love for God is love for others

I have been challenged in my heart of late to practice love. To love meaning to do good for others no matter who they are, or what they have done, or may do, or are doing. To give my best to them. To hope the best for them. Not simply to do no harm or to think no ill of them, for that is what love can so easily come to mean. To bless everyone I meet by the way I think of them, talk to them, and what I am able to do for them. I am challenged to truly love as God loves. To love and not condmen even every one of us has faults worthy of condeming.

It seems to me like this is the kind of love demonstrated by Jesus, the visible image of the invisible God. He loved people, he did not condone all their actions but neither is he condemning to them, yet somehow so many of these people saw their need to change. Why do christians feel as though we need to be the group that condemns and points out the worse in everyone and everything. Why wouyld anyone want to attend a church like that, or what is more, serve a God that is like that. I do not think our God is like that. He is loving without condmening. When face to face with God we all see not with our eyes but with our hearts where we need healing and then our God transforms us into his image.

views from the inside

Have you ever worked hard to decorate something, create a piece of art, plan and execute a festival or event? When you are doing these things it is next to impossible to see the true effect of it. Or maybe another way to state the last sentence would be to say there is no good way for you to be objective about what you have accomplished.

I wonder and believe to be true that we as people have no way of understanding who we really are in the order of creation. For example, we look at nature and see a stunning display of color, shape, and sound. We are awed by it and call it beautiful. But what if nature looks at people and calls us beautiful. What if nature realizes a truth that we are not able to observe because we are on the inside. That truth being that you and I are the sons of God. Maybe all of the rest of creation is in awe of you and I as we follow Christ and are even "hidden in Christ". I think people are far more beautiful than people can realize.

C.S. Lewis writes in his article The Weight of Glory "It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which...you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as now you meet...only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. ... There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal... it is with immortals we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors."

As we follow Christ daily we become the latter, without Christ we can only become the former. So, there is no room for those who follow Christ to be proud of themselves for without Christ we are monsters. In Christ we are being transformed into creatures of incredible glory and splendor such as now exists only in our minds as a thing we long for, believing it to be true, but with no way to comprehend the truth of its effect on us.

For today this is what is rattling in my mind
God be with you

so limited

So often I feel so limited, so trapped, so small. Then today as I was praying the Holy Spirit brought to my mind the story of Moses. Specifically how he kept trying to talk god out of using him to secure the release of the Israelites from Egypt. Then the Holy Spirit guided my own mind to ponder how many times have made myself useless simply by not allowing myself to take a step of faith. In the midst of my thoughts I very often become paralyzed by what may not work. Sure I need to analyze a situation or opportunity, but I do not need to be paralyzed. I think my life could be so much more fulfilling to myself and others if I only let go of my insecurities and self doubts and allowed God to work more fully through me. Moses is a great example of this to me.

What if...

I love the following story it is truly a picture of the world in which we live and the world in whcih we should live. May we all grow older and wiser like this...enjoy...

His name is John. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kind of esoteric and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.

Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students, but are not sure how to go about it. One day John decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so John starts down the aisle looking for a seat. The church is completely packed and he can't find a seat. By now people are looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. John gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet. (Although perfectly acceptable behavior at a college fellowship, trust me, this had never happened in this church before!) By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.

About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward John. Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, a three-piece suit, and a pocket watch. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves, "You can't blame him for what he's going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?"

It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man's cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can't even hear anyone breathing. The people are thinking, "The minister can't even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do." And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty he lowers himself and sits down next to John and worships with him so he won't be alone. Everyone chokes up with emotion. When the minister gains control he says, "What I'm about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget."

time to Ponder?

"In prayer I am brought into the dynamic life of the Trinity through the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Jesus, who cries out from within my soul: Abba, Father. The spirit of Jesus links me into the Blessed Trinity. When God looks at me, he desires me and is saying: You are desirable. I made you good. I want you. God sees me as his daughter or son, whom he loves. He says: You are mine. His gaze says: I delight in you. Can I accept this gaze of love? Or do I run back into disapproval of myself? His gaze is like sunshine: can I rest in it, bask in it, enabled by the Holy Spirit?"

pasted from: sacredspace.ie

Mystic Moments

Today I prayed for a while at an unusual place and at an unusual time. I needed to pray. I needed to know God was with me and in me. So in the back of this Roman Catholic Cathedral I knelt down and began to pray. There was no one else there but in moments I felt as though Jesus Christ stood right in front of me. No words came from him, he was just there. I guess it was like when Jesus suddenly appeared to the disciples after his resurrection. All of the sudden he was there. Emmanuel - God with us. Always

This experience reminds me that for all of the study in the world about the Bible and theology the Christian faith is mystical. It is beyond description, classification and analysis. It is mystical. It is by faith that we believe and live. By faith we believe in God. Because of faith we pray to God.

