter to Myself in the Moment

Dear Me,

     I know that I'm not necessarily “with” you right now. I know that you may not be thinking clearly and I understand that what I'm telling you may not be obvious to you at the moment. I know that whether you are home alone or going about your day, that you are doing something seemingly normal and yet you are fighting. You are fighting an enemy that knows your every weakness, knows your deepest fears, an enemy that never tires, never loses focus, never doubts, an enemy that hates you more than you can comprehend and wants desperately for you to fail. Worse still you are also fighting yourself.

     I know that your judgment isn't currently at it's best and though you want to win this fight you grow more and more tired with every blow exchanged. I know that there is a voice trying to convince you that what you know to be wrong is anything but, or that it will be okay this one time. The voice tells you that you are weak, it reminds you of every time you have failed and every battle lost. It asks you why you should bother fighting. I know that in the midst of the battle it can all seem so impossible. The lure of the enemy seems so right and their voice so loud that you can barely hear me, can barely hear God. I know that your flesh is a traitor. Your own urges and desires are a turncoat working with your foe to pull you down. I know the outlook is bleak.

     I know all these things but I also know something that you may find difficult to remember as you struggle to lift your sword: the war is over. Th enemy screams and yells to distract you, to keep you from seeing that he has no sword and no shield; his fangs are long since broken and his oily tongue says nothing but lies.

     I implore you, me, for both our sakes, remember who has bought you! Remember that your chains are broken and your slave debt paid. Remember that Jesus has paid for your freedom in blood and that you never need to listen to your old masters again. Remember that the old man may writhe and struggle within you but he is already dead! Remember that you need not, indeed dare not, rely on your own strength. Remember that the spirit of God is there within you with all the power you need and more to win the day. Don't waste time fumbling with useless weapons or futilely raising your wooden shield, turn to your heavenly Father and scream for the help that only He can give! In Him and His strength will you find the victory, in Him alone is the battle won.

     Remember this please, for if you forget it during the fray you -will- fall and when next we meet it will not be in gratitude and praise to God but with with the knowledge that you had no reason for defeat and every assurance of victory. You know that I will remind you of these things. You are not alone. Though you may not hear me when the battle joins, remember these words, and live.

Strength for the Day

     I don't know about you but I'm caught between the idea that I should be using my time for something constructive and the unavoidable truth that I'm not using my time for anything particularly useful. I don't have a fantastic job, heck I don't even have a single full time job, so there's enormous pressure to change that. Then beyond the pure pragmatism of simply getting a “better” job there's the haunting shadow of the ideal. The ghost of that dream that may never exist in your future that still manages to haunt you here in the present. Mix all this together with the modern idea of “success,” a good dose of classic male ego, and all the struggles that go along with the life of a Christian man and it can be pretty crushing and just flat out exhausting.

     I struggle with this. I struggle with this a lot. I mean -a lot- a lot. Sometimes it feels like if I'm not spending every free moment I have to make myself better for my family, or to do something for God's Kingdom, or actually writing that book I talk about, or ...whatever, than I'm just being selfish and lazy and ultimately failing at this life. I can't tell you how tired I am sometimes...

     These times, when I'm just so tired; these times when I don't want to go to work tomorrow because I feel like running away from it all and be free; these times are when I remember that my strength may not be sufficient but God's is. It is in these times that I am reminded that when He says that He strengthens us He doesn't just mean for the big task at hand. God gives us the strength to take that first breath in the morning, to get out of bed, to keep going one step at a time. It is in these times that I remember that I desperately need Him if I'm going to even try to live today.

     This man, this flesh and blood that the world sees is so very far past useless. I wonder how many of us realize this? I wonder if I really understand it. As Paul Washer likes to say, “There are no great men of God. There are only small, weak, sinful men of a Great and Holy God.” Time and time again I am confronted with the reality that I just...can't. Can't what? Anything, everything, I just can't. But I do. I get up every day for His compassion is renewed every morning. I don't need persecution or turmoil to break me, life is enough. I don't need tragedy to show me my need for God when I have the mirror staring at me every day!

     A piece of treated canvas can keep you dry, can keep you warm, can provide a place of safety in the storm. That canvas can do a lot but without a few tent-poles to hold it up and keep it in shape you'll find it is far less useful. I don't know if I have answers to my own inner problems, only that I need to pray. I need to read the Word, I need to seek God in the small things as well as in the big things. We were never promised that this life would be easy or that we would understand it. It's not, but I live for the day when it is. Someday the veil that separates us will be more than torn it will be cast aside and God will walk with men again! In that day all of my small struggles and all the tears of my brothers and sisters who have faced so much more will be gone! There will be peace, finally, peace.

