The Subversiveness of the Gospel

Websters defines subversive: Subversiveness: a systematic attempt to overthrow or undermine a government or political system by persons working secretly from within.

When a country sees planes and troops coming they can prepare their defenses. Open warfare, especially with weapons that are recognizable and familiar, is much easier to deal with than warfare that is covert and camouflaged. Even though America’s war machine is unparalleled, the lament is that the covert aspect of our intelligence has been neglected and that hinders us strategically around the world. And when a country gets an undercover agent inside the government of an enemy it is priceless in its value.

And the country known as mankind dwelt in contented sin and would be adverse to any attack on its entrenched hedonistic lifestyle, especially if it saw it coming and could easily recognize the weapons that were to be used against it. The world sees atonement as unnecessary and in fact a judgment upon their lives. The church has sometimes aided this misperception by projecting God’s judgment as the core of the gospel, when in reality it is God’s love. That indeed is what is embedded in the atonement, God’s unsearchable love.

This atonement, this cross, is not meant to be bandied about and used as a doctrinal tug of war, no, it is to be preached and lived wherever God’s believers breathe a breath. We are to carry the redemptive aroma of the cross into the stench of sin and hopelessness, not just pass an orthodox doctrinal exam. It is not what we know about the cross that determines our redemptive orthodoxy, it must be how much of that cross controls and is revealed by our earthly lives. And with so much teaching on the theology of the cross, along with so little teaching on the practical manifestations of that cross in our lives, to live the cross of Jesus Christ as our own is a massive challenge with few pointing the way either by word or deed.

The smugness of orthodoxy betrays the very essence of the gospel and the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Being orthodox is one thing, reveling in it undermines the concept of a Christ emulating orthodoxy on many levels. We must always be careful about the doctrinal patting on the back with each other that affirms the truth on a vehicle of self righteousness and begins to form a culture of exclusivity rather than a community of humble followers who eschew any praise themselves and set out to passionately spread the divine love that has captured them by grace alone.

Sound scholarship. There’s the problem in two words. Much of the discernment world hang their entire Christian experience on scholarship, and of course the adjective “sound” represents pride, and they seem very lacking in grace, humility, compassion, and genuine love for saint and sinner.

Representing Christ, and living His humble life, IS sound scholarship manifested. Our Lord never called us to be Bible scientists, dissecting every jot and title in your search to find a greater detail to your systematic theology with which to challenge and debate all naysayers both in the church and without. Read the words and teachings of Jesus and if you are without prejudice you will find His teachings were overwhelmingly orthopraxic, and even His teachings on theology were usually tethered to a calling to manifest those truths through a living prism of humble grace and love. This notion that just believing and telling a certain theological truth is God’s love is misguided at best and self righteous at worst.

We see Jesus forgiving the woman caught in adultery when there seemed to be no repentance. We see Jesus eating with the worst of sinners without any preconditions about their lifestyles. We see Jesus choose twelve flawed men to follow and assist Him, including choosing His own betrayer to whom He showed the same love and respect that He showed the rest. The entire earthly life of Jesus of Nazareth was at odds with the spirit of this world which had been adopted by the Jewish religious hierarchy as well.

And here we are today caught in the same spiritual paradox that consumed so many Pharisees of old. There is something very wrong and self serving when we use the one instance where Jesus showed anger as the template and reference for the tone of our ministries. Those believers who show sound scholarship are those who labor in war torn Angola. They are those who put their lives at risk and minister to the earthly and spiritual needs of South African AIDs sufferers. These “scholars” share the love of Christ in Iraq while knowing they could be murdered any night or day. These believers teach sound scholarship more with their actions than with their lips and they believe spreading the gospel is defending it.

Sitting around a table or on a church platform and dispensing your “sound scholarship” is a caricature of Christianity and disembowels the power of the gospel itself. Truth becomes a museum spectacle and the scholars are doctrinal taxidermists who hang dead, stuffed truths in their books and writings and preachings and think they do God a service. And when some other believers begin a movement to elevate the life and works of Jesus, these Pharisees can see no benefit in any of their assertations since some of their theology is suspect.