I truly believe I met with Jesus Christ yesterday. I can't prove it and what is more I feel no need to prove it to any of you. I was there and it was a mystical experience only understandable by faith. The mysticism of our faith leads me to think that no matter what is ever written about our faith it can never be fully explained because you must have faith and faith is mystical and mysticism is impossible to explain. There are so many denominations fighting with and against each other to try to define the Christian faith. I think they all fall off the rails when they forget that the Christian life is more than a set of doctrinal truths you give mental assent to. It is a mystical life of faith. The Christian life is a return to the garden of Eden for a walk with God in the cool of the day even when you know there is no garden and the day is not cool. Still in the midst of this life in some way we walk with God in the garden. To try to explain that is not possible it is not a doctrine it is indescribable...

When God changed your life was it not mystical beyond all reason?

Unity of the Faith

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said "Stop! Don't do it!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he said.

I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"

He said, "Like what?"

I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?"

He said, "Religious."

I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?"

He said, "Christian"

I said, "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

He said, "Protestant"

I said, "Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

He said, "Baptist!"

I said, "Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"

He said, "Baptist Church of God!"

I said, "Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"

He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God!"

I said, "Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?"

He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915!"

I said, "Die, you heretic scum!", and I pushed him off. - Ephesians 4:13

The Dawn

There are times that you are overwhelmed dazed and paralyzed. You are stranded not daring to go anywhere and then slowly you realized there is no needed to hide, or run. There is nothing to fear, nothing to dread. What you have been putting off, avoiding, dreading, is actually pleasant, worthwhile, healing. In those moments you are suspended in the hand of God while he speaks to your soul. As he leads you in prayers of repentance, as he heals the wounds never realized you had because you have been so busy with the fight of your life. Then you realize it is God that was pursuing you. He was not out to kill you, expose you, or humiliate you as you feared, but to heal, restore, and impart. Had you taken the time to look at your pursuer maybe you would have stopped, and maybe not. Too often you run for no good reason, often for no reason at all. In those overwhelmed, paralyzed moments you are suspended in God between the worries of this life, the failures of this life, and the hopes of eternity. It is as though the dawn of eternity has sent a barely perceptible ray of light upon you and it brings heal and strength. Then He sets you down, but the ray of light no longer to be seen, but still you are full of hope knowing it is coming. This was my morning.

Read; Reflect for a lifetime.

God be with us all and help us to see, spiritually, the work of Christ on our behalf which we were in no way deserving of.

Psalm 3:1-2

1 Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!
Many are they who rise up against me.
2 Many are they who say of me,
“There is no help for him in God.” Selah

- Charles Spurgeon from The Treasury of David (specifically referring to verse 1)
"This is a good place to remember the innumerable hosts that surrounded our Divine Redeemer. The legions of our sins, the armies of fiends, the crowd of physical pains, the host of spiritual sorrows, and all the allies of death and hell battled the Son of Man. How precious to know and believe that He has routed the enemy and trodden them down in His anger! Those who would trouble us have been captured. Those who would have risen against us have been laid low. The dragon lost His sting when he dashed it into the soul of Jesus."

3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.

- Charles Spurgeon from The Treasury of David (specifically referring to verse 3)
"Oh, for grace to see our future glory in our present shame. There is present glory in affliction, if only we could discern it. It is no small thing to have 'fellowship with Christ in His Sufferings'."

I can't take it anymore

Okay, this is my only public voice to the global community so here it goes. SHUT UP! Christians Shut Up! There is a certain book and now a movie coming out and the Christian community, at least North American, is rant and raving about how it is wrong and they see this is a HUGE threat. When this book is not a big threat. I am not even going to name it because I am so tired of Christian giving it free publicity. This whole issue would have been but a small ripple in the cultural ocean if we would have just made a quiet statement and then let it go. But now, as with many things, we have drawn more attention to it than it deserves. Now people will look into it because of pure curiosity.

In fact look at this quote from George Barna, "A survey we completed this week shows that among the tens of millions of people who have read the bestseller, The Da Vinci Code, from cover to cover, the book has influenced their thinking – but it has not necessarily changed their religious views so much as it has confirmed what they already believed prior to reading the book." In other words the people reading the book already don't believe. My fear is that we are pushing people to the book.

Once again Chrsitians will be known for what they are against and not what they are for. We are for lives transformed by the power of God b/c of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let your light so shine today and everyday.

Recieving Easter

Throughout this most signifcant of Christian holidays I have been wanting to write something to capture its meaning. I guess what I wanted to do was to write a letter, poem, essay, to God almost as a return gift for the greatest gift ever given in all of eternity. But tonight as I sit reflecting on this day, I am drawn by God's Spirit in me to simply accept His Love and ponder its incredible greatness. That I, a great sinner, have been called by God to recieve salvation.

i, Called, by GOD!