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

(Revelation 22:21)

The War Around Us

     Nothing is easy or so they say. Life is a struggle and everything worth having means work. The Christian life is no different, though we would prefer it so. Our sin nature nags us continually, just waiting for our guard to drop. The world around us tempts and pulls us in a million different directions; each one promising to be better or more exciting than the path that God has set us on. Evil men and women lie and deceive to lure us away and Satan and his minions throw innumerable obstacles in our way. The odds seem horribly stacked against us.

     We often forget, in our cozy western civilization world, that the life of a Christian is the life of a soldier. We are at war! If you are a member of the body of Christ you are a soldier, period. You may be an unprepared soldier, a good soldier, a lazy soldier, or a flat-out bad soldier, but you are a soldier nonetheless! Do not let yourself think that life will be easy or comfortable at all times. Like any war there will be lulls, there will be times when the battle lessens in its ferocity but rest assured the fighting will begin again! We cannot allow comfort or ease to trick us into lowering our shields.

"When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant.”

(Deuteronomy 31:20)

     Look to the Old Testament, to ancient Israel. It was when they grew comfy in the promised land that they ran into problems. Not when they were surrounded by enemies, not when they were new to the fulfillment of God's promises, not when they had miles to march and cities to take, but when they were home with a stomach full of food and a place to sleep at night. Israel, like ourselves, tended to only remember their need for God when it was physically obvious. We must be aware that the war never stops and though things be easier for the moment, we still need God for everything.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

(2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

     Luckily we do not fight alone. We have God's words in the Bible and The Spirit of God in our hearts. We have what we need to win the fight, the weapons and armor required to be victorious; we just need to take them up. God fights for His own and the victory is His. The war is already finished, we just have to make it through all the battles and get to the end. Again, don't get complacent and don't complain when the going gets tough. We face a defeated enemy who won't admit his loss. Swords and shields up people, this is going to be rough.

More Than Humanity 3: Strength From God

     We can't fight on our own. When we face temptation, when we run up against a choice to either live faithfully or fleshly, when those moments come and we fail, it's because we tried to do battle on our own strength. We're only human and so we lack the ability to succeed in a war against evil if for no other reason than evil is within us! We are born of shadow and will run from the light given the slightest chance. Thanks to Jesus' redemptive work we aren't “cured” from sin but brought from death to life; not sick men made better but dead men made alive. We need God to get us through those difficult moments.

     Our example in this, like in all things, is Jesus. We see in the pages of scripture that while He was on earth He limited Himself. He did not exercise the full range of His Godhood so as to be a proper example and a fit sacrifice. When we see Jesus perform miracles, we often see Him praying before hand asking for these miracles from the Father. Jesus, just like we must do, sought the Father and relied on the Spirit to do what He needed to do. The primary example for our discussion today is Jesus temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-10).

     The devil appears and presents Jesus with several scenarios, different forms or avenues of temptation designed to push Jesus away into sin. It's quite fascinating that no where does Jesus simply tell satan to bugger off or even cast Him away; this of course is well within His power and authority as a part of the God-head. What Jesus does do is use the Word of God. Each time He is presented with a temptation He replies with a piece of Scripture. Jesus knew in that time that no lies can supplant the pure truth of God and that we find that truth in the Word given to us. Again, He didn't simply cast satan away but used the same resources we have available to us: the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.

     We need to learn, to train ourselves to go to God and His word when we are under temptation. More than that we need to ask God to keep us aware of what's going on around us, to make us sensitive to temptation so that we recognize it when it rears its ugly head. If we continue to rely on our own strength we will never see anything more than failure. We were dead before, and dead men cannot fight a war; if we cut ourselves off from that which makes us alive in the first place what do we think will happen?

To Want to Want What You Ought to Want to Want

     We know that as Christians, there is a lot that is required of us. We know that we are to love God, love others, give generously, be caring, be kind, and on and on and on. There is a long and beautiful list of character traits and behavioral markers that are supposed to accompany the Christian life. Maybe you know one of those great older men and women of God, the ones who you see in church every Sunday and who just seem to ooze godliness? How do those people get that way? Were they just born perfect? Obviously not. We know that no human has ever been born perfect (aside from Christ) but it can be hard to imagine one of these older saints as ever having been like, well, the rest of us.

