Josephus' history of Pentecost

There is a meaning to Pentecost that is highly important in the history of biblical peoples, whether they lived in the Old or New Testament periods.

The apostle Paul made it clear that no New Testament believer needs to celebrate the actual Old Testament feasts given to ancient Israel. All of the ritualistic holydays, new moons, sabbaths, food laws, etc. have been nailed to the cross and there is something better for those who follow the Christian faith. The present emphasis (since the death of Christ) has been the spiritual factors of biblical belief, not the outward and ceremonial.

This does not mean, however, that the typical and symbolic teachings found within the Old Testament rituals should be cast aside. They are “shadows of things to come” (Col. 2:17).

Pentecost is a festival that has particular interest in regard to the origins of Christianity (as well as the Old Testament church).

The Bible awards this holyday with three distinct titles: 1) the feast of harvest (firstfruits) 2) the feast of weeks 3) the day of Pentecost. The basic idea of Pentecost centered on the celebration of the beginning grain harvest of the land. It seems possible, and Jewish tradition affirms, that Israel was gathered around Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and other laws on the day of Pentecost. This is the time when the Old Testament church (Acts 7:38) had its beginning. Also, the church which Christ raised up right after His resurrection was born on the same day (Acts 2:1). These were not accidental occurrences.

It may come as a surprise to realize that the public ministry of Jesus (in its official capacity) commenced also on Pentecost (Luke 4:16). Also Pentecost is used to describe the start of the Christian Gospel in Galatia (Acts 13:14) and on the continent of Europe (Acts 16:13).

But each new beginning also has an end to something. The first Pentecost was to the Israelites the official termination of their Egyptian slavery. With Christ’s preaching in Galilee it was the end of the old way of looking at the law. With Pentecost some 50 days after Christ’s resurrection, it was the end of the Old Covenant dispensation for those who accepted the call of Christianity.

And on Pentecost of A.D. 66, something happened at the Temple of Jerusalem that made it clear to all thinking people that an old age had ended and a new one was then beginning. It refers to the time when God abandoned the Temple at Jerusalem. There were three miraculous events that occurred, starting just before Passover in A.D.66. In a step by step way the Jewish historian Josephus recorded how God abandoned the Temple and gave it up to destruction by the Romans. That particular Passover was not only the last one to be celebrated before the outbreak of the Roman/Jewish War, but it was known in Jewish history as the Passover that saw more people attending the feast in Jerusalem than at any other time in history. For many generations later the Jews called it “The Passover of the Great Throngs”. The major signs that I am about to mention occurred when there were more people to witness them than at any other time. The miraculous signs of A.D. 66 started just before Passover and ended when God left the Temple on Pentecost day. This was just a few months before the major Roman/Jewish War broke out that culminated in the burning of the Temple in A.D. 70.

The first incident is recorded by Josephus as follows:

“Before the revolt and the disturbances which led to the war, at the time when the people were gathering for the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth of the month Nisan, at the ninth hour of the night [3 o’clock in the morning), so brilliant a light shone around the altar and the inner temple that it seemed to be broad daylight; and this continued for the space of half an hour. By the novices this was regarded as a good omen, but by the sacred scribes it was at once interpreted in accord with the events which happened afterwards” (War,VI.290).

After 30 minutes which had the brilliance of daylight, the light then removed itself from the site of the Temple! This was the departure of the shekinah glory of God - the light that had been present throughout the whole period of the wilderness journeys of Israel. But there was one problem with the situation of this Temple. It was no longer a portable Tabernacle! When God left, this meant that the Temple was being abandoned leaving behind an “empty dwelling place” of God.

Let‘s now see the second of these miraculous signs. Josephus said it was equally spectacular:

“At that same feast, the eastern gate of the inner court at the sixth hour of the night [at midnight] opened of its own accord. This gate was of brass and very large and heavy, seeing that when it was closed each evening it took twenty men to shut it. It had bolts sunk to a great depth into a threshold made of a solid block of stone. ... This again to the uninitiated seemed like the best of signs, as they thought that God had opened to them the gate of blessings; but the wise understood that the security of the Temple was leaving of its own accord and that the opening of the gate showed it was a gift to the enemy” (War,VI.293-295)

Within a week after the great light of the shekinah glory was illuminated and “taken up”, we now find the massive gate being opened up of its own accord. The Temple was thrown open for destruction.

The final miraculous sign was even more to the point and occurred precisely on Pentecost day. It was revealed to the combined body of 24 priests who represented the Aaronic priesthood. Here is Josephus’ description of this event:

“Moreover, at the festival which is called Pentecost, the priests on entering the inner court of the Temple at nightfall, as their custom was in the accomplishment of their ministrations, stated that they first became aware of a commotion and a roar, and after that the voice of a great multitude saying ‘We are departing hence” (War,VI,299).

This was interpreted as the time that the Deity Himself was then leaving the Temple as the two previous signs had shown He would. (The fact that the supernatural voice said “We” rather than the singular “I” was no problem to first century Jews. They were well aware of the uniplural “Elohim” used in Genesis for God.)

Remarkably, Jewish records show that when God’s shekinah glory departed the Temple, it remained over the Mount of Olives for three and a half years. During those years, a voice was periodically heard coming from the region of the Mount of Olives pleading for the Jews to repent of their ways. The Jews failed to heed this warning from the voice, and the shekinah glory light left the earth and retreated back to heaven just before the final siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70.

So we see that in all occasions where Pentecost is used in the biblical revelation, there is a divine significance associated with the day which is very instructive to students of the Bible.

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A Mother's Day Message

[This is a sermon given by Lou Hodapp on Mother's Day morning service at the Missouri Veteran's Home]

Let’s open in prayer.
God our Father, we thank you for mothers. For many of us here, our mothers are no longer with us. But we REMEMBER them – O yes, we REMEMBER them - their love, their self-sacrifice. Jesus demonstrated the importance of motherhood by coming as a child to a human mother. Father, we’re just glad to be your kids, and may we always remember our mothers. In Jesus name we pray – Amen.

Hello veterans – let me quickly introduce myself. My name is Dr. Lou Hodapp. I am a retired dentist. My office was at the Northwest Plaza bank building for many years. I am also a veteran of the Korean War.

I was deferred from the draft during the Korean War so that I could complete my dental education. This deferral was on the condition that I serve 2 years in the service of my choice after getting my doctoral degree.

I chose the Air Force and entered active duty as a Captain. I did not see any combat serving the entire 2 years at Keesler Air Force Base hospital in Biloxi, Miss on the gulf coast.

My job was to work with the newly inducted airmen to have reasonably healthy mouths so that they would have no dental emergencies during the war.
When asked now if I saw any combat, I say, “O yes – I fought the battle of Biloxi beach!” That’s my heroic war story and I’m sticking with it!

They promoted me to Major at the end of my two years hoping to entice me to stay on active duty. But my father was a dentist also back home and I wanted to establish my dental practice with him.

Let’s get on to my message.
Here in the St. Louis area, we have a marvelous public attraction called the "Butterfly House". It is located in a suburban park on Olive Street Road and readily accessible. The glass-walled building contains a high humidity with many tropical plants. Free-flying butterflies of many species roam through the air around visitor's heads and can be studied up close in all their stages of development. The entrance doors are sealed in such a way that the butterflies cannot escape. All the many sizes and colors of the butterflies are exciting to see.

You may be thinking, “What’s he talking about butterflies for? This is supposed to a Christian message, not a science lecture!”
Well, I'll tell you. In the various stages of a butterfly, we can see a beautiful analogy to our birth, death, and resurrection in union with Christ. Our growth in spiritual awareness finds an interesting parallel in the changes of the caterpillar into a butterfly.
Let's start with the caterpillar stage. The caterpillar seems even more self-centered than other creatures. He appears to do little else but gorge himself on every leaf in sight, and he is completely unaware of the devastation he wreaks on the plants in order to save his own skin.

This is kind of the way human beings are born into the world. The Bible says that everyone starts out selfish and looking out for number one. The similarity to ourselves should be obvious, although the caterpillar is not quite as bad as us, for we are very well aware that our selfishness crushes those we come in contact with. The caterpillar just does his self-centered thing as he has been programed by God to do.

We continue on in this meager caterpillar-like existence until God reaches down and showers us with His redemptive love. We repent of our willful selfishness and disobedience and vow to spend the rest of our lives in strict adherence to His will and purpose for our lives. In other words, we accept the salvation offered to us by God.

I begin to see myself as a converted person who the Bible calls “born again”. I begin to see myself as a brand new person, forgiven and ready to build a whole new life-style. At this point – at the end of my caterpillar stage – I know very little about HOW to be a “Christian”, but at least I know that I have made contact with my Creator and that He can help me in some way.

What we often don’t know then is that Jesus actually comes to live right within us in our human spirit. First Thessalonians 5, verse 23 says that humans are composed of spirit, soul and body. I like to say, “I AM a spirit, I HAVE a soul, and I LIVE IN a body.” My soul is my mind, emotions and will which control my choices.
Not understanding my union with Christ, the only thing I know to do is to try to live by the balance scale. I try to put more good things on one side of the balancer than bad things on the other side. I hope that when God looks at my scale, the good outweighs the bad and I can earn salvation in heaven.

We leave the caterpillar stage. But what we as Christians so often do is enter the cocoon stage. But Christianity is not a religious cocoon of rules, regulations and rituals. True Christianity is a living and growing personal relationship with Jesus Christ who has come to live right within us. He has promised to never leave us and to lead and guide our lives as we allow Him to. But this freedom in Christ often seems too good to be true. We want to change in order to please God and earn our salvation.

As the caterpillar encases himself in the silken threads of his cocoon, we too often begin to bind ourselves with every rule and scriptural principle that we can draw from the Bible. Forsaking the gift of grace that God has so freely bestowed on us, we so often seek to please God by rule-keeping getting tangled in our cocoon of what to do and not to do.

We feel the restriction of the rules that we are taking on, but we continue to wrap the threads around ourselves until we are completely bound. There in the utter darkness of our cocoon, the fears and anxieties of the past come back to haunt us again day and night.

We feel changes taking place within our innermost being that we don't understand. Imagine being a caterpillar and having your bunch of tiny legs exchanged for six long and skinny ones. Your round, supple body shrinks to a fraction of its normal size. Suddenly, wings protrude from your back. They seem to be useless appendages that will only be an extra burden to carry through life – if indeed there will be life after this dreadfully dark confinement. Death even seems all too inviting at times. We may even find ourselves wishing for it to come, so that it will end this fearful, material misery. We cry out to God, but He seems to be beyond reach and unable to hear our muffled cries from within the cocoon of dead works that surround us.

Our nature is absolutely changed, but only later do we see it. The cocoon is a prison, but it provides a certain security which we don’t want to give up. When we finally get fed up with our confinement, we begin to struggle to be free. Eventually we see the light outside. We leave the cocoon of bondage that the Law had imposed on us, and for the first time we realize the full grace of God in our lives.

I begin to see that I must TRUST Christ living in me to direct my life in order to be successful. I independently don’t have the power to live life by God’s standards. So I begin to GROW in the recognition of dependent living – I can’t do it! But Christ in me CAN do it! Therefore Christ/I CAN do it!

We see ourselves as new creatures, having decided never to allow the restraints of the Law to entrap us again.

If we were to come upon a butterfly at this stage of its growth and try to help it out of its cocoon, we would simply help it to sure destruction. Without the personal struggle to be freed from the cocoon, the butterfly will not be equipped for existence on the outside.

Once outside the cocoon, the butterfly faces the world from a new perspective. It feels the urge to spread its wings and trust itself to the wind, but it hesitates. It sits on the branch and flexes its appendages, afraid to fly.

We are likewise afraid. Though we recognize that it was only by the grace of God that we left the cocoon, yet we are apt to feel that our struggling somehow helped God to get us out. Our struggling is a vital part of the process, but only because it brings us to the realization of our perfect helplessness, and then we are ready to see God's gracious light and respond to it.

Coming out of the cocoon represents a newfound awareness of who we are in Jesus Christ. Christ lives in every Christian. We begin to trust Him to direct our ways and give us the freedom of the butterfly.

We have forsaken striving to make God pleased with us by keeping the Law which was once such a precious shelter for us, but we hesitate to take our wings and be truly free in union with Christ. It is not easy to abandon control over our lives and completely trust ourselves to the will of God through Christ within, even though we've heard of others who have taken that step of faith. They have been blown by God's Spirit into a realm of the heavenlies which we have only glimpsed from the security of our branch. Nevertheless, fearful insecurity once again restrains us.

Eventually the butterfly spreads its wings and releases its hold on the branch, being lifted up by the gentle breezes that flow through the tree's limbs. Soon it is looking down upon the earth where it once squirmed in its purely self-centered existence. It may see the remains of the cocoon which once bound it in darkness and fear. As it gathers confidence, it flaps its wings and soars into heights of freedom that it had never imagined existed. It drifts upon the wind, experiencing a new relationship with its world.

The day finally comes when we fly like the butterfly. We stop resisting the desires that God had placed within our hearts. As we begin to trust Him to faithfully fulfill the promises of His Word, and as we daily let ourselves be guided by the Spirit of Christ within, we will experience heights in the spiritual realm that we never before dreamed possible. As we look at what we were and remember the bondage to the Law and self-effort that God has freed us from, we find a peace and a joy that could not previously be imagined.

We do not live this life of faith without works, but we work out of obedience to the promptings of the Spirit of Christ within us. He has set us free from the law of sin and death and so we live in constant victory as we rest in our confidence in the knowledge of God's faithfulness.

Yes, as the self-centered caterpillar becomes the bound-up cocoon and then the soaring butterfly, a human being has a spiritual metamorphosis or change also. He begins as a self-centered being with a self-centered nature, a spiritual caterpillar. Then he changes his nature within but remains bound up in the cocoon of Law and rule keeping, not understanding that new nature. But finally, he frees himself from his cocoon prison and learns to soar to new unexpected heights as a butterfly.

Scientists speak of the “butterfly effect”. They made a movie by that name. Scientists say that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings on one side of the earth can start a series of events that can ultimately cause a hurricane on the other side of earth. Sounds incredible. But let’s start flapping our wings and see what happens. The next time you have occasion to enjoy the beauty and the carefree actions of a butterfly, let this cause you to meditate on who you were at birth, who you became at conversion, and the true power and freedom within you by your new nature.

My favorite verse in the whole Bible is Galatians 2, verse 20. I am going to quote it and along the way insert my butterfly analogy.
I [the self-centered caterpillar] am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live [at first like a cocoon restricted], yet not I but Christ lives in me. And the life which I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.
[I break out of my cocoon and learn gradually to soar on my new wings being constantly supported by the winds of Christ's Spirit]

Let’s close in prayer. Father – we GET the butterfly story. We GET it! We are so thankful that Jesus came to save us from our selfishness. For those here still in the caterpillar stage, I pray that they may come to a recognition of their need for a Savior and accept Jesus as Lord. For those in the Christian cocoon stage, I pray that they release themselves from bondage and be transformed. And for those who know who they are in Christ, butterfly Christians, don’t be afraid and cling to that branch. Leap off in faith and soar with the wind of Christ. As we leave here today, Father, keep us in constant awareness of who we are in union with Christ. So that we may fly and not be grounded in selfishness. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Happy Mother’s Day to you all.

Christian Mediocrity

Many books have been written about "abiding in Christ". If you're eternally in union with Christ, why would you have to be told to "abide" there? Because, terrible but true, there can be a great difference between where God has placed us and how we act about it. "All we like sheep have gone astray." Non-Christians and Christians alike.

Somehow we seem to get comfort from the fact that others are just as bad as we are. We like to think, "I'm not too good, and I'm not too bad. I'm human!" But in that attitude you miss the very blessing, the very glory of the Christian life. You live like that and you'll settle for a half-life, and incomplete life. "Not I, but Christ…" in Galatians 2:20 is the whole secret of abiding in Him.

When we probe for ways of abiding, of course we must mention church going, prayer, Bible study, and so on. But Christians can have these things in their lives for years and yet never begin to abide in Christ.

Nevertheless, you can't abide in Him without prayer (John 15:7). To abide means to keep the fellowship and the worship lines open. It means opening ourselves up to every possible exposure of Him, every possible "means of grace". Christian friends, the truth and the good news today is that Christ is in us! He's where it's at! Terrible grammar but magnificent truth. Christ lives in you and you live in Christ, and the position of both of you is immovable.

There is a problem passage about the Vine and the branch in John 15:6. It says, "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." I used to think this meant that some Christians would lose their faith and burn in hell. But I see now that this is not what Jesus was talking about.

By the new birth, Christians are forever united to Christ. He will never leave them or forsake them. There is no condemnation, only correction. But in this verse, here's a Christian who once drew strength from Christ, but now he doesn't. He's no longer abiding. If we want to interpret this scripture correctly, we must interpret it in the light of the great stream of the teaching of the Word of God. And that says, when you're a believer, God keeps you. That truth isn't just a thread through scripture, it's a thick rope – a life-saving rope. So the branch, or the child of God, isn't to be lost. But it can be that he falls away from fruitbearing and usefulness, even though he doesn't fall away from salvation.

A key to this scripture may be the word-picture that comes out of Ezekiel 15:2-4, which says that the vine has two functions: one more noble, to bear fruit; the other, less noble, to serve as kindling wood. In John 15:6 the men gather the dead branches and throw them into a fire. Christian, if you're not abiding, if you're not bearing fruit, God gives you over to less noble usefulness. He says, "All right, if that's all you want to be, so be it. If you simply want to be an accountant, then all you'll be is an accountant; that's it. Or you'll be just a housewife; that's all. Or if you're determined just to be a student, then study, study, study. That's all you'll be!"

People will use you. There's nothing wrong with that – you won't be a "zero", but neither will you be bearing fruit for God for eternity and glory for Him. There will be nothing supernatural, nothing really great, only momentary and lesser activities going on in your life. In 1 Corinthians 3:15 Paul writes of the same thing: "If [a man's work] is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."

Jesus gives yet another illustration of greater and lesser usefulness in the Sermon on the Mount. "You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?" (Matthew 5:13). Let me paraphrase the rest of the verse, if I may. It's no longer good for its highest intended use – salt for the table – but only to keep the ice off the ground in cold weather, to be thrown out and trampled down by men. That is a type of usefulness – to keep from slipping and falling down. But that's certainly a far lesser use.

Yes, bearing fruit beats burning for kindling wood. Yes, flavoring a good meal beats being thrown out on the ice. And you're never to be static. John 15 talks about "fruit", "more fruit", "much fruit", and "fruit that will last". You, as a believer, are in the process of becoming and becoming and becoming. Christians must not get locked into yesterday. You're either becoming or you're degenerating. Of course, it's hard to have the patience to develop this quality of life. We want success quickly. On television every mystery is solved in an hour; every laundry problem is taken care of in 30 seconds. But "becoming" in Christ takes time.

But let me tell you something wonderful. God began a process at your new birth which is IRREVERSIBLE. Like it or not, kick and scream if you will at times, if you have a new birth as a Christian, "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).

If you saw a tadpole when he's half frog, you wouldn't say he's a hypocrite, you'd say he's in the process of becoming a frog. And so with you and me. We're on our way from earthly to totally heavenly! Kids progress, don't they? They're one thing when they're two years old and another when they're eight or fifteen or thirty or seventy-seven (like me!).

Just be sure of this: just as genes dictate that a tadpole will someday be a frog, and that a baby will grow to be an adult human, so God's DNA in us dictates that we will someday be totally like Christ.

So, in conclusion, it is always a false premise when a Christian says that he is not too bad and not too good. We are not mediocre people. We used to have a totally sinful nature. But now by our new birth, we have a TOTALLY DIVINE NATURE because Jesus Christ came to indwell us. It is only as we understand and apply this knowledge that we can be fruit-bearing branches of the Divine Vine rather than be much less functional as kindling wood. It is only as we recognize who we are in union with Christ that we can be flavoring salt for the table rather than less functional salt to be thrown out on the ice.

The whole purpose of our life on earth is to grow by trial and error, by God's love and correction in our lives, to the understanding that "not too bad and not too good" has no real application in a Christian's life. As unbelievers we were "naturally" bad and anything we did which appeared good still had selfish motives. As believers containing the indwelling Christ, we are now "naturally" good because the Father sees the righteousness of Christ within us. Any "badness" or sinful action we do now is a slipup of weakness in our own power. We "miss the mark" as the Hebrew root of the word "sin" indicates. Sin in an unbeliever is serious AND fatal. "The wages of sin is death…" (Romans 6:23a). Without the work of Jesus on the Cross, ALL would earn death for their sin.

Sin in a believing Christian child of God is serious BUT non-fatal! "…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23b). A true Christian HAS eternal life in Christ right now. He will never leave us or forsake us. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Jesus has applied the death sentence for our sin upon Himself by the Cross and all anyone must do is accept Him as Savior and Lord.

This is no mediocre "not too bad" or "not too good" situation. It is an either/or situation. Either you are "bad" living independent from God – or you are "good" living in union with God through the indwelling Jesus Christ.

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A Trip to the Dentist

A fellow retired dentist made the following observation to me the other day. Life on earth continuing to life in heaven is like a trip to the dentist.

We get a shot of novocaine or something similar before the dentist works on our teeth. Why? Because we are gladly willing to endure thirty seconds of the needle against what seems like an eternity of drilling. By comparison, how much will seventy-five years of pain and suffering mean in the context of an eternity in God’s pain-free domain?

Our whole life on earth is like the thirty seconds of the needle. In my experience as a dentist, some people accept the needle without any grumbling, knowing the future benefits of it. While others say they can’t stand the needle or anything that follows in the dental chair.

In this time of economic pain, accept it like the dental needle knowing that, as a Christian child of God, He is preparing us, His children, for a heavenly eternal future without pain (Revelation 21:4).

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"When I see God, I'm going to ask Him about..."

I have become a confirmed “fence-sitter” about many things, and even about a number of Christian issues. AND THAT’S OK!

I have been blessed by God with an inquisitive and curious mind. I have always wanted to discover how things worked. And there’s nothing wrong with that – it’s good. But after 77 years of seeking definitive answers to every question that pops into my mind, I have arrived at a conclusion: God doesn’t require me to take definitive stands on one side of the fence or the other. I CAN sit on the fence and survey both sides of the fence on many issues.

In fact, the more I have used my mind the more I see that I am not able to jump down off the fence to land on solid ground on either side. I admit that at times I have leaned down on one side or the other hanging by my toes from the fence. But when I do, I don't touch the ground.

What are you saying, Lou? That you can be wishee-washee about everything and that is OK? That you don’t have to step forward and make decisions?

Not at all. God gave us free-choice and decision-making for a definite purpose – so that we would choose HIM. We have free-choice to choose Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of our life. We have free-choice to continue in spiritual growth by the power of Christ within us.

But we also have free-choice to “sit on the fence” about Christian issues that don’t involve the basics of faith in God and morality.

Throughout my life, I have jumped off the fence to the ground on one side or another of many issues of life, including Christian issues. On some things, I have jumped back up to sit on the fence again; on others, I have jumped over the fence to the ground on the other side. My inquisitive mind kept me searching for the “right” position.

But the “right” position is always God’s position – and God does not always reveal His position definitively! A friend of mine used to always say, “I’m not sure and when I see God, I’m going to ask Him about it.” This is THE answer that we must give in a number of Christian inquiries, because, let’s face it, the Bible does not cover every facet of every issue.

You know what? I have learned to LOVE THE VIEW from my perch on the fence. I can see farther and better from up there than I can down on the ground on one side or the other.

Let me talk about some specific issues that I am on the fence with, and then on those issues where my free-choice from God were really meant to apply.

Universalism

Throughout most of my life, I was right down on the ground on the side that you were either saved to heaven or condemned to hell by your responses to God in this life. But some put forth a persuasive argument that all will ultimately be saved somewhere out there in the future – and they have scripture texts that certainly seem to suggest it.

How God will accomplish salvation and how many humans will make it is up to God and His plan. The Bible gives hints about it both ways but we won’t know for sure until we see and ask God about it.

I know this from the Bible: God wants us to spread the word about salvation NOW and He has persuaded me personally to accept Jesus Christ for MY salvation and Lordship. I can sit on the fence about the rest.

What Is Hell?

In my younger years, I was scared to death of “burning in hell”. I was firmly on the ground on that side of what hell was. And that certainly was a factor in the back of my mind as I came to accept Christ for salvation.

But after my new birth in Christ, my inquisitive mind discovered there are about three concepts of “hell punishment”. 1 – eternal torment by fire 2 – eternal separation from a loving God 3 – eternal annihilation.

I am on the fence here concerning what I have been saved from. But the key here is that I have chosen and jumped to the ground on the side that Jesus has saved me – a basic of faith that required me to jump to the ground and not sit on the fence.

Prophecy and The Book of Revelation

Here again, in my early years I was firmly on the ground about prophecy. It seemed like Jesus Christ was coming again to Earth in my lifetime. I put possible dates on everything. The Book of Revelation was practically all future for me.

But here in my later Christian years, I have discovered other Christian views that most if not all prophecy was fulfilled with the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70AD. This is called a “preterist” viewpoint. And believe me, they have some powerful arguments and proofs from the Bible to back it up.

Thankfully, God has allowed me to jump up and sit on the fence and survey both sides. I don’t have to ground myself on either side of the fence because, in all practicality, only God knows and it doesn’t matter definitively to me right now.

The important and basic doctrinal issue is that God has called me now, God is saving people now, Jesus Christ comes to live by a new birth in Christians now. Did Jesus come back to be with His people in 70AD, or is He coming physically at some future date? The necessary understanding is that HE IS HERE NOW LIVING IN GOD’S CHILDREN!

Where We Can’t Fence-sit

We can’t sit on the fence about our personal salvation. We must choose to jump to the ground and accept by faith that Jesus took the punishment for our sins on the Cross; that we are risen with Him to a new nature and life; that by making Him the Lord and leader of our life, we can and will grow into the lifestyle that God wants for His children.

We can’t sit on the fence about whether we choose to live our lives dependently on God or independently from Him. He has made it clear that there is only one right side of the fence and we must be grounded there.

Too many people try to make black and white issues out of things that are not definitively revealed to us by God. One of the great joys of heaven will be sitting around the throne of God getting the answers that our inquisitive minds have wondered about. There our All-knowing, All-loving Father God and Son, Jesus Christ, will also take pleasure in seeing our inquisitive minds receive some fabulous information.

We think we live in a computerized information age now – wait until then!

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Golf and Life

In my twenties, I was a golf fanatic. In fact, truth be known, I became a golf addict! I couldn’t get enough of playing golf. I tried to get out every day that I possibly could to try to improve my golf score. At night, I would replay each hole in my mind to see where I did right and where I did wrong. I would have golf dreams in my sleep of playing at championship courses. I was just plain hooked on golf!

Of course, this addiction played havoc with my family life. My wife and two very young sons suffered from lack of my attention. All the time spent on the golf course was time away from my family who needed me. I professed my love for them, but the truth was that I loved myself and my golf game more. Had it not been for my loving and patient wife, I would have blown my marriage completely.

One day (I can only explain it as a miracle of God), I saw my addiction and what it was doing to my family and to myself. I put my golf clubs away in the closet and QUIT GOLF COLD TURKEY! I did not play another round of golf for 10 YEARS!

OK. Fast forward through those 10 years. My father liked to play golf and he didn’t know about the circumstances of why I didn’t play. He asked me to play a round with him and I reluctantly agreed. As we began to tee off, he told me that he played NATO golf. I said, “What is that?” And he replied, “NATO – Not Attached To Outcome.

In other words, don’t worry about the score, just enjoy the challenge of hitting each shot as well as you can. When it goes off track, go find it and figure out the best shot you can hit from there. Let the score take care of itself and even if you don’t have a good round you still get to enjoy a walk in a beautiful park and the friendship of your partners.

Perhaps we should all learn to live each day “Not Attached To Outcome”. Wouldn’t we be truly free as God’s own children if we could do the same on our own spiritual journeys? Instead of being so focused on the outcomes WE desire, we could simply trust that regardless of the outcome, God is doing HIS work in and through us.

Now instead of wasting our time by trying to get God on our page, we can simply enjoy our fellowship with Him as He moves us to His page. And Jesus Christ living in us WILL ultimately move us to His page. And believe me, it is a lot more peaceful walking with Christ on His page than constantly trying to figure out how to get Him on yours.

What Christ has been doing in you since the day you came to know Him is to liberate you from your own agenda. He knows that your ability to live in His rest, peace and joy will not come when you get everything you want, but when you are not attached to outcomes.

Certainly He has far more to do in my life along these lines, but I feel like I can walk into most situations now with a freedom to live without catering to my agenda. I am more excited about what He might do than what I think He should do.

Yes, there are still times I would like Him to change some of my circumstances in ways that would make it easier for me. Now, however, I have a healthy suspicion that the way I would go about anything in my life and the way Christ would are probably polar opposites.

So if you find yourself denied of your most passionate expectations, just consider that Christ in you is doing something more extraordinary in you than you have yet grasped. Christ is expressing His love to you at a deeper level so that you will grow gradually, day by day, into the lifestyle of a child of God. This is NATO LIVING!

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Victory In Christ

“Do you want to continue to live in defeat? Why not claim the victory you can have in the Lord? You can live a victorious life! God wants you to live a life of prosperity and happiness.”

The “victory message” we hear proclaimed by some within Christianity is often more self-help, self-confidence, pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps hype than it is a biblically sound, Christ-centered message. Many “victory messages” preached in church or religious settings have far more in common with motivational infomercials presented by a slick promoter than they do with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Do we want to have victory? Of course we do. For that matter, if we are in Christ, do we already have the victory? Yes we do. Do we need someone other than Jesus to tell us how we can have spiritual victory if we will only follow certain spiritual “principles” or “laws”? No we don’t – we already have the victory. Jesus gave it to us.

But what if we don’t experience the kind of victory the religious salespeople are promoting? What if we are sick, suffering, in debt, or dealing with family problems and difficulties? Does that mean we don’t have victory in Christ?

When it comes to victory in Christ, let’s realize some things.
Jesus Christ won the decisive victory of all history on His Cross. Then, in His resurrection, He rose triumphantly, with His resurrected life being an eternal sign that He has triumphed over death and the grave.
When we accept Christ, trusting and surrendering to Him, God, by His grace, gives us the victory.
What is “victory in Christ” exactly? Is it a victory that allows us to “get” anything we want, any time we want? This is obviously not true.
The victory God gives to us looks different to God than the victory human beings naturally desire. Humanly, we naturally desire fleshly, external, sensory-related victory. We want to be victorious over our aches and pains, over our debts, over our family problems. That’s normal because we have human bodies. We want God – and if not God then someone who seems to authoritatively throw His name around – to assure us that we can have victory now, in the way we want it, on our terms.
Many people misunderstand the nature of the eternal kingdom of God, a kingdom God gives to all of us Christians, as His born again, transformed children. The kingdom is already here, but it is not here in its fullness. We might say that it is already, but not yet. The primary way in which the kingdom is now here is spiritual.

So WHAT IS “victory in Christ”? The answer comes in those two words “in Christ”. These two words are used throughout the New Testament to describe the state of Christians. I recommend that every time you read those two words, that you substitute this phrase: “in a living union with the indwelling Christ”. That is what “in Christ” really means. Jesus Christ comes to live right within the Christian in a Spirit to spirit union. See Galatians 2:20, Colossians 1:27, 2 Corinthians 13:5, Ephesians 3:17.

Christ will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Never! Never! Never! We are children in God’s eternal family. THIS IS VICTORY!

We can talk all we want about human victories. They will come in some areas and they will not come in other areas. God is in control and we are not. We can’t see around the corner from what we are going through. But God sees.

I would like to suggest two corollaries to “victory in Christ” that we should ponder when we humanly doubt.
1 Corinthians 10:13 – “God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
Romans 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

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Peace On Earth

When we humans think of peace, we usually think of the absence of something. If only people wouldn't hate each other. If only we didn't have any weapons of war. If only poverty could be abolished. If only we could win the war against disease. If only justice could prevail. But if all our “if only” prayers were answered, the peace of God would not be the result. The peace of God is not simply the absence of adversity and war. Did you ever think about the fact that the sovereign God chose to become one of us at a time in history when external peace (the Pax Romana) prevailed throughout most of the civilized world?

God came to us, in the person of Jesus, at a time when massive armed conflict was not a factor. He brought peace to the world, not by taking away or removing problems, but by adding His presence to the world. Immanuel - God with us.

The peace of God is the presence of God. The peace Jesus brought, and the peace He still brings, is His presence as He lives right within each person who calls on Him as Savior and Lord.
Christmas is much more than a time when we all try to be happy, nice, merry and peaceful. It’s much more than trying to have a peaceful dinner with extended family and relatives with whom you normally don't get along. It’s much more than trying not to have bad things happen for a little while. Christmas reminds us that the peace of God comes to us only by Christ’s presence.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests." (Luke 2:14)

Who has the “favor” of God resting on them? All those who have become “children of God” as a free gift of salvation by faith and belief.

The peace of God proceeds from God, not from men. God brings it, and He gives it to those upon whom He gives the greatest gift. We cannot generate the peace of God, but we can receive it.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27).

The peace of God is not the realization of all of our “if onlys.” The peace of God is the presence of Christ within us. Immanuel (God with us) has come to find us and save us.

O come let us adore the Prince of Peace.

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Pagan symbols at Christmas?

I keep hearing some Christians saying that there are too many pagan symbols around at Christmas. They say that the tree, the parties and the presents are, as all good Christians should know, pagan practices.

I look at it this way: When we use pagan symbols in our celebration of Christian events, we are demonstrating the fact that Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. Pagan symbols can be quite appropriate because Christ has conquered, and he who conquers is always free to use the spoils from those who have lost the war.

So when we have Jesus Christ right in the middle of our Christmas parties, it makes a pagan party look like a funeral.

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Grace vs. Rewards??

There are two parables that often cause folks to wonder about God's grace vs. performance-based rewards. They are similar - the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, and the parable of the pounds in Luke 19:11-27.

Both parables speak of a man going on a long journey - Luke specifies the man is of noble birth. Both parables have to do with the Kingdom of God.

Both parables have a similar formula - three servants were given gifts. The servants were called to account for the gifts they had been given when the master returned from his trip. He rewarded those who used what they had been given, while taking the talent from the person who buried it, and giving it to the person who had multiplied the gifts he had been given.

What can we conclude? What is Jesus teaching us about the kingdom of God? Some believe that these two parables negate all that the New Testament teaches about salvation by grace. Others believe that these parables "balance" (whatever that means!) grace - so that we can understand that salvation is a gift, but it is also earned by what we have been given. But no such teaching is present in either parable. No mention here about the kingdom of God being gained by merit.

Many New Testament passages clearly teach that salvation is by grace. The Bible does not contradict itself. So, in what way, if at all, is this parable talking about salvation? We can conclude, from basic application of the rules of understanding the Bible, that the "rewards" talked about in these parables do not contradict the many other passages that speak of and explain God's grace.

What may we conclude? Salvation is one thing - and rewards another. There are no rewards for those who are not given, by grace, God's kingdom. Rewards therefore are dependent on, subservient to, and follow grace. Rewards do not contribute to salvation, which is absolutely a gift of God. Rewards follow grace. Rewards are only given to those who have first accepted God's free gift of salvation - on His terms - which means, all the credit and the glory for the gift of salvation goes to God alone. No part of salvation is performance-based. No part belongs to any pitiful little contribution we might have tried to make. To God alone goes the glory. Alone.

In both of these parables the servants of the Master (we can safely conclude that the master of the parables is God) are GIVEN GIFTS.

1) Whatever the gift may be (symbolized in the parables by monetary units) the gift is a gift - it is not earned. The situation presented in the parable is not a pay day. The situation is an outright, no-strings-attached gift. Therefore, in both of these parables, God's grace reigns supreme. These servants of the Master were given something they could never earn, something they could never demand, because the Master gave out of the overflow of his generosity - his amazing grace.

2) The parable teaches, however, that the gifts of God are not given so that we can bury them in our backyard, wear them on our sleeves like a religious badge or stripe of honor, or display them in our trophy case for all to see. Gifts are given to pass on. Gifts are given to share. What are Christians given? What aren't we given! Everything that we are and have, spiritually, is given. We are given God’s love, we are given salvation, redemption, forgiveness, reconciliation, sanctification. We are given an eternal inheritance. To be given all of this, and not to share it, not to proclaim it, not to tell others about it, not to tell others about the Kingdom of God - is to be given a gift and put it in a napkin and bury it in our back yard.