Ponder that with me if you will.

God bless you, God be with you. Happy Easter

Defintion of Godly Success

I came across this a long time ago, but it is worth sharing and remembering and actiong on.

God bless us all as we endeavor to live out the life of the Spirit in a world that ignores God's leading

The version found written on the wall in Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.

Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.

Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.

Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.

Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.

It was never between you and them anyway.

Moments Poem

This is taken from a great TV Ad for Lexus. I like it so much I want to share it with all of you.

Moments

A Moment If You Please
Moments Can Be Short
Moments Can Be Long

There Are Moments of Joy
Moments of Sorrow Moments Of Passion
Moments you’ll Never Forget
Moments You’ve Already Forgotten
Moments You Didn't Get

There Are Awkward Moments
Senior Moments
Moments of Truth
And Momentary Lapses In Judgment

People Who Ask For A Moment
Share A Moment I Need A Moment
You Got A Moment?
Wait A Moment

You Can Take A Moment
Make A Moment
Spoil A Moment
And If All The Stars Line In The Right Moment, That Moment Can Be Perfect

Moments Can Define You
Moments Can Delight You
And Moments Can Change Your Life

Here’s To The Moment
And Squeezing All You Can Out Of Every Last Single One Of Them

Powerful Beyond Measure

Powerful Beyond Measure

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

-Nelson Mandela at his inaugural speech

Discovered at:

http://brokenstainedglass.typepad.com

Prayer Space

While reading a book by Tony Jones. The Sacred Way I came across this prayer site from the Irish Jesuit Priests. It is a great place to go and be guided through a prayer time. I pray you find it worthwhile, and spiritually uplifitng

www.sacredspace.ie

God be with us all as we live to serve and praise Him in our dialy lives.

The Gods of the Age

The God’s of the Age

Convenience and Comfort.  They are the new gods of the age.  Huge sums of money are paid by all of us if we are honest just so we can be comfortable and have convenience.  These gods have been promoted at the expense of diligence and dedication and discipline.  Here is the problem though.  Not all things are convenient and comfortable.  Not all things we may want can be had for a monetary value.  There are some things that come only through diligence, discipline and dedication.  God cares more about our diligent, disciplined, dedicated devotion to Him than about our comfort and convenience.

A relationship with God is one of those things.  No Church, no matter how convenient and comfortable, can give you a relationship with God.  There in is the problem.  Imported with many people on many Sundays is the belief that the church is there to serve them.  Pastors fallen under the weight of please congregants at the expense of speaking real Truth.  Pastor try to honestly, most of the time, give people the easiest answers to life’s issues.  They try to find and then preach about the most comfortable and convenient way to a relationship with God, who is to often mistaken for an extra terrestrial bellhop.  

Christianity is simple in its call to all people to diligently seek the Truth in God and live out that Truth in a disciplined and dedicated manner.  But this invalidates our hopes and attempts to make serving God convenient and comfortable.  Those two gods must be left at the altar of conversion.  To serve Christ, to live by the Spirit of God will demand a holy devotion to God.  It can only be lived through divine strength given us daily at the workplace of prayer and applied Bible study.  Peter tell us “through His Divine power we have been given all we need for life and Godliness.” John reminds us that “this is love for God, that we keep His commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.”

There comes a time for all who have been called of God that we must tear ourselves from the tediousness of this fading and failing sin filled world and enter a sacred, secret and reverent place that no one else can enter with us or for us.  In this place we meet with our God.  We meet not to have our whims fulfilled like little children before a benevolent genie, but we meet with our God is silent Holy humble reverence.  We bear our soul our sins and failings and victories and seek to know the mind of God on all things.  We lift up the burdens of others seeking the Will of God to be done and for His Kingdom to come.  In these daily moments we realize again that we are the agents of the Kingdom we are the servants of God on Earth.  We realize our part in the bringing of the Kingdom of God.  We take our orders from the only Wise, True and Holy God and then proceed from our secret place to live out those orders with the power of the Spirit residing within us.  “Greater is he who is in us than he that is in the world.”

Let us once again raise a cry for the false gods of convenience and comfort to be banished from our lives until the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God.  When the Kingdom of God is fulfilled, then will come our rest and comfort.  Until then let us only find comfort in the secret times with our Lord who in those moments can give us rest and refreshing while wrapped in the loving embrace of His Holy Spirit.

Addicted to Entertainment

Addicted to Entertainment:

Since I have been reading a book, The History of Christian Missions by Stephen Neill, I have started to wonder about what the greatest hindrances to the advancement of the Gospel are today.  I hear report after report and demographic after demographic loudly proclaiming the slide from being a Christian continent to a pagan society.  Reasons are varied and there are far too many to go into depth to report them, but the truth is that there seem to be fewer people accepting Christian faith and baptism.  Now maybe this is the fault of churches and the Christians that occupy them, but what if that is only a small part of the truth.