     I know in my own life I'm burdened by a few things that are hard for me to get past. I did not have many friends growing up and some of the few that I had left me in rather unkind ways. I've developed a very insular personality that tends to exclude others and not rely on people. This extends to the level of not caring much for other people and finding it difficult to care much at all for people who aren't in my immediate circles. I'm sure many of you have similar issues. Maybe you have a rough manner of speech or are overly cynical or perhaps you're naturally lazy; all of these and more are things that we know we should work on, but how do we do that?

     Let's go even farther. We are commanded to love God and love others, right? How does that work? Does God expect us to just summon up some lovin' and spread it around? I've known people who have a hard time loving their family members let alone total strangers! And loving God? Now that's a hard concept! I mean sure, it's easy to be grateful to God or even to fear God, but how do you 'love' someone who is so different than you and is in fact the all powerful creator and sustainer of all existence?

     The answer lies in understanding that God is not just the prescriber of our laws but their fulfillment as well. He not only gives us commands but empowers us to obey those commands. If we know that we are not naturally loving or careful or kind, then we have to ask God for that change. You will find -I promise- that as you pray and seek God in His word and ask for His help, you will notice change in your life! Oddly enough the same goes for loving God. The Bible tells us that we are all naturally “God-haters”, lovers of self, and rebellious. If we want to truly love God and others, we need to ask God for that love that we can then give away. It may seem weird or even insulting to ask God for help in loving Him but how else do we get anything that we need if not by His providence? God wants us to ask for His help in the things He has commanded us to do; He loves to show us that He is who He says He is!

     We can get pretty upset when we don't measure up to the Bible (which, may I remind you, is always.) It can seem self defeating and hopeless, an impossible pursuit. As long as we live it will be difficult and I will be the first to say that there will be hard times, but how could we expect to fulfill His commands on our own when we can't even breathe without God's intervention? Go to God in prayer and ask for Him to give you love for Himself. Ask for a love for others or for a cleaner mouth or a softer heart or a more dedicated spirit. Ask Him for the things that you need for you will find them no where else.

“And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.”

(1 John 3:22-23)

The Power and Presence of Sin

     We've all been through times when we struggle with sin. Some of us go through years of failure and rallying and failure again; an ongoing battle that saps our strength and weakens our resolve. We start questioning our faith, our salvation, and some even question God. Others spend their lives concerned and worried because of a misunderstanding of what sin is. Distracted and mislead by poor theology and faulty understanding, they fail to find either true victory or substantial progress in sanctification.

     First of all, it's vital that we understand what sin is exactly. Sin is not a foreboding sense of evil or a curse upon mankind. The curse we are under is the result of sin, not sin itself; if anything you might call it “natural sin” but I think a more accurate term is “natural evil.” Sin isn't a cursed object or an unhealthy social connection, it's not about your choice of vocabulary or clothes, it's not about what days you venerate or what days you don't venerate. Sin is choice and will. The reason that objects and things can't be “evil” is because they have no will, no power to choose or take action. This destroys so many popular and illusory myths regarding evil numbers or things or places. Only mankind is capable of sin because only we are capable of choice (and angels too really, but that's another post). We are not made evil by evil falling down upon us but by what we are and what we do.

“When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear and understand: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man."

(Matthew 15:10-11)

     Knowing this is helpful in our day to day but it's not the end of the story. From what I just said you may be lead to believe that actions -alone- are sin. You would be wrong. Actions are the visible manifestation of sin but they do not have a monopoly on it. As Jesus said our sin was sin long before it came out into the world.

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' "But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.... You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

(Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28)

So we see that the thoughts of our minds and the movements of our hearts are sin first and the actions that may or not follow them are only a further accusation against us. We must seek to give our thoughts and feelings over to God and then our actions will follow them.

     This brings us to an important question and an important point: why then, as a Christian, do I continue to sin? If I am made new by the blood of the Christ how can sin still have power over me? This is because we have been freed from sin's authority and sin's result but not its presence. We still linger in this fallen flesh and in this cursed world. God is not capable of being tempted, not because Satan can't walk up to Him (so to speak) and try and egg Him on. Satan is of course welcome to waste his time but since there is no inclination within God toward sin, He will never sin! We however, continue with our new life in our old bodies. The hand is washed, you could say, but the puppet is still dirty and broken. Here then is the wonder of the end of days, of our glorification: we will be free not only from the power and the penalty of sin but also from its presence; both without and within. We still sin now not because the world continues to tempt us (which it does) but because there still exists within this fallen flesh the desire to rebel. When history is finally at its end and God brings about the final glorification of His people, we will be like Him in the sense that that leaning toward evil will be gone from us!

“Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality. And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about: "Death is swallowed up in victory.”

(1 Corinthians 15:51-54)

     I cannot wait for that day. When I no longer have to fight myself for control, when I need not fear disappointing my Lord and my God. This world is a struggle, a battle for control and for purity, but its a battle already won. We may see losses and failed fights as we go through our lives but just check the back of the Book, we win! Remember then, that sin is a force that destroys from within and that God is the one who cleanses and redeems, strengthens and saves.

Prayer and the Power to Change

     Whether it's a physical issue, a personality quirk or a continuing sin, everyone has something they don't like about themselves. It can be hard to see a way around these issues, and even more difficult planning our route past them. Sometimes it feels like we're lost on the sea with no direction. How can we become more than what we are? How can we remove or fix something that is an inherent part of ourselves? To be honest we can't, not alone. Humans are fluid, we have the ability to make small changes in the pattern of our behavior, to build new habits and ways of living, but we lack the ability to truly change in a way that matters eternally.

     It surprises me how little we tend to equate personal change with salvation. The most significant change in our lives is that of sinner to son, from enemy of God to friend. Why so many of us (myself included sometimes) simply don't think of going to God for help with other changes is astounding. If nothing else the process of our perfection (known as progressive sanctification) is something we need God to be involved in, actually sorry that's backwards. We need to pray, asking God to make sure WE'RE involved in the process since it is His effort that changes us. We all enter the family of God at different times and in different states. The rest of our time on earth is primarily spent transforming us into the image of Christ. Some of us have longer journeys some of us shorter, some of us easier, some of us harder, but everyone is on that journey and no one is perfect until after we die or Jesus returns in His glory. If you're frustrated by sin and you're not seeking God then that's why you can't defeat it. If you are seeking God and you still feel like you're struggling then keep it up, remember that this is war and sometimes they last a long time; the enemy will not go down easily.

     Moving past sin and the real obvious things. What about things that aren't necessarily sinful but perhaps you just don't like about yourself? God is there as well. When we pray, we are speaking directly to God Himself. God who loves to give gifts to His children and desires for us to be happy (remember though that happiness comes after holiness and they are connected, but that's another post). I for example, know that I can talk to much and be loud and even come across as spastic and immature at times. I really hate that about myself on the occasions when it happens but unfortunately I don't realize how I've been until hours later. I've prayed about it before and I do feel that I'm a more measured person now (somewhat). I know that I have greater peace and I don't worry about things as much as I used to when I was younger. If you don't like your body, prayer can give you the wherewithal to stick to your diet or exercise.  Prayer can inspire you to change habits and even comfort you if you need to leave friends. The point is that God is with us as a father, not only as Lord. You don't have to worry about bothering Him with little things because He is far more aware than we are of the fact that we can't even exist without Him.

     Prayer connects us to God and strengthens our relationship. It is the binding coord that draws us closer and closer each day. How strong would your marriage be if you never spoke to your spouse? How close would your friendships be if you never shared your day? We get our strength for life from our time spent with God. We simply cannot alter our reality without help from the creator of all reality.

Lower Case g

     How do you see God? To put it another way: how do you perceive God, or what do you think about when you think of God? What would you say is the nature of your relationship with Him? Interesting questions wouldn't you say? The answers to these questions are important, as it is the perceived nature of our relationship with God and how we view Him that influences our behavior in regard to Him.

     To many, God is a mystery; an unknowable and unsearchable force or being that floats about the universe just out of reach. To these people, knowing God in any real way is an impossibility. God may have made the world but certainly doesn't interact with it much, or when he does it happens on some incomprehensible whim. This god is impersonal, indescribable, and pointless. Truthfully, a god who stays apart from reality in virtually every way may as well not exist. This, I think, is the point. Many of the people who hold to this belief would rather god not exist at all but they cannot deny that voice inside that tells them otherwise. Some others want a sense of something more than what we see but don't want the accountability of a knowable, relational god. Sadly something that is merely spiritual but not coherent doesn't do them any good, nothing more than a painkiller for a gaping wound.