3) The basis, then, of any rewards we receive - AFTER we have been saved and APART FROM the gift of salvation - is based on how we have shared, communicated and passed on the gifts we have been given. Nothing is said here about endless lists of religious duties; everything here is about telling others about God's amazing grace - which is, ironically, the polar opposite of performance-based religion.

4) The rewards we are given are not simply a future award ceremony presided over by Jesus, when long lines of people curve all around the world, waiting for their rewards - or lack thereof. The Kingdom of God has a present dimension. It is already present in our three-dimensional world but not yet totally fulfilled until we die. Therefore, there is a reality about how we are living out our lives on a day-to-day basis in these parables.

Some say that there must be levels of heaven, levels of nearness to God determined by how great is an individual’s rewards or lack of rewards. This sounds to me like man’s idea of earning things. Man is so performance-based that some even think of heaven that way. As I see it, salvation is by grace alone and Christ alone. And heaven is certainly the ultimate expression of God’s grace – UNMERITED FAVOR.

I don’t want to discount some kind of reward from God after we die (God can certainly do whatever He chooses to do), but I believe that the rewards that are described in these two parables are given in the here and now and will enable us to more effectively serve our fellow man.

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Addictive Worry

These are worrying times.

You may be worrying for any number of big, collective reasons: the economy, unemployment, loss of savings or evaporating retirement funds, election outcomes, international tensions or war. Just one of these things is enough to keep you tossing and turning through the night - but all of them at once?

Or you might be worrying over more personal matters. Maybe the economic downturn has hit home (a recession is where other people lose their jobs; a depression is where you lose yours). Maybe you're dealing with a health crisis, or marital or family troubles.

These all qualify as rough patches, trials, tribulations. We like to use these terms to give our problems context. These little catch-phrases give us hope and reassurance us that our trials are only temporary - we’ll get through it - better days are ahead - every cloud has a silver lining - it’s darkest just before the dawn - we're building character - what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. No matter what their faith, nearly all humans rely on such aphorisms to encourage themselves and each other.

Christians, of course, ought to be better equipped than other folks to cope with life's turbulence. We can see how adversity is an opportunity to trust in Christ living in us. When we are weak, then we are strong spiritually in union with Christ (2 Corinthians 12:10). Even if we Christians don't get out of our trials alive, we have the assurance of life eternal. It seems therefore that Christians should be confident in any situation - good times or bad (Philippians 4:11-13).

But such is not always the case. I wonder if some Christians are in a perpetual state of worry - by their own choice. As if the world didn't offer enough to worry about, whether or not we have any real causes for anxiety, we invent more. If life doesn't offer us enough affliction, we will find some way to afflict ourselves. I believe some of us are actually more comfortable living this way, for reasons that psychologists might have a better grasp of. Suffice it to say that this may be similar to the spouse who returns to an abusive relationship - or the person who leaves one abusive religious group only to join another.

What are some things Christians needlessly worry over?

THE PAST. Everyone has a story. In some circles it’s called a testimony – an often tedious tale about all the stuff we went through and all the mistakes we made and the sinful lives we led before coming to Christ. The problem is that some of us continue to live in the past. While we may have to bear the physical fallout from some big mistakes - the past is over and done with. Jesus’ work on the cross took care of all this so that we can move on. With Paul, we need to "forget what is behind" (Philippians 3:13) that we may "gain Christ" and be "found in him" (Philippians 3:8-9).

THE FUTURE. I understand this one well because I lived under the expectation that the sky was falling for many years. Riots, war, famine, disease epidemics and economic collapse were always right around the corner. Of course all these things have happened in my lifetime, but anticipating them happening all at once does something to one’s mind. You become paralyzed in planning and preparing for the future - you don't think long-term - at best you live from year to year - or survive from day to day. Though you may push it to the back of your mind, you live in the grip of fear. This is one of the most spiritually toxic examples of addictive worry.

THE PRESENT. Christians ask themselves: "Am I in God's will? How can I know God's will for me? What does God want me to do? Is God pleased with me? Am I doing all I can? Am I growing and overcoming enough? Am I witnessing enough? Am I raising my kids correctly? Do I have a right attitude about everything? Why am I not experiencing a breakthrough? If I work hard enough and if I'm disciplined enough, I ought to live a blissful, problem-free existence because Jesus said so."

Or did He? In fact Jesus did not promise us a rose garden in this life (Luke 14:27). But misinformed Christians who expect otherwise are continually striving, obsessing and worrying over their shortcomings. The more rigorous this process is, the more headway they feel they are making. In its extreme form, this notion becomes asceticism, where people seek affliction, suffering and pain, believing that it will make them better, eliminate sin or draw them closer to God. While millions of Christians have lived this way, the idea has its origin with pagan gods and goddesses whose anger must be expiated by human suffering - a sick, Christ-less idea that lies at the heart of all legalistic religion.

When Christians get sidetracked with these concerns, pastors and teachers can help - to instruct, reassure and comfort worried believers that their salvation is secure. But instead, like pouring gasoline on an already blazing fire of stress and anxiety, some pastors and teachers use this situation to leverage behaviors that will benefit them and their religious institutions. They harangue believers to serve more, pray more, pay more, give more, study more, and fellowship more. They do this not only in church services, but in a continuous avalanche of books and publications designed to keep believers addicted to worry.

Such un-Christlike teaching may interpret the familiar passage in Matthew 6:25-34, where, faulty interpretation points out, Jesus tells us to stop worrying about ourselves and worry about spiritual things, i.e. in the case of those who torture this passage for their own ends, "spiritual things" becomes one and the same as their religious institution.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Moving beyond flawed interpretations of this passage, simply taking this passage at face value, indicates that Jesus was talking about anxiety over physical things, and about giving His kingdom first priority. Yet I believe Jesus is saying more here. When Jesus promises that His Father will provide for us, is He guaranteeing us endless food, clothing and shelter for the rest of our physical lives without any effort on our part? Experience and other scriptures tell us this is not what He meant. If we want to eat, be clothed and have shelter, we (or someone else) will have to work for it.

The deeper lesson here has to do with God's spiritual provision - our spiritual food, clothing and shelter. Spiritually, there is absolutely nothing we can do to feed, clothe and house ourselves. For those things, we must rely totally on God through Jesus Christ living in a total union with us. When misguided Christians stew and agonize over their spiritual condition - whether they are working hard enough, overcoming enough, witnessing enough, giving enough, praying enough, etc, etc, etc. - they are worrying about something over which they have no control. As Jesus says, "pagans run after these things," - and in all pagan religions we see people laboring, striving and worrying to make themselves acceptable to their gods. Jesus says, in effect, "Don't be like them. Stop your scurrying around. Stop your addictive worrying. Just sit down and rest. My Father will take care of you. That is why He has placed Me within you giving you His divine nature. And I am not going to leave you." God does for us what we can never do for ourselves.
Do we believe Him?

If we do, that's one less thing to worry over.

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In God We Trust

We Christians make a big thing out of “IN GOD WE TRUST” being on our money. We get mad when the new penny is not going to have this inscription on it.

I got to thinking: "What an ironic thing to put on a piece of money." Americans put money in banks, stocks, retirement and 401Ks…even into lotteries and slot machines. But when are they ever "trusting in God" in the process? Are they thinking about God when their eyes are on Wall Street or the gas station displays, the check out register at the store, or a casino billboard sign? What do the words "In God We Trust" mean in a world of free enterprise and commerce - is it just a nice little catch phrase that, in some obscure manner, validates our US currency?

The most common thing on the minds of Americans right now is money. So, let’s be honest: have we treasured and trusted God’s wisdom and guidance in our lives? Or have we put more trust in financial advisors, stock brokers, our government, TV commercials and advertisements, in houses, cars, credit, in loans, that next "lucky" lottery ticket - or even campaign promises?

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon/money both." (Matthew 6:24).

If you treasure tangible things more than you treasure the Lord’s guidance in your life, you would look backwards at the stock market, mourning your losses, licking your wounds - perhaps even look forward fearfully to future economic problems.

The Lord provided manna and water to Israel, provided a ram for Abraham, fed thousands on a few loaves and fishes, filled his disciples’ fishing nets to near breaking point (Luke 5:6; John 21:6). The Lord provided a sacrifice to the world so that we could have eternal life (John 3:16). He provides healing, peace, comfort and forgiveness.

So c'mon - just how hard can it be choosing to serve God over mammon/money? If we truly believe the words "In God We Trust," then it would be indicative of the kind of reliance and faith we really do possess, whether the economy was good or bad. So rather than putting our trust in man-made corporations built upon sandy foundations (and remember, there are corporate churches, religions and ministries, too!), we should be building our foundations upon the Rock of Ages - investing more in "The Rock" market than the stock market - relying on God’s rescue package in Jesus Christ, rather than band-aid, quick fix bail out packages that deplete our oil supply like the 10 virgins of Matthew 25: 1-13.

How can we do that? By doing his will. And what is His will? Jesus did the will of his Father: ". . . My cause is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work" (John 4:34). What are the worries and cares, the items or things that take away the focus of God’s will in your life? I feel that Jesus has commissioned each of us to reach out in love to the world. I believe that, how we each uniquely do this - given the gifts, talents and resources we've been given - is His will for us.
This commandment He gave to love one another should be paramount to anything on the Wall Street ticker or the Wal-mart shelves. By trusting in Him with all our hearts, leaning not upon our own understanding, and acknowledging him in all things - all things - he will direct our paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Each time I look at a dollar bill now, I think how we need to restore an economy strengthened by the unconditional love of Christ.

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Change Is What We Need!

Another election year over.

As I watched each state of the Union once again turn the predictable red or blue, it only confirmed that my vote would count if I were a Democrat or a Republican. But I am neither. Even if I had voted for another party's candidate, what good would such a vote be among the majority cast for the super parties? I did not want to vote for either McCain or Obama. I know, I know - I seem to find myself a part of a very minute, insignificant tribe that wanders into unfamiliar territory every four to eight years. Exercising my “right to vote” seems to be the question - or in question. So while you may still be scratching your heads, let me invite you into mine for a moment and tell you what I have observed:

We cannot finger point and blame anyone (including George Bush, or any president past, present or future, for that matter) for America’s moral decline and economic instabilities. In fact, I wouldn't wish the U.S. presidency on anyone, and it takes a whole lot of courage (and a certain amount of insanity) to even desire that seat, much less spend the time and money to actually vie for it. But all of the campaign hype and rallies, media blitzes and red herring politics have only, for a moment, conveniently shifted the focus away from two of the greatest, most powerful beasts: GREED and PRIDE. Those who continually feed these beasts are the ones at fault, and feeding them has proven quite costly (and I'm not just talking monetarily, either). And who feeds them? America does. So America is to blame.

Throughout the 2008 campaign, I tried hard not to lose focus on what has become a somewhat clichéd saying: “What would Jesus do?” I thought about the governments that Christ was subjected to - Rome's (supposed) democracy, Judaic law and the Sanhedrin, of which Jesus had plenty of encounters. While Rome tolerated (more like ignored) Judaic law and its obvious lack of “separation of church and state," Israel's children were still compelled to submit to the rule of both Judaic and gentile law. They couldn't very well vote for their Roman dictatorships, and their own legalistic religion pretty much kept them busy and in line, anyway. Sure, there was hope for a Messiah, but I guess His “campaign” at the time wasn't quite as convincing to the Jews as hoped (John 1:11). But of course, the rest is history!

I am appreciating the silence yearned for since the continual barrage of noise: “Obama for change!" “McCain for change!” “Obama for the family!” “McCain for the traditional family!” Yes, even America’s traditional families and marriages are plagued by problems of their own, including divorce, depression, drugs and alcohol, domestic violence, infidelity, etc. I have never seen such emotion generated by political persuasion, or motivations spurred by stereotypical fear and panic as during this election.

Which made me think of a crazy idea: How about “Jesus for change?” How about “Christians for change?” Why not “Christians against greed, pride and violence?” How about Christians for unconditional love? Because guess what, folks - a greater than Jonah or Solomon is here! (Luke 11:29-32) A greater than Moses is here! (Hebrews 3) A greater than Bush, McCain or Obama is here! A “greater than anyone” is here! Have we forgotten the Greatest Candidate of all to win the hearts, minds and souls of America? Our Commander in Chief has already spoken! Or are we so used to being spoon-fed the Bible from the pulpits that we've failed to actually put into practice what the Shepherd of all shepherds has commanded us to do at the most basic level? Because until the world has learned how to love - what other resounding political gongs are taking precedence?

Hey, I'm definitely no saint. I mess up all the time; and can surely take the blame for a myriad of mistakes made in my lifetime (big ones, too). But I know the kind of Christian I have absolutely no desire to be. I don't want to be a Christian against gays/lesbians, or that despises, excludes or hurts people because they have a different skin color, or speak another language. I don't want to be a Christian against Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Mormons or any religion. I don't want to be a Christian that judges those who dress differently, or who might be self-conscious about their weight or their looks. I don't want to be a Christian who is demeaning, abusive, controlling or manipulative to my spouse, family, neighbors, or those I work or do business with. I don't want to be the kind of Christian who cowardly gossips and talks behind peoples’ backs because I don't have the courage to talk to them, face to face, and really get to know them. I don't want to be the kind of Christian who thinks and acts like Christianity is a members-only club, with “being saved” as a part of some pre-qualification checklist. And I don't want to be the kind of Christian that prays, “God, I'm so grateful that I am not like other people - adulterers, sodomites, evildoers, etc. I am SO glad I'm saved, and not lost and blind like them.”

There's been a lot of talk lately about needed change in America. But no president, government, or political party is going to bring that about. The “vote for change” isn't going to happen our way by marking a ballot in the polls. His name was not on the ticket, but in my heart I chose Jesus. And in voting for Him, I voted a vote that really counts!

Non-believers need a change of direction by accepting their inability to live a moral life and by accepting Christ as Savior and Lord.

Believers need a change of understanding to see that Jesus has come to actually live in them, in a living union, so that they are able to change! Because real change happens each morning we wake up and decide how we’re going to be that day by dependence on Christ. Change begins in the hearts of those who choose right now to put into practice what Jesus has commanded us to do all along, regardless of our past, present or future. Change is about forgiveness, and actually making things right. Change begins when we have our eyes opened to what Christ in us would have us do for those around us who are in need of genuine love and prayer. This morning - and every morning - change begins within us.

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A Trip To Paradise

“A Trip to Paradise – Just Sign Up Here!" Extolling the many virtues of the island paradise of Tahiti, the promoter explained that this was truly where the “good life” was to be found.

His listener was intrigued by the prospect of living in this island paradise. Convinced that he would like to go there, he was advised by the promoter about the necessary procedures required for receiving a “ticket” to Tahiti.

As the precise date for departure was indefinite, the aspiring traveler spent the majority of his meditative moments dreaming of what it would be like when he arrived there. His thoughts so dwelt upon his destination that he was consumed with joyful anticipation. Over and over again he engaged in a repetitive review of the details of the flight – the lift-off into the clouds, the scheduled intermediary stop and the eventual landing.

Expectations for the trip were so high that the hopeful traveler began to eagerly solicit others to join him on the trip. Convinced that such life in paradise was in the best interest of all, he accepted this as his mission.

He, himself, became a promoter, waving his ticket before those who would look and listen, advertising the “good life” that he had discovered, although so distant and yet to be realized.

Is not much of Christian teaching today parodied in this parable?

Is that the good news of the gospel – a ticket to paradise? Is the mission of the Christian simply to be an itinerant travel agent to convince others to take the trip?

Is it any wonder that many Christians today seem to have such a difficult time dealing with their present lives here on this “third rock from the sun”? Their past is forgotten, their future is expected; but the present is but the edgy monotony of waiting on “stand-by”.

Many Christians have “checked-out” of their present situation. They have “checked-in” their baggage of sin at the baggage-counter (altar), and they are holding onto their redemption coupons while waiting for the flight.

Huddled in the waiting lounge of earthly existence, they sing together:
This world is not my home;
I’m only passing through;
My treasures are laid up,
Somewhere beyond the blue.

The good news of the gospel is that the dynamic life of Jesus Christ affects us and is effective in us TODAY!

We look not just for a future realization, but we rejoice in the restoration of humanity as God intended – Christ in us today! (Colossians 1:27)

Any message which relegates the spiritual life only to heavenly expectation, or the futuristic eschatology which fails to account for present realization and participation in the life of Christ, have fostered the inability of many Christians to deal with the trials and tribulations of life on earth.

Such misrepresentation of the gospel has failed to instill an awareness of the importance of Christian growth and development today.

Now is the time and here is the place for Christian living, in order to appreciate and demonstrate God’s purpose in a “new creation” of people with Jesus Christ living in them.

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City Dog - Country Dog

Did you ever notice the contrast between a city dog and a country dog? Have you ever had a dog that you kept in the house, or perhaps kept penned in the backyard? What happens when there is a momentary crack in the doorway or fence? He’s out of there like lightning! Give him a glimpse of freedom, and he’s gone. I remember a dog we once had who would be charging up the street as I ran behind him calling his name. Did he stop? No way. He would actually turn and seem to grin at me as he ran away from me. The more I chased him, the faster he ran.

On the other hand, have you ever seen a country dog? There are no fences, but only miles of pasture and forest to run in. He can go wherever and do whatever he wants. Where is he? Right smack on the front porch of the house, sleeping contentedly! He is happy to hang around the house, waiting for his master to come play, or take him hiking or hunting.

People are the same way. They cannot stand to be in bondage. They may remain in captivity if there are enough strong threats, persuasive deceptions, or peer pressure, but if you give them a crack of freedom in this situation they are out of there like a city dog.

That is exactly what Christians who have been kept penned up by legalism often do when they first hear about freedom in Christ. Without a personal understanding of Jesus Christ living in them and the grace and truth found in Him to guide them, they see freedom only as an opportunity to indulge the flesh.

When Christians seem to misuse their newfound freedom, we may look at them as “rebelling against God” without first looking more closely and asking, “What are they really rebelling against?’ Usually people are actually rebelling against the legalistic religion that has kept them in bondage, not against God Himself.

When the city dog is running up the street, is he really running away from his master? No, he’s running away from the FENCE. He normally loves his master. He just hates being penned up.

“Rebellious” Christians tell stories about seeing ugly religion, pressure to conform, and man-made standards. Our response should be, “Good! You should be rebelling against those things! That’s not what Jesus Christ meant when He said He came to give us abundant life.” I find that these “rebels” are some of the most excited, dynamic believers I know once the errors of legalism have been corrected.

But to release someone from the captivity of religious authority, legalism and ritualism without adding something in its place is like letting the city dog out of his pen. He’ll just take off running as fast as he can to get away. God’s method of releasing us is by replacing it with Jesus’ indwelling life. Why does the country dog stay near the front door when he has miles of freedom? Because he knows and loves his master. His freedom is not freedom FROM bondage, but freedom to be WITH the one he loves.

In the same way, as I grow to know and love Jesus Christ living in me more intimately, I find myself experiencing incredible freedom and hardly think about roaming away any more. The issue is not what I CAN or CANNOT do. I am free to know Christ in an unhindered personal relationship. That’s what I concentrate on. Then through that relationship, my mind is taught to think His thoughts. Where I am wrong, He lets me know, He reasons with me. He doesn’t lock me back behind the fence!

Yes, if you teach the freedom that is ours in Christ, there are a certain number of immature people who will try to take advantage of it – for a while. But by falling flat on their face, they will learn how stupid sin really is. However, if we are teaching people how to walk according to the indwelling life of Christ, those will be the exception, not the rule. People are looking for real life, and it is found in the indwelling union with Jesus Christ.

To say that the Christian is not under the law is not to insult the law or say that it is bad – it is to maintain that something better has come! Rather than managing His people by law as in the Old Testament, God now wants His people to grow in grace through the leading of the Holy Spirit telling us who we are in Christ. This is why Galatians 5:18 says, “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” This means that we Christians have the privilege of living in a loving, trust relationship with the indwelling Jesus. His goal is to grow us in grace as a result of our personal relationship with Him, not to “keep us in line” under the law.

Remember that a child of God is not just a forgiven sinner! Christ has come to live in him, making him alive in Christ. And Christ is committed to renewing our minds according to His truth.

But what about those times when we forget and seem to walk away from Christ? You may think you are walking away from Him, but Jesus never leaves you. After giving his witness to Jesus as the Messiah, John the Baptist remarked, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). That is a good way to describe what growing in grace is like. Many times when you hear people talk about “growing in spiritual maturity”, you get the impression that they are getting bigger and stronger. But the truth is exactly the opposite. It means that wanting to do our own way by independence rather than dependence is becoming less and less, and He is gaining greater access to our lives. Trials cause us to depend totally on Christ and His sufficiency rather than relying on our own. When we come face to face with our own inadequacy, we are forced to turn to Christ in us for His total adequacy.

Next time you see a “lazy” country dog sleeping on the porch, look on him as leading the “abundant life” of love and contentment with his master. He could take off if he wanted to, but he loves and respects his master too much to do it.

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Why Does the Universe Have To Be So B-O-L-D ?

Why did God make the universe so B-O-L-D? So Big? So Old? So Lonely? So Dark?

If God just wanted a place for humanity to live, couldn’t He have just created the Earth for us to live on – and nothing more? Or even more, why didn’t He just place us immediately into “heaven”, His spiritual realm, where we could be with Him right from the start?

Certainly God could have done these things because He is all knowing and all powerful – but He chose to do creation as He has done it.

God is a complicated being – and His plans for us can be more complicated than we can ever imagine. But knowing through science what is now out there in the universe, let’s try to understand why God made the universe so BOLD.

Why Such a Big Universe?

Skeptics presume: “If God’s goal was to make a habitat for humanity, he would not have made so many useless galaxies, stars, planets, comets, elements, and other components.”

Anyone who hasn’t studied astrophysics may not realize that the universe MUST be as massive as it is or human life would not be possible – for at least two reasons.

The first concerns the production of life-essential elements. The density of protons and neutrons in the universe relates to the universe’s mass density. That density determines how much hydrogen, the lightest of the elements, fuses into heavier elements. And the amount of heavier elements determines how much additional heavy element production occurs in the nuclear furnaces of stars as the stars are born and die out.

If the mass density of the universe were any lower, the universe would never be capable of generating elements heavier than helium – elements like carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sodium and potassium, which are essential for any kind of physical life.

The second reason the universe must be hugely massive concerns its expansion rate which critically depends on its mass density. A universe with less mass, that is a smaller universe, would not form stars like the Sun and planets like Earth. Its expansion would be so rapid that gravity would not have opportunity to pull together the gas and dust to make such bodies. Yet if the universe’s mass was any greater, gas and dust would condense so effectively under gravity’s influence that all stars would be much larger than the Sun. Any planets such stars might hold in their orbit would be unsuitable for life because of the intensity of the stars’ radiation, not to mention the gravitational disturbances caused by neighboring supergiant stars.

Why Such an Old Universe?

Because of the limited speed of light, what scientists see in their telescopes is what the astral body looked like when the light which they are receiving left the body. Science has a number of ways of measuring the age – the time light traveled from – the star or galaxy being studied. The latest measurements indicate the universe has been around for 13.73 billion years. This is a very long time but it represents the minimum time necessary to prepare a home for humanity. And as it turns out, the minimum time is essentially the same as the maximum time for at least three reasons.

First, essential heavy elements need to build up. Scientists say that for its first 300 million years, the universe contained only 5 elements: hydrogen, helium, and tiny traces of lithium, beryllium and boron. But life requires over 20 different elements heavier than boron. But the big bang creation event yielded none of them. Manufactured exclusively in the nuclear furnaces of stars, these elements built up gradually.

Human civilization, including high-tech societies with automobiles, demands these heavier elements, but their creation took at least 9 billion years and three generations of star formation and death to provide for a heavy-metal-rich planet such as Earth. And slightly more than 4.5 billions years ago, just as that essential abundance first became available, Earth’s solar system came together.

Second, dangerous events must subside. Supernovae so crucial for building up the heavy elements essential for advanced life also shower their environs with deadly radiation. Consequently, advanced life could not be safely introduced until the rate of supernova eruptions in the Milky Way Galaxy had subsided considerably.

Though it took 9.2 billion years for the planet Earth to form, it was necessary for an additional 4.5 billion year delay before the Earth’s bombardment with material and radiation subsided.

Also the Sun’s luminosity or brightness has changed significantly throughout its history. Human arrival and survival on the scene depended on the Sun’s having reached a particular level of brightness and stability. This level was not reached until the Sun was about 4.5 billion years old.

Tidal interaction with the Moon and Sun has steadily reduced Earth’s rotation rate from its initial 2 or 3 hours per day down to its current 24. This is the optimal rotation rate for advanced life because faster rotation caused extreme weather movements with very disruptive hurricanes and tornados.

The third reason is more philosophical. At 13.73 billions years of age, the universe and our location in it is just old enough – and young enough – to facilitate its visual and technological exploration. In a younger universe, the light emitting objects, primarily stars, are jammed tightly together. The light of nearby objects would have blinded observers from seeing the more distant objects.

Also, only when Earth reached an age of over 4 billion years did its atmosphere become transparent enough to enable its inhabitants to observe the most distant objects in the universe. The human era is theoretically the earliest possible epoch that allows astronomers to study the light from the origin of the universe. And if humans had arrived significantly later upon the scene, the situation also would have been less than optimal. At some point (after about 14 billion years of age), the universe will expand at speeds exceeding the velocity of light and humans would then be able to see only a fraction of cosmic history.

Our Creator God apparently placed us here at an optimal time for us to study and appreciate His glorious workmanship in the structure of the universe.

Why Such a Lonely Universe?

The human desire to reach out and touch someone seems irresistible. It was inevitable that our desire to explore and search for intelligent life would extend beyond Earth to other parts of the Milky Way and even to galaxies beyond. But this search by all scientific means possible has yielded absolutely no contact with any other life outside of Earth.

And understanding the physics involved in space travel makes it difficult to believe that any contact with extra-terrestrials will ever happen.

Current understanding of the universe, at least from a naturalistic perspective, supports the idea that only Earth offers a sufficiently hospitable environment for an intelligent species to survive and build a high-tech civilization. It also confirms that Earth may offer the only hospitable environment for the simplest of life-forms. Since advanced life can exist only if supported by billions of years of previously existing simpler life (producing oil and coal deposits), it seems doubly certain that the humanity of Earth is the only intelligent physical species in the observable universe.

While Earth’s location is not geographically central to the solar system, galaxy, galaxy cluster, or galaxy supercluster, it deserves the description “spectacularly favored” for life. Perhaps Someone had a purpose or purposes in mind for limiting life to just one residence.

Why Such a Dark Universe?

Typically we think of light as helpful to visibility, but in some cases it’s the opposite. The car’s dome light after dark causes problems for the driver. And no one wants the lights left on during a movie or slide show. For an astronomer, light can be an enemy.

Researchers who believe in a personal Creator (and many do) thank their Maker for Earth’s placement in one of the darkest regions of the universe. The lights of the universe don’t blind us or limit our view.

Like all galaxies, the Milky Way is filled with bright beacons of light. The brightest are its core and its spiral arms. Located far from the galactic core, the core’s powerful light does not affect us. In its orbit about the galactic center, the solar system rides almost exactly halfway between two spiral arms, and these arms’ crowded clusters of bright stars do not overly illuminate Earth’s night sky.

Astronomers can also be glad that the Milky Way Galaxy sits in one of the darkest locations in the universe where advanced physical life conceivably could exist.

The very best location and quantities of darkness to allow humans to observe all the wonders of the universe equate with the very best location to allow for the existence of a bountiful, beautiful home for humanity. Such a convergence would seem more than an accident. These multiple “coincidences” speak of supernatural intention.

Clearly, Someone wanted human beings to exist and thrive. Just as clearly, Someone wanted us to see all He had done in the universe. His purposes for human existence must be highly valuable. By studying the universe in all its detail – as the Creator apparently made sure we could – we have begun to discover and understand some of His purposes. And that quest continues.

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Why Doesn't the Bible Condemn Slavery?

Since slavery is today considered a great moral evil, some wonder why the Bible doesn’t categorically condemn the practice. Critics even insist that the Bible (both Old and New Testaments) condones, if not promotes, slavery. Some “new atheists” proclaim that the Bible can’t serve as a basis for morality because it fails to condemn the primitive and barbaric practices of humanity’s past – especially slavery!

It is true that the Bible does not formally and explicitly condemn slavery as an institution. So how do we account for this? Just what does the Bible say about slavery? Several important points warrant careful consideration.

1. The forms of servitude and slavery practiced in a biblical context bear little resemblance to the tyrannical type of slavery found in the American antebellum South and in other modern Western countries. Certain moderate forms of “servitude” – for example, indentured (voluntary) servitude – were considered morally beneficial before God under certain circumstances in the Old Testament. Examples of this are seen in voluntary indenturement in order to earn a living or to learn a trade. It could also include the indenturement of a criminal in order for the offender to render restitution. But in none of these moderate cases, nor even the more extreme case of foreigners captured by the Israelites in war, would the so-called slave or servant be viewed as a mere piece of property without human rights. Nor would the time of servitude be constituted as a life term of bondage (Deuteronomy 15:12-13). Many slaves in the ancient world, and especially those held by the Hebrews, were able to earn their freedom.

2. The institution of slavery was so deeply rooted in ancient culture that it could not be dismantled overnight. It was practiced by every ancient people of which we have any historical record: Egyptians, Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Syrians, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Greeks, Romans, and all the rest. The records state that during the first century A.D., approximately 85 to 90 percent of Rome’s population consisted of slaves. Slavery was viewed as playing a critical economic role for society.
Nevertheless, the Old Testament Mosaic Law limited and regulated the practice and sought to correct its inhumane abuses (Exodus 20:10; 21:20-27). Unlike with slavery in other cultures, the masters in a biblical context did not have absolute rights over their slaves. Forms of slavery and servitude were permitted in the Old Testament but it was never considered the moral ideal (Deuteronomy 15:18).

3. Unlike some ancient cultures, and certainly unlike the American South in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the slaves in the Old Testament were recognized as full persons who possessed human dignity and basic rights (Deuteronomy 5:14; Job 31:13-15). Abusing one’s slaves and servants was viewed as being both imprudent and immoral (Deuteronomy 23:15-16). Nowhere was the institution of slavery as such condemned; but then, neither did it have anything like the connotation it grew to have during the days of those who traded human life as if it were a mere commodity for sale.

4. The New Testament indicates that in God’s sight there is “neither slave nor free” (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11) and that both are part of Christ’s church and equally accountable to God (Ephesians 6:5-9). In fact, in the apostolic church, slaves were granted all the rights and privileges of free men (see the book of Philemon).

5. The likely reason that the apostolic authors of the New Testament did not categorically condemn slavery was because they placed the preaching of the gospel and the redemption of lost souls ahead of societal reform. Yet that very biblical teaching about humankind and their relationship to God through Christ was the inevitable moral and spiritual force that showed the fundamental injustice of slavery in the Western world.

6. God’s way of eliminating slavery was to allow the biblical teachings (the “Good News”) to spread throughout all cultures. Indeed, it was the Judeo-Christian teaching that human beings have intrinsic value and worth as a result of being made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27) that brought an end to slavery. Many in the abolitionist movements of England and America in the nineteenth century were Protestant evangelical Christians. And they viewed slavery as being fundamentally inconsistent with the historic Christian view of man’s creation and redemption.

So while the Bible doesn’t formally and explicitly condemn slavery, neither does it condone it. It was the unique ethical message contained in Scripture concerning human dignity and redemption that provided the moral and spiritual force that ultimately succeeded in eliminating slavery as an institution. The gospel message of salvation in Jesus Christ remains a powerful force against human evil and social injustice. It is also the only antidote for each human being’s slavery to sin and death. Man or woman of any social status - rich or impoverished, in bondage of any kind or free, can be saved from eternal punishment for sin (and ALL have sinned – Romans 3:23-24) by belief in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

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Bad Cop - Good Cop? Or NO Cop!

You are no doubt familiar with the terms “bad cop – good cop”. If you’ve seen any detective or police shows like Law and Order, you know the “bad cop – good cop” routine. That’s how many people see God.

We’re suspects. God has arrested us – cuffed us, booked us, we’re in deep trouble. We’re dead meat. He’s got us in the interrogation room and here he comes. On the one hand, he’s God the Father, the bad cop. On the other hand, he’s Jesus, the good cop. The two divine detectives take us, the suspect – of course, we know we’re not simply a suspect; we know we’re guilty - there in the interrogation room. We know we’re in the wrong but maybe we can trick God we think. According to what we know from religion and its authorities, God the Father plays the role of the bad cop. He’s an old grizzled veteran of the force. He’s seen it all – he’s a tough guy, mean, ruthless, uncaring, and sometimes in order to get suspects to talk, he’s been known to rough them up a little bit. Then there’s Jesus, well we’ve been told that he’s the good cop – he’s soft and sweet and nice.

But we’re shrewd and street-wise and we know how this whole thing is going to play out: Jesus will intervene just when God the Father is about ready to beat us up and play the heavy, and he’ll say to the Father, “Hold on. You’ve been working too hard. Let’s give this guy a break. Why don’t you cool off, go down the hall and get yourself a cup of coffee, and let me talk to the suspect.”

And then Jesus says to us something like this, “You’ve got to understand my Father – he’s got a lot of things on his mind, the whole universe to worry about, he gets stressed out – in fact, sometimes he goes over the top here in the interrogation room. But you know, that doesn’t have to happen to you. You can talk to me. Why don’t we talk before my Father gets back.”

And that’s kind of the idea some have of God – God the Father, God the Son, and for that matter God the Holy Spirit. God’s not a policeman. He’s not in the business of tracking us down, and we’re not in the business of deceiving him. He can’t be deceived. We fall for the idea that God is both good cop and bad cop because that’s what a lot of religion tells us. But there is no bad divine cop. There is only one God and, for that matter, there is no cop at all in heaven – no cop charged with hauling us in and wringing the truth out of us. God’s not a detective – he’s not a cop. He’s in the salvation business. He’s in the business of reclaiming and transforming people.

“What?” some people are going to say. “You’re saying that God is not a cop, a judge, not someone who demands justice? Are you saying that God is just interested in letting us off – in grace?” You know, people are scandalized by this notion. Of course, God is a judge. Of course, God demands justice. But God is not some hanging judge, some ruthless bad cop. God’s mission is to save us – to pardon us, to rescue us, to love us, to provide his grace to us. God is not who many think he is. God is altogether different from what many have assumed. He is what the Bible says he is – rich in mercy and grace. He is love and he is on our side and not out to get us. He’s not angry with us. He is waiting for us and he will always welcome us. Always.

God’s grace doesn’t make much sense to the human mind – that he might actually take somebody and give them blessings when they don’t actually, by our sense of justice, deserve them. God doesn’t reward sin but he loves sinners – He just plain loves the people who he has created.

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A Sunday School Nursery Rhyme

Mary had a little Lamb
His soul was white as snow.
And everywhere the Lamb would preach
The crowds were sure to go.

They followed him to synagogue
Or gathered on a hill,
They heard him speak the Word of God
And couldn’t get their fill.

But then he broke the Sabbath
Which was against the rule.
The Pharisees all turned on him
And said he was a fool.

Some people kept on loving him
But others were not sure
And even with his miracles
They weren’t sure he was pure.

They finally arrested him
And asked him who he was.
He said he was the Son of God
And that set off a buzz.

They shouted, “Crucify him!”
His blood was sure to flow
They knocked him down and beat him up
This Lamb of God we know.

They finally nailed him to a tree
His suffering was intense
They shouted obscene things at him
The whole thing made no sense.

He died upon that wooden cross
He died for you and me.
The holy Lamb was sacrificed
For all the world to see.

But then a wondrous thing took place
He rose up from the grave.
The Lamb was dead, but now alive
His purpose was to save.

He comes to live within each one
Who chooses him to save.
He’s always there – he never leaves
A gift from God to have.

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Jesus for President!

News flash! Jesus is running for President! With all of the news coverage of political parties and their platforms, the media has neglected Jesus’ campaign. The other candidates have kept Him out of debates – probably because they knew that they could never out-debate Him. His message, which is not new by any means, is good news for the nation. Jesus is inviting you and me to accept Him as the President of our lives. He promises to lead us through our problems.

Here are four central planks in His platform.

1) Jesus has the EXPERIENCE for leadership. He’s been around longer than John McCain and a lot longer than Barack Obama. Jesus has seen empires rise and fall and He knows the deep reasons for their failures. (If you believe that book, the Bible, that was written about Him, He actually created the universe and everything in it.)