There is no attitude that says, “I cannot agree with much of their theology, but their focus on living a more outwardly expressive life that ministers to the world is indicting and appealing”. No, that might appear weak and might give credibility and respect to someone who is much more easily a target than a source. And so called “Christian” conferences are reduced to reinforcing the choir rather than uncomfortable challenges that invade their own pastures. Most of us who are of the free will bent are not enamored with gathering together to revel in our free willism, and yet much of the Calvinist camp in all its forms makes it clear on their blog home page and their messages and their books that their theological perspective is a brand name complete with many different designer lines of doctrinal clothing. It was not a systematic theology that hung on that cross; it was the living Son of God.

It’s like standing on the deck of a ship and watching people drown but being consumed with discussing the engineering of the ship’s life boats still hanging empty along its side. No hungry man is ever fed by people arguing over the kind of sandwich he needs. No thirsty man is ever quenched by listening to the mineral makeup of the water. No naked man was ever clothed by tailors at odds about whether cotton or wool should be used to make a coat. And no sick man was ever cured by listening to discussions on the various drugs that should be used.

Jesus Himself warned us about judging the regenerate status of others since that always leads to self righteousness. We are not to pull up what appear to be tares because we inevitably pull up wheat along with the tares. And we are not to mock what we consider to be goats.

And now we come to the gospel. The plain and good news of the gospel, profound in its simplicity and glorious in its universal application. But not content to preach it, we now must examine it and dissect it and hang stipulations upon it so that the 10 year old little South African girl will not be misled about the wrong theory of atonement. I suggest that many, if not most, born again believers throughout the ages were never conversant with the theories of atonement, and many if not most were fuzzy in the mystery that is the penal view. I would strongly suggest that the most powerful "view" of the atonement should be expressed through the prism of our lives.

But doctrinal nuances have in some quarters been elevated to religious relic status, even suggesting that without that view people are not saved. Is God such an academic that he demands sound scholarship before he accepts a sinner’s plea of faith that rests upon the Christ of God? Is the heroin addict who hears the simple gospel in the Bowery Mission and begs Christ to save him, is he refused by Christ because if we questioned him his understanding of theology would be significantly lacking and possibly unorthodox? Have we taken Christ and His gospel and created a form of doctrinal magisterium which sits in sifting judgment to all who have a different perspective, all except each other?

Most of the world suffers greatly, physically and spiritually, and they know nothing of our self gratifying doctrinal squabbles. What does God think about sinners who are made whole completely by His grace and then package that same grace with the demands of doctrinal law at the smallest level? I think He echoes the words of Shakespeare,

“What a piece of work is a man…”

And some have now created a gospel that earns its stripes by acts of compassion to the earthly sufferings of sinners, which in reality is not the gospel at all. The glorious gospel is the good news concerning the universal offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ and His work on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. All this focus on social justice and national peace and all the many categories of humanitarian acts is all very good, but when it finds a place within the gospel it becomes a toxic poison that is no better than spiritual hemlock. Many are draw to drink such a brew, mistakenly believing that their works will indeed find favor in God’s eyes.

This everlasting gospel is subversive to everything the world has come to expect and believe. It counters all that the carnal mind believes about itself, and at the same time it is a tour de force of what is called “grace”. To receive anything – a car, a bike, a home, good health – just by believing it to be so would be ludicrous; however, that is exactly the message of the gospel. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!”

What God has done has undermined and overthrown the systems and governments of this world. Like the wind it is invisible and can only be “seen” by its effects upon the lives of those who have embraced it. We should be the most subversive people in this world, undoing this world by a warfare that accepts death rather than inflicts it. Our battlefield is grace and our victory is in our surrender; our terms are faith and our motive is love; we have no rank and we have only one leader; our enemies are our mission and redemption is our strategy; and at the end of the day, Jesus is our all in all.

Do not take this calling lightly. And do not in any way fashion your armor according to the systems of this world. Reduce yourself to nothing and refuse any recognition and allow yourself to proceed into the darkness with the humble light of Christ. Do not fear the sounds of fury and the colossal weapons of this world, just be assured Your Master has already won the victory and in that victory alone must you rest.

You are within the enemy’s camp, but you live, move, and have your being in Jesus the Christ.

The Dream

Have you ever had a dream, a hopeful expectation that continued to unravel and prove itself more and more worthless? I can remember being born again in 1975, and with little more than a profound and demonstrative metamorphosis in my inner and outer man, I began my Christian walk. I was raised in a liturgical church that now seemed like Roman Catholic lite, and so for many months I had no idea what church I should attend. This was the greater New York City area and evangelical churches are at a premium.