     Others see god as a sort of cosmic Santa Claus, there to provide for their needs and desires while comforting their hearts in troubled times. To these, our relationship with god is based most commonly on rules and rituals; if I do this than god will or must do that. This is god chained and tamed, more our servant than the Lord of the universe. You see this idea in the “name it and claim it movement”, as well as in “christian science” and many of the charismatic groups today. If we only have enough faith, or pray the right prayer, or give enough money, then god will make us healthy, wealthy, and happy. Sadly all this belief does is to make its followers into a group of greedy, materialistic adolescents obsessed with the miraculous and the now; or even worse to disillusion them to the idea of a God who cares. One of God's great promises was to be with us in times of trial, not to keep us fat and comfortable all our life. When we make demands of god and insist he do what we say, then we are daring to take His place and put ourselves upon the throne.

     So how should we relate to God? Let's take a quick look at a few things we know about Him. He is the creator of all things (John 1:1-3), the rightful King (John 18:37, 1 Timothy 6:14-15, Revelation 17:14, etc.), the sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 9:24-26, John 1:29, etc.), and much much more! So how should we relate to one who is the creator of all things? We must recognize that He has right over us to do whatever He wishes. How do we relate to the rightful King? We are servants and subjects, those who must acknowledge His Lordship and obey. How do we relate to the one who bore our iniquity and died that we may live? How else but to throw ourselves down in gratitude for so great and undeserved a sacrifice? God is GOD! He is so big and so much 'more' than we are, how astonishing it is that we continue to forget that He is above and we are below? Join me in asking God to continually remind us of His glory and grace; that we would not forget our place in relation to Him. We are beggars at the door not the Lord on the throne.

     When we take God off His throne, when we forget who He is or who we are, we disgrace His name and deny Him the praise and glory that He is due. We cannot recognize our own sin or our need for a savior when we bring God down to our level. In the end everyone will acknowledge God for who He is. Wouldn't it be better to do so willingly and joyfully than by force, with the knowledge that its too late to change sides? Wouldn't you rather sing His praise as a joyful song in paradise, than mutter it bitterly while in torment?

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

(Philippians 2:9-11)

Which Way?

The path we walk is narrow

With no walls to mark the sides

The trail often twists and turns

Like the best of theme park rides.

How are we to know the way?

And how are we to stay,

Upon the one and only path

That leads to brighter days?

How can we know with surety

The truth of any thing?

When all around us people claim

That truth is anything?

Are they all right?

Is every thought and dream

Equally true?

Can I hold to my own musings

And still find my way to You?

And what about this “narrow gate”

You talk about in Luke?

Did You mean the way was slim and small

Or was it just a fluke?

If truth means this is right

And that this other thing is wrong,

How can we think that every thought

Can equally belong?

If Jesus claimed to be the way,

The truth and to be light,

How can He we say He wasn't

and still think we'll be alright?

by. Jonathan E. Schaefer

11/12/2014

The Forest for the Trees

     Let's be honest for a moment here, Christianity does not have the best public image; at least not here in the US. To many people, we are the embodiment of intolerance and closed-minded, bigoted, and superstitious belief. They see us a simple-minded holdouts of a time gone by, long since left behind by those with discerning minds. Anti-science, anti-thought, and anti-love are the labels many would place upon us. We have not, for the most part, done much to help this image.

     Many modern day “Christians” spend a great deal of time blasting other groups and other people, hammering away at them and shoving the Bible in their faces. They do not care for the souls of others, only that those evil sinners stop making their lives so uncomfortable. They are crass and rude and belligerent and do nothing to progress the cause of Christ. Let's be honest once more, would you willingly seek out the faith held by these people? Would someone screaming in your face at the grocery store really convince you of the truths of scripture? Is it not more likely that these people who blithely use the name of our Lord and become indignant and preachy at the slightest offense, push people further from God?

     Worse still are those far from truth who claim it still. People like the members of the Westboro Baptist Church who seem to have no love at all, or the “name it and claim it” groups who turn God into a servant of man. People who claim the name of Christ but are not known to Him. These people parade the image of the people of God before the firing line of society. The world see's them, see's their hatred and their cold facade, their greed and materialism, and that image bleeds across everyone who calls themselves a Christian. God is just yes, but He is also love. Any message of judgment must come through the voice of one who desperately yearns for the salvation of the damned! God does not find joy in killing off the evil or the sinful (Ezekiel 33:11) rather He desires that all would be saved. These people and these groups lift up an image of Christianity that is heartless and mean, devoid of any attractive features, or who is weak and subject to the whim of his followers. Again, how likely is it that anyone will hear this message and truly repent? How will they see the love of God who longs to forgive if those who are supposedly His people lack all forgiveness?