2) Jesus has SUFFERED personally the pains and trials of the people of our nation. Jesus went through more physical pain than even John McCain did as a prisoner of war. He went through more mental pain than Barack Obama who was raised as a black man in a mixed racial culture. We want a leader who knows how bad things can get because He knows them on a personal level.

3) Jesus has the MORALITY factor going for Him. He has been recognized throughout the ages as a foremost moral teacher. His Ten Commandments are known all over the world, and He has even simplified them into two commandments of love. Only God really knows the morality of John McCain and Barack Obama.

4) The greatest plank in Jesus’ platform is what He can do miraculously. The other two candidates have nothing like this ability. If we accept Jesus as our President, He promises to be a RESIDENT-PRESIDENT. He has the miraculous spiritual ability to actually take up residence and live right within His followers in a living union. If John McCain and Barack Obama could even wish to do this!

So vote for Jesus! You don’t have to worry about “hanging chad” or voting fraud. The instant you vote for Jesus for President…you’ve got Him!

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What's So Amazing About Grace?

Where do you stand on this business of amazing grace? I don’t mean the hymn. I mean the idea of grace, or the…well…the doctrine of it. Do you believe that the mistakes of the past, the wrongs a person has done, even very grievous wrongs, can be wiped away once and for all by God’s love and mercy? Can someone, can anyone, can you, be freed form a lifetime burden of guilt by the grace of God?

There is a supposedly true story of a presentation by a college philosophy professor. His subject was the religion of Islam. He told the class that the Islamic faith stresses justice: good behavior is to be rewarded, bad behavior is to be punished, both on the human level and on the sacred level. The presenter said that even though he was a Christian minister and had many times taught and preached the doctrine of grace, he thought that the approach of Islam made a whole lot more sense.

It does, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t good behavior be rewarded and bad behavior suffer consequences? There’s something in us that objects to sinful deeds going unpunished, even our own sinful deeds.

A character in a contemporary novel expresses this point of view. Referring to the practice in Catholicism of the faithful declaring sins to a priest in the confessional booth, this character says:
“Confession is a thing I can’t agree with. I say it’s cheap. You kneel down in that box and say what you done. And then, basically, you get off scot-free, only cranking out a few ‘Hail Marys’ or some ‘Our Fathers.’ No restitution demanded, no community service” (Louise Erdrich, The Bingo Palace).

John Newton was the son of an English sea captain. At the age of eleven, Newton went to sea himself and, after some years, captained his own ship, one that carried African slaves. Converted to the Christian faith, Newton became a minister and hymn writer. Remembering his former lifestyle and his part in the evils of slavery, Newton wrote the words that have become beloved by millions.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”

I know a person who came across a church hymnal that had taken some liberties with Newton’s words. Apparently, somebody objected to the word “wretch”. I guess it sounded to them so…well...so wretched. Most people who sing this hymn aren’t wretches, he probably reasoned, they’re good people, most of them church-goers. So this person substituted for the words, “saved a wretch like me,” the phrase, “saveth men like me.”

It was a bad decision, not only because it used that non-inclusive word “men,” but because not one of us escapes the state of wretchedness in our lives. We are born messed up with Satan’s nature; we mess up ourselves – sometimes badly. We slip into petty hatreds, we betray confidences, we remain silent in the face of injustice, we break promises, we fail to love our neighbors as ourselves, we fail even to love ourselves properly.

Wretch is the word for it. A wretch like me. A wretch like you.

My closing word on the matter is simply this – when I bring my life to Jesus Christ as my Savior, I really don’t want justice. I don’t want what I deserve. I want mercy, divine mercy. I want God’s amazing grace.

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The Lust That Consumes Us

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts (James 4:3, Authorized King James Version).

What went wrong? Why the recent carnage on Wall Street, why the sub-prime mortgage fiasco, and why the rash of bank failures? Why the bail-outs that minimize penalties for really, really bad behavior? Little people have been mortally wounded - people who trusted these institutions with their life savings - with the mortgages on their homes - have been left in the wake of this meltdown.

Where does it all start? For a start, check out the children’s programs on television. What an education! The commercials on children's television programs are one of the seductive, sinister, early stages of consumerism. Consumerism is what makes our lust driven economy work. The commercials receive as much, or even more, rapt attention than the programs themselves. The message of these commercials is blatant and obvious. Children are being programmed, at any early age, to be consumers. They are being trained to consume things on their own lusts. Lust is part of the human condition, no matter what age we might be.

Remember the advice given to Americans after the tragedy of 9-11? "Go shopping," we were told. The purpose of this recommendation was not simply to allow Americans to get their minds off the unspeakable horrors of that day, but it was our government telling us to keep consuming, for surely if we stop consuming our economic wheels will fall off, and we will all perish. Consume or die!

While commercials shown during children's television programs are a problem, there is a bigger, and far more malignant epidemic sweeping across our world. Evil forces are at work in our culture and society – most recently, the needless economic massacre suffered by millions of people, defaulting on loans, losing their homes - people whose lusts did them in, people who had been seduced by consumerism and its minions into attempting to achieve the so-called American dream by the unremitting use of pieces of plastic that fit neatly into their wallets and purses.

I consider the real culprit - human lust. While I don't usually read and study from the Authorized King James, I read several translations and versions of James 4:3 before coming back to the rich, resonant and robust English favored in 1611: Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

I am disgusted with the marketing gurus who, armed with a basic understanding of human lust, are able to motivate, persuade and manipulate the lust of others for their own gain. Am I taking the side of victims? Not entirely - it must be said that the people who decided that their homes were the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - and decided to use the "funny money" equity in their homes to refinance and re-mortgage and borrow against for that new boat, SUV, exotic vacation - were all big boys and big girls. Adults, not pre-school age children drooling over the latest gizmo or gadget advertised on television, fell for sub-prime loans, hook, line and sinker. And the funny money turned out to be a balloon of hot air, inflated with consumerism, a mirage of lust that turned into a painful and pathetic reality many people are facing today.

But today's adults are always yesterday's children. They are simply products of decades of self-indulgence. When I think of our greedy, me-first, get-it-now-before-you're-too-old-to-enjoy-it self indulgent culture, I think of Ivan Boesky. Ivan Boesky was a Wall Street trader, who, over two decades ago, during a time when today's young adults were consumers-in-training, amassed a $200 million fortune by fraud and deceit. Boesky made investments based on tips from corporate insiders. He was eventually sentenced to prison, but his name came to symbolize the rapacious greed of American big business.

Ivan Boesky gave a speech at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1986, during which he said, "I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself." The character of Gordon Gecko in the 1987 movie, "Wall Street," is said to have been based on a Boesky like character (if character is not an oxymoron in a Bosky context).

Two decades later, in our post-Boesky Wall Street, the greed epidemic continues, unabated. As a result, our once strong economy is today held together by chewing gum, bailing wire and duct tape. But the wrong-headed teaching continues. Our government rewards corporate lust by bailing out ego-driven maniacal banks and brokerage firms that had no self control, demonstrated no moral boundaries, and were simply driven by ravenous lust and greed. What lesson is this sending to our younger generation? Don't worry - go out there and max out your personal credit cards - you can declare bankruptcy - someone else - some anonymous person or group of people - will pick up the tab.

But citizens cannot continue to bear an inflated tax burden that will be required to bail out national and local governments whose only solution to out-of-control spending is to print more money and promise to build an even bigger government that will provide more "services." We all know that "I am from the government and I am here to help you" has become one of the big lies of our times.

Many formerly private sector financial institutions have been taken over by our government. Major banks and brokerage houses have been bailed out, because flushing them into a cesspool of their own idiocy and lust was not deemed to be in the best interests of what remains of our economy. Who will pay the bill for all of this lust? It will be an enslaved people, who continue to chase the American dream by spending - that ye may consume it on your lusts.

Behind this massive debacle of insatiable gluttony are those people who enabled this mess to become what it is today. Wall Street, Madison Avenue, government officials - all of whom were consumed by their own lusts, assuming that there was no end in sight, and that everyone would just get richer and richer. Buying and purchasing like frenzied sharks attracted by blood, American consumers fell into a pit. But the pit was prepared, and there were forces that led consumers into that pit.

Our nation today is dealing with decades of monumental gluttonous, me-first lust - on a grand scale with no end in sight - perhaps never before seen or experienced in human history. Many of our leaders have turned out to be predators, not servants - mercenaries who have spiritually and physically bankrupted the very people they ostensibly were elected or appointed to serve. Our leaders, in both civil and some religious arenas, have afflicted those they are pledged to serve with physical and spiritual debt, insisting on more taxes, more required "tithes" - so that their own lives of lust and greed can continue unabated. Our leaders have preyed on the ignorance and apathy of an American public, while they themselves have sought to feed their ever-increasing voracious appetites at the expense of the masses, while assuring us that they have our best interests at heart. They have amassed fortunes by deceit, larceny and trickery. Well did Peter speak of false teachers, in the spiritual realm, who exploit others because of their own greed "with stories they have made up" (2 Peter 2:3).

While we all enjoy buying things for children, one of the most cherished lessons we can leave with the younger generation is that they do not deserve, nor will they receive, everything their little pea-picking hearts desire. Further, if they were to ever get everything they want, they would not be happy - the fires of lust would burn hotter and hotter, voraciously consuming everything in sight.

We are, rightfully so, in my opinion, concerned about Global Warming. But where is the alarm about unbridled lust? Where is the call to excise the lust-induced cancer of spending and getting and acquiring and consuming? Where is the call to live within our means? Where are the warnings about the meltdown that is being caused by our worship of the gods of consumerism?

We are in the final days of this presidential election. Thank God it's almost over - I am so sick of the partisan rhetoric - let's get it over with, one way or the other! While I would not deny anyone their enthusiasm over a candidate, I am dismayed with the near-messiah like reverence and expectations given to both candidates by their supporters. Neither candidate, and neither political party has demonstrated the resolve and courage to do what must be done, nor, in my mind, should they be expected to. They are just like you and me - imperfect humans.

Our Savior does not come from Wall Street, Madison Avenue, nor will He ever live in the White House. Our Savior is neither Republican nor Democrat. Our Savior turned consumerism on its ear when He came to serve us, rather than seeking our service (Matthew 20:28). Our Savior, although He was rich, became poor, that we might, through His poverty become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

But we must turn to our Savior in surrender and repentance. We must turn from the gods of consumerism that have turned us into overstuffed, fat, indolent spiritual couch potatoes, greedily consuming resources at a prodigious rate, while the rest of the world looks on us with scorn, disdain, and not a little envy. After all, the rest of the occupants of this planet as humans also driven by lust, would like to waddle their way through life like overstuffed little pigs, consuming and devouring at the prodigious rate of our North American society.

Jesus is not a lust-driven consumer. He is not a user. He will not manipulate us. In fact, He will save us from our lusts. He will save us from those who use and abuse us. He will give us true freedom, freedom in Him - but we must first turn our backs on the gods of consumerism who cannot save us.

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The Old TV Set

We have this human thing that wants to see and judge the finished picture. And we tend to judge the outcome of the finished picture by what we see along the way.

The other day, I decided to get an old TV set down off a basement shelf and try it out. This was an old tube-type (no transistors) black-and-white set. It hadn’t been used in years, and I was curious.

Have you ever watched an old tube television set warm up? You turn it on and you wait! And then the sound comes first. Then the tiniest dot of a picture gradually spreads to fill the screen, and then it focuses to reveal lifelike forms that are easily recognized.

There happened to be a Cardinal baseball game on, and the sound announced, “It‘s a homerun!” But I couldn’t SEE IT! By the time the picture appeared, I had missed the homer. Thank goodness for present day instant replay, because they showed it again.

Do you remember what it was like waiting for all this to happen? You sit on the edge of your chair, muttering to yourself, fidgeting uselessly with the knobs, but the picture will come only when it is ready to come. Meddling with the mechanics you know so little about can only hinder the arrival of that awaited picture. So finally you resign yourself to the fact that you’ve done all you can to bring the picture by simply turning the set on. Knowing that it is connected to the power, it is best to just stretch out in your recliner and watch the image appear before your eyes.

You are reading this because, like myself, you have to some degree an inner desire, an expectant yearning, to see the picture of completion - the answer to all questions - the appeasement of your insatiable inquisitiveness. So do I have to explain my example? Have you learned, as I have, to stop trying to bring the picture in yourself, much less attempt to aid the supplying power?

I recently shared with a friend that both the greatest ASSET and the largest OBSTACLE to my everyday Christian life is my MIND! First, I was spurred on by a mysterious knowledge that there was more than the up and down life I experienced as a Christian. Then when confronted in later life by the truth of the new birth in Christ, the same mind wanted to dissect it, figure out how it worked, and control it by mastering its secret power.

Which brings me around to my theme - God meant it all for good. Two favorite verses point this out: in Genesis 50:20, Joseph said that in everything bad that happened to him, God meant it for good. And in Romans 8:28, Paul says that everything works together for good in Christians.

For it was the mind of Christ in me the entire time, providing me with precisely what was needed, molding me to the point where I could recognize and begin to lean on and trust in the guidance of Christ from within - where I could see some promised conformity to the image of His Son!

You ask me if I really believe that every question asked, every doctrine studied, every dead-end faced, every door opened was His perfect way to guide me to my present awareness, rather than me thwarting His divine efforts of grace. My answer is that I know it was all as He planned! It was necessary for me to spend time (not waste time) spinning dials in vain, for only then could I be convinced of the futility in doing it, and be cornered into giving up all self-effort. The feeling and the will of independence had to be broken, and mine was just as strong as anyone else’s.

So I‘m not one to complain about “wasted years”. There are no such things. Even the vilest offender, acknowledging forgiveness on his deathbed, cannot justifiably suggest that God “should have come sooner,” nor reason that his life drenched in sin prevented an omnipotent God from gaining a previous entrance. How absurd! The released, manifest power of God through the Holy Spirit is irresistible. When we see God in total control, we not only are seeing the focused picture, but also are gaining incredible insight for those around us.

Knowing (not just believing) that “God means it for good” releases us from the habitual attempt at manipulation of circumstances to avoid “bad” results. There is no more need for frustration over a prodigal brother or sister, for we can release the power of God into instant manifestation by simply acknowledging that God is accomplishing whatever He desires. What a release! It is clearly much more pleasant in my recliner viewing the finished picture than it was on the edge of my chair struggling to produce it myself.

WHEN YOU REALIZE, IN FAITH, THAT YOU CONTAIN THE ANSWER, THEN ALL QUESTIONS BECOME IRRELEVANT. EVEN UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANICS INVOLVED IS A MERE TECHNICALITY.

Let me offer this, however, if it can help you to gain some insight into the matter. Before we even turned the TV set on, we took it for granted that the sound and picture waves were already in the air. Does anyone test the electricity or call up the station to inquire if they’re transmitting before turning on the set? By similar reasoning, does anyone turn on a TV if he knows that there is no electricity or if there are no transmissions being made? So you see that there is an act of faith involved in turning the set on. That allows the power to flow uninterrupted and produce the manifestation for you to see.

But, you say, it requires little faith to turn on a television and expect a picture to appear. We don’t even give thought to the waves in the air – we know they’re there. And so it can be with God. Each begging prayer we make, asking Him to awaken to our needs, is calling the station to see if it is still transmitting! That’s their job, so leave it to them.

God’s “job” is to supply - so why question if He’s still in operation? He has promised that He knows our needs in advance, and has the exact supply for us before we even know we need it! DON’T BEG – JUST ACKNOWLEDGE!

You don’t like the picture that you see? Believe (or better yet - know) that He means it for good, and even though you can’t discern the mechanics of the plot, don’t try to install your own plan. I tell you this not because I ‘m afraid you may interfere with God’s working - that’s impossible! I only want to prevent you from further frustration which is exactly what you’ll experience. I can heartily attest to that. (But guess what? - God meant even that for good.

I‘m not saying that you have to “like” every picture before you. And everything that happens around you is not “God’s will”. There are spiritual forces attempting to distort the picture - spiritual “static”, if you will. But what you must see and accept is that no matter how bad things may seem, the situation is not ever beyond God’s turning it for good. A Christian is a child in His Family. As Jesus said, if a weak human father still does good things for his children, think what an all powerful Father God can do to ultimately make good things happen for His children.

Do you see it? Are you ready to sit down in faith and patiently watch the picture? Do you finally recognize the awesome God that encompasses the airwaves? It is all so elementary. A child’s mind can comprehend and accept it, but for some reason we must make it complicated. BUT EVEN THE COMPLICATION IS GOD’S PROVEN WAY OF BREAKING THROUGH TO MOST OF US.

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Too Much Sin-Consciousness? Try "Righteousness-Consciousness"!

“For God made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
(2 Corinthians 5:21 King James version)

“For God took the sinless Christ and poured into Him our sins; then in exchange, He poured God’s goodness into us!”
(2 Corinthians 5:21 Living Bible version)

There is an important point that we need to see when we look at ourselves as Christians. Christians are NOT sinners – we are the righteousness of God! Let’s stop putting ourselves down. Those in union with Christ by a new birth aren’t sinners. We may sometimes “miss the mark”, which is what that word translated “sin” means. The vital thing is to differentiate between who I am, and what I sometimes do. I am the righteousness of God because Christ lives in me and when God looks at me, He sees Christ. And when something wrong appears in my life, it doesn’t make me a sinner.

Some translations of the New Testament may seem to say that we have two natures within us – God’s nature and sin nature – which are constantly at war. This is a false concept which, in effect, makes the Christian life more difficult. A human being has only one nature at a time – before conversion and the new birth, there is a sin nature; after conversion then the nature of God takes the place of the sin nature.

Let us distinguish between the REAL me in whom Christ dwells, and the way I USED TO BE before I was crucified with Christ, and risen with Him.

When we Christians are together, let’s talk about how we please God by having become His children, not how we fail Him. Instead of bemoaning our sins, let us emphasize the fact that we are children in God’s family containing His righteous nature. Who are we really? We are Christ/persons – Christ/Joe, Christ/Mary, Christ/Jack, Christ/Meg.

It is so important to see that you are not a bad person, striving to be good. That’s an Old Covenant orientation. You are a good person – the righteousness of God – in which some “hangover” of the old patterns sometimes reassert themselves. Some leftover garbage of the “old man” is still lodged in our brain cells which is subject to the external influence of the world, the flesh and the devil. Certainly we sin at times. But Christ does not leave us. The Holy Spirit does not leave us. The reborn divine nature of God the Father does not leave us. As Christian children, we make mistakes, we miss the mark, we SIN. Our loving Father corrects us as necessary, but He doesn’t disown us. His love ultimately draws us back closer to Him.

It may sound strange to say that I SIN, BUT I’M NOT A SINNER. But again, it comes down to who I am by nature – a saint/child of God – who sometimes misses the mark.

Righteousness IS God’s divine nature. It is not so much a moral quality as a factual condition. Rocks have a rock nature. Plants have a plant nature. Animals have an animal nature. God has a divine righteous nature – and He has given that nature to us (2 Peter 1:4).

God is not in the business of shaping your character by imparting to you good qualities one by one. God is instead constantly REVEALING the flawless, perfect character of Jesus Christ within you. Christ IS our righteousness, and His character is right there within us to draw on by faith and trust.

A proper self-image is absolutely essential to the life of everyone, Christian or non-Christian. Teaching that says that Christians have to battle their human nature causes them to have a negative view of themselves. We are not battling our nature because we have a God nature!

And when you have a negative view of yourself, then inevitably you will have a negative view of your surroundings and your condition. You will see your life as you see yourself – negatively.

I am persuaded that the reason that there is so much unforgiveness even among Christians lies in how they view themselves. If you are concentrating on how bad you are, then the logical conclusion is that other people are bad too. If other people are bad, then you can’t forgive them – after all, they’re bad! The solution is to discover and stay aware of who you really are.
When you know that you’re the righteousness of God, you come to realize that you are not the ONLY one. Then you begin to see other Christians as the righteousness of God. And you begin to see people of the world as ones whom God is dealing with in a personal way drawing them to conversion into His righteous nature.

Peter’s opening salutation in his second Epistle points out the benefits of a righteousness consciousness:
“Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them who have obtained the same precious faith with us through the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD and our Savior Jesus Christ:
GRACE and PEACE be multiplied to you through the KNOWLEDGE of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power has given to all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue.
We are given exceedingly great and precious promises: that by these we are partakers of the divine nature [the RIGHTEOUS nature of God], having escaped the corruption [the sin nature] that is in the world.”

The above words were written near the end of Peter’s life. It took Peter a lifetime to come to the understanding that he was a partaker of the divine nature. Peter was a slow learner. He was slow to give up trying to keep the law of Moses and even had a heated argument with Paul over it in the second chapter of Galatians. Peter apparently thought that he was still a “sinner” saved by grace, and that righteousness was earned by keeping the law. The whole discussion leads up to Paul’s statement of my favorite verse in the Bible:
“I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I live in the flesh I now live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)

But then, probably as a final rebuttal to Peter, Paul talks about the importance of righteousness consciousness in verse 21:
“I do not frustrate the grace of God [probably pointing at Peter with the implication: ‘like you do!’], for if RIGHTEOUSNESS comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”

Peter had to learn Paul’s message that a Christian contains Christ’s RIGHTEOUSNESS, and is no longer a sinner by nature. Peter was an emotional guy who desperately wanted to be liked by those around him. May you grow in understanding as Peter did.

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Old Earth? or Young Earth?

Four hundred years ago, the Renaissance was revving into high gear. Along came Copernicus and Galileo, both devout Roman Catholics. They challenged the church’s long-standing interpretation of verses like Psalms 93:1, 96:10, and 104:5. The church taught that verses like these meant that Earth was “fixed” on its axis and was located at the center of the universe.

These two men of science came to the conclusion that the Earth revolved around the Sun by observing the phases of Venus and that Jupiter was orbited by four moons.

Neither Copernicus nor Galileo ever set out to question the Bible or the church. They were just trying to learn more about the world God had made. Galileo urged theologians repeatedly to reconsider their interpretation of these verses in the Psalms in light of a deeper, more sophisticated understanding of the record of nature. But it took over two hundred years for that to happen. From the church’s perspective, the very authority of Scripture was at stake. And clerics held on to a particular interpretation of the Bible instead of reexamining the text and trying to reconcile it with data from God’s other revelation, God’s world.

Fast forward to the present day. No one debates whether Galileo was right. So was the Bible in error? No. But the church’s interpretation of the Bible was.

Did you know there is another controversy about science and Scripture in our own day? It concerns the age of the Earth and the length of the creation “days” in Genesis 1. There is a common conception that Genesis 1 teaches the creation “days” were 24-hours long and the Earth was created only about six thousand years ago. In fact, some Christians believe this so firmly that they insist all other interpretations compromise the authority of Scripture.

This interpretation causes many scientists to consider the Bible to be pure mythology because scientific evidence points to a universe that is billions of years old. This problem has led some Christians to try to find a way to reconcile God’s Word with His world. Is this approach legitimate? Is the Bible wrong? Or is science?

A key issue in the debate about the age of the Earth concerns the length of the creation days. The Hebrew word for “day” (yom) used in Genesis 1 and 2 has four literal translations:
1 A portion of the daylight period (usually a few hours)
2 A 12-hour period (generally from sunrise to sunset)
3 A 24-hour period (such as from sunset to sunset)
4 An unspecified long period of time (such as the “Day of the Lord” used throughout the books of the prophets)

So the critical question is, Which of these literal meanings seems the best option for interpreting the length of the creation “days” described in Genesis 1? In order to answer that question we will need to carefully consider what the Bible has to say and pay attention to some of the details that we might normally miss.

First, let’s look at one hypothesis about the length of the days in Genesis 1: they were 24-hour long. Some Christians say that the phrase, “And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day,…the second day,” and so on means that the “days” must be 24-hour days. That’s one possibility. However, before jumping to any conclusions, let’s take a few moments to put this interpretation to the test. How does it stand up against further observations from the biblical text?

Investigation #1 – Use of the word “day” right within Genesis 1 and 2.
Read Genesis 2:4b in the KJV, NASB, or NRSV. Here the word “day” is definitely used for an unspecified period of time. The New International Version translates the word yom as “when”. That decision on the part of the translators may cause us to miss the fact that here the Hebrew word “day” is used to summarize the activities of the entire creation week. Right here, within the context of the creation account itself, we see the word yom being used to refer to an unspecified period of time that obviously took longer than 24 hours.

Investigation #2 – Words “evening” and “morning”
Most of the creation “days” close with this phrase: “And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day,…the second day,” and so on. This phrase is a rather unusual construction. Although the words “evening” and “morning” appear near each other in other places in the Old Testament, Genesis 1 is the only place where this exact expression is used. This should be a signal to slow down and make sure we understand what the author is trying to tell us.
Not every day of creation ends with the “evening” and “morning” refrain. The seventh day does not. Many commentators have suggested that the lack of the “evening” and “morning” phrase to close out the seventh day of creation is a possible indicator that these were not 24-hour days. And according the Hebrews 4:3, God is still resting from His creation miracles. That would mean we may still be living in the seventh “day” of creation. But before arriving at any firm conclusions, let’s gather more data.
If the author was trying to describe a 24-hour period, you’d expect the text to say “morning to morning” or “evening to evening” (such as the Jewish reckoning of a “day”). By putting this construction “evening and morning” the author could be drawing the reader’s attention to the nighttime, when a worker would normally rest from labor. This is why many Old Testament scholars think the sundown-to-sunrise formula is intended to act as a symbolic unit to mark the end of one creation stage before the dawn of the next, as opposed to functioning as an indication of the duration of the creation “days”.
Let’s put the above information in our data file as we turn to a third line of testing.

Investigation #3 – Events of Creation Day 6
Genesis 1:27 describes the creation of the first humans as the closing act of the sixth creative day. Toward the end of the sixth day, after all the animals were fashioned, “God created man in His own image; He created them male and female.” This statement implies that Eve was created before the end of Day 6.
Beginning in Genesis 2:5 the author provides more details about the events of Day 6. This may help us discern what amount of time passed between the creation of Adam and the creation of Eve. According to Genesis 2:8-9, after God created Adam He “planted” a garden (2:8) and “He made all kinds of trees to grow out of the ground” (2:9). Nothing in the text would lead us to think that God instantly brought the finished garden of Eden into existence. It seems reasonable to assume these activities came about through ordinary means facilitated by the God-given laws of nature, and this took longer than 24 hours.
Genesis 2 also supplies a more detailed explanation of the events surrounding the creation of the first man and woman, who are only briefly mentioned in Genesis 1:26-28. Verse 2:15 says Adam had to work to take care of the garden. 2:19-20 tells of the naming of all the animals, and 2:21 then tells of the creation of Eve. How long do you think it might take for all these events to transpire? Do the events support the idea that Day 6 lasted longer than 24 hours?

Investigation #4 – “at last”
The latter half of Genesis 2 focuses on Adam’s search for a suitable helper. As we say, a number of steps were involved in this search. When the right creature finally arrived on the scene, Adam expressed his joy in poetry. The NRSV or ESV translation of Genesis 2:23 states: “AT LAST, bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh – she shall be called “woman” for she was taken out of man.” The root of the Hebrew verb translated “at last” (hapa’am) means the “sole of the foot.” The word connotes the beating of the foot to keep time usually referring to time passing as a succession of events.
Pa’am stresses the fact that a passage of time had gone by, including the amount required for Adam to work the garden and name the animals. Yet he found no companion. But, at last, it happened.

Investigation #5 – “generations”
Let’s return for a moment to a verse we glossed over at the beginning of this study. Genesis 2:4 says, “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created”. This use of the word “generations" is the first of ten in the book of Genesis. The author uses “generations” as an organizational feature to introduce each new section of Genesis (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1; 37:2).
Although this repetition is a literary device, it’s worth considering the fact that the other “generations” in Genesis are obviously longer than seven days. The very word “generations” implies a lengthy passage of time with many stages and phases, much like a family tree.

Investigation #6 – Psalm 90
Psalm 90 presents yet another piece of evidence for our investigation. Moses is stated to be the author of Psalm 90 – he is also thought to be the author of Genesis. The Psalm compares God’s eternal nature with the creation of the universe. The Psalm compares a “day” to being like a thousand years. This says that Moses was at least familiar with the idea of using the word “day” to refer to a long period of time. However, we must not be too literal with the expression, “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day.” The author’s main point is not to define a specific length of time. Rather, he is comparing God’s eternality with the limited span of human life.

The end of this investigation leads us to a critical question: How can we choose which reading is correct? That’s where information from God’s other revelation comes in. What evidence for the age of the universe has God left behind in the record of nature?

No single piece of data taken in isolation is enough to close the case file on the length of the creation “days” in Genesis 1. However, with the addition of each piece of evidence, the case for interpreting “days” as long periods of time becomes more compelling.

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Praying and Baking Cookies

God's plan, for some mysterious reason, includes our prayers. I picture it this way: When children are small, they love to help their mother bake cookies. Mom certainly doesn’t need their help, and their efforts certainly don't improve mom’s baking skills. When the father comes home, the children offer him cookies squealing, "Daddy, look what I made!" Then the mother would boast of their wonderful baking skills (even though the cookies didn’t turn out very good!).Truth is, she just loved having them alongside her as her little helpers. She treasured those moments together when they learned from her.

I believe it's the same way with God. He doesn't need our help but He loves our company, and He loves teaching us, especially about Himself. Prayer is one way He does this.

Let's look at this analogy even more closely. Who benefited greatest from the baking lesson? Certainly not the father as the cookies still weren’t very good. And certainly not the mother as she ended up with more mess to clean up. Yes, you've caught on. The beneficiaries were in fact the children. The experience increased their overall aptitude and was rewarding.

Similarly, my prayers are my participation in “baking God’s cookies.” God does not need me to pray since He knows the ingredients and the recipe for His cookies better than anyone, but He loves my participation in His plan, and is rewarding me for it with eternal life. I benefit most for cooperating with God. I am the one who is blessed, and better still, I am changed (2 Corinthians 3:18). Alas, I am so often blinded to this truth, convinced that what I do is more important than what I pray.

Prayer is a privilege in which God invites us to be part of the outworking of His plan. After all, God's plan is to conform us to His image, and one of His greatest tools to implement that is prayer. So, I say "Let's pray!" “Let’s make some cookies!” Let's enjoy being God’s children by joining Him in prayer.

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"We Have Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself"

At the beginning of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt addressed the American people with the above words. He wanted to calm frightened citizens concerning America’s entry into a war situation.

With the terrorist attacks of 9-11-01 on our country, and with the ongoing bombing and turmoil in the Middle East, many are fearful on a daily basis. Will there be chemical, biological or nuclear attacks within the United States?

Roosevelt wanted to calm the whole nation’s fears, but these words would be much more appropriately spoken by Paul, Peter, John, James, the other apostles, or from the pulpit of God’s Christian church services. Only to a converted Christian with Jesus dwelling within does this sentence have any real meaning.

FEAR CAN MANIFEST ITSELF ONLY BECAUSE OF A BELIEF IN SEPARATION. AS LONG AS YOU ARE SOMETHING APART FROM GOD, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE FEAR IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER.

Fear is subtle and hidden like a snake coiled in the grass, liable to strike at any time in our mind, at the most unguarded moment, when least expected. Its only power is given to it by our thought process, and it can be swollen in our mind from a snake into a dragon. All thoughts of evil are like toy balloons in that they are enlarged until finally the capacity is overloaded and they burst.

THE ANSWER TO ALL FEAR IS YOUR CHRISTIAN REBIRTH AND LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. Union with God is not an impossible, mystical thing, as believed in former times. Things of the spirit are realities NOW, and the things of matter, though present, are transient. The moment you see yourself as separated and wander into the limitations of the thought world of separated independence, you are subject to the laws of fear: fear for your life, fear of disease, fear of debt, fear of people. And all of these fears are backed up by plenty of evidence and tangible proof.

The one who is filled with fear sees the “ten thousand fall at your right hand,” and is so convinced of the reality and power of evil that he fails to notice those who pass through unscathed. When Jesus had His agony in the garden, He knew how to do this very thing. He immediately “went to the Father” and recognized His oneness with Him. The belief in a separate power disintegrated, and the manifestation of evil vanished.

The enemy comes at you in one of many ways. Evil begins to become sure of itself because of your acceptance, but when the renewed awareness of this union of you with Christ takes place, the blinding, exposing light causes evil to flee.

This sudden appropriation of oneness is accompanied by the realization of how to eliminate the object of, or the belief in, fear. The Israelites had different “cities of refuge” into which they could run for every differing degree of fear. We have the same God. This “running” into God is not as symbolic as it appears. It is an actual fusing of you with Christ within you, and from that moment YOU are a majority, and you will know the powerlessness of the fear belief.

The Life of God through Christ is flowing through you and finding expression by the spiritually extended senses. And that is sufficient to illuminate any darkened condition. The Philistines built up a great monster in Goliath - even as you and I have done at times - and Israel’s army gave him so much power in their minds that the fear of total destruction came upon them. But there was a way of escape. David and his five pebbles brought the monster down. You, with your five senses extended into their spiritual capacity, are more than a perfect match for any giant of fear that can confront you.

The thing that you fear in your mind is sure to injure you, one way or another. It may never have an embodiment in material things; it may be a devastating, unseen fear which never comes to actual manifestation, but it is just as powerful and has “come to injure you” just as definitely as if it had a body and menaced your life.

Jesus comes to dwell in a Christian with the invitation to escape instantly the dire evil of human FEAR. You can and will learn to run into His arms and the fury of the human fear thought will calm as did the waves on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus commanded them.

“It is I, don’t be afraid!” You begin to see this “I” standing in the midst of the evil situation, and this very recognition dissolves the thought- image or mask which has been hiding it from your view.

Our purpose in this Christian life is to grow finally to the point which is so full of the acceptance of Christ that it can and does say, “Even if You slay me, yet I will say You are God” - and the last stand is taken. Even if You allow me to die - yet will I acknowledge this One and Only Power.

At first, in the Christian walk, this may seem a little confused, and you will find little there. You have “come out from among them.” You begin pushing out the “borders of your tent” farther and farther - daring to take more and more of the awareness of Christ in you, and accepting it as natural and real and true. This builds into a recognition of the presence of God, YOUR Father, YOUR Dad, here, there and everywhere. And if God, YOUR Father, YOUR Dad, is for you, “who can be against you?”

Separated from God in soul or spirit, you are naked and afraid, and you try to hide from Him (but can find no place where He is not). And this Christian recognition of Christ as here and now present within is enough to untie the knottiest human law that was ever conceived. All this by “a way you know not of,” and can never find out, because in every instance, it comes by way of a different manifestation. You will cease to speculate or wonder HOW this removal of the fear of evil can take place - that is no concern of yours. Suffice it to say that it will take place in one of those natural ways which are so mystifying to the human thought that it flees from the brightness of His coming.”

At long last you will arrive at: “I CAUSED MY OWN FEAR BECAUSE I
TEMPORARILY BELIEVED I WAS SOMETHING SEPARATE FROM GOD. I TEMPORARILY BELIEVED THAT I HAD A LIFE WHICH WAS DISCONNECTED, BUT WHICH COULD BE MOMENTARILY JOINED WITH HIM THROUGH AFFIRMATIONS OR PRAYERS.”

The complete identification of Christ as your life, living and thinking through you, and really, as you, is only temporarily obscured when you persist in looking at the waves and the snakes lapping and crawling at your feet, instead of seeing things and people through His eyes.

The truth is that the Christian is forever in union with Jesus Christ, in union with His Life within, and all that is necessary to remove human fear is to BRING THAT FACT BACK TO REMEMBRANCE.

There is a quick and sudden change of outlook when the Lord is recognized as being IN the terrifying situation that confronts you. If this be terrorism in your home town, He is there awaiting awareness. If this be an incurable disease, He is there awaiting awareness. True, He may apparently be covered over with an avalanche of human beliefs. But all this covering is nothing but so much mist to the brightness of His coming. And at this awareness “coming”, the mist is absorbed like water poured on hot desert sands.

“I am with you” ALL WAYS, as well as ALWAYS - you have this instant answer with you and really within you. It is constantly there, awaiting recognition. Nothing is too small, nothing too great to call out “Christ is with me because He is IN me!”

Finally, as you accept the awareness of the Power to remove fear, you will understand the Love divine that is a part of you - the Love of this Father God who is everything to you, His child. This is a Dad who is instantly available and ready to neutralize all your ills and FEARS. The deep love and sacred commitment in this divine Family lifts you above mortal FEAR.