As I entered Bible College in August of 1976 I had some wonderful expectations about what an atmosphere would be like when everyone was a born again follower of Jesus Christ. I envisioned a tangible aroma of love and brotherhood and an aura of God’s presence. With a fragile naiveté I entered this school of spiritual learning. Remember, my background was filled with all sorts of immorality and violence and here I was in the midst of mostly younger church kids. I was 24 years old.

Since I had been raised in the Lutheran Church of America, I had little knowledge of any doctrinal issues. The college I attended was a cross between Baptist and Christian and Missionary Alliance. Since I was the only person from the New York area, and since I had put down “Lutheran” as my denomination, many of the students were interested in my theological views. The guys in the dorm gathered around me and asked my views on the chronology of the rapture. My initial reply was that I had never heard of any “rapture”. With that admission they all moaned and rolled their eyes, and one guy called out to the entire dorm that I had never even heard of the rapture.

I quickly became very uncomfortable and insecure about my circumstances. Before I could slither away one guy asked me if I believed you could “lose your salvation”. I had never heard that question, and in an attempt to avoid being mocked for not knowing this question, I took a guess and said “yes”. Again there came a chorus of moans and snickers accompanied by another clarion call to the entire dorm about my view. The dream I had about unusual camaraderie and an atmosphere of joy and love seemed very distant on that first night and I can recall asking God if I had made a big mistake.

There are many things, doctrinally and in practice, that appear broken and amiss in the church of Jesus Christ today. But perhaps the most startling and astonishing paradox that is manifested in the church at large is the colossal lack of remarkable love and brotherhood among professing believers. Let the smallest piece of doctrinal difference arise between followers of Jesus and many times the atmosphere becomes toxic and the focus is concentrated on the different perspective rather than Jesus Himself.

We seemed to have lost the sacrificial love and commitment that was evident in the early church. Much learning has not only made us “mad”, it has cultivated an atmosphere of self righteousness and position defending that has all the accoutrements usually reserved for battle. The “iron sharpens iron” concept has given way to the “iron cuts down your opponent” practice. And instead of truth being such that draws us closer to its Author, it has become a battering ram and self righteous talismans. God’s precious Word is poured over in order to both find points with which to judge and attack others and to find verses that justify our creeds. And does it not seem, as we read the gospels, that we have ignored significant segments of Scripture while culling out others that fit into our rifle?

So what has become of the dream that brothers and sisters dwell in unity and love? Why does no one ever exclaim “look how they love one another” anymore? Even if we remove the core disagreements of redemption, we still do not see an exhibition of love and brotherhood among mainstream evangelicals that comes close to resembling anything greater than the members of the Moose Lodge have for each other. What possible explanation can we give to God our Father for our lack of family love? And what do we manifest that would cause anyone to be interested, much less astounded?

The Christian blog culture is not a unique phenomenon; it is in reality the dark underbelly of evangelicalism. The interaction and viciousness is just a revelation of what actually occurs in church halls; on telephones; around dinner tables; amidst lunch dates; and most sadly from evangelical pulpits. I do not speak of forcefully and graciously confronting gospel error and works based redemption; I speak of the Sherlock Holmes type of Christianity whose spiritual purpose is contained in investigating sinners and saints alike. And instead of humble and bold interactions, there must always be a conflict that goes beyond the issue in question and enters into disrespect, dismissiveness, and hyperbole.

But let us examine brotherhood within the context of those who agree that salvation is by grace through faith alone. I must admit I have tendencies that use fringe issues to fashion my overall view of everything Christian. Could it be that through the years we have made doctrinal non-essentials as walls of strife and towers of self righteousness? Is it God’s will that the leaves of truth should separate the branches? Where is the pathos and deep concern that believers should have for each other? I used to have a dream, a concept if you will, that the body of Christ lived in such love that it would be remarkably different than anything else upon this earth.

I have my issues; I have my doctrinal prejudices; I have my foibles; I have my subjectivities; I have my perceptions; I have my judgments; but I wish I did not have some of those, and in fact, I deeply wish God would extricate me from all that is not like Jesus, both inside and out. I am most miserable about the lack of significant progress in these later years. Why do many of our Christian testimonies deal with events that occurred right after our conversion and little to do with anything substantial that God did in our lives last month?? Why has the initial spiritual momentum we experienced at conversion slowed to a snail’s pace and now we are relegated to defending spiritual ground already occupied and not pursuing Christlike ground yet to be inhabited.