     Don't get me wrong, this is not a popularity contest. Christians -real Christians- will be hated by the world (John 15:20). A sinful world cannot and will not accept a message that says that it must change. That being said, we must be sure that we are accurately displaying and relaying the message of God to those around us. God is just but He is also the justifier. He is the judge who condemns and who has mercy. He is the sword and the sacrifice. Real biblical Christianity is to so many, lost in a fog of falsehood; hidden behind a crowd of inaccurate teaching and unbiblical behavior. We must stand strong and show the world the Christ of the Scriptures. We must stand against false teachers and preach the truth of God in our land. People need to hear the words of God and if we must shout to be heard above the din then so be it. If we must risk our lives by standing above the foxholes then that is what we must do. Eternity lies before us, whether in heaven or in hell. Let those who reject Christ reject the real Christ of Scripture. Show Him to the world that hope may be found.

“As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.”

(1 Corinthians 15:48-49)

The Three Loves

     It's complicated being human. We are a roiling storm of thoughts, emotions, beliefs, information, and intuition. Being a Christian is even more complex as we take the whole confusing mess and throw spirituality and eternity into it! What can we say about ourselves that has any concrete meaning? How can we understand ourselves in light of our short comings and limitations? How can we describe our ever stumbling quest to do what is right? How about with a quote from Augustine?

“There are two kinds of loves within me. There is the love which loves the good, there is the love which loves the evil, and the best thing I can say about myself is that there is a third kind of a passion that looks at both of them. I have a love that loves the love that loves the good and I have a hate that hates the love that loves the evil.”

(This may be paraphrased as I have been unable to find a direct quotation)

     Do you see what He means? In all of us there is a love, a part of our being, that loves good. We desire to be good people and do good things. We desire to do right before God and to follow His will. We spend hours and days and months and years striving for one step closer to perfection. We praise the good in others and do our best to support them. All of this time and energy spent because there is a part of us that years for righteousness. We are a tainted fallen creation but in our blood is the echo of a memory, a shadow of remembrance of a time now lost when God was here with us and all was as it should be. We love that good memory and the pinpoints of light that we see in this life.

     Yet there is a another passion within us. Beyond our desire for the good and the great is a desire for the evil and the base. A man's desire for his wife is muddied by a wandering lust he cannot seem to control or a woman's desire for beauty is tainted by pride. As much as we love and praise the good in this life we truly desire that which we know is wrong. How much of our culture is focused on sex, greed, murder, revenge, covetousness, and more? We cannot deny that we have a desire, an open want, for the shadows and the dark. We like to think that we are all so civilized but we are lions in a cage and on a leash. The walls of our carefully constructed societies are all that keep us from turning on each other.

     Here then is the only really good thing we can say about ourselves: apart from the two base passions that run within us, there is a third perspective. This third part of ourselves looks at the other two and passes judgment. This third part, this part given -I think- by God, cheers for the love that desires good and rails against the love that desires evil. Paul said something similar:

“I don't understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good. But I can't help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things. I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't. When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. But if I am doing what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it. It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.”

(Romans 7:15-25 NLT)

     What then do we do? As always, we pray and seek God in this difficult thing. We nurture that passion that loves good and we do our best to starve the passion that loves evil. We will never be free from temptation and sin while we still walk in this world but we can fight and repent when we make the wrong choice. We must never lose ourselves in our sorrow over sin but use our evils as reminders of the glory of the God so good as to forgive us. We may never be perfect until eternity but we can fight and we can pray and we can try.

To See and Believe

You say I haven't faith to see,

the light of God alive in me.

You say I lack a truer heart

and belief that sets a soul apart.

You say if I would only pray,

throw all I think I know away,

and use my heart and not my head,

I'd find myself now Spirit lead!

I'd speak the language angels use,

the Holy Ghost would be my muse!

I could raise the dead and heal the sick,

God's power cutting to the quick.

You say that every sinner's heart

would be redeemed, a brand new start.

If only they could see God's power

they'd all repent this very hour.

and yet,

The Bible tells it differently.

There's evidence for all to see!