This is the perfect “Love that casts out FEAR,” and is recognized as unconditional and automatic. It is this love, therefore, that you can bring to another in the throes of some terrible panic or fear. This love can cover him just as Christ covers you like the soft feathers of protecting wings.

The world today may seem harsh and dangerous. We see around us many evils of human design that can cause our minds to be fearful. BUT THAT FEAR IS NOT THE DESIGNED LIFESTYLE OF A CHILD OF GOD.

Yes, Roosevelt was right! What have you to fear after you know Jesus Christ?
He is with you now. He is IN you now. “I am with you always.”
And the laws of sin, sickness, death, evil and FEAR are no longer potent.

Does God Choose Our President?

Since God is sovereign, does he make the ultimate decision in determining who will be the president, prime minister, or king/queen of a particular country, state, etc? Or, do humans play a part in choosing their supreme human leader?

There are some theologians and Christian thinkers - not to mention major streams of Christianity - that give one the idea that humans are more like robots, with God at the "master controls." In such settings the word "sovereign" is given great emphasis and repeated often - in those settings one may listen in vain for the idea of choice and free will. The Bible is quite clear that humans have choice. We humans are not like those remote controlled cars or boats that we can operate by battery power, with a device that sends a radio signal to them, determining which direction they will go. God has created humans with the opportunity and responsibility to make choices, to be themselves.

God is not a puppet master pulling our strings while we dance on his stage. Musically, we could say that God has given each of us the ability to play an instrument, to make the music of our lives, as it were. But, extending this metaphor, while he gifts us with the ability to make music, he doesn't insist on the exact genre and kind of music we play. He doesn't sit each and every one of us down on the stage, as a part of a symphony, insisting that we play every note of the score he has written. Rather he allows us to improvise - perhaps the music we make of our lives, with all of its decisions, is a little more like jazz than carefully orchestrated symphonies. At the same time, working with this metaphor, if we accept Christ, we will be in harmony, in tune, with the music that Jesus makes.

The fact of human choice by no means diminishes God's sovereignty. God is sovereign in that he works within the world of variables that he has given us, which is still a world of limitations (time and space), so that his will and his purposes still are fulfilled. I believe God moves within history, as humans make decisions, rather than insisting on history marching forward in lockstep fashion.

That means, among other things, that God will at times determine the precise person he wants to fulfill political or religious leadership. That certainly happened biblically - Cyrus being an excellent example. But on the other hand, it also means that God is not directly involved in determining the outcome of every election - from dogcatcher, mayor, senator, to prime minister and president. There are many times when humans receive the kind of leader they want (biblical example -first king of Israel - Saul).

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"This Is a Football!"

It’s that time again – football season is here! You can’t miss it even if you try. There will be high school games on Friday night, college games on Saturday and NFL games all day Sunday, Monday nights and occasionally other nights.

Critics of football note that football is as close to religion as some folks ever get. Critics of religion (like me) can only say “thank God” for that. Let’s get close to God, but lets’ get as far away from religion as possible.

The legendary coach Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers is said to have given a “THIS is a football” lecture to his team at the beginning of every season – and sometimes after a humiliating loss.

The lecture would begin with self-evident, elementary information – fundamentals so obvious new players not yet aware of Lombardi’s philosophy initially felt bewildered and even patronized. Holding up a football Lombardi would begin by saying. “THIS is a football.”

The lecture continued with the basics, as Lombardi told his team about the ways in which a football should be held, advanced down the field via a run or pass – and the way in which a football can be kicked, fumbled, intercepted and taken away.

At times he took the entire team to the field and walked them around the familiar territory – patiently rehearsing the dimensions of the field, the rules and how the game is played. Even rookies don’t like to wade through the fundamentals, and for veterans, well, elementary lectures can seem insulting and demeaning.

Lombardi’s principle holds true throughout many facets of life, including what it means to be a Christian. As “seasoned Christians” we are tempted to bypass the basics and fundamentals so that the game might begin.

But it’s the fundamentals and basics that determine whether the game is won or lost. Religious people can get excited about all kinds of games that are played within Christianity. Their cry – “let the games begin!”.

The “games” include:
* Promises of health and wealth in return for obedience to specific religious regulation, rites and rituals.
* Prophetic speculations about end times events and when they will happen.
* Crusading and forming picket lines against abortion doctors.
* Healing Crusades.
* Pay at least 10 percent of your income to a church or ministry.
* Refrain from eating certain foods or drinking certain beverages.
* Keep and observe certain days as holy, and make sure not to keep and observe other days that less enlightened souls keep and observe.
* Have all your doctrinal ducks line up, so that you are assured of having pure, unadulterated information and knowledge.

If you were asked to coach a group of Christians the way Vince Lombardi coached his football teams, where would you start? How would you begin your “THIS is a football” lecture to Christians?

I think “THIS is Jesus” is the place to begin. My “THIS is Jesus” discussion includes basic issues like God’s love and our relationship with Him based on and in His grace.

The core of “THIS is Jesus” is all about Jesus coming to live right within the new Christian (Galatians 2:20) in a relationship of union which will last forever. He is there right within you for the good times and the bad – when you do things good or bad. The Christian life becomes a daily transforming life that the risen Lord lives right within those who have trusted in and surrendered to Him.

“THIS is Jesus” includes the significance of the cross of Christ and His resurrection and walking by faith, not by sight. “THIS is Jesus” is all about the absolute centrality of Jesus Christ in our lives.

You can’t play football without a football. You can get dressed up in a football uniform (or a religious uniform). You can do what you’ve been told is the right stuff at the right time in the right place – but if you don’t have a football, then you’re not playing football.

The same principles apply to Christianity. The legendary Christian “coach” named Paul said that without the constant recognition of Jesus living in you, all the religious stuff in the world is “dung” (Philippians 3:8, King James version). Paul knew what religious legalism looked like and smelled like – and he also knew Jesus in him. If you don’t have Jesus living in you, you don’t have anything. And if you are a Christian and DO have Jesus living in you but don’t recognize His union, then all you have is religion.

For my money, one of the best “THIS is Jesus” talks is recorded in Philippians 3:1-11. It’s basic stuff, and it needs to be reviewed regularly.

I don’t mind repeating what I have written in earlier letters, and I hope you don’t mind hearing it again. Better safe than sorry – so here goes.
Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they’re interested in is appearances – knife-happy circumcisers, I call them. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it – even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting Christians; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.
The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash – along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant – dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by Him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ – God’s righteousness.
I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience His resurrection power, be a partner in His suffering, and go all the way with Him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.
Philippians 3:1-11 (The Message Bible)

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Pascal's Wager

The seventeenth-century Christian thinker Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) came up with a provocative and controversial approach to shake people from their diversions. In his “Wager” argument, Pascal developed a line of practical reasoning with the very purpose of challenging anyone seemingly unconcerned with the perplexing issues of life.

An accomplished scholar in many fields, Pascal is probably best known for his presentation of the Wager. This argument appeals more to prudent and materially existent considerations of the human will than to reason per se.

What is the “Wager”?

Pascal designed the Wager for his skeptical friends who remained simultaneously unconvinced by the claims of atheism and of Christianity. He said that the uncertainties and risks inherent in the human predicament force individuals to make up their minds about God’s existence, and that the truthfulness of God and Christianity cannot be decided by an appeal to reason alone. Therefore people must make a prudent wager about whether God does or does not exist. You can’t get away from it - you must make a bet.

Pascal suggests only two possible choices or bets: 1) Belief in God and the making of a religious commitment (he speaks, of course, about commitment to the Christian God). Two possible outcomes can result from this choice: A person’s belief can be correct or incorrect. If a person believes in God and He actually exists, then according to Pascal the believer stands to gain everything. The payoff, so to speak, for a correct wager would involve infinite gain (eternal life with God in heaven). On the other hand, if a person chooses faith and God does not actually exist, then the believer loses nothing. In terms of a cost-benefit analysis, the person who wagers on God has everything to gain and nothing to lose.

The second recourse is to wager against God by disbelieving in Him and refusing to make a religious commitment. Two possible outcomes can also result from this choice. A person’s disbelief can also be correct or incorrect. If an individual does not believe in God and God does not exist, then the unbeliever gains nothing. On the other hand, if a person does not believe in God but God does actually exist, then the unbeliever stands to lose everything. The loss for wagering incorrectly would involve an infinite loss (eternal exclusion from the life of God). In terms of a cost-benefit analysis, the person who wagers against God has nothing to gain and everything to lose.

In light of these two scenarios, Pascal asserts that the prudent wager is on God. Adopting Christianity over atheism is a judiciously rational decision.

How can we as Christians use Pascal’s wager in dealing with our atheistic or agnostic friends? First, present the wager as described above to them. When the logic of the argument sinks in to them, then present to them this prayer:

God – I don’t know for sure if you even exist. Maybe you do and maybe you don’t. But I see the logic of having belief in you – that I have everything to gain and nothing to lose by belief in you. So God, if you are there, stimulate my faith in you and give me the understanding of what you would have me do to gain life after death by going to heaven. I don’t want this life to be all there is.

This simple prayer is not a prayer that brings salvation, but it is a start toward belief in God which can be stimulated by the Holy Spirit toward an understanding of Jesus Christ’s role in salvation and the ultimate choice of faith to make Christ the Savior and Lord of their life.

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Voting

Every time we have a general election, like the one looming on the horizon, I kind of wonder, “How would Jesus vote? Or would He even bother?”

Some Christians believe that they should not only vote but be politically active. I recognize that perspective and respect those who hold it, but I still have reservations about “jumping on the bandwagon”.

As you probably know, it’s still difficult to convince some within American Christendom that it’s okay to vote for anyone or any cause that is not Republican. For many Christians, God must be a Republican.

Absolute affiliation and allegiance with any political party is out of character with our citizenship in heaven (Philippians 3:20). I believe that uncritical devotion to any political interest can be a fatal attraction that leads us away from Jesus into the clutches of the state.

People might ask you how you are going to vote. I don’t believe that we should answer how we are going to vote or even if we are going to vote.

Beyond that, I don’t think pastors, priests or ministry leaders should get involved in using their platforms to urge people about who or what they should vote for – or even whether they ought to, or ought not, vote in the first place. Know this: there is no New Testament teaching that directs Christians to attempt to influence or change political institutions.

I am thankful that I live in a country where a separation between church and state exists. After all, the church needs to be protected from the state. Some Christians will hear me say that and nod their approval. But then I have to add that this safeguard goes both ways.

The other side of that safeguard is that the civil government needs to be protected from the church. Religious fundamentalism and extremism in our world today presents a contemporary, compelling and chilling example of what can happen when such checks and balances do not exist. I believe the church – the body of Christ – best functions in its culture as a believing minority, rather than a moral majority. Christians are described within the pages of the New Testament as pilgrims, strangers, resident aliens and ambassadors, rather than wheeling and dealing political power brokers.

Just as I believe that Christians may attend a variety of Christ-centered, grace-based churches – or even, at times, choose not to attend any institutionalized church – I believe Christians may be brothers and sisters in Christ and cast their ballots in completely different ways. Beyond that I believe that Christians may determine for perfectly valid reasons not to vote at all.

As a Christian, I have no duty to force the culture in which I reside to live as a Christian society. On the other hand, I do have a calling to live out the life of Jesus in such a way that His love for all mankind is known in and through my life. This is in marked contrast to the reality present within some of Christianity where abrasiveness and in-your-face political dogmatism is seen as a litmus test of church membership. My liberty in Christ means that I afford liberty to others when their political opinions and convictions conflict with mine.

I don’t belong to a political party. I am an independent voter. When I vote I vote for the cause or the person, not the party with which they are affiliated. If I vote I vote for issues and individuals in spite of their connection with a political organization.

Democrat or Republican?

As a Christian, I am not a Democrat because…
* I don’t agree with many of the moral issues they support and endorse.
* It seems to me that many Democrats tend to value sex over marriage and career over family.
* I don’t think we need more government, I don’t think we need to spend more money – I think we need to use the money we have more wisely (but then the Republican party doesn’t seem to do such a great job in this area either).
* I am opposed to the self-righteousness of some Democrats who give me the impression that I should vote for a candidate simply because of their gender or race, regardless of their beliefs and convictions.

As a Christian, I admire the Democratic party for its…
* historic decisions to support civil rights, in particular to champion the cause of ending tacit government support of racism.
* Looking out for the underdog and the little guy, the working man and woman, the parentless and the poor. Unless I completely miss what Jesus is all about, these are core, Christ-centered issues (although, let’s be honest, these issues are not usually supported by the Democratic party for Christ-centered reasons).

As a Christian (and some will say, “How could you, as a Christian, say anything bad bout the Republican party?”), I am not a Republican because…
* Republicans seem to love the fetus but that same zeal and love for life seems to terminate at birth – what about the little ones who actually have been born and are in desperate straits?
* Republicans seem to bang the drums about certain moral value issues but remaining strangely silent about others. I do wonder if certain legislation is the price this party will pay to attract the “Christian vote” while having no commitment to other Christ-centered issues.
* Republicans seem to favor policies that help the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Compassion is not a word that immediately springs to mind when I hear the word “Republican” – but again, this critique generally applies to politics at large.
* I am concerned that Republican policies seem to care little about the environment. My mother taught me to clean up after myself and leave places I visited or used in as good or better condition than I had found them. I believe God would have us feel much the same about the creation He has allowed us to use. It’s His good earth, not ours.

As a Christian, I admire the Republican party for its…
* Support of the family and home and many of the values in which I as a Christian believe. However, that fact alone doesn’t turn me into a flag waving, drum beating Republican. I do not believe that Christian moral values are produced by political parties – Christian moral values are produced by Jesus. Atheists can be extremely moral people. The fact that good, moral atheists exist doesn’t mean I automatically support atheists and their platforms.
* Strong and unrelenting stand against crime and aggression, foreign and domestic.

How would Jesus vote? I don’t know. Would He vote? I don’t know.

If He determined to vote, I believe that by God’s grace I have a better sense of how He would vote than I did years ago (after all, since I have now reached the age when I can take advantage of some senior citizens discounts, I have to console myself that I must have gained some wisdom and insight along the way!).

My geezer-wisdom tells me that Jesus would probably tell us about voting:
“Treasure your freedom and choice to decide whether to vote, and, if you vote, exactly what decisions you will make. Thank God that there are still people around this world who are given the right to think for themselves. Avoid those who would manipulate you (even from pulpits). If you decide to vote, pray about the votes you intend to cast. And give others, even and especially within the body of Christ, respect as a fellow child of God when they differ with you. And remember this: My Father is in control behind the scenes of all politics."

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Forgiveness and God's Grace

The Bible does say "forgive, and you will be forgiven" (Luke 6:37-38) and "forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12). However, these teachings are commonly misunderstood as causal statements - "if/then" statements. What these statements emphatically do not teach is that God's forgiveness depends on our forgiveness of others.

If God only forgives us as and when we forgive others, then we are earning God's love, mercy and forgiveness - a conclusion which is antithetical to the gospel. We are not in a position to earn any of God's free gifts - we can not cause him to act in our favor because of some meritorious action we perform. Further, if we can only "expect" God to forgive us if and when we forgive others, then we will never be completely forgiven by God.

These two statements (in Matthew and Luke) are not suggesting that our forgiveness of others earns us God's forgiveness, but rather that our acts of forgiveness are evidence that we have been forgiven. The grammatical construction of these two verses should be as follows: “Forgive, since you have been forgiven” (Luke 6:37-38), and “as you have forgiven us our debts, we should also forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). One cannot truly forgive others unless and until one has completely accepted God's forgiveness. We may truly forgive others because we are forgiven. That's not to say that "lower levels" of forgiveness (a human level of forgiveness) can’t take place apart from God's forgiveness in our lives - but the ultimate forgiveness we are enabled to pass on to others, God's forgiveness, is attributed only to him. We cannot truly give unless it has been given to us - we cannot truly forgive unless we have been forgiven.

There is another misconception some Christians have of forgiveness. God allows for us to separate the act of forgiveness from further actions we take. That is, we are able, by God's grace, to forgive someone while at the same time discontinuing our relationship with them. Christian forgiveness does not mean that we must subject ourselves to the same situation that led to the grief and pain in the first place. If, for example, a wife has been battered by her husband, and he seeks forgiveness - she may, by God's grace, eventually completely forgive him - but that forgiveness does not include returning to live with him. She may determine that her husband simply cannot behave in any other manner, and at this stage, apart from God's intervention which her husband may or may not accept, he is an abusive person. God does not expect us to return to abusive situations - the scene of the crime, as it were.

We must always remember that nothing we do can earn us God’s forgiveness and love. We gain salvation by a choice to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. There is nothing we do physically to earn salvation. Our “good deeds” don’t count at all. Likewise, there is nothing we MUST do in the act of forgiving another person in order for God to forgive us. Rather, we can only really forgive another BECAUSE God has freely forgiven us.

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The Narrow Gate

Matthew 7:13-14 is so often preached from the perspective of how hard it is to obey God and keep his laws. How does this apply in light of the grace of God?

Matthew 7:13-14 is one of those passages that seem to me to regularly be preached to mean something altogether different than the meaning that God intends. In fact, it may make my list of the top 25 most misunderstood and often misapplied passages in the entire Bible. This passage begins with Jesus' admonition to "enter through the narrow gate." However, as preachers and students of the Bible read these words it seems to me that many take their own feelings about what constitutes a difficult and narrow gate - and a wide gate and a broad road - and apply them to what Jesus is teaching.

We take our physical world, and the constraints that we experience and assume, "well, Jesus must be talking about how difficult it is to truly obey commandments and do the right thing. After all," we conclude (encouraged by religion), "look at the world. Just look at it. All those people just doing whatever they want whenever they want - they're on the broad road that leads to destruction."

But in this chapter Jesus is talking about misunderstandings that we have of God - and how we worship him - and how we treat (and mistreat) others - while thinking we are doing what God wants. For example, it is in the context of the entire chapter that Jesus gives the statements in vs. 21-23 - "not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven."
What really is the hardest thing for any human to do? To keep rules and regulations? To walk a "straight and narrow" religious walk? Or is the hardest thing for any human to truly trust in God? I believe it is easier to do "all the right things" and have all of our performance ducks lined up - than it is to truly accept God's grace. Accepting God's grace means that we surrender any and all attempts to control our life, and put our complete and total faith and trust in God's hands. Accepting God's grace means giving up any and all religious attempts to manipulate God, attempting to get him to do what we want him to do. That, in my mind, is far more difficult than trying to toe some religious line.

I believe the narrow gate is represented by those who truly do accept Jesus - those who embrace grace without reservation. I believe the broad road (again - remember that Jesus was talking in this chapter about those who were essentially trying to do the "right" things - not blatantly immoral and libertine folks) is about those are hurtling down a religious freeway, blissfully unaware that the only relationship they truly know and understand is with religion, not with God.

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An Analogy of the Trinity of God

The doctrinal cornerstone of the Trinity which we can neither adequately picture nor explain has proved a stumbling block throughout the ages to many people’s belief in the God of the Bible. The inability to form a mental picture or to develop a complete explanation has caused many to wrongly conclude that the doctrine is contradictory or, at best, logically and rationally incoherent.

Jews reject the Trinity as a violation of God’s oneness. Muslims mock its “mathematical absurdity” as proof that their beliefs make much more sense than do those of Christians. Daniel Webster received public ridicule for his acceptance of it: “How can a man of your mental caliber believe that three equals one?”

More than 500 Scripture verses, Old and New Testament, refer to God as both singular and plural. We can somewhat picture an analogy for the Trinity of God with some characters we design on a computer screen. These screen people occupy only the two dimensions of the computer’s screen, while we reside in three. And for the sake of analogy, we can pretend they are able to physically think, feel, and know.

We can try to imagine what would happen if we brought one of our three-dimensional hands into contact with the two-dimensional computer screen people. If we were to touch their plane with the very tip of one finger, they would see us as a single point, a point that can, as the finger touches and withdraws from the plane, appear and disappear at any time. If we were to touch their plane with the bottom side of an extended finger, they would see us as a line. If instead of a finger extended straight out, we were to touch their plane with the bottom side of a curled up finger, they would see us as a curled line.

If the screen were not a solid barrier to us, we could push a finger perpendicular into their plane and this time the screen people would see us as a small, slightly irregular circle. If we were to push it deeper, they would observe us as an enlarging irregular circle. If our finger were to penetrate their plane at some other angel than the perpendicular, they would now see an elongated ellipse which would enlarge depending on the degree of penetration.

So from the screen people’s perspective, the finger could appear at different times as a point, a straight line, a curved line, a small irregular circle, a larger irregular circle, an elongated ellipse of variable size, or not even appear at all. They could easily conclude that the same finger is six or more different entities, each manifesting some distinct characteristics. They might never discern that the six-plus manifestations were all governed by one entity and one source of operation.

The analogy illustrates at least to some degree how we can misunderstand God’s contact with our world. Because He manifests Himself to the human race at different times and in different ways, we may conclude that God is not one but several deities or that He is one totally changeable, unpredictable, and undefinable deity.

Let’s take this illustration of the screen people and the human hand further. Suppose we penetrated the screen plane with two, three, or more fingers, and each of these would enter at a slightly different angle from the others. We could bend our pointer finger so that the fingertip just touches making a small dot, while at the same time our thumb passes into the plane sideways making an elongated ellipse, and our middle finger passes straight through the plane perpendicularly making an irregular circle. If we move these fingers, they may appear to the screen people to be functioning in complete independence of each other.

What the screen people could not see, nor even comprehend, is how the various circles and ellipses can be united into the closed surface, that is the skin, that encloses a body (or even a part of it, the hand).

The reverse difficulty could just as easily occur. If we were to pass our fist pressed tightly together through the plane right up to the wrist, the screen people would attest to the oneness of our hand while remaining ignorant of, and perhaps arguing against, the plurality manifest by our separate fingers.

Now what if the screen people became theologians. In response to the revelation of various cross-sections of our fingers, one group of screen people might become the equivalent of convinced polytheists, certain that multiple higher beings exist who can never be treated in any context as one.

In response to the revelation of the wrist cross-section, another group of screen people might become the equivalent of monotheists who insist that the one higher being can never, in any context, be two or more.

We can even imagine much debating among screen people who saw dots, lines, circles and ellipses, staying still or moving, appearing or disappearing. At some point one group might band together to found the Church of the Three Circles, while another group launches the Elliptical Society, another the Two Circle Fellowship, another the Science of Lines, and yet another the Church of the One True Ellipse.

The great irony of the disagreement about the higher being is that none of these groups and individuals has more than a tiny clue about who that being is and what that being can do.

What if one bold group of the screen people dared to acknowledge both the plural and singular manifestations of the higher being as possibly connected? Some of the smarted screen people may have studied our contacts closely enough to see that we first appeared as dots, but then the dots enlarged to form slightly irregular circles, which then flared out as the flat hand passed further and became one elongated sausage shape.

And what if some members of this screen group had received and read some electronic code from the person to whom the hand belongs. Based on their confidence that the code came from outside and spoke of possibilities beyond their screen life, this group might be willing to accept what they cannot picture, that a three-dimensional being does exist and can exist as a fourness and oneness simultaneously, continuously, and permanently. They could the draw up a Quadrinity doctrinal statement.

They would never, as part of the screen world, be able to picture these truths. But with some trust in the motivation of the higher being to make contact and explain him or herself truthfully (say through electronic messages), and perhaps by using their research in higher-dimensional math problems, they would have a justifiable faith in the fourness and at the same time oneness of this being from another dimension.

Even the best extra-dimensional analogies we humans could develop for Gods’ Trinity will fall short. We do not know the extent of God’s attributes, capacities, and extra-dimensionality. Though we certainly can expose more of God’s threeness and oneness to human comprehension, ultimately there are limits to what we can discover.


The intent of this analogy of our hand visiting screenland is to stimulate our thinking about God’s powers and attributes, including His triunity, from an extra-dimensional perspective. With the mind God has given us, we can surely develop more and better analogies with which to build our own faith and spark the faith of others.

How many of us are willing to admit that our view of God extends just slightly above the earthly horizon? If we laughed at the Quadrinitarians’ gross underestimates of their God, what can we say for ourselves? We must certainly sweep away doubts about God’s capacity to manifest Himself as a Triune Being – a TRINITY!

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God's Nearness To Us

God’s nearness to us, His constant awareness of everything about us, is woven like a thread throughout the Bible. The reminders are pervasive, from Genesis to Revelation. Any message repeated so often must be important. And it must be one we will have some difficulty grasping.

To believe that God sees, knows, and understands everything about every human being; that He sees us individually, not as a generic group; that He stays closer to each one of us than we can stay to each other; that He sees our actions, hears our words, and knows our thoughts requires faith.

At times, it even seems we must simply take His word for it. And we do, but not always. Sometimes we forget. Sometimes we doubt. Sometimes we wish He were not scrutinizing our lives so closely, and then a moment later we fear that He has stopped seeing and hearing us – or worse yet stopped accepting us as we are, with all our foolishness and weakness.

God really is omnipresent. His omnipresence, of course, applies to ALL dimensions and realms, to those we live in (four space-time dimensions), and to those beyond what we can discover mathematically (ten space-time dimensions), and to those beyond what we could ever discover.

People say, “If I could just see God and have a human conversation with Him, I would believe!” We cannot help but think that the disciples had an easier time knowing Him, believing Him, understanding Him, trusting Him, and loving Him than we do. And when He said He was leaving, how on earth would they get along without Him? But Jesus promised He would not leave them to their own resources. By their choice of faith, the Holy Spirit (and Jesus Himself as Paul later teaches) would come to live in them. They didn’t understand how. But they couldn’t.

We can somewhat picture in our mind’s eye the kind of relationship we could develop with some characters we design on a computer screen. These screen people occupy only the two dimensions of the computer’s screen, while we reside in three. Given the right software, we could give them color and animation, and we could create splendid scenes for them to move around in, all the while sending electronic signals to let them know of our presence. In reality, of course, these two-dimensional beings would not possess the capacity to think, feel, and know anything in a physical sense like we do because atoms, molecules, brains, nerves, and so on require three large space dimensions. But, for the sake of the analogy, we can pretend they are able to physically think, feel, and know.

As their designers, we know everything about them. Whatever capacities they possess, we gave them. If we enable them to move about the screen, we know the possibilities and the limits of their mobility. Whether they come to recognize the fact or not, their existence depends entirely on us. They have not control over the power supply, the “on” switch, that keeps electricity flowing into the system that is their universe.

We can imagine the difficulty that Mr. and Mrs. Screen would have in comprehending us and relating to us. Could they be certain of our existence? Perhaps reasonably so, if they came to recognize their incapacity to create themselves or anything else in their screen environment, and if they discern that their power source is located outside their realm.

Could they perceive our three-dimensionality and how it compares with their two-dimensionality? Given adequate research, they may discover enough about themselves and their environment to recognize that a third dimension must exist for them to exist, but they will never fully comprehend what a difference that third dimension makes, nor will they be able to visualize more than two dimensions at a time.

A three-dimensional being (us) can approach their plane of the computer screen from the depth dimension and place a fingertip a hundredth of a millimeter from the body of either one of them. Despite this close proximity, Mr. and Mrs. Screen would be unable to detect the fingertip’s presence, much less understand and describe its physical characteristics.

As close as these characters may come to each other on the screen, they will remain unable to detect certain things about themselves, characteristics that we can easily observe from our three-dimensional perspective. All they can perceive of one another are various lines. If they are round, they may figure out that their bodies are circular by carefully moving around one another, but they will not see each other’s circles as we who look on from outside the screen see them. We can program them to rebound off each other and to make a certain sound when they do, but they have only growing and shrinking lines to indicate movement.

We observe something else about the screen people that they can never see. We can see what is inside them. The details and workings of their interior body parts, for example, are fully exposed to us. The amount of information we have about them is at least an order of magnitude (at least a factor of ten times) greater than what any of them possesses.

In this simple analogy, just one dimension separates the screen people from us humans. And yet, the advantage of that one extra dimension suffices to explain how we could be closer to the screen people than they are to each other, fully comprehending them inside and out, while remaining invisible and untouchable to them.

God’s dimensional advantage over us goes far beyond this one-dimensional difference. He can operate in a number of more dimensions. His capacity to maintain close and comprehensive contact with us – despite our incapacity to experience Him physically through our space-bound dimensions – becomes a living reality.

In “The Matrix” movie trilogy, a human being enters into the cyberspace of a computer program and interacts with it. In our analogy, visiting Mr. and Mrs. Screen by entering their cyberspace would bridge the gap. And this is exactly what the Trinity of God did. One Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, came and entered into the human four dimensions (three of space and one of time). And who stayed outside the screen to handle the controls? The Father within the Trinity.

By entering the computer program of the universe, and becoming like the creatures within the program, Jesus was able to teach and demonstrate aspects of His greater dimensions, even though human understanding was limited.

Making sense of His nearness (in fact, His living right within us when we choose to accept Him as Savior and Lord) is more important than physically sensing His nearness. Pleasure and physical nearness are good, but the pleasures and nearness available to us in His extra dimensions go immeasurably beyond what we can think or imagine, as His written Word declares.

In one sense, God’s invisibility and untouchability keep our yearnings focused where they rightly belong, on the supernatural realm that awaits us. His written Word combines with evidences in this spectacular but limited physical realm to communicate that His desire and plan involve transporting us, at some future moment along our time line, across our dimensional barriers into His super-dimensional realm.

Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Screen CAN jump off the computer screen and enter our living room with us and be like us.

We cannot begin to picture it, except perhaps by analogy, but it does make sense.

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YOU Can't Live the Christian Life! Part Two

In Part One, I solidified the fact that only Christ in you can live your Christian life. Now what are the practical aspects of getting to know Christ in you personally so that you can trust him to live the Christian life for you?

Your mind wanders. You feel a sense of guilt when you get personal with Jesus in you. You also get sleepy. You don’t know what to talk to the Lord about. You get distracted. These are the present hindrances that you face in your prayer life. Is there a solution?

There are only two things that exist in our material realm that belong to and are native to the spiritual realm. One is the Scripture, which is God-breathed. The other is your spirit. Your spirit belongs to and is now part of the other realm – the spirit realm. Join these two elements together (your spirit and Scripture) and you have a key for dealing with these age old hindrances.

What I shall present to you is not the only way to enter into a meaningful fellowship with Christ within. It is simply A way. But we all need somewhere to begin, a starting point do we not?

You are about to enter into an ancient and greatly revered practice of the saints of all the centuries past, a heritage that has been passed down through two millennia of the Christian faith. You are about to turn Scripture into prayer.

Assignment One

Get alone. Get quiet. Calm your mind. Bask in the presence of Jesus within you for a time. Next, open your Bible to Psalm 23. Speak out loud, and TALK Psalm 23 to your Lord. Paraphrase or adapt something like this:
Lord Jesus, you are my Shepherd. You take care of me. You always have taken care of me. You are taking care of me now. You will take care of me in the future. I am a lamb. I was made for a shepherd. You are that Shepherd. And it is true, I have never wanted, and right now I have no real needs.

Take time to let this sink in. Then turn to Galatians 2:20 and adapt:
Jesus, I was crucified and died with you on the cross but now I live again with you living in me. And my life in the world is meant to be you living it for me and through me.

Take more time to let this sink in.

Maybe this is all your prayer life should consist of for many days. Do not read assignment two until you are very secure in assignment one.

Assignment Two

Assignment two is very similar to assignment one. There is one major difference, and that one difference makes all the difference in the world.

In assignment one, YOU were the entire center of everything that was prayed (see all the me’s and I’s). This is pretty typical of the vantage point of most of our praying, is it not?

Now you are about to go to a new approach, one you might never have taken before. You are going to step completely out of the prayer! Not once while proceeding on will you make a personal reference to yourself. This time you will be WATCHING the fellowship of the Father and the Son.

Your prayer from Psalm 23 might come out something like this:
Father, when Jesus was here on this earth, you were his Shepherd. He never had any needs. You met all his needs. You are all that Jesus has ever needed. Lord Jesus, while you lived here on earth, your Father was your rest. You rested in him. He replenished your soul. Your Father was your drink. He was your food. He was your full supply. Father, you are the righteousness of Jesus. You are his path. Jesus lived and moved in your righteousness. He followed you, and he glorified your name.

Notice that you are not part of the prayer. You just changed perspectives. Take time to let this new perspective sink in. Then continue with Galatians 2:20:
Jesus, you died on the cross by the will of the Father. The Father was in you before your death and the Father was in you again after your resurrection. The life that you led on this earth was always by the life of the Father within you. You lived by faith in the Father to direct his ways through you.

Again, nothing about you, only about Christ and the Father. Take time again to really acknowledge this new perspective in your relationship with Christ within you.

Assignment Three

You are going to reintroduce yourself back into the picture but only as a living union between you and Jesus. You are united with him. You can never be separated from him. The relationship is unique from anything known on this earth. But it is real and enduring – Christ/Bob; Christ/Mary; Christ/Joe; Christ/Jane.

Psalm 23 will probably come across something like this:
Father, you are the Shepherd of Christ/Bob – you take care of us in our union. We were made for a Shepherd. Father, by living your life in our union, we have never truly wanted and never will. Christ/Bob rests in you. You replenish the soul. You are our full supply. You are our path of righteousness. We, as a living union, will always glorify your name.

For as long as it takes, get settled in this concept of union with Jesus Christ. Think about you/him, you/him, in all that comes to your mind.

Galatians 2:20 becomes something like this:
Father, I know that Christ/Bob died on the cross but that this unique spiritual entity lives again – today, right now in the twenty-first century. And everything that we as a unit do in this world is done through the power of you, the Father, who continues to live his “Christian” life through us.

Assignment Four

Grow in this understanding. And what will you have gained in all this? You will have joined into the fellowship of the Godhead. You will be learning to differentiate between your spirit where Christ dwells in union, and your soulish emotions and will. You will have learned to love in this union of your spirit and the Spirit of Christ – to listen, to respond, to fellowship with him. And, hopefully, you will have learned (on more and more occasions) to absent yourself and simply enjoy the miracle of the Father’s “Christian life” living out from this union of Christ in you, as you, and through you.

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YOU Can't Live the Christian Life!

Did the following scene ever take place?

“My Son, we have lived together in realms of the etermals, in perfect fellowship. But now you are going to earth. Earth is fallen, its inhabitants are sinful. The true Christian life can be lived only in the pure realm of the spirituals, in a perfect spirit. You can no longer live by my life on planet earth. When you go through that door into that other fallen realm, all will change! Down there you will no longer live in the fellowship of the Godhead. No, you must learn another way to live. It is not as high as the way you have known with me here. No, the way you live on earth is called the lower way to live the Christian life! From now on you must study your Bible every day, you must pray every day, witness, fast, tithe, speak in tongues (?), and go to church. These are the means by which one lives the Christian life on planet earth.”

Do you think such a conversation ever took place? Certainly not. When the Lord Jesus came to earth, he did pray, he did fast, and he did witness. But these things were the outward expressions – the overflow of an internal experience.

The question we must now face is, “Did Jesus Christ change the way he lived the Christian life once he got to earth?” Was there a radical change in the ground rules, or did the way remain unchanged, passing from the spiritual realm to the physical realm?

Take a closer look at Jesus the Christian. It was from WITHIN that the Lord Jesus grew in spiritual awareness. He began sensing an indwelling Lord…his Father! God the Father was living in Jesus’ spirit. The spiritual realm was inside the man named Jesus Christ. He lived on this earth, but the supply of living the Christian life came from his spirit.

His way of living the Christian life was (1) to go to his Father’s life, located in his spirit, (2) to draw upon that life, and (3) to allow that life to express itself in this realm, through his soul and body. The engine had not changed. The means of living the Christian life had not changed. The engine of the Christian life was still his Father’s life…in Christ.

To this point we have seen only three Christians – the Trinity in the eternals before creation! Then one member of the Godhead came to earth exhibiting the outliving of the Christian life for us here on earth. The fellowship of the Godhead entered into a kind of “stage two.” And nothing changed from stage one to stage two, except the backdrop!

Did the following scene ever take place?