Read the gospel narratives of the life of Christ and see if you (or I) are closing in on the written revelation of the One we profess to be following. See if there is any room for politics and separating people according to manmade descriptions of “liberal” or “conservative”. See if Jesus was an example of castigating sinners or using demeaning invectives against all who He deemed immoral and unworthy. Watch as the Savior allowed worldy women to worship Him even before they repented of their many sins. Are sinners drawn to you or do they keep their distance so as to avoid being verbally dressed down?

Do we even have the dream to be like Jesus anymore? To be sure it is not easy, especially with a thousand voices presenting a different manifestation of Jesus of Nazareth. You can have the most accurate doctrinal representation of Jesus with all the necessary elements of Incarnate truth; but if we do not have the living model of Jesus that leaps from your creed and walks among a hopeless and hurting world within your very being than all we have is ink and paper.

Have you lost that dream? Do you even know what that dream is? Without a fresh and tangible revelation of the Person of Jesus Christ in the church we will continue to have nothing more than a doctrinal food fight which lets the spiritually hungry continue to starve.

Be sure to let God place more mirrors in your house than windows.

Redemption

A man named Vick allows and participates in the cruel “sport” of dog fighting. He is caught and serves two years in prison and loses millions of dollars and years of his football career. During his incarceration he seems repentant and even partners with the humane society to help spread the word about the viciousness of dog fighting. He is being mentored by Tony Dungy, an outspoken follower of Jesus Christ.

But even after all this, many are still unwilling to offer him redemption. I am a dog owner, and I treat my dog with a love and affection that are borderline embarrassing. I hug and kiss my dog, and I speak baby talk to him, a 120 pound German Shepherd. I realize it is overboard but I do not care. I love my dog, Rudy. Should my love for my dog override my heart for redemption?

Remember, Rudy is still just a dog. My point is this: We as Christians must always be the frontrunners for redemption. We should not mirror the tabloid journalists whose very job is to find and expose other people’s sins. Unless you have twisted the Scriptures, you must see that God has offered every sinner His eternal redemption. That is our message, that is our calling, and by God’s grace that is wherein we stand personally.

It is sad to see that redemption has become passé in this generation, and even sadder that so many Christians have replaced redemption with moral judgment. The gospel of Jesus Christ is for the immoral and not the righteous. Until you have been accused of condoning sin, you have not really preached the gospel of grace in Christ Jesus.

Redemption is the offspring of love, which the Scripture tells us, is God. Let us imitate that God by showing and exhibiting God’s redemptive love which is found in Jesus Christ.

To Be Like Him...

Can you feel your spirit grow ever thirstier for something more, something much more than you have ever experienced in Jesus Christ? If you are one who eschews any emotion and palpable brokenness, then this post is definitely not for you. Have you grown weary of what passes for following Jesus Christ in these last days? How, in God’s dear name, can we claim to a world in need that this visible church is the living, breathing manifestation of the Lord Jesus?

Truth not lived is hypocrisy, and relevance without truth is error. Doctrinal purity can become every bit an idol as the golden calf of Aaron. If God had to wait throughout church history to only send missionaries with impeccable doctrinal credentials then hell would have been enlarged. The redemptive truths can never be compromised, however, many of the doctrinal accoutrements that some hold in high esteem are stumbling blocks to the gospel itself.

The church seems to love the world and the things in the world, and she acts like the world and lives like the darkness that surrounds her. The church is filled with adultery, lying, greed, hedonism, sexual impurity, and an astounding amount of self righteousness. And when God provides the internet to His people for a vehicle for redemption, the church has filled its electrons with falsehoods, flesh, pride, and an array of revelations that distort, and in many cases, completely miss the very Person of Jesus Christ.

Think about what we owe Him with Whom we are to do. He Who created everything and Who has sustained the entire universe, has received us as sinful rebels and washed us clean before Him. What did we bring to Him that found favor in His redemptive eyes? And after we were given His everlasting grace by a Spirit led faith, what did our Lord ask of us? The Word of God asks , if not commands us, to be like Jesus. Have we treated that like a hardship and sacrifice? And not only are we “invited” to live the most rewarding and fulfilling life available to anyone, we are given the Spirit of Christ to enable us so to do.

Why would we take that promise and that commission and drag it through the fallen mud of carnality and hedonism? And armed with the knowledge of His grace, how could we ever exhibit the slightest portion of self righteousness and pride? The suffering that was most assuredly endured on that Roman cross was not just some exercise in prophetic fulfillment, no, it begins with that glorious fulfillment and continues to travel into 2009. Those wounds are our marching orders and our banner, and His empty tomb is our power. We must put on Christ, not just defend His truth and surely not change the very truth He has eternally established.