In this world created, though torn with strife

and in the power of a new-made life.

I've seen the power of God above,

I've seen His unimaginable love.

It's not in gifts of tounges or health.

It's in the Word and in myself

The power of God is plainly shown

in Christ and how His death alone,

has paid for every sinner's soul,

a sacrifice to make men whole.

If men won't listen to His Word,

if they reject what they have heard,

no cosmic show will bring them down,

to submit themselves to Jesus' crown.

I need no other evidence,

the gospel will suffice.

For my soul was bonded once to hell,

and Jesus paid the price.

by. Jonathan E. Schaefer

10/17/2014

I Believe in Miracles

     I think its safe to say that most everyone's favorite passages in the Bible are the ones concerned with miracles, and why not? We love to hear the old stories of Israel's crossing of the Red Sea and of the Jordan river, of the dead brought to life, the sick healed, of talking donkeys, floating ax heads and a stopped sun. We love to be reminded that God is powerful and has absolute control over the universe. Can this interest go too far though? What does the Bible tell us about the miraculous and how can we apply it today?

     Firstly, and I know I'm not making any friends with some when I say this, miracles are pretty much gone in our modern age. I am well aware that there is a large and active community of people who spend a lot of energy seeking after miracles and believe that they are a part of any legitimate ministry and in the life of the body of Christ. The problem with that idea is that it ignores the fact that miracles were never normative. There was never a period when when every Tom, Dick, and Harry were throwing around sings and wonders. Miracles were always purposeful and specific, never random or whimsical. Look to the Old Testament, miracles were strictly confined to those few men who were designated as prophets sent from God and the miracles they performed were secondary acts meant to attest to the validity of their teaching; serving as a beacon to guide people to the prophet's words (really God's words). Miracles such as the parting of the Red Sea were partly pragmatic and meant to prove God's power to His people (and Egypt for that matter) and to facilitate God's plan of freeing Israel from their bondage as well as -again- serving as evidence that Moses was God's man in that day.

“Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives!" Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is the truth."

(1 Kings 17:22-24)(emphasis mine)

     Cut to the New Testament. Many years have passed and God is moving His redemptive plan on to the next phase and so this means that miracles now serve the purpose of...attesting to the validity of prophets and teachers. Nothing changed! Jesus' own miracles were there to prove His God-hood, and the apostles were able to perform the miracles they performed to once again prove their status as the chosen teachers of God. If every believer at the time were going around raising the dead or healing the sick don't you think that somewhere in the all the New Testament books we would read about...any of them? Over the course of the book of Acts we see the recounting of miracles dwindle and disappear well before the end of the book. The only miraculous events we see happening to your everyday early church member is speaking in tongues, but those are Red Sea miracles, pragmatic ones that served to prove that those people were indeed saved by God and a part of His church. Especially in the case of the gentile believers as without a sign the Jewish brethren may not have accepted them given their long separation and dislike. We read that signs are not meant for those who believe, but to show proof to those who don't, and that the best gifts are teaching and understanding and prophecy (which is just the taking of God's words to His people, the words we have now of course are found in the Bible).

“Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.”

(1 Corinthians 14:22)

     Modern day “miracles” seem only to work to show how spiritual the person performing them is, to prove they have reached that next plain of spirituality. In fact they have more to do with ancient Gnosticism (where it was believed secret truths would be revealed to the spiritual elite) than Biblical Christianity. The miraculous is never held up as something to be continually desired or searched for, in fact the Bible often praises those who do not require a sign and condemns those who do!

“Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; "and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And He left them and departed.”

(Matthew 16:1-4)

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.”

(Hebrews 11:1-2)

“Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

(John 20:29)

     Let me finish this admittedly brief discussion of miracles by saying that I do believe in them and I even believe that if God wills they can exist in this day. The problem is not that God has changed or that He no longer acts at all, it's that the ones who claim these miracles have so much about them that does not mesh with scripture. Silly 'miracles', wrong use of them, inaccurate prophecy, bad theology, horrible doctrine, and more. Not everyone in this movement is an extreme case, let me be clear that I don't meant to say that. I only mean to refocus our attention on the Bible and remind everyone that the given Word -alone- is our source of truth. Every thought, idea , and experience has to be brought to that measure and cast aside if it does not pass the test. We don't need to be excited and impressed to be faithful, we know ourselves and we ought to know God. We know who we would be without God. The power of that changed life is more than enough.