The Lord Jesus calls Simon Peter aside to talk to him privately. “Peter, I am about to return to the other realm. There are some things we need to get straight before I leave. When I lived in my Father before I came here, he and I had a unique relationship together. Then I came to earth. Nothing changed; the Father and I simply continued living out the same relationship we had experienced in eternity. My Father continued supplying me with all of his life source. I lived by his life. While here on earth, he lived in me. We fellowshiped together each day by means of his indwelling. Peter, you understand all of that was for ME. This is MY secret to living the Christian life. But, Peter, I want you to get this clear! All that was for me and is not for you! You are fallen. You, Peter, must live the Christian life by other means than I do. Do you understand this? None of this living by my Father’s life. None of this indwelling Lord. Certainly never think, that you will be invited to join in the fellowship between my Father and me.

“The secret to the Christian life for you, Peter? Well, you have to live the Christian life by you own efforts. First of all (and above everything else), you have to live a good life. Watch out how you behave and how you dress. Do good. Be nice. Next, stop sinning. That is the heart of all I came to accomplish, to stop people from sinning so much! When tempted, bow your neck and determine not to sin. Next, you have to pray. Pray hard and long…every day. The Christian life for you is grunt, grit, and gumption. Read your Bible. Spend lots and lots of time in the Bible. Memorize some verses.”

(Uh, excuse me Lord, I have a problem here. I cannot read. And what is a verse?”)

Is this what the Lord Jesus said to Peter? If it is, then we are all stuck with a second-class way to live the Christian life. True, every element in that formula has merit, but that formula has never, and never will, contain the primary ingredients of the secret to the Christian life. This second-class way to live the Christian life for us peasants calls for a great deal of human exertion and outward performance. The outward things become all important. Pleasing God, or trying to by outward displays!

Take you choice. Each of us must choose what will be our central concentration: an indwelling Lord or an objective, outward performance; fellowshipping with him or trying to make him happy by being good and doing lots of nice things. We really do not have nay other options. Speaking personally, I have tried both, and there is no comparison.

His closest followers chose the way of an indwelling Lord and fellowship with that Lord. For them it was no choice at all because they had never even heard of the other way. And no wonder. “Pray and read your Bible” as being the Christian life had not even been invented yet.

Do you think the following conversation ever took place?

Peter is speaking. “Now listen up, you three thousand. I am only going to say this once. There are two kinds of Christians: those of us who live the Christian life by the same means Jesus Christ lived the Christian life – and then there is YOU! We apostles are in on this first way. But you are second-class Christians. You do not get the same equipment the Lord Jesus had, or that we have. You are peasants. You are to struggle. Did you hear me? Grunt! Grit! Strain! Use your will, your best effort!

“We apostles got to see firsthand how Jesus lived the Christian life. But you did not. Remember that. That puts you in a lower class. We lived with him. He dwells within us just like the Father dwelt within him. There is no way to pass on to you what we have. So, here is your way to live the Christian life. Work hard at doing things to please God. Read your Bible. (We promise to get it written as soon as possible. You might even have a chance to own a copy by about 300AD if you’re still alive and have lots of money.) Fast, go to church, tithe, and a few other things I will tell you about later.”

Was the above formula imparted to the three thousand as the secret to the Christian life? And is this what is expected of all the rest of us Christians who will come after them? Are you cut off from the fellowship of the Godhead? Do we get an intimate touch with a divine Lord only at the moment of salvation?

Basically what these formulas are saying is: Become saved – that is a truly spiritual, other-realm profound internal experience. BUT after that the Christian life is all grit, groan, and grunt. This kind of Christian life is on about the same level as “how to live the Muslim life,” or “how to live the Hebrew life.” Where is that which is truly unique to the Christian? A living, indwelling Christ is the “something” we have that no other religion on earth can offer. In fact, other religions never dreamed of offering such a wonder.

Take any other starting point than an indwelling Lord and you will end up with something terribly off course, incredibly short of the mark, indescribably shallow, totally unworkable, and probably just a hair away from humanism. What you are apt to find s not much more than a bootstrap religion. The greatest day you will ever live is the day that God, by revelation, shows you that you CANNOT live the Christian life. Human beings are the wrong species for living the Christian life. Furthermore, if you become the right species by faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, you are still the wrong person. The Christian life is – always has been – and always will be, the exclusive territory of the living God. He ALONE lives the Christian life! And if this is really a fact, then there really is a lot of unlearning and relearning to be done.

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iDNA: The Next Generation of iPods?

iPods from Apple started out with about 8GB of memory. Now they are being marketed with a 160GB memory or more. And people are rapidly filling up even this large amount of information.

Data proliferation is a widespread concern as more and more information technology applications demand more compact data processing and storage circuitry. Some technologists think that DNA represent a possible solution to these issues. ONE GRAM OF THIS BIOMOLECULE CAN STORE AS MUCH INFORMATION AS 1 TRILLION COMPACT DISCS!

DNA can serve as a storage medium because, in essence, this molecule is an information-based system. In fact, DNA’s chief function is data storage – housing the information necessary to make all the proteins used by the cell.

The cell’s machinery forms the chains of DNA (which twirl around each other to form a double helix) by linking together four different nucleotides, abbreviated A, G. C. and T. The sequence of nucleotides in the DNA strands represents information. (For example, the nucleotide sequence that specifies the production of a single protein chain is called a gene.)

This information closely resembles the organization of human language. Think of nucleotides functioning as alphabet letters, genes like words, and so on.

One recent study conducted by a team from Japan demonstrated that the genome (entire genetic makeup) of a living organism (the bacterium, Bacillus subtilis) could be used to maintain data. When stored within an organism’s genome, data exists in a more robust format than when housed in magnetic media and silicon chips. These two nonliving systems can be readily destroyed and their contents lost without constant maintenance. In contrast, living organisms can reproduce. As they do, the information stored in their genomes will be passed on to the next generation. This inheritance makes it possible to maintain information over extensive periods of time, perhaps up to hundreds of thousands of years.

The Japanese researchers treated sequences of nucleotides as strings of data. Using combinations of two nucleotides to represent the numbers of a hexadecimal system (4 squared =16) they employed DNA sequences to represent all the characters on a keyboard and, consequently, encoded a message within a DNA sequence. Using these representations, they were able to prepare a synthetic piece of DNA that contained the message: “E=mc squared 1905!”

The team then incorporated the laboratory-made DNA into the B. subtilis genome in multiple locations. This redundancy insured that mutations to the genome would not degrade or destroy the message. The repeated sequences also allowed them to recover the message in a fairly straightforward manner. The scientists showed that the message could be readily retrieved by sequencing the organism’s genome and performing multiple alignments of the sequence. Since the message was encoded within the genome multiple times, it can be easily distinguished from the “noninformation” within the genome.

Practical applications for DNA storage remains for the future. But, as this study illustrates, the advances needed to develop this technology are happening at a fast pace. And the payoffs could be huge.

In the meantime, the use of DNA as a digital storage medium carries more immediate significance – not technological, however, but theological.

DNA data storage makes it clear that biochemical information is truly information. And information serves as a potent marker for intelligent design. Human experience consistently teaches that information emanates from intelligence. Messages come from a mind. Information, in whatever form it takes, is not limited to communicating ideas, needs, and desires between human minds. Information is passed WITHIN living cells, and the information content of DNA makes it rational to believe that life must have come from an intelligent agent, a Creator.

It also makes it realistic for me to hope for a really juiced up iPod in the not-so-distant future.

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Who Were the Heretics? Part Two

I have covered church history up to the Protestant Reformation in part one (to review click here.) We now come to the early reformers.

John Wycliffe can probably be considered the first reformer of the reformation era. He lived in the 14th century. He attended Oxford and his scholastic eminence was such that he probably had no equal in the England of his day. The most important aspect of Wycliffe’s teaching was that interpretation of Scripture is not the sole prerogative of any man or organization; the meaning of Scripture is made clear by the Holy Spirit to those who are enlightened of Christ and approach God’s Word in a spirit of humility and teachableness. When he gave the Bible to the English people in their own tongue, he was laying the foundation for the emergence once more of the church of apostolic times. For this he was declared a “heretic”.

William Tyndale lived in Henry VIII’s England of the 16th century and was declared a “heretic” by both the church of England and the Roman church for his accentuation of Bible reading by the “laity” and denunciation of clergy practices.

Martin Luther was the best known of the reformers of the 16th century. He was an Augustinian monk of the Roman church who spoke out against many practices of the Roman church. He found in Paul’s Roman epistle that salvation was by faith alone. The Roman practice of selling indulgences, Luther said, can remit neither guilt nor divine punishment. He denied the final authority of the Pope. He was excommunicated by Rome.

The Lutheran Church which he established was a compromise between his Scriptural ideals and his earthly loyalties to some form of ecclesiastical authority. It developed into something far from the churches of the New Testament. His reformation theology became watered down by adherence to a clergy/laity system.

John Calvin arose in France parallel with Luther in Germany. He stressed that the teaching of the apostles had been obscured by the teaching of salvation through the sacraments of the Church. Salvation, he maintained, is not bay works, as the Roman church taught, but bly faith through which the life of Christ is appropriated by the believer. That a believer lives a life of righteousness is a proof that he has entered into a vital relationship with Christ who is the guide to the Christian’s daily walk,

We find coming into prominence in the first half of the 16th century, groups of Christians who formed a third and increasingly powerful stream of religious life, totally independent of Catholics and Protestants alike. Being free from political association, These groups of believers generally called themselves simply by the name of Christians or brethren, but administered baptism only to those who had chosen regeneration through faith in Christ, and were stigmatized by the name Anabaptists, meaning “those who baptized again”. This referred to the fact that the brethren did not recognize the baptism of children as valid, and baptized a second time those who came into an experience of salvation through faith. And, of course, Anabaptists were recognized in history as “heretics” by both Catholics and Protestants. They did not have any organized system of Christian congregations. The different assemblies came into being in different ways through the ministry of different people, but had the one common bond of spiritual life which all alike had received through faith in Christ – this being similar to the apostolic times of the Bible. Faith, if it means anything at all, means the reception of the indwelling Christ, and Christ dwelling in mortal bodies means holiness.

Puritans was the name given to those who had been influenced by the Reformed faith as it was practiced in Switzerland and in France they were called Hugenots. They claimed that the church should be run in accordance with New Testament pattern, and objected to anything which did not find Scriptural warrant such as vestments, and kneeling for the reception of the bread and the wine at the Lord’s table which they feared was akin to the Roman practice of adoring the elements. This was a heretical concept.

Many known as Independents said that a church consisted of a company of believers who are united through their relationship with Christ. Each congregation sets apart the officers through whom it should be governed and is completely independent, yet owning a vital, spiritual link with every other company of born again people. “Heretics” again.

The “Pilgrim Fathers” aboard the Mayflower coming to America in 1620 were a mixture of a newer development in the history of the Church, that of churches gathering on specific doctrinal ground. One of the most common threats to the supremacy of Christ in the assembly is loyalty to a man, a great and spiritual man he may be, but a man nevertheless who receives some at least of the submission and dependence which should be accorded directly to Christ.

In the 17th century, many were attracted by the preaching of George Fox, and meetings of the “Friends” or “Quakers” as they were called were begun in many places. In America, William Penn fully associated himself with them. Fox laid great stress upon the inward witness of the Spirit through which God speaks to man. Again, “heretics” to both Catholics and Protestants.

Within the Roman church there had long been people, called Mystics, whose yearning after communion with God had led them to develop a life of meditation and strict temperance. One of the best known of the Mystics of the late 17th and early 18th centuries was Madame Guyon. Although finally imprisoned by the king of France in the Bastille, her influence continued to spread beyond the walls of her awful dungeon. She was primarily concerned with personal fellowship with God and felt that the ecclesiastical gatherings under clergy had become a system of power control. Another “heretic”.

There was much denominationalism formed during the 18th and 19th centuries with leaders such as John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, Benjamin Newton, John Darby, George Muller – all looked on as “heretics” by the organizational church.

In conclusion, churches as they were in the times of the apostles have never ceased to exist, as we have seen, and wherever God works through the power of His unchangeable Word, people made partakers of the divine nature, anxious to obey the Word which has shed a flood of light into their souls, have gathered together and are gathering together as the disciples did in the Book of Acts.

The complexities of denominationalism and ecclesiastical authority have covered over the truth of what the Church was meant to be which is simply the unity of those who have received new life in Christ, not a unity determined by creeds, forms or ceremonies.

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The World Says, "Don't Just Stand There - Do Something!"

We like to think of ourselves as active participants in life, able to make our way in the world, in full control of our destiny. Our North American society paints the perfect person as a can-do individual who is filled with buoyant optimism and brimming with energy. This is, says our culture, a society in which you can make just about anything happen if you “set your mind to it.”

When it comes to dealing with the physical issues of life, there’s a lot of truth in our culture’s traditional, conventional axiom, “Don’t just STAND there – DO something!” However, there are times when no planning or hard work on our part (or anyone’s) can solve the crisis we may face.

* We find ourselves sitting next to a loved one, in a doctor’s office or later, in a hospital room, as they hear the news that they are in a life or death battle with a deadly disease. We wring our hands, it seems that there’s nothing we can DO. We realize that “all” we can do is pray. We say, “Okay, God, can you help me? I don’t think I can deal with this one.”

* We visit an aged parent in a care facility and attempt to engage them in conversation, but Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia has them in its grip, and the only response we receive is a blank stare. That blank stare of diminished capacity taunts us, “there’s nothing you can DO!”

* We talk with an adult child who is in the grip of a chemical addiction, and while they have been in recovery and detox programs, it seems that they can’t shake the influence and command the chemical has over their body. We think, “Was it something I did or failed to do when my child was growing up? Is their slavery to this chemical my fault?” At these times it seems like there’s nothing we can DO.

* There are times when we must deal with what the insurance industry calls “acts of God.” If you live in California, you feel like it’s just a matter of time until “The Big One.” If you live in Florida, or other states bordering the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic, you know that hurricane season may mean that your home is directly in the path of a destructive hurricane. If you live in the Midwest as I do, the same potential exists in tornado season. Acts of God make us think there is nothing we can DO.

A similar spiritual experience can take place, and will, if and when we embrace and accept God’s amazing grace. At first in our spiritual walk, much of Christianity attempts to persuade us that our relationship with God is up to us – that if regimented steps and instructions are followed then a desirable spiritual outcome will be realized.

We later come to realize that the control we once thought we had was just an illusion – a mirage in the desert. GOD’S GRACE TEACHES US THAT THE CONTROL OF OUR LIVES IS IN GOD’S HANDS. When it comes to our relationship with God, the worldly wisdom of “Don’t just stand there – DO something” becomes a convenient tool for religious authoritarianism to control us. When it comes to our relationship with God, we find eternal wisdom in the very opposite: DON’T JUST DO SOMETHING – STAND THERE!

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about our DOING. It is not a command for us to save ourselves – that we should “DO something” to extricate ourselves from our sinful ways, and somehow ingratiate ourselves, by our obedience, to God. The gospel is about what God DOES – what He has done, is doing and will do. DON’T JUST DO SOMETHING – STAND THERE!

As Christians we are in the same spiritual dilemma as the nation of Israel at the Exodus, with the mountains surrounding us, the sea in front of us and the army of Pharaoh pursuing us. We cannot save ourselves. Yes, we must walk forward in and with Him. But our decision to trust in Him and follow Him is not one and the same as saving ourselves. We cannot part the Red Seas of our lives. We must STAND in God’s grace. We must allow Him to do for us what we can never DO.

Before we can do anything of eternal consequence, or rather, before God can do anything of eternal consequence through us, we must STAND still long enough to 1) focus on Jesus, the Captain of our salvation, 2) receive His rest and grace and 3) enable God to transform us by a growing realization that Jesus lives right within us and He provides for us when we trust in Him.

When God says in His Word, “Be still and know that I am God!”, He is also saying, “DON’T JUST DO SOMETHING, STAND THERE!” And then you will see how God works in your life.

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Who Were the "Heretics"?

The Bible tells us that the Church of Jesus Christ is composed of those people who have chosen to accept Christ as Savior and Lord of their lives. This is very individually inclusive and is NOT denominationally exclusive. There are members of the Church throughout the ranks of every so-called denomination or non-denomination of Christianity.

With this in mind, let’s investigate the history of the Church down through the ages with an emphasis on who were the “heretics” described in Church history?

Early in the history of the Church (even starting within a century of the apostolic era), there began to take shape a form of the Church where hierarchy structure and ecclesiastic control was centered in a priesthood. This organizational Church became known as the “Catholic Church” or, with its leadership in Rome, the “Roman Catholic Church”.

Now, as I said, there have always been true believers and members of the Church of Jesus Christ in all sections of Christianity and this includes the Roman Catholic Church. But, even as described in the epistles of the Bible in the early churches, there have always been those who attempted control with unbiblical doctrine. And this Roman Catholic Church, although rising to great power, is an example of unbiblical doctrine.

Since the histories of the Church which have survived were largely written with a Roman Catholic slant, we see peoples who were called “heretics” and persecuted by the Catholic Church as enemies. In most cases, why were they called “heretics”? Because they opposed the hierarchy structure and unbiblical doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church.

Let me name a few down through the ages who were called “heretics” by the organizational Church.

In the 2nd century, there were the Montanists. As organization increased, and more and more authority was exercised by the bishops, there was a consequent emphasis upon the spiritual efficacy of rituals performed by the bishops, particularly the rituals of baptism and the eucharist. The Montanists rightly saw this as a danger posing a threat to the Church’s whole spiritual life. The Spirit’s working, they felt, was being replaced by dependence upon organization and ritual. They laid great emphasis on the place of the Holy Spirit among the people of God. This view was much needed because of the inordinate occupation with form, and dependence upon hierarchy which was paralyzing the individual relationship with Christ.

In the 3rd century, there were “heretics” called Novationists, Cathars, Puritans and Priscillianists. Although differences existed among them, a common thread was that they lived lives which even their enemies had to admit were beyond reproach, and who claimed that the spiritual origin of their communities went right back to the days of the apostles themselves.

In the 4th century, there were the “heretical” Culdees. The Culdees were Christians whose history went back to the earliest days of Christianity in Britain. They professed the Lordship of Christ alone, not that of any Church system, refused luxury and extravagant living, maintained themselves by honest work, and were zealous in the ministry of God’s Word.

Let us now go into greater depth with one particular community of so-called “heretics” who were known as the Paulicians. In the 7th century, there arose a community of Paulicians who, among themselves owning only the name of “Christians" or “Brethren”, stood out strongly against the idolatry, sacramentalism, and other prevailing errors of the Catholic Church. They appear on the historical scene in the region of Mesopotamia. Why they were named “Paulicians” is not exactly known, but it may simply have been because of their respect for the apostle Paul and his writings. The Catholic Church ascribed to them all sorts of erroneous doctrines, if we can believe those whose lives denied the truths they professed, for to them practical holiness was of little account.

It is a sad commentary on the perversity of man’s nature that a Churchly system could ever emerge calling itself the Church of Jesus Christ in which was practiced every conceivable type of unbiblical error, yet which believed itself supremely to enjoy the favor of a holy God because of an orthodox form of words and doctrines to which it gave lip assent, and utterly repudiated in daily living. This same Church scorned the manifestly holy lives of men and women who sought to order their ways in humble obedience to Christ through His Word, and branded them heretics.

Whatever opinions may beheld about the Paulicians, it is generally conceded that they had a particular respect for the authority of the Bible, advocated a life of simplicity, were a devout and earnest people, and bore a strong witness against the unsavory practices of the Catholic Church. They claimed simply that they were in the succession of those people who still held to the teaching of the apostles, and with every scriptural justification, they denied the right of the ecclesiastical systems of Christendom to control the workings of the Church of Christ.

In assessing the character of the Paulicians and other groups which have appeared down through the centuries, historians have tended too readily to accept uncritically what has been said and written against them by their enemies. The history of the Roman Church in its dealings with those who refused to bow to its dominion is a tale of violence and persecution. Not only did it seek to destroy the persons of those who opposed it, but also to bring the very memory of their names into ignominy by the most gross accusations, and to obliterate what they themselves wrote or anything written about them in their favor. It is hardly surprising therefore that much more literature survives which condemns than commends them.

The Paulicians accepted no central authority to rule over the scattered assemblies. The local churches looked to Christ as their Head, and they were built up and strengthened spiritually by teachers who moved from place to place to minister in their midst in a manner similar to that of Paul and others in New Testament times. Since different groups came into being through the ministry of different people, they no doubt differed somewhat one from another, both in form and in emphasis. Their spiritual unity lay in the life which they had in union with Christ, a life which manifested itself in their daily walk and witness. They owned a profound respect for the Word of God, which they accepted as their guide and basis of spiritual growth.

The Paulicians repudiated the practice of infant baptism but held that the Church has a responsibility to pray for the children of believers, and the elders to exhort parents to their solemn duty to bring them up in holiness to know the Lord and His Word. Baptism, they said, should be given only to those who requested it, as a testimony of their repentance and faith. This again was opposed to the false Catholic idea that baptism was the means of redemptive grace being bestowed. To the Paulicians it was a witness to a work that God had already accomplished.
The Paulicians attracted men and women who had a passionate devotion to Christ. In the few facts concerning them which have survived, we can see the simple order and holy life of the earliest churches. We find in their midst men of humility and apostolic spirit who poured out their lives in the proclamation of the truth and died rather than deny their Lord.

Going on, we see the Dark Ages from approximately the 8th to the 12th centuries.

In the 12th century we see the “heretical” Bogomils and Waldenses. The Bogomils, which means simply “friends of God”, were from the area of the Balkan peninsula. They were the subject of wild accusations by the hierarchy of the Roman Church. They were accused, naturally, of being heretics, and quite justifiably of denying much that was peculiar to Roman dogma, including the usefulness of the Church’s sacraments and orders. To Mary, they gave no special honor, nor to the figure of the cross or other relics; the Lord’s supper was not celebrated in the Catholic Church according to Scripture, they said, and her priesthood was corrupt.

The Waldenses got their name from Peter Waldo, a rich businessman of Lyon, France. But there is, in fact, no precise record of the origin of the Waldenses. They themselves traced their beginnings back to apostolic times, and claimed that the faith which they held had been passed down from father to son from the earliest ages of the Church’s existence. It may well be that these congregations were the spiritual progeny of Christians who fled northwards during the early Roman persecutions at the close of the apostolic era.

The Waldenses were characterized by their marked reverence for the Scriptures in which they found their rule of daily living and church order. Their congregations were, therefore, simple, void of the highly developed rituals and ordinances which marked the Catholic Church. THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST’S DWELLING WITHIN BY THE SPIRIT WAS TO THEM A TRUTH OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE.

Salvation was through faith, and the Roman Church had authority neither to open nor to close the door to God’s grace. Baptism was a testimony to faith in Christ, and the Lord’s supper was a remembrance of His sacrifice.

We now come to the era of the Protestant Reformation which began in the 14th century. We see men such as Wycliffe, Tyndale, Luther, Calvin who were declared “heretics” by the Catholic Church. I will continue “Who Were the Heretics?” from the Protestant Reformation at a later date.

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Historical Islam

In Old Testament times God not infrequently used heathen nations to judge the degeneracy of His own people. There are incidents in the history of the Church which may well be interpreted as a divine intervention to blot out that which had become a reproach to the name of Christ. By the seventh century, the organized, hierarchical Church had degenerated in its practices to the point that it was ripe for judgment. Did God use Islam to judge the Church?

Muhammad was born in Mecca in 571 of an elite family. In his youth he traveled with trading caravans along the main trade routes of the Arabian peninsula, and in Syria and Palestine had considerable contact with Jews and Christians. He was not impressed by his encounter with Christianity, mixed as it was with superstition and idolatry. A visionary, and one who was incensed by the degradations of the idolatrous polytheism of his own race, he embarked upon a life of reform. His efforts were spurred on by direct revelations which he claimed to receive from God and which were committed to writing to form the Qur’an.

Whatever may be said of Muhammad, and there can be no doubt as to the contradictions of his own character, he instigated on a social level a much needed reform among the Arabs of his day.

God, he said, was One, and he was His prophet. His fierce denunciations of idolatry and other blatant evils so stirred up opposition in Mecca that, with a company of his followers, he fled in 622 to Medina. From that year the Muslim era is dated, and indeed his flight, or “hijra” as it is called, proved to be the turning point of his career. By the time of his death in 632 practically the whole of Arabia lay at his feet.

Muhammad’s successors as Kaliphs took up the cause, and Islam spread with bewildering rapidity. Damascus fell to the Muslim forcers in 635, and then the great bastions of Christianity, Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria. Thousands of church buildings were destroyed or turned into mosques. The tide swept across North Africa practically obliterating Christianity. Few communities survived. Those who refused to deny Christ died, and of those who denied Him many served to sell the ranks of the Islamic forces. Across Spain and into France swept the apparently invincible tide, to be met at last by the determined forces of Charles Martel at Tours in 732. In one of the most important battles of all history, the invaders suffered a crushing defeat.

In less than a hundred years from Muhammad’s death, the dominion of Islam stretched from India to Spain, and its conquests were by no means over. That such a catastrophe should have overtaken the Church almost defies the imagination, yet it was not the spiritual movement of the Church that suffered near extermination, but the proud ecclesiastic hierarchy which claimed dominion over the souls of men and offered to sacraments and idols the reverence that was due to God alone.

ISLAM BEGAN AS A JUDGMENT UPON PAGAN IDOLATRY. IT GREW AS A JUDGMENT UPON CHRISTIAN IDOLATRY AS WELL.

So far had the Church departed from the teachings of Scripture, and so blatantly was idolatry practiced, that in 726 Leo III sought to deal with these abuses. He forbade that reverence be given to images and to pictures. This was strongly resisted by many, both common people and clerics. The dispute resulted in shameful violence on both sides, for neither had any appeal to spiritual motives.

Yes, just as God’s people, Israel, received judgment for their sins and disobedience from heathen nations like Assyria and Babylonia, it is highly probable that God used the uprising of Islam in judgment against the abuses that had developed within His Church.

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The Bondage of Religion

If you have ever visited a prison, you walk away realizing it's a horrible thing to be incarcerated. When you are locked up, you are a slave, you have no freedom. If you know anything about institutionalized incarceration you will also know that inmates learn to depend on and work the system. The system gives them security, it gives them a rhythm to their lives. They know exactly what they can do and not do. Their meals are given to them, the time for exercise is set, their work routines are assigned.

When and if they are released, many ex-convicts have trouble with freedom - they don't know what to do with it. Remember the nation of Israel, held as slaves in Egypt? God gave them their freedom, but many of them wanted to go back. They liked the security of someone giving them three square meals a day, even if it meant being in slavery.

Jesus came to set spiritual prisoners free. He came to make us free in Christ. He sets us free from religious bondage. Perhaps you have been spared from the experience of doing time in a dark spiritual dungeon. Perhaps the only face you have seen of corporate, institutionalized religion is bake sales, soup kitchens and church picnics on lazy, idyllic, long summer days. Maybe you have never been exposed to mind-numbing tirades about the burning coals of hell fire. Maybe you have not experienced religious authorities who prod and push you to give and give and give and do and do and do.

Maybe you haven't seen your life go up in smoke as you attempted to meet the rigorous demands of religious taskmasters who insisted on your endless, unceasing involvement in church activities, outreach projects, service "opportunities" and work parties until you had no time for your own family. Maybe you haven't experienced in your personal life, or that of your family or friends, the end result of religious legalism - people who are stuck in spiritual cages, without the Bread of Life, so that they slowly wither and die, spiritually.

If you haven't seen the harsh reality of religion, then you might think I am overstating the case. However, I assure you that religion is alive and well, and in some cases operating in the name of God, dishing up authoritarian oppression, deceiving via its propaganda, and making lives a living hell. Here are 12 basic ways to proclaim the gospel:

1) God's grace flows to us from Him, as an expression of who He is.

2) God is love - that is, love defines Him. He doesn't just have love as an attribute -- He IS love.

3) Jesus, He and He alone, is all we need. The cross of Christ is sufficient for our needs.

4) God's mercy, tenderness and compassion, particularly as revealed to us in the ministry of Jesus, reflects His absolute commitment to us.

5) The unity of God, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit may dwell in us - His love is the anchor and foundation of the unity we have in Him.

6) We are given a new commandment and a new covenant by the blood of Christ. We are not under any old covenant regulations. Even the ten commandments are not the basis of our relationship with God, though they may be emphasized by some Christians. The basis of our relationship with God, and His toward us, is love. Love is the key, it is the sign by which we are known as Jesus followers.

7) God's relationship with us, as produced in our lives, can be summarized as: faith alone, grace alone and Christ alone.

8) God's love for us is in-spite-of love, as contrasted with conditional love given to us by other humans, which is because-of love.

9) Because of Jesus, we rest in Him. We give Him our burdens. He bears our guilt and shame. We have peace, we enjoy God's presence, by and through Jesus.

10) Jesus has done for us what we can never do for ourselves - He paid a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.

11) Our relationship with God is not based on our merit. God is not, nor will He ever be, obligated to us because of our behavior. It is impossible for us to do something so good, so pure and holy to cause God to be compelled or required to pay us back. God is not, nor can He ever be, in debt to us.

12) God's grace is the act of receiving something we do not deserve, whereas His mercy is the spiritual reality that we fail to receive something we do deserve.

These twelve themes are simply ways in which we might explain and further understand God's amazing grace. God's grace is the reason the gospel is the gospel - good news. On the other hand, the fact that there is good news means that the flip side exists - there is such a thing as spiritual bad news. We need the good news because bad news exists. We are given freedom in Christ because of the reality of religious slavery and bondage. Therefore, you will hear the bad news spoken of in a variety of ways - here are six:

1) The word religion itself needs to be examined and defined. I define religion as any attempt on the part of human beings to improve or enhance their relationship with God on the basis of what they do and produce - their religious performance. Bad news religion is the enemy of God's grace. Religion, thus defined, is aligned against authentic Christianity.

2) Legalism is a virus that lurks within all of us, to some extent, and it particularly flourishes in religious settings. Religious settings provide a rich environment and fertile breeding ground for the growth and propagation of legalism. Like staph diseases in hospitals, legalism can be found in churches - this doesn't make hospitals or churches "bad" places - but it doesn't mean that either place, physically or spiritually, is the only way, or sometimes even the best way to be healed.

3) The book of James speaks of pure religion. That very reference demonstrates that there is a need to modify religion, for if there is such a thing as pure religion then surely impure religion exists. Impure religion is the flip side of God's grace and love. Impure religion is legalistic religion, the antithesis of freedom in Christ.

4) A number of adjectives are frequently used to help modify and define bad news religion - among them, oppressive religion, authoritarian religion, legalistic religion, corporate religion, institutionalized religion, rules-based religion, toxic religion, performance-based religion, and unhealthy religion. Thus let’s proclaim Christianity without the religion, religion-less Christianity.

5) Certain catch phrases are used to further define the tactics and methodologies of bad news religion - among them, a) the pills, potions, prescriptions of religion, and b) religious regimentations, rituals, restrictions and regulations.

6) Bad news religion condemns, manipulates, threatens and deceives. By contrast, "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).

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Gravitation and Trajectory

Kids like to experiment with the laws of physics, right? Well, I was no exception. I don’t remember exactly how old I was, but I was old enough to have an air rifle (affectionately known as a “bee-bee gun”) – probably about twelve years old.

I loved that gun. And I was pretty careful with it when I shot bee-bees. But one day I decided that I wanted to do more with my gun. I had the brilliant idea that the gun would probably shoot wooden matches. I tried it out by shooting matches against the brick wall of my home and discovered that the matches lit every time. Spectacular!

Then the devil whispered in my ear and gave me an idea. Here is the setting. My home was on a two-lane street and our front porch was relatively close to the street. The porch had a brick wall around it and if I hunkered down behind it, I was not at all visible from the street. Across the street there was a heavily traveled sidewalk because of a mom-and-pop grocery just down the block.

OK – have you got the devilish picture? I practiced at night shooting matches over the street aiming at the sidewalk on the other side. And I got darned good at hitting the sidewalk – here was my physics experiment with gravitation and trajectory.

So….I began hunkering down so as not to be seen and shooting matches near pedestrians on the opposite sidewalk. I loved to watch their reaction when the match lit up in front of them. They would jump back and look at it wondering what it was and whether it was safe to proceed. Then they would look around trying to find where it came from but, of course, I was well hidden.

I got away with this fun routine of shooting matches near pedestrians for a long time. I couldn’t get enough of it even though my giggling almost gave my location away at times.

Then it happened! One unfortunate soul was bombarded on his walk from the nearby grocery store and proceeded to drop his bag of groceries on the sidewalk with a resounding crash of glass. He was smarter than the rest and it didn’t take him long to figure out where it came from – and he stopped to do something about it. My heart sank as he charged across the street and up onto my porch. Evidence of my marksmanship was still plastered on the opposite sidewalk. He separated me from my gun and with a firm grip on my wrist knocked on our front door and had a short but meaningful conversation with my mother.

At the risk of sounding politically incorrect as well as having my parents misunderstood or misjudged, I received individual, timely, well placed, corporal punishment. In other words - it stung! I started to cry while I was still in therapy. And when my Dad heard about it, I received some more therapy which stung!

The notion that we can do as we please and not experience separation and pain from those we love has been around for a long time. An old lie is still a lie - and believing it still yields the same results. Distance from home only adds inertial weight to the mistake which finds its destructive mark. As children of our heavenly Father we have believed lies about Him that keep us running back to the porch and shooting matches because it is “fun”. Missing our mark in life (the literal meaning of the word “sin”) means attempting to make our own physics experiments in all the wrong places. As grownups, we try at times for the fun of “shooting our matches”. But God has reached farther than we can run. While we hope that the stupid things we've done won't come back to haunt us, we have each experienced enough of life to know that we reap what we sow. What goes up must come back down – or what lights up might cause groceries to fall.

But we were put here to grow up into children of God weren't we? Surely we all won’t become a permanent version of every stupid thing we've done! We're meant to see where we're headed and aim for plan and action which does our neighbor good instead of harm. The One who entered our life on this planet once for every man did so out of love for His creation and we are lifted to a higher calling and higher reward in Him. The One who came down for us was lifted back up with us in his arms. His discipline is always filled with hope and not hatred, diligence and not damnation. He knows the limits of our frame and our habitual weaknesses!

Thanks, Dad and Mom, for helping me realize that becoming good at hitting that sidewalk was really missing the mark. Thank you also for teaching me that what happened in our savior's life, death and resurrection eclipses anything we could mess up across the street, or anywhere else.

Real dads love forever.

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Saying Grace Graciously

I have been thinking about how we “ask a blessing” at mealtime. I learned it as a child: “Bless us O Lord and these thy gifts which we are about to receive through thy bounty in Christ our Lord, Amen.”

In light of all the health problems, even among Christians, maybe we should say something like this:
“Please make this food healthful and nutritious, take out the impurities, restore the vitamins and minerals, remove the carcinogens and replace them with numerous antioxidants, make the calcium/magnesium ratio 2:1, annihilate the bad bacteria and put in some good bacteria. Please replenish the trace elements, make the pH 7.0, provide the electro-chemical energy for the synapses in our brains to snap properly, normalize the glucose, reduce cholesterol, and may it build strong bodies eight different ways. And, oh, yes, may it shrink our hemorrhoids. And please, God, don’t let me eat like a glutton. Amen.”

It would be nice if God would rearrange the atomic particles making them less full of calories and less hazardous to our health. If God would perform a miracle on the food we eat and make it healthier, and if God would miraculously make us close our mouth when we have had enough, wouldn’t that be the right thing to do for His children?

Many of us experience numerous health problems, often caused by years of poor diet. If we could just eat fries and get the nourishment of veggies.

Experience tells me that if I eat a sugary doughnut, it tastes like a sugary doughnut in my mouth, and I strongly suspect that it goes into my digestive tank as a blob of devitalized sugar and flour. Nutritionists tell us that the most nutritious part of a doughnut is the hole. I doubt that God would transform the solid portion into something healthful on the way down. Maybe I’m wrong, but won’t we assimilate pretty much whatever we poke into our mouths? Those Twinkies don’t turn into carrot juice.

In looking in the Bible, I could find only one incident of God cleansing food. It’s in 2 Kings 4:38-41. In this case the chow was so toxic that the diners would have died on the spot if God hadn’t intervened.

OK – since we don’t want to change what we eat or how much we eat, then what should the mealtime blessing consist of?

Scripture cites several occasions when Jesus prayed before eating. Matthew 14:19 uses the Greek word eulogeo, meaning “speak well of.” The King James translation reads, “he blessed” (the food). However, in John 6:11, which recounts the same event, the sense is “thank, be thankful.” The NIV translates both verses as Jesus “gave thanks.” Matthew 15:36 and Mark 8:6 are other examples where Jesus “gave thanks.”