What does it mean to spiritually and practically “put on Christ”. Did not our Lord weep over those who rejected Him? Did Jesus not reach out in redemption to those who lived in sexual iniquity? Did Jesus endure the contradiction of sinners against Himself? And as we gaze at that wooden altar of eternal forgiveness, can we at least see the selflessness that embodied the life of God’s Son? Selflessness; now there is a practice that seems out of vogue these days.

Sometimes God’s truth is most accurately defended by a remarkable demonstration that responds to attacks against it with the greater truth of humility ignited by the boundless and immeasurable love of Almighty God.

Living the tangible life of Jesus Christ is the light that penetrates the darkness with the brightness of His redemptive love. Of course the gospel must be spread by the words of our mouths, but those words must make their way to a sinner’s heart upon the wings of the humble and dedicated expression of our very lives. Words seem hollow and worthless, and even counterproductive, when they are communicated through an organic epistle that demonstrates a willing disregard for many other words derived from the same source.

We are called to abide shame; to endure attacks; to receive condescension; to be despised; to accept ridicule; to allow mistreatment; to be demeaned; and all of this with joy and humility. Our weapons are not mirrored responses; our weapons are those of the Spirit that confound the wisdom of this world and many times achieve the victory clothed in the seeming garments of defeat. We have formulated and perfected the art of responsive dialogue that uses God’s truth as a means to the victory of debate, however we have long since abandoned the Incarnate example of victory through obedience to the death of our own reputation, our own linguistic arsenal, and indeed our own lives. Have we not set our sights on the lost wanderers of this culture and taken it upon us to aggressively dismantle them by our words and actions? Jesus was a friend – a friend I say – to sinners. Let us release our moral talismans and bear His reproach in the very midst of those who so easily dismiss Him. We were once like them, were we not?

The gospel is tailor made for the immoral, and to command them to cease to sin is to abrogate the gospel message itself. We are so smug and self righteous sometimes that it is a wonder that any sinner can be reached by our abject hypocrisy that so openly suggests we have arrived at God’s truth by the strength and cunning of our own investigation. The picture of a dead Jew on a cross can only be accurately perceived through the gracious enlightenment of the Spirit of God and is only hindered by any hint of intellectual acumen. And the ones who live fully by His grace only camouflage the glory of that grace when they speak as a warrior of truth and not a unworthy conduit of that same truth; one that strives to, but falls short of displaying an unabridged version of that truth.

After all the clamor and ecclesiastical dust settles, there is one supreme truth that should consume each and every born again follower of Jesus Christ:

He is worthy of all our obedience, love, and worship from this very moment and into eternity.

So should the lost world see that Christ has made us strong or should they notice He has broken us? Are we to be blinding lights that repel or soft lights that illuminate, warm, and draw the attention of the hopeless? Is our salt meant to make us unpalatable to the lost or is it meant to season just enough to create a thirst? Is our hill supposed to be so high it cannot be seen or is it perfectly placed as a pedestal for Christ? Calvary was never meant to be Mt. Everest; it was always to be a hill of grace that beckons those who recognized its condescending zenith is made accessible through the grace of the One who scaled it for us. And when we portray ourselves as something, we are nothing; and when we portray ourselves as nothing, we are something.

There is no greater calling than to emulate and reflect the Person of Jesus Christ through an earthen vessel. It is the pinnacle of the Christian faith and it is the greatest honor ever bestowed upon a redeemed sinner. But in order to pursue that goal we must first have an accurate picture of the Lord Jesus. All the particular events in the gospel narratives that give an account of Jesus’ life are facets of the one gem called the cross. If we really are serious about doctrine and theology and systematic Biblical truth then we must begin with the cross and go forth from there.

Truth is ultimately important, but that truth is Jesus, and He must be communicated not just by the vibrations of forced air through a human larynx; He must be seen by a continuing gospel narrative that is a living extension of the Living and Risen Redeemer. Jesus is to be witnessed through both the uttered words of the gospel message as well as the uttered words of visual acts that emulate the author and finisher of that same gospel.

Let us die daily to the things of this world, and most especially to ourselves.

We Are Losing Christ

Gal.2:17 - But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.