What if it is simply a fact that there are so many choices to entertain one self that the gospel is hardly even noticed?  Every where I turn I see people being entertained all the time.  (Even as I write this I am listening to David Crowder Band on my laptop at a library)  There are cell phones that are mp3 players and TV’s.  There are portable video games, mp3 players.  I wonder about myself and others if we are to simple and live to be entertained by everyone else’s lives.  Movies, TV shows, computers, cell phones, PDA’s with games and MSN.

How different would life be without all the distractions?  Would conversations with real meaning start taking place or am I just too optimistic?  Would people start thinking the purpose of life might be more than just finding the next great band or movie or hit TV show?   Would people stop, or be less able, to escape from the reality or pain of the life they are living and look for real answers?  I think maybe many people are not Christian’s for no other reason than Christianity is not entertaining enough.  (And too many churches seem to be trying to compete on this level.)

Disclaimer: (This is in no way to be taken that the church or Christians should throw up their hands and tell God “We have tried everything we can think of, we’re done now.”  We must fulfill the Great Commission.  There are real criticisms for the church and Christians individually that needed to be discussed and assessed.  Real changes do need to be made, but I think what I have written above is a real factor in declining numbers of new converts and the slide of so many right out of the church in general.)

A question needing an answer

I know I have not posted to the blog in some time and I hear that is a bad move if I hope to attract a lot of people to my site.  Good thing that is not my goal.  What I really want is true honest discussion.  So in the attempt to elicit such a response I want to ask a question that anyone can respond to.

So here is the question…

What is wrong with the World?

That is the question.  I would love to hear from you and I would love to respond as well.  So please take the time to think about the question and please take the time to respond as well

God be with you.

Farewell to my Emma

This post is in memory of Emma (Emmadorable) the most loving little dog there ever was. She gave all the love she had everyday to anyone who would accept it and sadly I am sure she still had more love to give. I will miss her attacks on the vaccum and the windshield wipers. I will miss the way her whole body trembled because she was so excited you were finally home. I will miss her running throught the yard full tilt trying to catch the squirrels and then barking at the wrong tree that she was sure they had run up. I will miss her cute growl. But above all I will miss her love and kisses. Without a doubt Emma had the cute's.

Recapturing Our Sin

Speaking from a Christian perspective: I am finding the need to recapture the understanding of the meaning and devastation created by the sin of mankind. I go to church and hear these types of statements "it is only the blood of Jesus that forgives us", "what can wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus", "we have to call sin sin and not compromise to the world in our preaching." Those are great things to say, sing and think, but without taking time to reflect on the true meaning and consequences of sin they are empty words. Too often I hear words without the depth of reflection. I can't remember the last time someone preached a sermon about the depth of mankind’s sinful depravity. For this I think there are few reasons which do have some merit.
First, the objection by so many to a sharp edged sermon on sin is the fact that people will claim "we have been set free from sin", "we are washed in the blood of Christ, our sin is gone". Which is true of all the sins for which we have repented of, but what about the sins we find ourselves stumbling into everyday since we believed in Christ?

What about the doctrine of progressive sanctification? I would rebut that while all of the previous comments about the forgiveness of God through Christ are valid, I think most people don't want to be reminded of their depravity, previously or currently, and this is a good way to avoid having the conversation. All people get good at avoiding situations that are uncomfortable. We all want to think of ourselves as good people. But, we are not good people and that is why Christ, Fully man and Full God had to sacrificially die a vicarious death for all of mankind of to have any hope of restoration of full relationship with our Creator.

I have come to think that recapturing the understanding of the incredible depth of our depravity b/c of sin is a very good thing. When we stop to remember how bad we have been and how much more we need to be changed by the power of God it makes God's grace and forgiveness come fully into the light of Truth. Romans 5:8 tells us that while we were still "sinners", literally translated it means God Haters, God commended His love toward us and sent Christ to die for us. Amazing Grace! That is some kind of love. Even with all of my sins after believing in Christ as Lord and Savior I still have assurance that he is with me, to change me not to overlook my yet existent sins. I must acknowledge to Him how depraved I am. How weak my faith is. How unworthy I am of any of His attention or care.

In this state I see myself for who I am and who God really is. “What is man that you should be mindful of him?” The answer from a just, merciful, and graceful God seems to be this, “Man is my creation, made in My image, a reflection of Myself.”

Remembering our sinful depravity only makes the goodness of God shine brighter and an ever darkening world. Reflecting on how much forgiveness God has had on your soul. Then try not to praise Him.