Jesus didn’t ask the Father to purify and cleanse food. He simply expressed thanks to Him. Romans 14:6 speaks of giving God thanks for food, and 1 Timothy 4:3 says to receive food with thanksgiving.

Incidentally, we often use the phrase “saying grace.” The word “grace” comes from the Latin word gratia, meaning “good will” or “free gift”, and implies “thanks”. It’s the origin of the Spanish word gracias or “thank you.”

It seems to me that since we can’t count on God purifying our food or keeping us from eating too much, it is up to us to control the quantity and quality of what we eat. Our part of the equation is self-control using the strength of Jesus Christ living within us and not depending on our own weaknesses.

We live in a society where “Give us this day our daily bread” is just a formality. Let’s remember those millions around the world where food is scarce – for them every meal is something to be grateful for. As recipients of God’s generosity, we can give abundant thanks for the food our Father so graciously provides.

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If God gives us everything by His grace - what about rewards?

Jesus spoke of God rewarding people for charitable giving, for prayer and for fasting:

"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:3-4).

"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:6).

"But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matthew 6:17-18).

If God gives us everything by grace, what did Jesus mean here?

In the light of the clear message of the New Testament, it would be a serious mistake to take the merit theology of Judaism (which of course was well known among the primarily Jewish recipients of the Gospel of Matthew) and try to force it into the gospel of Jesus Christ. Removing ourselves from the historical context, it would be an equal mistake to try to make the empty promises of performance based religion appear to be a part of God's grace. It would be like attempting to put new wine into old wineskins, or trying to patch an old garment with a piece of new cloth (a passage we also find just three chapters later in Matthew 9:16-17). Matthew is deliberately targeting a predominantly Jewish readership, to tell them the good news of Jesus, and therefore he uses terminology and language familiar to them, while transforming meanings traditionally associated with some of that language. I think that the concept of reward is one of these (particularly in Matthew).

C.S. Lewis, in They Asked for a Paper provides one of the best discussions of this topic of which I am aware. He draws distinctions between the idea of a reward, a word which usually evokes a word picture of some kind of a ceremony, a trophy, a ribbon, a certificate or a diploma being awarded, together with the applause of spectators. That kind of a reward is not the reward that God gives, for the gifts, awards and rewards of God are all based on his grace, not human achievement, prowess or performance. Even to the degree that we have been involved in some kind of activity that precedes the award, the new covenant makes it clear that the abilities we have to perform are God given, and thus all will be to his glory.

Lewis notes that a man may marry a wealthy woman - he marries for money - and he is "rewarded" with her money. However, he is a mercenary if he is not marrying for love, and in addition he is not being rewarded for a beneficial activity, but rather because of his deception and greed. That's one kind of reward. On the other hand, marriage itself, if and when two people love each other, is its own reward - and that reward generally flows out of their love for each other, rather than a self-centered love. In that case, reward results not from performing religious duties of some kind, but it's a natural outgrowth of the love we give to another - taken far enough, if that love is agape love, the very expression of that kind of love is given to us by God, because agape love is love that directly flows from God. So Lewis comments that spiritual rewards are not directly linked, or, in his words, "tacked on" to an activity for which they might seem to be given, but rather they are the "activity itself in consummation."

Put another way, we might say that many rewards we are given in life are received as a part of our journey, not necessarily the destination. There are rewards in life which we are given, both from physical sources, and certainly from God, that have no direct connection with things we might do to earn or merit them.

New Testament scholar George Eldon Ladd spoke of God's kingdom as being already, but not yet. There is a present sense of the kingdom, a kingdom which we are now given, and therefore rewards which we now receive and enjoy. There is also a future complete fulfillment of that kingdom, and rewards, by God's grace, which will be once again be given to us. One of these future rewards we do not now enjoy is detailed in 1 Corinthians 15 - the hope of the resurrection, when our bodies of flesh will be glorified and made immortal, no longer subject to decay and pain.
If we persist in trying to directly link God's rewards to our earthly efforts then we place ourselves in direct conflict with the gospel of God's grace, proclaimed throughout the New Testament. If we wish to confine our study of the idea of rewards that Jesus teaches to the predominately Jewish audience as revealed in the Gospel of Matthew, we would also want to study Matthew 11:25; 19:16-26; 20:1-16 and 25:31-46.

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Be Perfect To Stay Saved

Many Christians consider it important to live a holy life, not to earn salvation, but out of gratitude for it. Some have misconstrued that to mean we must work hard to be perfect like Jesus in order to "stay saved" or we can't call ourselves Christians. I've actually heard some say they no longer “really” sin. I believe the Bible makes perfection a goal to be worked toward, with no expectation to reach it in this life. But, nonetheless, it should be our target. If we continue to aim for the target I think we will do what is our "good and reasonable service." When we willingly turn from that target and aim in another direction (willful sin) we are clearly not demonstrating our gratitude for the gift of grace.

What is the best way to combat sound doctrines that have been traditionalized to mean something else, without destroying good fellowship among believers? Here’s how I see it.

Most people who go to church want to be assured that what they believe is true. William Sloan Coffin once put it this way: "The church is full of people who are seeking that which they have already found and only want to become that which they already are." Seen from the other direction - most people are not receptive to a message which upsets the status quo. Therein lies the challenge, and the danger, of ministry. As you well know, Jesus was not received with open arms. Matthew 23 is a summary of Jesus' clash with organized and accepted religion of his day. I believe that Jesus' reception by much of religion that is organized and dedicated to him - Christianity - would be much the same today. At the bottom line, where the rubber hits the road, people generally opt for religious ritual, tradition, deeds, programs and beliefs rather than the grace of God.

The "best way" to confront people who are convinced that their deeds, their obedience, their quest for perfection is critically important to their salvation? Preach Jesus. Preach the gospel. Preach Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, Colossians. All that is said and done in the context of church should be centered in Christ. Anything - anything - that threatens to take the place of Christ, or demands equal time - whether it be denominational traditions, core doctrines of the faith, however innocent, pure and true the issues may be - anything that is divorced from Jesus, anything that does not focus on Jesus will lead people away from authentic Christianity.

We use computers now in much of what we do. Computers have what is called a default - when one needs to reboot. When humans reboot, we always default, by virtue of our human wiring, to what we can do, how we can do it, how much of it we need to do. We default, in terms of religion, to performance. We do not automatically default to God's grace - we do not automatically see our contributions to salvation as worthless. Many fall for some kind of legalistic theological combination plate (think of a Mexican restaurant) which at the end of the day amounts to the same kind of religious meal others partake of at some other church. They may order the chicken tacos, or the cheese enchiladas, or the beef tostada, while we, at our church, go for the tamale. But it’s all made in the same religious kitchen -- it all comes with religious rice and beans. Okay - enough of the metaphor. It's breaking down! My point is: we humans fall for some idea that Jesus saves us, yes, BUT - what we then do after that point has some significance. Some think of entire sanctification. Some emphasize holiness. Some see justification as primarily a human work in which we are assisted and helped by the Holy Spirit. Any of these theological “combination plates” give people the illusion of control, the illusion that what they do has a direct bearing on their salvation.

But the great hymn teaches "I surrender ALL." All. There is no way to teach God's grace without being Christ-centered. There is no way to understand salvation without the recognition of the totality of grace. God gives salvation to those who see their weakness toward sin, repent, and seek Christ as Savior and Lord. The grace action is unmerited favor from God – unmerited before seeking Christ and unmerited after receiving Christ.

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The Church Experience

Bob and Mary really don’t know what to do about church. They were “born Catholics” – that is, their parents were members of the Catholic Church. They were sent to Catholic grade schools and indoctrinated with the rituals and doctrines of Catholicism. Bob was an altar-boy serving at Mass. He attended church, sometimes against his will, until he was 18. A fleeting smile crosses Bob’s face as he remembers that he was 18 when he “successfully negotiated his release” from his parents’ church.

He does have fond memories of some of these church activities, but when he evaluates his total experience at the end of it all, he feels that control was the main objective of his parent’s church.

Bob speaks about the steady spiritual diet he was served at home and at church: guilt and manipulation lavishly ladled upon a bed of rules and regulations. Sermon after sermon, week after week, and year after year – the same old thing. Bob feels he was never good enough for the church, and he became convinced that he would never be good enough for God.

When Bob and Mary visit his parents, sometimes he will give in and attend his old church with his parents, but he can hardly stand it. Bob can’t talk religion with his parents, because it always ends up in a spiritual free-for-all. Some people call Bob “unchurched”. Bob considers himself a Christian but he doesn’t know if he will ever be able to go back to regular attendance at any church.

Bob and Mary were burned out with their parents’ hell fire and brimstone, our-way-or-the-highway, no-nonsense church. It’s one unforgettable shared experience for Bob and Mary; they’ve both endured religious boot camp together. They went to the same church in their hometown. In fact, they first became aware of each other at a summer church camp. In spite of the best efforts of vigilant counselors and chaperones, Bob and Mary fell in love. But that’s about the only thing of any lasting value they believe their church gave them – each other.

Feeling that they ought to go to “some church”, Bob and Mary eventually selected a traditional, mainline church that averaged about 200 people in attendance every Sunday. It seemed safe. It was a respectable church to attend, good for business and social contacts. They never felt particularly close to God there, but at least they didn’t feel manipulated into religious rituals and doctrines. When Bob and Mary’s children grew to be teenagers, they announced they didn’t want to go to church anymore; and in a few months the entire family drifted away from this church. In some ways Bob and Mary felt it was time to move on, because they were already concerned that this church was far too progressive, socially active, and lenient about lifestyles they did not believe to be biblically acceptable.

A few years later one of Mary’s friends at work invited her to church. It had been several years since Bob and Mary had set foot in any church. They felt like “some church” wouldn’t hurt them, so off they trudged with little idea of the kind of church they would visit. They knew about the white-washed, conservative, straight-laced, rule-happy, uptight church of their youth; and they had experienced the far more progressive, liberal mainline church they took their kids to when the kids were still at home.

The church they were invited to had one major mission: everything was all about spiritual warfare. The church was convinced they need to “map” demon strongholds, identify demons by name, and even take trips to those geographical places to command the demons to leave the affected/infected area. Bob and Mary found all this to be bizarre and illogical. As soon as they could politely leave worship services, they rushed home, found their Bibles in an old bookcase, and tried in vain to find biblical rationale for this spiritual warfare, which seemed to them to be superstition and witchcraft in the name of Christ. Mary thanked her friend at work for the invitation and told her that the church culture of spiritual warfare wasn’t a good fit for them.

A few years later a relative who lived in the same metro area invited Bob and Mary to his mega-church, but after a few months they once again became disenchanted. It was a prosperity gospel church. This church spent most of the time telling its members that God wanted them to be healthy and wealthy, but as Bob and Mary checked out the hundreds of cars in the parking lot it seemed that the only ones getting rich were the pastor and his staff. Bob and Mary now refer to this church as the Jesus mall, a huge group of people convinced that Jesus will fill their shopping bags with physical stuff.

After bailing out of this think-and-grow-rich church, Bob and Mary started to feel like religious failures or at the very least like religious skeptics and cynics. Mary’s mother kept saying that they were too critical, finding something wrong with every church they visited; and Mary started to think that her mother might be right.

They saw an advertisement for a church that sponsored revivals, so they decided that such a church might give them a spiritual shot in the arm that they needed. The next weekend Bob and Mary found themselves in a church they now jokingly refer to as the “Heebie-Jeebie Church.” As Bob and Mary looked for a seat, people were running up and down the aisles. They stepped over two people who seemed to have passed out in the aisle, except their arms and legs occasionally twitched. Bob and Mary were later told that these people had been “slain in the spirit.” In the middle of the service a few people started to laugh uncontrollably, even though the pastor didn’t say anything Bob and Mary found remotely humorous. They later found out that such an activity is called “holy laughter.” A few of the people transitioned directly from hilarious laughter to barking like a dog. Bob and Mary left before the collection.

After that little “shot in the arm” Bob and Mary gave up on what they called organized religion for several years. They studied the Bible at home and decided to make their religious experience “just Jesus and me”, a one-on-one personal relationship with Jesus. They came to understand the meaning of “grace” – the unmerited gift of God of the forgiveness of their sins.

Then one Sunday, they passed a giant mega-church with the sign out front “Grace Church”. Bob said, “Look, another mega-church, probably just like the other health and wealth church.” But they decided to give it a skeptical try. The greeters at the door were friendly and seemed to provide a genuine welcome. The music was contemporary and different from what they were used to in church – but they liked it.

When it came time for the pastor’s sermon, there was no hell fire and brimstone, there was no prosperity preaching, there was no heebie-jeebies. In fact, the pastor spoke of just what Bob and Mary had come to understand at home – by the grace of God in Christ’s death and resurrection, we are forgiven of our sins when we choose to make Jesus our Savior and Lord. Then Jesus comes to live right within us and, on a day-to-day basis, we are to establish a personal one-on-one relationship with Him.

The pastor seemed to be on the same level spiritually as Bob and Mary, not trying to “Lord it over them” or to exert control.

Bob and Mary tried a few more Sunday services and came to the conclusion that this “Grace Church” was where they belonged. They took the membership course, joined the Church, and never looked back.

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History Repeats Itself

If what is happening in Iran is any indication, history seems to be in one of her repeating moods. Today, after all, the country the Bible calls “Persia” is governed by a man who says that “Israel must be wiped off the map;” who proposes to resettle Israel’s Jewish population in Canada; who hosts conferences denying what may one day be known as the first holocaust; who boasts about a nuclear program deemed illegal by the international community, a program he promises to use only for “the development of Iran and expansion of peace in the world.” And incredibly, an oblivious world accepts Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s promises of peace while overlooking his warlike words.

The Bible tells a similar story – the story of how the great nation of Persia was nearly hijacked by a mad-man with plans to destroy all Jews, the story of a wise man who sounded the alarm when others averted their gaze and shut their ears, the story of a hero-in-the-making who wrestled with her purpose in the world and her responsibility to the future.

Amid the present rumors of war, the Book of Esther may offer a history for our time.

The Book of Esther could just as well have been called the “Book of Mordecai” – and perhaps it should have been. After all, it was Mordecai who raised Esther, watched over her like a father, counseled and challenged her, emboldened and encouraged her, interceded for her.

Mordecai took responsibility for his younger cousin, Esther, upon her parents’ death. He was morally centered and faithful to God – and stubborn when it came to right and wrong. In fact, it was Mordecai’s goodness and stubbornness that caused the drama described in Esther to unfold.

After Esther became queen of Persia, Mordecai visited the royal courtyards daily to make sure she was all right. During one of the visits, he overheard a plot to assassinate the king and dutifully reported it to Queen Esther.

Mordecai could have stayed out of it. After all, Xerxes wasn’t his king, but that didn’t matter to Mordecai. He knew right from wrong, and he did what was right.

During another visit to the gates outside the king’s courtyard, Mordecai refused to bow before a powerful royal official named Haman. “When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged” - so enraged that he resolved “…to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom…” (Esther 3:5-6).

Driven by hate and conceit, Haman persuaded the oblivious Xerxes to issue a death sentence against Mordecai and his people. “Dispatches were sent by couriers with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews.”

Mordecai did the only thing he could do – he began to intercede for his people and told Esther of Haman’s terrible plans. But she initially balked, explaining that “…for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned, the king has but one law: that the person be put to death” (Esther 4:11). Her fears were well-founded. Xerxes had deposed the previous queen simply because she didn’t respond to his summons.

Undeterred by Esther’s rationalization, Mordecai answered his wavering cousin with both reason and passion. Reminding her that she would not escape Haman’s sword and that she had a special duty because of her special place, he finally convinced her to act with powerful words: “…who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). With that, Esther answered, “I will go to the king; if I perish, I perish.”

When Esther finally spoke to the king, her words were plain and pointed. “The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman,” she explained, courageously confronting her enemy face to face.

“Spare my people – this is my request” she declared, finally revealing her Jewish ancestry. “For I and my people have been sold the destruction and slaughter and annihilation.”

Awakened to Haman’s motives and plans, Xerxes repealed Haman’s mass-murder sentence and then issued an edict granting “Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves…” (Esther 8:11).

Others have noted that God is not mentioned anywhere in the Book of Esther, yet He is everywhere in the story – in Esther’s unexpected rise to queen, in Mordecai’s timing and words, in Xerxes’ sleepless night, in the peoples’ prayers, in Haman’s undoing.

What does all this history mean to me as I absorb the daily dose of bad news from Iran? I realize that Iran has enough oil to meet its energy demands for 250 years. In other words, Iran doesn’t need nuclear power.

When taken together with Iran’s burgeoning nuclear program, Ahmadinejad’s words move from the realm of the merely appalling to the terrifying. Iran has called for the destruction of Israel for decades.

But since Iran has never possessed the one weapon that has the capacity to erase an entire nation, the threat was just a nightmare. But it is hard to imagine a nuclear-armed Ahmadinejad giving Israel any peace-options for survival.

This is where you and I can help. We can intercede in prayer for our leaders, for our world, for our friends and even for our enemies – asking God to either get us through this looming storm or to steer us around it.

Mordecai was an intercessor. He followed the example of Samuel, who “cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.” In the same way, we can ask God to transform or overcome our enemies, to protect our fragile world, to guide our leaders to do what is right and wise. Our posture should be like Lincoln’s in the midst of the Civil War. “My concern,” he explained, “is not whether God is on our side, but whether we are on God’s side.”

Of course, even it we turn to God, He may remain silent. The Bible reminds us that God moves and sometimes doesn’t move in mysterious ways.

We must remember that we live in the far fringes of understanding the One who created us. But that didn’t stop Mordecai from turning to God. His intercession and God’s intervention changed Esther’s mind and saved countless innocents.

There is no guarantee that we won’t have to endure the trial. As Jesus warned, the storm comes for both the man who builds on rock and the man who builds on sand. To be prepared for the approaching storm in Iran, the best we can do is turn to the Rock.

The grace of God in Jesus Christ is sufficient to deal with any and all situations we will ever face.

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The Law Tree

When God placed Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, He specifically told them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. His plan was that they would ultimately live from the tree of life, which represents Jesus Christ – who IS life. Yet man chose to disobey and eat from the forbidden tree. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil could be called “the law tree” because it offered knowledge about the rules of right and wrong. When Adam ate from that tree, he instantly found himself at a place where doing right and avoiding wrong became the defining issue of life. Until that point, his behavior had always glorified God because he had walked with the Lord daily, depending entirely on Him for every detail in life. Now his focus was on his behavior, not God.

Until the fall, the only thing that mattered was that Adam and Eve were living in total dependence upon God. After their sin, the primary matter became that of doing right.

In order to better understand what it means for a person’s life to be ruled by laws, consider this illustration:
Pretend that one morning, after he had eaten from the law tree, Adam woke up because his wife, Eve, was leaning over him and kissing him gently on the cheek. “Good morning, my sweetheart,” she whispered. “I brought you breakfast in bed this morning. You seemed to be resting so well that I let you sleep late today.”

Adam opened his eyes, took one look at Eve, and snarled at her in anger, “What do you mean waking me up, woman? Couldn’t you see that I was asleep? How dare you! What have you shoved under my nose – a bowl of fruit? You’ve already caused me enough trouble with fruit! Get out of my face!” Shocked, Eve’s eyes filled with tears and she ran off to a secluded place where she could cry alone.

By mid-morning Adam was feeling guilty about how he had treated his wife. He found her and humbly approached her. “Eve, I am so sorry. It was so wrong for me to behave that way. It was simply evil! Please forgive me. I wouldn’t blame you if you left me for another…oh yeah, I forgot that there aren’t any others – well, anyway, you get the point.” Eve looked up through teary eyes as Adam continued. “Eve, I’m going to make it up to you, I promise. Tomorrow will be your special day. Listen, world! Tomorrow is Eve Day on planet Earth,” he shouted. True to his word, the next day Adam treated Eve like a queen. He pampered her all day long. That night when she went to bed, he gently leaned across her, kissed her on the cheek, and said, “Good night, my dear princess. I’m so blessed to have you as my wife.” “Oh Adam, you’re so good to me,” she cooed.

Now let’s see how much we understand about legalism and rules. There are only two questions on this test. Our answers to these questions will reveal whether we tend to see the Christian life primarily from a standpoint of law or grace. Ready?
1. Was God pleased with Adam on the first day in the story?
2. Was God pleased with Adam on the second day in the story?
The answer to both questions is NO. God was not pleased on either day. Adam’s behavior was evil on the first day and good on the second day. However, we must recognize that the law tree can be the source of good as well as evil. Although Adam’s behavior changed from one day to the next, he still had the same problem. ON BOTH DAYS HE WAS UP THE WRONG TREE!

When law rules a Christian, his focus is on improving his behavior. Yet even if he does manage to improve his behavior, what has he accomplished spiritually? Even an unsaved person can often improve his performance. Jesus didn’t give the gift of salvation merely to help us perform better. He came to earth so that He could ultimately live IN people (Galatians 2:20) and guide their lives out of the jungle growth of the law tree.

Even when a person does good, his actions may still be sin. Only those actions which are animated by the life of Jesus within us have real value.

Some Christians find it scary to think that they are totally free from a system of rules. When I first began to understand grace for the Christian, I was afraid that I might become derelict in my responsibilities as a believer. I even thought that without rules, I might begin to minimize the seriousness of sin in my own life.

I came to discover that I had found a security in my religious rules. When I kept them I felt everything was all right with me spiritually. When I sensed any sort of spiritual deficit in my life, I would mentally run down the checklist of rules to see which one I was failing. But when a person examines himself to see if he is living up to the law, he will always discover areas of inconsistency. I thought the answer was to renew my efforts to do more. Yet even when I poured my energies into keeping these self-imposed laws, I wasn’t really experiencing the life God intends.

Paul clearly asserted that we were made to die to the law so that we might be joined to Christ. What relationship does the Christian have, then, to a system of rules which govern behavior? Absolutely none! When you were saved, you were “made to die to the law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead” (Romans 7:4).

“Don’t we need to commit ourselves to the laws of God?” a person might ask. Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:8, “…realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious..” Christians are righteous people because they have the nature of Jesus Christ. Our lifestyle isn’t governed by rules, but relationship. We aren’t motivated by laws, but love! The driving force of our lives won’t be duty, but desire. We will crawl out from under the heavy weight of OUGHT TO and start living from a WANT TO motivation.

So why do many Christians live by laws? For one simple reason: it makes them look good. It’s all about appearance. They choose the bondage of rules because it seems easier than establishing a living relationship with Jesus within them.

But a ton of rules won’t provide an ounce of prevention against sin. To the contrary, rules actually impede our spiritual walk in an intimate relationship with our Savior and Lord.

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"I'm Somewhere Between Jesus and John Wayne"

The Gaither Vocal Band just released a new CD titled “Lovin’ Life”. Every one of the 13 Christian songs are great, but the one that caught my attention is “I’m somewhere between Jesus and John Wayne”.

The lyrics are as follows:

Daddy was a cowboy hard as a rock
Mama she was quiet as a prayer
Daddy’d always tell me, “Son, you gotta be tough
Mama would kiss my cheek and say, “play fair”
I did my best to make ‘em proud of me
But it’s never been an easy place to be
Somewhere between Jesus and John Wayne
A cowboy and a saint, the cross and the open range
I try to be more like you Lord,
But most days I know I ain’t
I’m somewhere between Jesus and John Wayne.
Mama’s love was tender, Daddy’s love was strong
Both of them were there to help the weak
They taught me to stand up and fight for what is right
And showed me how to turn the other cheek
Now I see there’s both of them in me
And maybe that’s the best that I can ever hope to be
[Repeat chorus]

As a Christian, we have got to understand HOW we are between Jesus and John Wayne.

Human beings are made up of three parts: spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). I like to say that I AM a spirit, I HAVE a soul, and I LIVE IN a body. The spirit part of me is the “image of God” mentioned in Genesis One. It is who I am. The soul part is the intellect, emotions and the will located in the physical brain. And we all know what the body is.

When we receive salvation by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, Jesus comes to actually live right within our human spirit. And He will never leave us or forsake us.

But the soul remains the same the day after salvation as it was before. The same basic independent ideas and garbage of the world are still there and have to be gradually, on a day to day basis, changed to the ideas and ideals of Christ within us.

So, in this respect, a Christian really is between the Jesus in his spirit and the John Wayne in his soul.

But what the song doesn’t bring out is that WHEN THE FATHER LOOKS AT US, HE SEES US AS JESUS! The John Wayne soul part is being continually brought into recognition of the union with Jesus in our spirit.

John Wayne was an independent guy. He got the job done his way. And we have that same independent streak in our soul that Jesus will gradually, on a day to day basis, eliminate.

The key element of salvation is that Jesus dwelling in a union with our human spirit makes us not “between Jesus and John Wayne” but rather we ARE Jesus/John Wayne – a living union with the divine nature of God (2 Peter 1:4). The Father will eternally recognize us as such.

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We Shall All Stand In Judgment

We have all heard about the “Judgment” or the “Last Judgment” or the “Great Judgment” or the “White Throne Judgment”. The Bible talks about some kind of a judgment alright, but the specifics have always been very confusing to me and to most others that I have heard concerning it.

When is it? Who is judged? Of what are they judged? What are the penalties? These are all things that seem rather vague and, at some points, contradictory in the Bible.

I have heard many sermons over the years speaking about how we are all to stand before God in a review and judgment of all the things that we did in our human lives.

Here is how I viewed it in my religious upbringing:
I thought that God kept a big book listing everything that I did, good and bad, throughout my life and everything everybody else did also. It surely must have been some volume of a book, but God could handle that! If I died with an unrepented big or “mortal” sin, I would go straight to “hell”. If I died with an unrepented little or “venial” sin, I would go to a place called “purgatory” which was just as bad as hell but had the redeeming feature that some day I would be released from purgatory and go to “heaven”.

And if I died having repented and been forgiven of all my sins, I would go straight to “heaven”. But this idea of purgatory always seemed strange to me. It seemed like I should be either good enough for heaven or that I should deserve hell. But what was this middle-ground? And it was even more confusing because I was told that other living people could pray for me and do good works for me to get me released from purgatory sooner. I couldn’t understand how this whole system of “indulgences” or releasings worked, but I was told not to worry about it because the priests had it figured out.

But then sometime out in the future, everyone who had died was going to take part in a “Last Judgment”. Everyone! Those who had gone to be in heaven to live in the spirit realm were going to put on some kind of “bodies” and be judged. Those in purgatory likewise. And Jesus Christ was to sit on a throne and preside over this “Last Judgment”.

Now, if I was in heaven enjoying that spirit life and then was called down for a soul-searching judgment, I wouldn’t be very happy! I had “earned” heaven; now what was this about? And, if I was in hell by condemnation already, why this temporary removal from the flames just so that I could be sent there again? It all didn’t make much sense!

Just picture a giant sports stadium filled to capacity and overflowing with people. In front of you, you see the giant television replay screen. Each person, one by one, is called down to the 50 yard line with Jesus Christ on His throne in the middle of the field. Christ opens His Book and replays the good things and the sinful things that you did in your life. Everyone sees it on the big screen! In living color! How could the joy of the good things shown ever cancel out the embarrassment of the dark sins we committed?

And then we are each judged according to our “works”. No more purgatory now. It is either heaven or hell. Did the righteous works outweigh the evil works? Or did the scale tip to the evil works and send us to hell? If we had been sent to heaven at our death, could this “Last Judgment” change that and send us to hell? I couldn’t figure it out! And I was never given what I considered an understandable explanation.

Was I just weird? Or did some of you have thoughts along these lines?

Well, I struggled with this concept of judgment for many years. And then it got even more complicated. Because I discovered many places in the Bible that stated when God forgives us of our sin, HE FORGETS IT! HE SEPARATES IT AS FAR FROM US AS THE EAST IS FROM THE WEST! Well as you know, there is a North pole and a South pole. But there are no East or West poles. So what God is saying is that He casts our sin an infinite distance away from us, AND FORGETS IT! If He forgets it, then He can never bring it up against us again. Doesn’t that make sense? Then what about this Book to remind us about it later? Now I was really confused!

New Understanding

When you come to an understanding of what happens to a person at conversion (Christ comes to live IN you), and what righteousness and sin really consist of, then you begin to see what judgment is all about. Here is what my, albeit incomplete, understanding of judgment consists of now.

I believe that judgment for sin is inescapable. But I also believe that there are more judgments than people ordinarily have recognized. The average church member has the idea that there is only one judgment and that there everyone, good and bad, Christian and non-Christian, will meet and be separated like sheep and goats.

But the Bible teaches two judgments to be faced by every Christian. One is past, at our conversion and new birth, when we are judged as sinners; and one is continuously present when we are judged as sons.

1. Judged as Sinners

This judgment is past for every converted Christian. “Who His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). But Jesus did that 2000 years ago and you can do nothing to add to its effectiveness except to trust in it. “There is therefore now no condemnation (sin judgment) to them who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

The sins of our past are forgotten by God, just as if they had never taken place. They have been blotted out by the blood of Christ, totally forgiven, totally gone! There is no record of them in any book, nothing to recall against us later. The punishment for our sins has been paid already by Christ. Therefore, why bring it up again?

2. Judged as Sons

Because Christ now lives in us, we have the nature of God and God accepts us as His children. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God” (1 John 3:2). He gives us the STANDING of sons. But the Father desires also that we become sons in UNDERSTANDING as well. And in order to make us so He brings us into judgment, son judgment. The prodigal son was not son-like, but he was still a son. When we are not son-like, then God judges us with physical correction (not punishment which is a legal payment for sin but correction which looks to the future improvement of the son). That is, when we do wrong, when we recognize it and condemn it in ourselves and confess it to God, that is the end of it. It is forgotten just as at conversion. For all God wants is for us to recognize our living union with Christ and forsake all evil influences. And the steady correction when we start to try to live independently drives us gradually but inevitably to the true understanding of sonship in the family of God. All of the correction by God that occurs after conversion is physical chastisement — not spiritual punishment! “Chastise” comes from a root word meaning “chaste” or “pure”. God is purifying us.

Christ has said that once He comes to live in us, He will never leave us. Our salvation is assured! Certainly we can and will occasionally slip into sin. But we will never again jump into it with both feet, wallow in it, splash around in it, linger interminably in it. It is just Satan’s spirit of independence influencing us from outside of us temporarily. We are drawn back to an awareness of Christ living in our spirit. Our sin is quickly forgiven, and FORGOTTEN, and although we have that physical chastisement to remind us of our problem, we probably understand our sonship a little better.

Read Hebrews 12:5-11. These verses describe chastisement by a loving Father who desires “... that we may share His holiness.., and that afterward we can see the result, a quiet growth in grace and character.” (Living Bible wording). These verses show both the nature and purpose of our son-judgment. But such judgment is going on here and now whenever we need it. And it is correction that is looking forward to a beneficial result, is very personal, and individually applied. While punishment is looking backward to the offense, is impersonal and automatic, and its goal is the administration of justice.

Judgment for Non-Christians

Then there is the Judgment of the Nations (Matt. 25:31-46) for non-Christians. The Bible does not really give a good explanation of what will take place at these times. Nobody knows just what this judgment will be like nor will he know until he enters it. But we ought to have a few trustworthy ideas based on the Bible about the subject and about the nature of God.
• Judgment will bring punishment.
• Judgment will be just. That is, God will remember the heredity and environment of each individual and what he was up against.
• Judgment will be graded to suit the offense. See Luke 12:42-48 about being deserving of few stripes or many stripes.
• All of God’s judgments will be purposive; they will accomplish something - Isa. 26:9.
• Judgment will destroy enmity and rebellion
- 1 Corinthians 15:25.

What about the "rewards" mentioned in some verses? Read my article about this subject here.


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"Many are called but few are chosen"?

Some Christians believe in predestination. Some feel that God has chosen certain people to be saved and certain people to be lost. They have a favorite scripture which they use. It's Matthew 22:14 - "many are called but few are chosen."

The meaning of this phrase is determined by the context of the passage that it concludes. Outside of that passage it has no meaning - it needs a passage in order to have meaning. The context at large is a group of teachings Jesus gave shortly before His arrest, crucifixion, burial and resurrection. These parables are Jesus' response to opposition and hostility that was increasingly being voiced by the religious leaders of that day. On Palm Sunday Jesus overturned the money changers tables in the temple, causing alarm for religious leaders about the repercussions Jesus' actions would have on business (Matthew 21:12-13).

The religious leaders questioned Jesus' authority (Matthew 21:23). By way of response, Jesus gave a parable of two sons (Matthew 21:28-32), one who rebelled and repented, the other who gave lip service, yet internally never agreed. Jesus said that the first son was like hated tax collectors and despised prostitutes, who started in rebellion but yet changed as a result of the gospel. Jesus equated the second son to the religious leaders, who outwardly seemed to be doing all the right things, yet inwardly, to use his expression from a few chapters later, were filled with greed and self-indulgence (Matthew 23:25). Jesus was sending a clear message - the world of religion needed to be turned on its head, just as He had turned over the money changer's tables.

Then Jesus gave the second parable, which again was a scathing indictment of religious leaders (Matthew 21:33-44). This parable was about a landowner who planted a vineyard, and carefully improved the vineyard, only to rent the vineyard to tenants when he went away on a trip. When the harvest came, the landowner sent servants to collect the harvest. The servants were treated brutally - finally the landowner sent his son, but the tenants killed the son, thinking that they could take the inheritance for themselves once the son was gone. It was a remarkable, chilling story of His own brutal beating and crucifixion, which would take place in but a few days.

The meaning of this parable? The same as the first (see Matthew 21:45). The chief priests and the Pharisees got the point; they knew that he was talking about them. They knew that they were rejecting Jesus, and they knew that they were the ones Jesus predicted as being responsible for killing Him. Their responsibility was a matter of religion. Religion causes us to reject Jesus, for religion is opposed to the idea that a relationship with Jesus, by God's grace, will supplant and replace its systems and methodologies of rules and regulations.

Then Jesus gave a third parable, which begins in Matthew 22:1, and concludes with the verse in question, "for many are invited (KJV says "called"), but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). This parable leaves no doubt that Jesus charged the religious leaders of that day with rejecting His kingdom, His radical new teaching of love, His grace and His peace. This parable, is about a wedding banquet. The parable proposes a wedding banquet prepared by a king for his son. Two invitations are given. The first invitation is issued to guests who refuse the invitation - who not only refuse to come but who mistreat and kill the servants who bring the invitation (hence the idea of "don't kill me - I'm only the messenger"). The first invitation went to the "respectable" people. The respectable people refused the invitation. The second invitation was sent to those who were hanging out on the "street corners" (vs. 9) -- people who were both "good and bad" (vs. 10) -- and as a result the wedding hall was filled with guests. But there's more. One of the guests was present, but was not wearing wedding clothing. He was thrown out by the king.

What's the meaning of this parable? Once again, the rejection of Jesus by religion - of that day - and of any day - is center stage. The invitation is given to the religious leaders who refuse to attend the wedding banquet, though it is given by God the Father. The larger issue is religion at large. The point is that the status quo of all religion is threatened by Jesus and His kingdom. Secondly, the parable notes that those very kinds of people most highly despised by the moral guardians, the religious leadership, those folks who were hanging out on street corners - those people filled the wedding hall. Thirdly, the parable notes that one person who actually accepted the invitation and showed up was not wearing a wedding garment and was thrown out. In those days, the host furnished the wedding garments, so the act of showing up, refusing to accept the clothing that was provided free of charge (BY GRACE) was an extreme act of disrespect. It was yet another religious innovation - another way of saying that the wedding clothing provided by God's grace was not enough, some other qualifications must be tendered in order to be properly attired. This analogy plays out in the book of Revelation, when the bride of Christ is GIVEN her wedding attire (Revelation 19:8) - contrasted with the religious imposter, the religious whore who controls and enslaves the world at large, who wears garments she has earned by plying her trade (Revelation 17:4) - things which are "abominable things" and "the filth of her adulteries."

Finally, we come to the short, terse concluding statement which, if you like, is the moral to the story. What does "many are called, few are chosen" mean in this context? It means that there is no way to be in Jesus' kingdom, no way to attend his wedding, except by honoring him, by accepting him as the very Son of God - Lord and Savior.

There is no way to even pretend to say "yes" and accept God's invitation and try to show up at His house wearing spiritual clothing we feel we have earned by the sweat of our own religious labors - we either accept the clothing God provides by His grace or we are thrown out of the banquet. We can't "get in" by attempting to "pay our own way" - there is no such thing as buying a ticket to God's kingdom of heaven through the religious brokers and ticket scalpers who stand outside hawking tickets.

What was Jesus saying at the end of this parable? He was saying that many are invited to follow Him, but few are willing to set aside their religious indoctrination, few are willing to lose their religious heritage, legacy and tradition, and accept His kingdom on His terms. There is only one way into God's kingdom. His name is Jesus. There is only one way to have Jesus. It is to accept Him on His terms, which is by God's grace. We do not deserve Jesus because we have obeyed religious formulations. We are not rewarded with Jesus because of our diligent obedience in following rules. That is the big lie of religion. We are given Jesus by God's grace, if we surrender our religion, if we absolutely, without reservation, accept Jesus.

It may help to know that the many of "many are called but few are chosen" in Greek is inclusive - it is not restrictive. Many means virtually everyone. The idea is that many - virtually everyone - are called or invited. The invitation is not only to the great, powerful, righteous, courageous and famous. The invitation is open to everyone. God is not a respecter of persons. "Few are chosen" - that is, not many are chosen on the basis of their response. The choice is ours, not God's. There is an R.S.V.P. on the invitation. God's intent is to issue an open invitation, with the proviso that acceptance of the invitation means absolute acceptance of the invitation ON HIS TERMS. That means, among other things, forgetting spiritual pride and allowing Him to pay for our entrance, to do all that is needed to be done, to provide everything - even the clothing we wear to the wedding. We are not free to "accept" the invitation and then do it our way - to add our little religious innovations, our little list of religious duties and deeds we feel will earn God's grace. We may be a part of His kingdom, we may be a part of the wedding, only on His terms.
Sadly, some people attempt to proof text this passage. They will try to turn this one verse into some kind of formula for predestination - that God chooses only a certain type of person. Some attempt to make this one verse into a legalistic formula saying, "whether or not we reach heaven depends totally upon our obedience."

This passage is about God's grace. This passage, like any properly understood biblical passage, must consider the broader context. This passage must be understood from the vantage point of Jesus Christ. Sadly, this one verse has been ripped out of its context and used to support methodologies and ideas about spiritual reality (OK - let's call them what they are - RELIGION).

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Supreme Court Guidelines - Are Your Beliefs Preferences or Convictions?

In both the United States and the world, certain events are bringing Christians and Christianity more intensely under the magnifying glass of official government scrutiny. As this scrutiny intensifies, we may have our convictions severely tested, as others have, in certain areas of religious belief.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a person’s religious convictions are protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution, but one’s religious preferences are not. Fortunately, the Supreme Court did not leave the courts without guidelines to determine whether a person has a religious preference or conviction. In a 1972 decision, the Court established the guidelines to determine a person’s convictions. Before giving those guidelines, the Court laid down two principles regarding persons who claim to hold religious beliefs.

First, the Court stated that “one cannot hold a belief unless one can somehow describe that belief.” Though the Court does not ask for eloquent testimony, it will not accept hunches, feelings or “it-seems-to-me” testimony either. The Court wants a witness to show thoughtful consideration of his beliefs.

Secondly, but more important, the Court requires that one’s beliefs must be individually and personally held. In John 8:32-44 Jesus confronted opponents who clearly had not internalized the beliefs they claimed to hold. “They answered and said to Him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children you would do the works of Abraham’”.

The Court views such people as hiding behind a title. Christ’s opponents said, “I am a son of Abraham.” Today, one would say, I am a Christian.” The Court would reply, “Fine, now tell us what that means to you.”

From these two general guidelines, the Court then established that no matter who we are or what our religious affiliation, beliefs fall into one of two categories. Beliefs are either Convictions or preferences. These terms must be defined further because in U.S. courts only convictions are protected by the Constitution. It may be surprising how the Supreme Court defines a preference.

A preference is a very strong belief. A belief can hold one with very great intensity and strength. How strong? Strong enough that one will go into full-time service of that belief. For example, one can be a minister of the gospel, a missionary or Bible study teacher in a religious school and still be operating on a preference, not a conviction.

According to the Supreme Court, a preference can be held so strongly that one will give all of his wealth to support it. A preference can be so intense a person will energetically proselytize others by going house-to-house, handing out tracts on street corners or broadcasting on radio or television – and he will still be operating only on a preference.

According to the Supreme Court, a preference is a belief that one will change under certain circumstances. Through long experience judging cases, the Court has learned that certain pressures, if brought to bear, will motivate people to change their beliefs. How would you respond to the following pressure?

1. Peer Pressure
Teens tend to be idealistic. But there are a few who resolve to be serious, “hit the books” and avoid the drugs, sex, smoking, drinking and “hanging out” that they have seen others doing. But if the “right” boy or girl appears, or if the teen is recognized by the “right” clique, his desire to be accepted by them pressures him to adjust his ideals to conform to theirs. His ideals or convictions are merely preferences.

A minister may search the Bible for truth and find something interesting that he believes and resolves to do and teach. When he tells his fellow ministers about what he has found, they may say to him, “I don’t say you’re wrong in this, but don’t you think you should tone it down a bit? Make it less offensive,, and then maybe we can cooperate with you and work on some of your objectives.” At first, he may strongly defend his belief, but little by little, as he sees the reaction of his peers, he may begin to bend. He started believing it and resolving to do it, but if he changes, his belief is a preference.

2. Family Pressure
This is perhaps the strongest pressure. When Jesus advises His disciples about counting the cost of commitment to Him, every person He mentions is a family member. “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate [or love less] his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26).

Usually no one can motivate you like a deeply loved mate. A husband may resolve to commit himself to a strong belief, but on telling his wife, she replies, “Please don’t; do you realize what this will do to us and our family?” His resolve begins to melt because he knows he will feel responsible if, because of his belief, he inflicts discomfort or pain on a loved one. His belief is only a preference.

3. Fear of Lawsuit or Financial Ruin
We are all aware of the expense and hassle of going to court. We may say, “I’m all for this, but I’m not going to get sued over it! You can’t ask me to be sued – that’s going too far! I may lose my hard-earned reputation, maybe my job and all my property because of attorney and court costs.” If this daunting pressure causes many to change their beliefs, they are not convictions.

4. Jail
You may have never really been in a jail, but they are not pleasant places. Most prisoners want to get out as quickly as they can. You are isolated from your dearest family members and friends. Additionally, the people around you (your fellow inmates) have made a living of not playing by the rules. Some are quite violent.

Would you really be willing to go to jail for your faith? Even when no one seems to understand why you would do such a thing? Would the pressure of facing jail make you change your beliefs? If so, your beliefs are preferences.

5. The Pressure of Death
This final test is obvious: to be a conviction, one must be willing to die for his belief. Even strongly held preferences have failed as convictions under the trying circumstances of facing death.

Do you see the common factor in these? What does your belief mean to YOU? What are you willing to sacrifice in exercising your belief? If you feel you should do something but have the right not to do it, it is merely a preference, according to the Supreme Court’s test. Therefore, your belief is not protected by the Constitution.

So what creates a conviction? The Court’s answer: A MAN MUST BELIEVE THAT HIS GOD REQUIRES IT OF HIM.

A belief that is God-ordered is a conviction. It is not merely a matter of resolve or dedication, but a matter of believing with all our heart that God requires it of us. The Court says that if we hold our beliefs as God-ordered, we will withstand all the above tests.

The Court says more: a conviction is not something we discover but something we purpose. It is not something we just happen to run across but something that is part of the very fiber of our personality. The Court says our convictions will be purposed as part of our way of life, beliefs that we are determined to perform and fulfill.

All these tests are guidelines for judges and lawyers to pursue in a court of law. But everyone knows that on the witness stand, after swearing or affirming to tell the truth, not everybody is honest, and that one, though not lying outright, may bend the truth.

So the Supreme Court was left with solving the dilemma of discovering how it could determine whether a person was telling the truth about his convictions. The answer was actually very simple. Though a person may be an artful liar on the witness stand, the truth can always be found in his LIFESTYLE.

The Court says, “You have no right to say you have a conviction unless we can somehow see you live that conviction with some consistency.” Testimony of beliefs without the works to prove them is invalid. This agrees with Scripture: “But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’” (James 2:18).

The Court says, “We want to see your faith in action.” A sharp attorney will ask pointed questions and our lifestyle could condemn us unless it matches our beliefs. The Court will not demand that we be perfect, but that we consistently show by our lifestyle that we are living by what we believe.

Conviction does not come because we are suddenly struck with inspiration, but it is the product of a process that involves a growing relationship with God. Knowledge gained by research or argument is of no benefit in God’s sight unless one lives by it. God wants experiential knowledge – knowledge of Him gained as the result of knowing Him, obeying Him, living life with Him as the center of our life.

It is the same in the natural world. We may know someone through the reporting of certain things about him. But we do not really know a person until we live with him. When we do that, we are convicted of certain things about him.

Supreme Court guidelines are judgments of men – but in the case of preferential beliefs or convictional beliefs, it looks to me like they must have had their Bibles out in front of them.

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Human "Beings"? - or Spirit "Beings"!

What is a “being”? We have all heard the term “human being” used so often that we don’t even think about what it means. As the little girl said to her mother working in the vegetable garden, "Mom, are we really human beans?"

We claim to be human beings, but what is a being? We don’t say “fish beings” or “vegetable beings”. The dictionary applies the adjective “being” to anything that actually exists. But when used as a noun, “being” is defined as: absolute existence of a person having essence of life.

The Bible tells us that we are composed of three parts: spirit, soul and body. And our essence or the real source of our being is our human spirit. I like to say that I AM a spirit – I HAVE a soul – and I LIVE in a body.

The soul is the intellect, emotions and will by which we learn and make choices. The soul was designed to be guided by the spirit. Our essence of being is in our spirit. We ARE spirit beings containing human souls and bodies.

What we tend to ignore is that each of us began in the “beingness” of spirit. Our spirits are uncreated. They are a portion of the Supreme Being, the Absolute Being – God the Father. Our souls and bodies were created when we came into this earthly existence, but our spirit has existed eternally because God portioned a part of Himself off to be our essence way back before the creation of the universe. “God has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).

My beginning and yours was in Being. We were in our Father. He is the eternal spiritual Being, and we inherited Him in our beginning.

This is a great and glorious story. But there is another story that began with our human father, Adam. And this story caused us to forget the story of our spiritual being.

Every human is actually one continuous organism from Adam – we are all Adam’s seed. And Adam forgot the story of his spiritual being. He forgot that God was the spiritual part of him, the “being” part!

And when we entered this earth, we also completely forgot where we really came from! Humanity in general looks upon itself as human beings rather than spirit beings. They are too busy handling the human problems of the human family. God has to deal with them on a one on one basis to bring them to the true understanding of being.

In its humanness the whole world has forgotten what it means to BE. Shakespeare said, “To be or not to be? That is the question.” And a good question for us to ask is, “What is our “being?”
We must get back to the very beginning of each of our stories of being before the foundation of the world. We must ask the Father of Being, the absolute spiritual Being, “Where did I come from?”

What is the home of spiritual being? What is our spiritual habitat? It is eternal life! The Holy Spirit works to find us in this world as He found the prodigal in Jesus’ parable. We are told that the prodigal son “came to himself”. This is everyone’s story, - we have each been the prodigal, taken up with our humanness and ignoring our beingness. While in that state we’ve remained untaught and spiritually ignorant of the true meaning of being “in the image of God”.

As a Christian making Christ our Savior and Lord – as a spiritual being in Christ – it is our destiny to rest in and enjoy the unconditional love of our Father, who is love, joy and peace. We are destined to know the truth of BEING, that in Christ we are free from bondage to the prison of human “being”.

The story of the prodigal is the story of the human race – still wallowing in the pigpen of human “being” in a futile effort to try to improve its surroundings. In the entirety of the Bible you will find one story: it is yours and it is mine. We lost our home in the one spiritual Being, the Father of all human beings. The work of the Holy Spirit is to bring us TO THE REMEMBRANCE OF OURSELVES AS SPIRIT BEINGS, NOT HUMAN BEINGS.

This is where we, like the prodigal, “come to ourselves”, to the true spirit being within. We remember our home in the heaven of unconditional love. We put away our old concept of separation between human being and spirit being.

The Christian grows into the perfectly functioning balance between heaven within and earth without!

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Hillary's Conversation

There is a book titled “The Choice” written by Watergate reporter Bob Woodward in 1996. The book claims that the then-president’s wife, Hillary, found encouragement by talking to Jean Houston, co-director of the Foundation for Mind Research, which studies psychic experience and altered and expanded consciousness.

The book said Houston got Mrs. Clinton to hold an imaginary conversation with Eleanor Roosevelt who died in 1962.

Hillary wrote in her weekly syndicated column that she occasionally has “imaginary conversations with Mrs. Roosevelt to try to figure out what she would do in my shoes. She usually responds by telling me to buck up or at least to grow skin as thick as a rhinoceros.”

The Bible constantly speaks of a dimension beyond material externals and appearances. Jesus called it “The Kingdom of God”.

But then the Bible also says that there are wrong forms of attempted communication with this other dimension.

When we live in this material dimension, we daily measure things by our limiting, natural senses – human intellect, emotional feelings and external appearance can act as our bases for judgment and decisions.

But we were created to live IN THE HIGHER DIMENSION ALSO – the timeless world of limitless unity with the Spirit of God. We are each, by a rebirth at conversion, to know the Spirit reality of a personal union with the Trinity of God – Christ living in us, through us, to others.

This does not deny our humanity, or the temporal reality of the material dimension, but brings us to a level of awareness which enables us to transcend our humanity.

My slowness in coming to see who I really was as a Christian probably stemmed from my religious training, as well as from my personality and interests. Because I had been warned in my youth by my religious teachers to stay away from anything “mystical” in trying to communicate with the spirit dimension lest I be sidetracked into religious error, I purposely avoided any Ouija boards or séance kind of spirit communication. Knowing that I might be deceived by the evil part of the spirit world, I stayed carefully away from “spiritism” or “mysticism”.

Oh, sure, I prayed. I attempted to communicate with God in the spirit world. I told Him my troubles and what I needed from Him. But what I didn’t do was LISTEN for any answers or guidance. I didn’t really trust whether I would recognize the message as from God or from some evil source.

But when I came to understand my new birth and Christ dwelling in me, I then realized that I had thrown out the baby with the bath water. Just because certain, far out groups, who seem to deny the atonement of Christ, emphasize mysticism does not mean that the subject us taboo and should be ignored.

The truth is that all people are mystics, whether they realize it or not. Mysticism is simply man’s inner knowing of Divinity – man’s intuitive realization of the need for union with God. Because the True Light enlightens every man (John 1:9), all people have in their hearts a spark of this inner knowing of what their destiny is meant to be. Believers in Christ have responded positively to this inner illumination, and have come to know and honor Christ as Savior and Lord. Unbelievers either reject that spark of Divinity outright (Romans 1:21) or find ways to attempt to get around it to satisfy their worldly perceptions.

Any Christian who acknowledges the Virgin Birth, the Incarnation, the Resurrection, the Atonement, the Holy Spirit, and then says he rejects mysticism as a source of knowledge – as I did for years – is in for a hard time in Christian living.

Most of us have learned from bitter experience that when we live only in the material dimension, we are powerless to perfect ourselves. Providentially, God has arranged a workable solution. As born-again new creatures in Christ, we are meant to live and operate in the consciousness of a higher dimension of spirit realm. We humanly do not have to be perfected. We humanly do not have to overcome or become anything. We only need to acknowledge our awareness of who we really are in the spirit dimension – one in union with Jesus Christ.

The key to a walk of faith that is not constantly derailed by day-to-day events is a fixed settlement into the truth of our union with Christ. Then this settled awareness turns into a quiet fellowship with Christ within whereby we come to recognize, AND KNOW THAT WE RECOGNIZE, messages of guidance from Him.

We no longer need to fear, as I did, that we will be deceived by evil spirits. We WILL recognize the difference between godly and ungodly guidance. We will instantly know the voice of Jesus as quickly as we know the voice of any family member.

This is not to say that we will always FOLLOW the guidance of Christ that we hear. We can still slip up by temporarily ignoring Christ and sinning. But we will also KNOW afterward that we did not follow Christ’s guidance when we sinned. This will tend to correct us and draw us back to Christ, probably even closer than before we sinned.

So, back to Hillary. If I could talk to Hillary, this is what I would tell her:
1. Don’t bother communicating with Eleanor Roosevelt! – or any dead person for that matter! They can’t help you with messages and, in fact, you are really asking for evil trouble.
2. You don’t need Jean Houston as some kind of a spiritual guide. If you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit working as a Teacher guide behind the scenes directing you to Christ.
3. Don’t reject talking to Jesus Christ! He is the One that you should be talking to!
4. But before you accept guidance messages from Him, you must know and accept that He is a part of you if you are a Christian. You must establish a personal relationship with Him so that you will know His voice.

Hillary, your personal life is tough enough right now. Don’t make it any tougher!

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A Survey - An Angry God?

An article by Mart De Haan of RBC Ministries

A 2006 Baylor Religious Survey found that Americans have very different opinions about whether God is inclined to be angry.

According to the Baylor study:
23% believe in a God of goodwill who shows up in our lives and is not inclined to be angry.
31.4% believe in an authoritarian God who is very involved in our lives and apt to be angry when we don’t do what He wants us to do.
24.4% believe in a critical God who, although not so involved with us, will show His displeasure by punishment in the hereafter.
16% believe in a distant God who is neither involved with us nor inclined to be angry.
5.2% say they are atheists.

The results of this survey cause me to wonder how much the people in these categories have been affected by a misunderstanding of the Bible.

The Bible describes a God whose anger is an important part of His story. From Genesis to Revelation, God expresses not only love but also anger. Moses writes about a time When God was so angry with the children of Israel that He threatened to destroy all of them and start over ((Deuteronomy 9:8-20). David, the songwriter king of Israel, later wrote that “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11), and the last book in the Bible pictures a resurrected Lord bringing the wrath of God against a world in rebellion (Revelation 19:11-16).

The God of both testaments, however, is slow to get angry. He is the opposite of irritable parents whose flash points of anger say more about their own frustration than about their child’s need for correction. The Father in heaven never loses His temper because He has had a bad day or because, in exasperation, He doesn’t know what else to do. Over and over the Bible describes Him as being “ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness” (Nehemiah 9:17).

The God of the Bible is so patient that He risks being misunderstood. His reluctance to enforce quick justice allows many to conclude that He isn’t watching, or that He doesn’t care (2 Peter 3:3-4). Yet by the time the last pages of the Bible are written, they reveal a God who waits as long as He does to give us time for a change of heart (Romans 2:4).

God takes no pleasure in the death of those who reject Him. Many centuries before Jesus’ birth, a Jewish prophet declared that God takes no pleasure in the death of His enemies. Specifically, the prophet Ezekiel declared, “’As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’” (33:11). Now, as then, God’s heart grieves over the end of those who refuse His offer of pardon and sanctuary.

When Jesus expressed “woes” on His enemies, He was more sad than angry. The “woes” He expressed to those who hated Him were not expressions of angry self-defense. They were expressions of lament, regret, and distress (Luke 11:42-52).

By “woes” of grief and alarm, Jesus put the Pharisees on notice that they were in danger of being accused and condemned by the very laws in which they took so much pride. So He said to them, “Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you – Moses, in whom you trust” (John 5:45).

GOD IS TOO LOVING NOT TO BE ANGRY. His anger, slow as it is, remains as evidence that He cares about the harmful things we do to ourselves and to one another.

The opposite of anger is NOT love. The opposite of anger is to be uninvolved and indifferent. It is because God loves so much that He feels such a mixture of grief and anger toward those who refuse to come to Him – at the expense of themselves and others.

This slow-forming, brokenhearted anger is what finally resulted in the terrible flood of Noah’s day (Genesis 6:1-6). Later, God’s judgment fell on Sodom and Gomorrah after the sins of the twin cities created conditions of oppression and hard-hearted violence (Genesis 18:20-21). Still later, God’s reluctant anger fell on Jerusalem, who, according to the prophet Ezekiel, fell into such spiritual disgrace that she made Samaria and Sodom look good by comparison (16:51-52).

Nowhere, however, is the heart behind God’s anger better understood than when:
Jesus turned the wrath of the law against Himself. Because of the love that would not allow Him to be uninvolved or indifferent to us, the Son of God took the punishment we deserved (2 Corinthians 5:21). When Jesus said from His cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46), that was our hour of judgment. In that moment, our guilt was being punished. God’s anger against all that is evil and harmful in the world was falling on Himself instead of us.

Most amazing is that according to the New Testament, the One who will sit in judgment of the world in the last days is none other than the same Jesus who suffered in our place (Matthew 25:31-34; John 5:22-27; Acts 10:42-43; 2 Timothy 4:1).

If this is true, if the anger of God will flash in the eyes of the same One who cried and died for us, the how would we answer a survey that asks how inclined God is to be angry?

Does this sound like a God who is uninvolved or uncaring – or in any way unworthy of our fear, trust, and love?

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Temptation and Its Beneficial Effects

Nowhere is the true significance of temptation more clearly seen than in the historic forty days in the wilderness by Jesus. We watch that tremendous scene, the last Adam, the Word made flesh, come to fight and win the battle that the first Adam lost. We see Him with His human instincts, passions and powers, true Man in Spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Jesus understood the concept: I AM a spirit, I HAVE a soul, and I LIVE IN a body. We see this Man complete in manhood’s powers, forty days “tempted of the devil.”

Temptation had started before then, of course. We catch a previous glimpse of it when by a subtle solicitation through the channel of His enlarged and illumined spirit, the young lad of twelve might have been led away by the devil in disguise to follow the trail of false favor in place of filial obedience to His parents.

But now He was a Man in the fullness of His power, and the only Man in history to whom those tremendous words had been or could be spoken, but a few hours before: “You are My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Knowing Himself to be anointed by God’s Spirit to fulfill the greatest commission ever given to man; to be the world’s Savior, to be the Man of Destiny whose Name had been on the inspired lips of sage and prophet since the world began, the longed for Messiah. But there was still one thing needed: a firm and final choice of free will, a voluntary self-dedication of every power of spirit, soul and body to this one end. And for that the devil was necessary!

Man cannot really know his nature fixed Godward except by his refusal to fix it devilward. So Jesus met Satan in that deserted place.

After forty days, He was weak and hungry in body. And then the suggestion was stabbed home to Him: “Your new powers over nature. Use them. Make bread.” In a moment, the battle was joined. Was His body to be master or servant? Was He to move at its dictates, or was it to move at the dictates of the Father who controlled Him? Jesus said, “No!” But a mere “no” would leave the nagging temptation unrelieved. So He followed up this powerless negative with a triumphant positive that swallows up the negative: “Man lives by every Word of God.” This was BODY victory. It was settled. From then on, His body was an instrument for God’s glory – His appetites were the natural means by which it could be kept in working order.

Next came the temptation of the soul. In the soul repose all the vast powers of the personality – to think, to will, to feel. All the mighty achievements of man, in art, in science, in literature, in action, flow from the soul. The genius, the leader, the inventor, the discoverer, have all great souls. And none so great as the human Jesus. Satan knew this; for to only one Man has he offered complete world dominion and promised Him the attainment of His objective. The devil showed Him “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time”; said to Him “all these will I give You.” The condition? That He commit Himself into the hands of “the prince of this world” (as He later calls Satan), absorb the spirit that is in the world, and act according to “the wisdom of this world”.

In other words, all the powers of that greatest of human personalities, mental, emotional, volitional, would become the vehicle of world dictatorship, based on the age-old methods of conquest and compulsion, the only technique of government known to man and the spirit that works in the ungodly man.

The alternative? The worship and service of God; and that meant the subordination of these same soul-powers to the ways of His Spirit, to the carrying out of an alternative technique of ultimate world dominion which was in the wildest sense improbable and fantastic, and as totally removed from the way of the natural man as light from darkness. This was SOUL victory. This was the material from which the plan of the ages took its shape in Him.

Yet, spirit is deeper than soul. It is the essence of a man – “I AM a spirit”. It is that which expresses itself through soul and body. It is the center of my being where, as a Christian, Jesus Christ dwells in union (Galatians 2:20). And if body and soul must be fixed in God through the stabilizing processes of temptation, so also must the spirit.

So Satan sought to reach the spirit of the Savior, when he could not touch body or soul. Let’s see Him descend through the air upheld by supernatural power. Let them flock around Him as the miracle worker. Let them all see who He is: the Son of God in Spirit with power. The masses will be at His feet.

The alternative? To give Himself to show forth the Father in His human spirit. To point to the Father within Him so that thought, word and action will be controlled from His spirit – not of the visible Jesus, but of the invisible Father.

Thus, on the pinnacle of the temple that final battle of the spirit was fought and won. Satan’s weapon of temptation was turned to his own confusion and made the means of confirming the Son as the Servant of the Father. The high road to man’s salvation was now opened. The body was not for self-indulgence, nor the soul for self-aggrandizement, nor the spirit for self-worship – the forty days confirmed in His own consciousness and declared before heaven in spirit, soul and body, to be the Son of God with power, His Father’s willing Servant and the world’s Savior.
Only once more had such a battle to be fought; shorter, sharper, even fiercer, in three hours of bloody sweat; this time to gather strength by conflict and conquest to be the offering for the sin of the world.

The Lord’s prayer says, “…lead us not into temptation…”. Jesus is saying, “Father, I know that You do not lead us into temptation Yourself, but when Satan does, You will deliver us” – the Lord’s prayer continues, “…but deliver us from evil [the Evil One].”

From this perfect insight into temptation, we learn that temptations met and mastered are the only high road to stabilization of character and spiritual progress. We do not meet the pull of the carnal with an ineffective “No” (the “thou shalt not” of the law), which leaves the conflict unresolved, or at best gives victory only by the skin of the teeth. But we meet it with the positive alternative of the gospel, that “Christ has delivered us from the curse of the law”; the ringing declaration that “I am crucified with Christ – yet not I – but Christ lives in me.”

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Pleasure - A Reflex Effect And Not A Pursuit

What should be the Christian outlook on “pleasure”? The US Constitution talks about the “pursuit of happiness”. This is not the same as the pursuit of pleasure. Happiness is a deeper thing of the spirit than pleasure which resides in the soul, the intellect, emotions and will.

We are real human selves as well as it being Christ living in us. Therefore we do have pleasure as well as giving Him pleasure; we do have motives as well as being motivated by Him.

If a person thanks me because something I have said or written has made Christ more real to him, I have no necessity every time to stop him short and say, “Give the thanks to God.” In thanking me, he really means as a channel, and I as a channel am rightly also pleased that I have been a channel for Christ. I must not accuse myself of pride because I do feel pleasure.

Equally, when my main motive in some action has been believing it to be God’s will, Yet I see also that I had a personal motive of the gain or enjoyment or pleasure I also get from it, I must not therefore accuse myself of pride. As a real human self, I have my pleasure, my motives, my sense of personal gain in a thing.

The point is that, as a Christian with Jesus Christ in a living union with me, Christ’s motives are being established day be day in my soul AS MY MAIN MOTIVE. God’s will, God’s work, and God’s glory are becoming my main objective – as it is He by me, I too anticipate pleasure, satisfaction and gain from it.

This is how it is with God himself. Years ago I began to justify my conscious ego of pleasure by discovering that the Bible said of God that “for My pleasure they are and were created,” and of Jesus Christ that “for the joy set before Him He endured the cross.”

“Then God does things for selfish reasons,” I said, “the same as I do.” Of course, that missed the point which I saw later, as I began to exchange my self-centeredness for God-centeredness. I saw that true living is when the purpose is for others, and the secondary effect is the pleasure or gain I have from it.

False living is when my pleasure or gain is primary and the purposes of my living for others incidental. This is true in all life’s activities, such as the simple difference between eating to live (and incidentally getting pleasure out of it), and living to eat!

God’s pleasure, Christ’s joy are an outcome of His giving Himself, not pleasing Himself. True pleasure is when my self-pleasing is fulfilled in self-giving, and my self-love finds full satisfaction in other-love. There is total self-fulfillment, a combination of spirit happiness and soul pleasure.

As Jesus said, we find ourselves by losing ourselves in God’s love activities, and the REFLEX EFFECT of such living is the pleasure, gain and satisfaction it brings us.

We, the redeemed, though we do not live a life of continued sinning, do commit sins of attempted independent pleasure – pleasure not derived from godly motives. What then do we do? We have not broken relationship with Christ dwelling in us; we have just temporarily forgotten that relationship. We have interrupted fellowship from our side of the relationship. We have asserted our freedom by acting as if we were not one with Him and looking for some form of pleasure separate from His motives.

Just because we ARE one with Christ, we know that pleasure we were after was wrong. The way back is as simple and plain as on our first coming to God. If we are quickly born again by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord in a quick cleansing, then we are just as quickly accepted back into that indwelling relationship by humble repentance. It is as if God says to me, “Yes, you sinned, and honest confession and repentance were necessary. But as for the sin, I settled the whole sin question 2,000 years ago in the atoning death of my son. Through Him sins are no more. I have forgotten them. You can forget them.”

At this point we have to be careful not to add a second sin to the first. The first was the sin itself, the second and greater is if I don’t believe at once that what God has cleansed, He has cleansed. Not to believe in the efficacy of the blood of Christ for all sins both before and after conversion is a worse sin than the first. For unbelief, Jesus said, is the only REAL sin (John 16:9).

Some are also troubled by the repetition of sins and their human pleasure in their lives. How can they be delivered from doing it again and again? We do not find deliverance by looking to the past or future for some foolproof formula; but forgetting our search for deliverance, we become occupied by the simple say to day walk with the Deliverer.

Live in the “now moment” of His presence. The past is no longer there through the atoning sacrifice of Christ; the future is not my business; so if at this moment you are walking in a union with Jesus within, be thankful. Take pleasure in that walk. If and when the sudden fall comes again, get in the clear again with God, and walk on – looking neither to past nor future. We are much less likely to be tripped up in such a simple single-eyed walk than if we are tense about the past or future and holding on to some supposed formula of deliverance.

Even if we are bound by a sinful pleasure-seeking habit, or even if we are not willing to be delivered from a habit, the deliverance or the change of will to make us willing can never come by our attention being centered on the habit. It is only by a daring leap of faith and awareness which affirms that Christ is our deliverer and that He is the one living in us promising to bring us along on a day by day basis to “will and do after His good pleasure.”

So let’s not get the cart before the horse in our pleasure seeking. God wants our human pleasure – but He wants it as a reflex effect of following His purposes.

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Will God "Foreclose" On Your Salvation?

We see all the headlines in the news today about home foreclosures. People got in over their heads with adjusted-rate mortgages and now can’t afford the upward adjusted mortgage payments.

I once viewed Jesus’ sacrifice as a down payment on salvation. I believed that what Jesus did at the cross made it theoretically possible for me to be saved, at least in principle. Jesus had died to pay the penalty for sin, so my own eternal punishment wasn’t necessarily required – as long as I was able to pass the test and do the rest. I just had to keep up the “mortgage payments” on salvation, so to speak.

I was laboring under the delusion that I could in some way make myself acceptable to a holy, just and righteous God, but the truth was that nothing I did could ever be adequate. Fortunately, God used my experience in legalistic religion to bring me to the realization that there was no hope of salvation if it depended in any way on anything I did. Once I finally realized how bad the bad news was, I was ready to appreciate just how good the Good News is.

The Good News is that Jesus did not just make the down payment on my “adjusted-rate” salvation mortgage. He purchased my salvation in full without a mortgage and gave it all to me as an absolutely free gift.

Once the full force of this truth hit me I found that all my fear about sin punishment after death (a foreclosure on my imagined salvation mortgage) vanished. I now know that whatever happens, I am safe in union with Christ. That doesn’t mean that I won’t ever face hardship or even tribulation of one sort or another. But I have the absolute assurance that my position in union with the indwelling Christ is secure because of the cross of Christ.

The cross was much more than an exemplary object lesson in love. While the cross was most certainly a demonstration of God’s great love, the cross reconciled sinners to God, not by example, but by substitution.

Because Jesus is our substitute, we need not fear that our salvation is based upon our own ability to pass a test or withstand tribulation.

Now that I better understand my place in Christ, I’m no longer trying to make impossible “mortgage payments” on salvation. My fear of the uncertainty of after-death punishment is gone, chased away by the assurance of Christ’s cross. I have nothing to fear but fear itself as President Roosevelt stated during World War II. Why? Because I am safe in the love of Christ.

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Lovers Of Pleasure...

In 2 Timothy 3:3-5 there is a list of negative trends that characterize life in “the last days”. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, etc. And then come these words: “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

Our modern pursuit of pleasure has skyrocketed. Today we are relentlessly pushing the pleasure button in our brain – and overloading a system that is not designed to be continuously stimulated. The result is a condition in which our brains slowly lose the capacity to give us real pleasure.

There is in the brain (the brain being the control center of the soul) a particular point – it’s called the locus acumbens –that allows us to experience pleasure. Most people refer to it as the pleasure center. There is no pleasure humans experience that doesn’t come from this small, specialized area of the brain.

It is not the locus for happiness. There is not one – it takes the whole soul and spirit to give you happiness. That is an important difference.

God designed the human body with physical limits. We have a limited amount of strength, example. We have a limited amount of time we can go without sleep or food. We must live within those limits. If we step outside them we’re in trouble.

We need to learn to live “inside the box” of our human limitations. The pleasure center is inside that box, and when we abuse it, when we over-stimulate it or tax it beyond its capabilities, we should not be surprised if we begin to have difficulty finding real happiness in anything.

I can hear some people protesting: “But the Lord gives us His joy. We don’t generate it ourselves – He gives it to us.” Right – but we need the brain to appreciate it.

We cannot fully experience the joy that comes from God when our brains are abused with over-stimulation. We have to live within the box if we are going to live a happy life. God does not give us happiness outside of our brain. It doesn’t work that way. We need a healthy pleasure center to be happy.

Today we are caught up in a world that is pushing the brain’s pleasure button too fast and too often. A simple thing, like just being together as a family, doesn’t give people the pleasure it once did. You’ll often hear young people say, “I’m bored around here.”

It isn’t just the children, though. A pastor of a church admitted, “I can’t find pleasure in anything anymore. I used to enjoy preaching, but I just don’t find pleasure in it. My children don’t give me any pleasure anymore. And just recently, I’ve noticed that I’m not even experiencing any pleasure with my wife. And what scares me most of all is that I don’t seem to be able to take any pleasure in God anymore.”

There are three major things which shut down a person’s pleasure center: depression, stimulant drugs and stimulating behaviors.

Depression today is typically brought on by the prolonged stress of our accelerated pace of life. We don’t know when to quit. Most of us are not sleeping enough. And we don’t have enough downtime.

For the last century, the pace of life has steadily accelerated, but about 12 years ago, it suddenly skyrocketed. What was the cause? The Internet! The Internet opened the door to continuous, relentless stimulation, to steady abuse of the brain’s pleasure center. The Internet and hyper-realistic video games devour people’s time for hours, even days, on end, and the opportunities for numbing the brain’s pleasure center rise exponentially.

The second major cause of pleasure center shut-down is stimulant drugs. Probably the most extreme stimulant drug, cocaine, is that it totally hijacks the pleasure system. When it reaches the pleasure center, nothing else can provide pleasure.

But the lesser stimulants such as caffeine present in many soft drinks can also provide a slow shut down to the pleasure center. And Pepsi, Coke, etc., are consumed in fantastic quantities today.

The third cause of pleasure center shut-down is over-indulgence in stimulating behavior, which can shut down the pleasure center just as effectively as depression and stimulant drugs.

Behaviors can be as stimulating as drugs. The pathways to the pleasure center use a neuro-transmitter called dopamine. In a newborn baby, the pathways to this pleasure center are un-encumbered. Have you watched the joy on a young baby’s face as it recognizes its mother? That’s the perfect pleasure system.

And it will stay that way for a lifetime if it isn’t abused. The problem is, faced with the stress of modern life and the continuous flow of stimulation, we are “pushing the pleasure button” too frequently. So barriers are built to that pure baby pathway. The more we overload the pleasure center, the higher the barrier goes. So we seek bigger and more pleasurable activities to get over that barrier to the pleasure center.

WE HAVE DEVELOPED A CULTURE WITH SUCH A HIGH BARRIER TO OUR PLEASURE CENTER THAT THE SIMPLE, LITTLE THINGS OF LIFE CAN NO LONGER GIVE US PLEASURE.

The pleasure center needs rest, folks. Multi-tasking overloads our system. Everything in the media, every television program, every movie, every music CD, is designed to give us higher and higher levels of stimulating responses. None of these exciting things are necessarily bad. What is bad is that they are unrelenting. There is little downtime. That’s the problem.

What can we do to help preserve a healthy pleasure center? It is a paradox. If you pursue too much pleasure, you upset your pleasure center. You have to find a way to maximize your pleasure center without overloading it. Fortunately, there are things you can do to achieve that.

Excitement is not happiness. In fact, it is the ultimate drug. It is excitement that people seek when engaging in any destructive or addictive behavior. Today people have the ability to experience excitement more than any generation in history - cell phones, digital music players, radio, cable TV, not to mention designer drugs.

But what is missing is imagination. We all, and especially children, need a creative hobby. We need to be creative in talking to family members and friends. We need to find simple non-exciting pleasure in walking the dog, doing chores, reading a book or magazine, learning a musical instrument, or foreign language, exercising – or just plain thinking.

If we want to experience the joy and the happiness that come from living in union with Christ, we have to “live inside the box” and not abuse the pleasure center He has given us.

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A Raisin In the Sun

I just watched the old 1961 movie titled “Raisin In the Sun” with Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee.

In the story, the father dies and is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. Each one of them has a different idea about how to use the inheritance from the father’s death.

The widowed wife wants to buy a new home. The daughter sees it as an opportunity for her to go to medical school. The son wants to go into business with a friend.

The son persuades them to see it his way. “Don’t you see,” he says to his mother and sister, “if I take this money I can do all these things for you.” So the son gets the money, and gives it to his friend to start their business. His dream is smashed when the friend absconds with the money and skips town.

Now the son has to tell his mother and sister that all the money is lost. Their reactions are interesting. The mother responds sympathetically. She hugs her son, rubs his neck and says, “Honey, I know you feel so bad!”

The sister is astonished and asks the mother, “How can you love him after what he has done? He doesn’t deserve to be loved!”

That’s the reaction a lot of people have to the gospel. It’s hard to believe that God forgives us and loves us after everything we’ve done.

Listen to how the mother in A Raisin In the Sun replies to her daughter’s harshness.
“Honey, when do you think is the time to love somebody? Is it when they get a big promotion? Is it when they’re successful? Is it when all their investments pay off? Is that the time you love somebody? Honey, the time to love someone is when they are down and out. The time to love someone is when they’ve made a mistake in their life and they feel bad. The time to love somebody is when they have nobody to reach out to. The time to love somebody is when life has whipped and beaten them. That’s the time to love somebody.”

Isn’t that exactly what God does? Jesus described the Father’s love for us in these words:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believer stand condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18).

I have seen many movies and heard many memorable lines, but the mother’s response to her daughter in A Raisin In the Sun stands out as wonderfully biblical. When we come to Jesus as Savior and Lord, God lifts our fear, our grief and our anguish about all our failures off our shoulders and we can rest in His love, knowing we’re clean and forgiven and accepted and loved.

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Genocide In the Old Testament

Readers of the Old Testament may have the question come to mind about God’s seeming approval of genocide – the stories of Sodom and of various Canaanite peoples God wiped out one way or another.

In order to understand this apparent genocide, you must consider the context. It’s a crucial factor.

Consider, for example, the act of slashing someone with a knife. Such an act would be criminal UNLESS the person wielding that blade is a skilled surgeon operating in a medically appropriate context. Cutting away malignant or dead tissue may be essential to saving life.

This surgical analogy certainly applies, given the historical and spiritual context of these Old Testament events. Some ancient peoples were wicked beyond imagining. Archeologists confirm the biblical account of people whose religion involved wholesale atrocities against infants. And consider what happened when two visitors arrived at Lot’s home in Sodom. It’s a chilling, “X-rated” story, and it offers a clue to how depraved an entire population could become.

Such pervasive “approved” depravity of an entire population has not been seen since the days of Christ. Since His death and resurrection and the coming of His Spirit to indwell believers, evil has been restrained – certainly not eliminated, but restrained. Christ living in and among Christ’s followers carries preservative qualities (like salt), keeping evil somewhat in check.

So I look at the Old Testament apparent genocide by God as surgical action by God to eliminate malignant parts of the human race in order to preserve the overall race.

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Four Major Worldviews Competing With Christianity

Christianity has always had competition. In this 21st century, there are four major competitors for the Christian perspective:
NATURALISM – secular.
SUBJECTIVISM – skeptical.
PANTHEISTIC MONISM – mystical.
ISLAM – radical.
All four have certain attractions for non-Christians. Although it is impossible in this article to cover a book-length topic such as this, I want to hit the highlights of each of the four.

Naturalism

The number of people worldwide who embrace a godless perspective remains a relatively small percentage compared to the large majority of people who embrace some type of religious perspective. However, naturalism seems to be growing in popularity and is well entrenched in many parts of the Western world, especially in the centers of academia.

Naturalism, as traditionally defined, is that system that regards the natural, material, and physical universe as the only reality. The world of nature is viewed as the whole show - all that actually exists. All reality is located within the exclusive domain of the space-time world of physical objects, events, processes, and forces.

Naturalists reject a supernatural realm of existence thus eliminating God as a creator and sustainer of the universe and eliminating the human spirit as a part of man.

However, the house of naturalism is a house divided. There is much disagreement about how naturalism is applied and the thinking that is required. These points might be considered its so-called family traits.

Everything is reducible to or explainable in terms of nature itself as studied and interpreted by science.

Many naturalists assert that the material physical brain with its related electrical-chemical processes produces or causes the mind analogous to how an engine causes exhaust or fire causes smoke.

Naturalists tend to consider science as having privileged status with regard to knowledge. Science is either the only reliable method or the best, most dependable method for obtaining genuine knowledge.

Naturalists staunchly defend some form of evolutionary theory because biological evolution is the only naturalistic explanation for life and the appearance of man.

Appeals to the supernatural to explain events transpiring in the world of time and space are considered unscientific and illegitimate.

Naturalists are typically atheistic (there is no God) or agnostic (either they do not know personally that God exists or that no one can know it).

From the naturalist perspective morals, values, and societal norms find their source, foundation, and justification in the conventional agreement of humankind. Great confidence is placed in science and technology’s capacity to solve human problems.

The problems with naturalism are these:

How can non-rational physical factors succeed in producing the rational faculties of human beings and how can the human brain and mind be trusted to deliver rational content?

Science alone cannot explain some of the most meaningful human realities of life (for example, moral values, aesthetics, and meaning).

Naturalism appears to be self-defeating in that it does not address the internal needs of humanity such as moral obligations by which they will be held accountable for their moral actions.

Subjectivism

Subjectivism is characterized by an utter skepticism about the nature of reality and truth. So-called “truth” can only be subjective, relativistic, pluralistic, and socially constructed. An objective foundation for truth, meaning, purpose, and values simply does not exist.

There is a deep suspicion and ultimate rejection of religious systems, governmental systems or any organized systems in general.

The language of communication is also considered arbitrary and incapable of clear meaning.

The problems with subjectivism are these:

Many of this position’s central claims involve inherent contradictions. This bold rejection of systems becomes a system itself. And to assert that no one has access to the ultimate nature of reality requires that very access. Only knowing about ultimate reality can reveal the position that access to it is denied.

Certain elements of subjectivism seem practically unworkable, it not self-defeating. The exaggerated approach to language is a strong indicator of a basic incoherence and practical unworkability as a social objective.

Pantheistic Monism

One philosophical and religious orientation that permeates the East and has become increasingly popular in the West during the last half century is pantheistic monism. This perspective proclaims that all reality is an undifferentiated one, and that unity is God or Ultimate Reality and may be summed up in the statement “All is God and God is All.”

Everything that is real – including the universe and the spirits of human beings – is one in essence with this single all-encompassing Ultimate Divine Reality which is not material or physical (as the naturalists believe) but rather totally spiritual in nature.

In large measure, this perspective is reflected in the popular beliefs of the New Age movement rising in the West.

Adherents to this basic viewpoint may have different orientations and special points of emphasis. This ultimate God in all is considered totally impersonal and therefore amoral with no boundaries or divisions. Some forms of pantheism proclaim that the physical universe only appears to be real but is in actuality an illusion.

If all is one (monism) and the one is God (pantheism), then it follows that man is God. The spirit of each human being is the cosmic spirit.

Prominent is the belief in reincarnation where after death, the spirit returns in a new and different body and life.

The problems with pantheistic monism are these:

The “distinct true self” idea logically conflicts with monism’s basic assertion that there are no distinctions.

How will the human spirit be reunited with God or Ultimate Reality when the spirit is already (and has always been) one with God?

Reincarnation and monism, two necessary features of the pantheistic monism perspective, are logically incoherent. Reincarnation involves the need for many distinctions, whereas monism insists there are no distinctions at all.

How did personal agents such as human beings come forth from a completely impersonal source? And isn’t personhood a greater state than the impersonal?

Islam

The three aforementioned competitors with Christianity are basically competitors for the mind and are certainly dangerous in that respect. But I consider radical Islam the most dangerous competitor because of its desire to destroy physically all non-Islamists – a competition not only to change the minds but also to destroy the bodies of non-Islamists.

Going into the history of the Islamic religion is not within the scope of this article. But the following are some of its attributes:

Islam believes in working to please God (Allah) by the 5 Pillars of Islam:
1. Profession of faith in Allah.
2. Prayer bowing and on your knees facing Mecca 5 times a day.
3. Almsgiving (approx. 2.5% of your net worth).
4. Fast of Ramadan once a year.
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime.

For radical Islam, there is a 6th Pillar: called Jihad. The concept of Jihad can refer to either an internal spiritual striving or exertion against one’s own evil inclinations, or to military warfare against all infidels (non-Islamists).

The problems with Islam are these:

The religion of Islam claims to be part of the biblical tradition, However, Islam also claims that both the Old and New Testament scriptures are incomplete and corrupted.

The Muslim has an unknowable God. A Muslim can know the will of Allah but cannot know his character or essence or have a personal relationship with him. With relationships as one of life’s most meaningful experiences, the importance of a personal relationship with God cannot be overstated.

Islam’s view of man seems unrealistic and even naïve since human beings are said to be born innocent with an unequivocally good and positive nature.

In conclusion, there is much competition with Christianity in the 21st century – a battle for the mind and even a war of the body. I pray that Christians and non-Christians may not be misled and that the power of the message of Christ will continue to draw people to conversion and new birth in Christ and that Christians will sustain themselves in the truth of Christian knowledge.

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A Great Depression Again?

I was born in 1931 at the start of the Great Depression. My family survived the depression better than most. My father had begun his dental practice five years earlier and, although it required some bartering for services to get along, he was able to care for his family reasonably well.

If the crash of 1929 had been like previous ones, the subsequent hard times might have ended in a year or two. But instead, uprecedented economic meddling prolonged the misery for 12 long years.

How bad was the Great Depression? Many felt despair as trade stopped, unemployment spiraled, banks collapsed and hunger spread across the nation. During the four years after the 1929 stock market crash, the nation regressed like at no other time in its history. 42% of America’s banks folded. Production at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities fell by more than half. People’s real disposable incomes collapsed 28%. Stock prices cascaded to one tenth of their pre-crash height. Unemployment rose from 1.6 million in 1929 to a whopping 12.8 million by 1933 – leaving one out of every four workers jobless. People lost their savings, their homes, their health and their hope.

But what made the 1929 stock market crash turn so much more deadly than the previous short-lived crashes of 1920 and earlier? According to many economists, the 1929 crash was unique because just months later, the first shots of a trade war that quickly engulfed the world were fired.

Industrial America erupted into protectionist fervor. In a reversal of conditions today, back then it was inexpensive European imports, especially agricultural products, due to cheap labor and falling European currencies that began to undercut American producers.

Riding a populist wave, U.S. politicians imposed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act – one of the most severe protectionist policies in America’s history. Designed to protect American farmers and manufacturers from cheap-labor low-cost European imports, Smoot-Hawley instead unintentionally triggered an economic arms race that helped plunge America – and the rest of the world – into a decade of depression and despair.

The rest of the world saw the Act as a virtual declaration of economic war on them. Foreign nations were outraged. Within two years, 25 countries had retaliated; U.S. and foreign trade took massive losses. America exported $5.24 billion in goods in 1929; by 1932 the total had fallen to just $1.6 billion. Overall, world trade declined some 66% by 1934.

What does this all have to do with 2008 America? It seems the first shots of global trade war are about to be fired – only this time, America’s falling dollar could be the trigger.

The dollar has fallen by 40% against the world’s major currencies over the past seven years. 16% of that loss has come in the past year alone. Against gold, the dollar has fared even worse, losing 19% in 2007 and falling more against gold in 2008.

The rapid fall in the dollar’s value is drastically changing global trade dynamics. The immediate impacts are being felt most dramatically in Europe.

The drop may benefit America in the short run, even though in the long run there could be stinging political and economic consequences.

In Europe, however, things are quite the opposite. The falling dollar is hammering European industry.

The weak dollar means that European products have become more expensive in America, and consequently Europe is selling fewer goods to, and buying more goods from, the U.S. Thus, Europe is sending more money to America through trade, and America is sending less back to Europe.

But Europe is actually getting hit doubly hard because China loosely links its currency to the dollar. As the dollar has fallen, so has the Chinese yuan – and European exports have become more expensive in China too, and Chinese goods have become cheaper in Europe – the result being that Europeans are selling fewer goods to, but purchasing more from China, which means Europe is now losing billions in trade with China. During just the first eight months of 2007, the EU’s trade deficit with China ballooned 25%.

But it doesn’t stop there. Saudi Arabia and 21 other nations officially link their currencies to the dollar. And 12 nations actually use the U.S. dollar as currency. For these reasons, America’s dollar problem is the world’s dollar problem, and especially Europe’s problem. No wonder Europe is getting fed up with the dollar’s slide.

The upshot of this trend is that the nightmare scenario is coming closer to reality. Trade war alarm bells are ringing.

As European businesses suffer, pressure on politicians to take legislative action to protect trade is intensifying. Airbus boss Tom Enders said the dollar’s fall is a “life-threatening” event for the company.

Ironically, at the same time the falling greenback, while stimulating U.S. exports, is also increasing calls for trade protectionism from within America.

Foreigners are now beginning to take full advantage of the markdown sale in America – not just of toys and trinkets, but of strategic assets as well. During 2006, foreigners spent $147.8 billion snapping up U.S. businesses, up 77% from 2005. Europeans, Chinese and Arabs are grabbing U.S. infrastructure at a rapid pace. Stuffed to the brim with depreciating dollars, many investors are seeking to spend them before they become worth even less. U.S. water companies, electric companies, and other utilities are being increasingly controlled by foreigners.

This election year, demands to legislate protections for American assets and trade are sure to increase. Calls to levy tariffs, duties, quotas, subsidies, and even to outright prohibit foreign ownership, are almost sure to abound.

How much strategic infrastructure does America want to be foreign owned? When times are good and everyone is at peace, foreign ownership of strategic industry may pose little immediate threat. But given the rising global tide of anti-Americanism, is it wise for America to allow foreign nations to have unrestricted access to American assets?

You may be asking the question, “What is all this economic stuff doing on a website titled “Christian Stuff”? The answer is that fear and panic should not be in the lifestyle of a Christian. But it can be seen everywhere in the world as a non-Christian lifestyle. And panic is a “trigger”.

Trade protectionism in America or Europe could easily escalate by panic into an economic arms race where nations turn inward and erect barriers to benefit local businesses and prevent foreign entities from competing. In such a scenario, global trade would immediately begin to regress, taking stock markets with it.

What if the rich foreign investors who now own so much of America panic and quickly try to save what they have by selling off their interests in American assets for what they can get out of them – again taking the stock markets with it?

Leaders in America and Europe say they don’t want a trade war. Most economists and business leaders don’t want trade war, and the average worker certainly doesn’t want trade war – after all, nobody likes to be reduced to begging for clothes or to being unemployed. With trade wars, everybody loses. The question just becomes who loses the most. And anti-Americanism around the world thinks that America would lose the most! And they are probably right!

We Christians know not to fear or panic:
“Have no anxiety for anything [don’t panic], but for everything pray with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God [don’t fear] which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.
(Philippians 4:6-7)

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Jesus and I Can't Both Be In Control

Let me state a truth: A lot of people are saved but they don’t know Jesus.

It’s the only way I can understand why people who believe and teach the doctrine of the sovereignty of God are so bent on controlling everything but Him…and sometimes even Him. It explains why people talk about freedom yet live in a prison of guilt and fear. It helps me deal with those who talk about grace and give very little of it. It is the only way I know to understand why I, a member of Grace Church, live a life that is sometimes marked by obsession with rules, being perfect and doing everything right. It explains why so many people have to be right and work so hard to appear good.

I don’t for a moment believe that I’m not saved and, frankly, I don’t really believe that those who drive me nuts with criticism and condemnation of other Christians aren’t saved. I just believe that those of us who are saved sometimes don’t know Jesus.

For many years, I followed Christ in a not dissimilar way to the way I followed the multiplication tables. I knew that it was true. It didn’t move me deeply, it didn’t make me feel good all over and it didn’t feel warm and fuzzy. During that period in my life, I simply didn’t understand those who had an emotional connection with Christ. I, from my superficial position of intellectual commitment, felt that they “needed” all that but all I needed was the truth.

“Just the facts, man, just the facts.”

After all, once you see truth, you can’t unsee it. Only a fool, once seeing it, refuses to live according to the truth one has seen.

As I look back, the problem was that I tried to make the Christian faith into an affirmation of propositions. It was intellectual assent, and I thought that was enough. It wasn’t…not nearly enough.

In the last century a New England man in Amherst, Massachusetts proposed to his wife this way: “I hope I have no foolishness called romance; I am too well-balanced for that sort of nonsense. But we might look forward to leading respectable and useful lives and enjoy the respect of the neighbors.”

If you think that was a good marriage proposal, there’s something weird about you, and everybody knows it. But if you believe something like that about your relationship to Christ and even teach it, making the Christian faith into a “respectable and useful” religious commitment, everybody will think you’re godly. Your not. You’re spiritually neurotic.

I’m not preaching at you – I’ve been there, done that, and God help me, still live there sometimes. It’s having it in your intellect but having trouble connecting it with your spirit. I don’t think I have all the answers. I do have at least one of them though.

With me, I think, the real problem was (and sometimes still is) control. In my need to control my situation and all the circumstances of my life, I was saved, but I didn’t know Jesus.

You see, you can analyze, teach and line up doctrines and propositions. There is something logical and proper about biblical theology. It will not only win arguments; it makes one feel secure in one’s rightness. On the other hand, trusting our mind, listening to your mind and acting on your mind’s reasons can get you into all sorts of trouble. Once you start going down that road to knowledge, you can’t control what happens. Not only that, there is something well…uh…you know…kind of crude about all that emotional stuff.

Am I saying that biblical doctrine isn’t of any consequence?

Are you crazy? Of course not!

I am, however, saying that all of those things have one purpose: To point you to Christ so that He will love you and empower you to serve and to enjoy Him.

Let me share that possibly strange passage of Luke 9:57-62 with you:
“As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, ‘I will follow you where you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’ To another He said, ‘Follow Me.’ But he said, ‘Lord let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Yet another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those of my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Jesus isn’t teaching that there is something wrong with caring about having a place to lay your head, about burying your relatives or about taking care of your loved ones.

Jesus is talking about CONTROL.

Of course, one isn’t going to let go of the control of anything until one can trust the One to whom one is giving control. And that’s why I’m always saying things like:
God isn’t angry at you.
He really loves you in spite of everything.
He isn’t a child abuser.
Go to Him and He won’t reject you.
He’s not surprised at anything you do.

How do I know all that? Well, of course, I know that because the Bible tells me so. But I don’t really know it until I test it, and I have over and over again. Go ahead and you test it.

Get in control of something bad. For instance, “Go sin so that you have something to repent of and, when you sin, sin boldly!” (And no, I’m not advocating sin…because you are going to anyway. Besides, that was a direct quote from Martin Luther. So, it you’re going to get mad at someone, get mad at him. After all, he’s dead and it doesn’t matter.) Then see if Jesus forgives you.

Now get in control of something good. Try to follow all of the ten you-know-whats in your own strength for just one day. Jesus will have to forgive you of that too – and He will!

The Bible calls that tree in the Garden that Satan liked so much the “Tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. From my experience, I think a better name might be the “Tree of the CONTROL of good and evil.” Because that’s where our troubles really start – where we think we can control our good and evil actions.

YOU SEE, YOU AND JESUS CAN’T BOTH BE IN CONTROL!

When I’ve been in control, He still loved me and I was saved, but it felt like He was avoiding me. When I clung to my doctrines, and my need to be right, good and in control, Jesus allowed me to do that.

However, when I decided that I didn’t have to be in control anymore and, as it were, “let the dead bury their dead,” I found that Jesus (who lives in me all the time – Galatians 2:20) started speaking to my soul deeply and profoundly.

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It's All In the "Want-to-bes"

After many years of experience in church, I have found that the problem in the church is not that people don’t want to be good, but that they want to be good and can’t.

When I talk about freedom and grace and how God has destroyed the curse of the law, people tell me I’m treading on dangerous ground. “Lou,” they admonish, “if you keep talking like that, Christians are going to go out and do what they want.” Good!! That’s really good!! I still maintain that most Christians, if they did what they wanted, would be faithful. I have never heard a single Christian say, “Now that I’m forgiven I can be as bad as I want.”

When St. Augustine said, “Love God, and do as you please,” he was getting close to God’s secret of living the Christian life. At the risk of correcting Augustine (which is highly presumptuous) let me say he got it wrong. He should have said, “Let God love you deeply and completely, and then do as you please.”

The problem is not “what we please.” Because He has loved us so deeply and completely, Christians really do want to please God. The problem is that we so often fail in our efforts to please Him. Is that bad?

No. That’s good!! Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

Let me give you a principle: Anticipating a promised reality is grounds for rejoicing in that reality. Jesus has promised that if you have a hunger and thirst for goodness, you will at some point be good. Because He promised, and because all His promises are fulfilled, you can rejoice as if you had already become good. If you know you’re going to get something, you can rejoice almost as much as if you had it.

Christians debate about how we can be assured of salvation. Some say the only way we can be assured of our salvation is to persevere in obedience, and as we obey, we will know we belong to Christ. This is called “works salvation”. Others say we can rest on the promise Jesus gave when we were saved – that is, “I accepted the gift of salvation when it was freely offered, and God doesn’t lie. Therefore I am saved.” This view can be called “easy-believism”.

Still others say we can’t know we have salvation – all we can do is hope and keep on trucking. When the game is over, God will tell us whether or not we are saved. This view could be called “daisy salvation”: He loves me, He loves me not; He loves me, He loves me not.

Now with as much humility as I can possibly muster, I’m going to settle the arguments: The way we are assured of salvation is to check and see if we desire to obey God. Please note: I did not say that you had to obey God 100 percent of the time – only that you have to want to. If you want obedience, you’ve got salvation. Scripture says, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we do know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. EVERYONE WHO HAS THIS HOPE IN HIM PURIFIES HIMSELF, JUST AS HE IS PURE” (1 John 3:2-3).

Do you see what John is saying? He is saying that the confirmation of our salvation is not in your being like Jesus now but in the hope you have of being like Jesus in heaven. When John gives us a future promise of being like Jesus (that is, obedient), our desire for the fulfillment of that promise is not only the assurance of our salvation, it is the motivation (that is, purifies himself) toward the fulfillment of the reality.

You see, just as hunger presupposes food, and thirst presupposes water, a desire for goodness presupposes its reality.

In your Christian life, have you ever felt like you tried – you really tried – but in the end you failed? You really wanted to do better, but you only did worse and you didn’t know how to fix it. Maybe you considered giving up completely. You said to yourself, “I’ll never get it right. I’m probably not a Christian at all.”

Rules and regulations are Satan’s way of reminding Christians that they have failed. But even worse, rules and regulations are the reason we do fail.

Let me give you a wonderful secret: When success isn’t the issue, success becomes the reality. In other words, success is always a side benefit of something else. You can apply that principle to lots of life’s desires, but let me show you how it works with freedom.

Holiness and righteousness is the desire of every Christian. The Scriptures say that we are made holy and righteous in Christ. When the Father looks down on us and sees Christ living in us, He sees us as holy and righteous in eternity. But many Christians say, “I’m going to be holy and righteous even if it kills me.” And it usually does. But, and here is the exciting thing: Holiness and righteousness have already been achieved for you by Christ. You have, in fact, a holy and righteous nature before God because of the cross.

That is a cold hard fact; you don’t have to try so much anymore to be holy and righteous. You are now free to fail and, more importantly, free to allow Him to love you and to love Him back. You enter a relationship, not between a criminal and a policeman, but between a loving Father and His child. When you enjoy that relationship, something wonderful happens: You find holiness and righteousness come tagging along behind. You find that you, almost without knowing it, are in a process that makes you increasingly more holy and righteous in your human parts.

This is the message. Obedience doesn’t lead to freedom. Freedom leads to obedience. If that is backwards, you lose both your freedom and eventually your obedience.

Yes, the key is in your “want-to-bes”. As often as we fail in our Christian walk, our assurance of salvation is that WE WANT TO BE GOOD.

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Our Housing Industry's "Boiler Room"

At the height of a wave of postwar prosperity in 1920, well-known statistician Roger Babson predicted that America was about to enter “the worst business depression that our generation has ever experienced.” Through the next few months, business activity continued its boom. But before the end of 1920, the crash Roger Babson predicted did strike – with sudden and intense fury.

How did Babson know a crash was on the way? He said that he looked past the oft-quoted economic “thermometers” that measure current conditions, and focused on the fundamental source which determines the future temperature of the economy – what he termed the “boiler room.”

Judging by the housing industry, American’s boiler room is losing steam fast.

Last October, new home construction fell 16 percent from a year earlier. New building permits were down 24.5 percent. New home sales were down 23.3 percent. Existing home sales were down 19 percent.

On the East Coast, New York suffered foreclosure rates 51 percent higher last October than in October 2006. On the West Coast, conditions may be even worse. In California, foreclosure rates were up an astounding 213 percent from 2006.

Nationally, the number of unsold homes sitting on the market hovers at its highest level since data has been collected.

Yet amazingly, according to the National Association of Realtors (and its statistical thermometers), “The vast majority of metropolitan areas showed rising or stable home prices in the third quarter with most experiencing modest gains compared with a year earlier” (Nov. 21, 2007).

This NAR report points to national median existing single-family home prices as evidence. NAR statistics indicate the national median home price during the third quarter of 2007 was down just a slight 2 percent from a year earlier. The NAR also reports that during this period, 93 out of 150 metropolitan statistical areas showed increases in median home prices.

There certainly seems to be a disconnect between the NAR assessment and the reality on the ground for homeowners across America. Home sales are plummeting, unsold homes inventory is near record levels, banks are tightening borrowing requirements, foreclosures are skyrocketing, and President Bush is organizing a massive homeowner bailout. But the NAR says that home prices are about as low as they’re going to go and that most areas are beginning to show price gains.

The NAR isn’t alone in painting a confusing picture. Most news sources report a litany of problems facing the housing market, then go on to quote median prices as the indicator that home prices have remained relatively stable.

But you must beware: Median home prices can be misleading.

The median price means the middle price. By definition, half the houses sold are higher-priced than the median, and half the homes sold are lower-priced.

Relying on simple median values to create a national housing picture means that houses that don’t sell are excluded from median sale price data. If the homes that are not selling happen to be mostly lower-priced homes, then the national median price becomes skewed because it becomes the middle number of the higher-priced homes that do sell. Thus, even if prices fall for most of the houses on the market, the overall median price for houses sold can actually increase. And poorer people usually feel the effects of a slowing economy first, have the most difficulty qualifying for loans, and typically purchase lower-priced homes.

But there are two other big reasons property values are probably much lower than reported.

David Nunn, a certified general appraiser based in the Southern Indiana area, gives two examples of how many home prices could be “just plain phony and no one is addressing it.”

One of the houses Nunn recently observed was financed by the Federal Housing Administration and sold for $106,000 with no concessions reported. This seemed odd since the house had been on the market for six months and listed for only $100,000. Nunn checked with the house’s listing agent, and found that the seller paid $1,500 toward the buyer’s cost, meaning that the house sold for $98,500. How did it get reported as a $106,000 sale?

Because the appraisal came in at $106,000 the loan agent, with the agreement of the buyer, kicked the loan up to create equity. That was reported as the selling price. The real selling price should have been reported as either $98,500 or $100,000 with $1,500 in seller’s concessions.

As a result of such reporting, housing prices are inflated, the market appears to be appreciating, and future buyers pay inflated prices.

Another deceptive factor is concealed false appreciation. For example, a home on 74 acres was reported sold for $132,000.

When meeting the seller, Nunn found that the sale included unreported personal property along with the land, including a pickup, a saw mill, a camper, a tractor and more – at least $25,000 worth of personal property. This was not reported in either Multiple Listing Service (MLS) figure or sales disclosure statements.

Without the extra goodies, the 74 acres probably would have sold for closer to $107,000.

As with the first example, these types of transactions can completely distort the values uninformed appraisers place on similar properties, and consequently the housing market can look more robust than it is in reality.

In fact, according to Nunn, the whole home purchasing methodology is biased to falsely inflate home values. Home sellers certainly want the highest price they can get. Loan brokers and real-estate agents receive higher commissions on larger sales, and the banks make more money on larger mortgages. “No one in the pipeline has any incentive to want an honest evaluation,” says Nunn. “So the end result is that many appraisers roll over and forget their ethics.”

And now I come to the reason I have placed this article on a website about “Christian Stuff”.

This how is Babson explained his “boiler room” philosophy:
“It is now mid-winter. If I want to know what the temperature is now, in this room, I go to the wall and look at the thermometer. If I want to know what it has been, up to now, and the existing trend as of the moment, I look at a recording thermometer. But if I want to know what the temperature in this room is going to be an hour from now, I go to the source which determines future temperatures – I go down to the boiler room and see what is happening down there.

“You gentlemen looked at bank clearings, indexes of business activity, stock market quotations – you looked at the thermometers on the wall. I went down and looked at the boiler room. I looked at the way people as a whole were dealing with one another. I looked to the source which determines future conditions. I have found that that source may be defined in terms of ‘righteousness.’

“When 51 percent or more of the whole people are reasonably ‘righteous’ in their dealings with one another, we are heading into increasing prosperity. When 51 percent of the people become ‘unrighteous’ in their business dealings with their fellows, then we are headed for bad times economically!”

America is facing deteriorating economic conditions, and much of it has to do with dishonesty – homebuyers inflating income statements, realtors pushing sales, lenders abrogating lending standards, credit ratings agencies knowingly overvaluing risky subprime mortgages, and banks marketing overvalued subprime mortgages as safe investments to unsuspecting investors. America’s boiler room is running on the fumes of fraud and greed, and you can’t run on fumes for long.

The NAR thermometer still indicates that everything is fine, the worst is over, and America has nothing to worry about. But should you rely on what a thermometer is telling you, or go down and see what is happening in the boiler room?

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Paul's Letter To Catholics

The New Testament book of Hebrews is generally acknowledged as having been written by the apostle Paul. He was pointing out in the book how Christians are not bound by the Mosaic law with its priestly hierarchy structure and its system of rituals and sacrifices. He said that we Christians only need Jesus Christ as our priest, our high priest, He being the only mediator between God and man.

As I grew up and lived as a Catholic in the early years of my life, I can now see a parallel in Paul’s teaching from the book of Hebrews to those early Christians and in what Paul would probably say to Catholics had Paul lived into the Catholic era. Just as Paul in his letters was critical of some of the practices which developed in the early churches, I feel certain that Paul would have criticized the hierarchy structure of the later Catholic church. So much of what we see about the priestly structure of Judaism which Paul said had been done away applies in principle to the Catholic hierarchy.

I am going to paraphrase the relevant parts of the book of Hebrews and apply the message to the Catholic hierarchy. Let’s start with Hebrews 7:11-12 – If the old Judaic priesthood or the Catholic priesthood could really make people perfect, then what need would there be for Christ to come and dwell within the individual believer in a new priesthood? But the whole idea of priesthood has been changed by the New Covenant.

V. 18 – There has been an annulling of the entire concept of human priestly hierarchy because of its weaknesses.

V. 22-28 – This makes Jesus the guarantee of a far better way between us and God, one that really works! It is a new covenant with only one mediator, Jesus Christ. Under the priestly hierarchy system, there are a lot of priests but they die and have to be replaced. But Jesus’ priesthood from within us is permanent. He’s there from now to eternity to lead and guide us to the Father through Him, always on the job. So now we have a high priest who perfectly fits our needs: completely holy, uncompromised by sin, with authority extending as high as God’s presence in heaven itself. Unlike the priestly hierarchy, He doesn’t have to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass every day before He can get around to us and our sins. He’s done it, once and for all: offered up Himself as the sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. The Catholic hierarchy appoints as priests men who are so often never able to get the job done right.

8:6-8 – Jesus’ priestly work far surpasses what ordained human priests can do because He’s working from a far better plan. If the whole first Judaic system of priestly hierarchy had worked out, a second covenant wouldn’t have been needed. But we know that the first was found wanting because of the weakness of the people AND of the priestly hierarchy itself.
9:1 – When you have a Catholic priest hierarchy, they work out through a system of rituals within a worldly sanctuary, through the Sacrifice of the Mass, and all the other duties performed for the laity, the subservient common people.

V. 11 – But when Christ lives within you, there is no need for the power structure of the hierarchy, and He bypasses the need for priests to perform sacramental duties and rituals. The original sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are administered by the everyday people of the church.

V. 23-24 – When the real sacrifice of Christ on the cross has taken place once and for all, there is no need to carry on a system of sacrificial Masses offered by the hierarchy. All connection to God is through Christ within on a personal basis, and through the transcendent Christ in the presence of God for us.

10:1-2 – The Old Testament plan of priestly hierarchy was only a hint of the good things in the new plan. The old Mosaic law plan wasn’t complete in itself, it couldn’t complete those who followed it. And no matter how many Sacrifices of the Mass are offered year after year, the Catholic hierarchy plan of dispensing God’s power through priests con never add up to a complete solution. God’s guidance and power can only come through the indwelling Christ.

V. 10-11 – The body of Christ was offered once for all. But Catholic priests go to work at the altar each day offering the Sacrifice of the Mass for the laity who already have Christ living in them.

V. 19-22 – So, Catholic friends, realize that you can now, without hesitation, walk right up to God and say, “Thanks for making me a child in Your Family because Christ lives in me and You see Him when you look at me.” So let’s do it, full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out, without working through the power of the hierarchy.

12:2-3 – Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how He did it. He never lost sight of His union with the Father within Him, and we are never to lose sight of our union with Christ within us.

V. 7 – God is educating you; that’s why you should never be discouraged. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. God doesn’t reject His children because of weaknesses, He trains them by correction.

13:5-8 – The Catholic hierarchy says to Christians, “You need us to keep you out of hell.” But Christ says that because we have chosen to make Him Savior and Lord, we are forever saved from hell because He will never leave us or forsake us. We may boldly say that Christ is in union with us and we have nothing to fear. We don’t have union with a changeable Christ who loves us one day and rejects us another. He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

In conclusion, I love Catholics. Many of my best, old time friends are Catholic. What I am presenting here is a condemnation of the Catholic priestly hierarchy system. Catholic education tends to see the hierarchy as a necessary mediation system between God and man. But this is not so. Christ Himself is the only mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5).

When the first New Testament churches were established in the book of Acts, there was never any mention made of a hierarchy of priests to handle the laity. There was only a system of a pastor and those local Christians who showed gifts of leadership. It took a century or more after the apostles’ deaths for the Catholic church to establish the hierarchy system of appointment of power.

But Catholics might say, “What difference does it make for us as Christians if we have priests to serve us?” Let me respond this way:

* The rituals of the Mass and other devotions are an institution requiring clergy power. The more you depend on priests for spiritual guidance and power, the less you are able to trust and depend on the indwelling Christ.

* Priest are all too human as we have seen from the Catholic church sexual scandal. Since the human tendency of a priestly hierarchy is to appear holy and blameless, the coverup by the movement of accused priests is the natural inclination. The movement of priests among parishes by a central authority is not biblical.

My Catholic brothers and sisters:
Know who you are in union with the eternal Jesus Christ. Develop a personal relationship with Him in prayer and trust Him alone for power and guidance. Find a local church without priestly hierarchy.

For other articles about hierarchy, click here and here.

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Basking In Yourself

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