Think on that phrase: The ministers of sin. Not just sinners saved by grace, but ministers of sin. Those who sin and by their example teach others to do likewise. And sin has all its different forms, some of which are hidden even among discussions of Christian truth. But if, while we seek to defend Christ, we ourselves also are ministers of sin, have we really defended Christ at all?

If you suggest that we are losing Christ in the community of professing believers you may well get a variety of responses. The militant orthodox crowd will wholeheartedly agree since they base that question completely upon the Biblical centeredness of their systematic theology. The emergent crowd will agree since they believe that without a post modern reformation we will be stuck with a caricature of Jesus and not the “now” revelation of His person. Many will disagree and suggest that they are fine with the Christ they have. Many, if not most, still will not even care about the statement at all.

But where can we catch a glimpse of Christian behavior that has a greater cross section of different “camps” than just our local church community? And where can we get a perspective of the overall manifestation of Jesus Christ among the overarching panorama of the many different Christian colonies? And I would like to address those manifestations without actually dealing with the important issue of “doctrinal truth”. If doctrinal truth was all that is needed to manifest the Person of Jesus Christ then all we would need to do is create legs on a mechanical book of theology and let it walk around in our cities. That may sound absurd but that is in essence how some view being faithful to Jesus Christ.

In just over three years I have found an intriguing looking glass into what passes for Christianity, and more specifically, what passes for manifesting Jesus Christ Himself. That looking glass is the internet and all the varying Christian blogs. I have watched, participated, and pondered what I have seen and experienced in the quirky and sometimes disturbing phenomenon we call Christian blogs and their accompanying forums we call comment threads. To step back and assess this genre against the backdrop of what we are called to as followers of Jesus Christ leads us to a distressing disconnect that is tantamount to spiritual fraud.

To summarize, how we interact with each other and the world in general is painfully at odds with what we say we believe, what the Scriptures command of us, and what we should know by now concerning the life of Jesus Christ, which is encapsulated in one magnificent and transparent event, namely, the cross. Is it not apparent that believers cannot even interact with each other without resorting to verbal violence? Read the high browed dismissiveness in some of the comments, or the hyperbolic ridicule of any commenter’s inaccurate or clumsy thoughts. The more masterful in the linguistic lambasting, the more appreciative are those who are of the same view. The civilized back and forth may be but a few comments before the verbal fireworks begin and the end result is a bone fide example of how a believer should not behave.

Commenters castigate each other and the indictments range from questioning their intelligence to questioning their salvation. The incendiary remarks can be laced with cursing or laced with self righteousness. And when someone turns a creative phrase that is an exceptionally caustic invective, that person is applauded as having vanquished the “enemy” by his oratorical prowess. And where, pray tell, is Christ in any of that? Even at the most basic level of civil discourse, one that requires no real sacrifice, we are found to be revelators of men and not of Christ.

And like a movie reviewer who is looking for it to be faithful to the book version, we too can and should review the evidence as to how faithful our behavior is to the original “Book”. Read some of the blogs of those believers who take on the “conservative” moniker. Are you surprised when they call President Obama all sorts of nasty and degrading names? Does it shock you when believers support and quote talk radio hosts who daily fill people’s minds with hatred for the group they call “liberals”? Where do we find that in the Scriptures and the life of Jesus Christ? We must make a choice; is the Old Testament a foreshadowing of the coming of Christ and His redemptive grace, or are we supposed to live and judge according to the Old Testament narratives?

The visceral atmosphere in so many of the Christian blogs is so unchristian that without the subject matter no one would ever suspect that they are believers. The disdainful and pretentious tone of some Christian blogs contribute to the detour away from Christ and His powerful and humble love, and lead us into the world of victory by carnal vitriolic force. And while we may be winning the debate, we are losing Christ, which is the ultimate defeat.

Do not assume that I speak of one certain group and not another. When you juxtapose the New Testament, including the teachings of Jesus Himself, you will find no interactive indulgences for those who are considered orthodox based upon the “end justifies the means” principle. Many less “conservative” blogs are no different in their tone and verbal application. And if, perchance, someone actually understood and taught the complete and perfect interpretation of the systematic theological truths revealed in Scripture, that would still not license him to speak with caustic invectives and careless and hurtful hyperboles. We are Christians, and even our corrections must have a flavor of love, humility, and grace.

It would seem that in all our battles we are losing what it means to be Christian, and indeed, losing Christ Himself. Our debates sometimes quickly escalate into personal attacks and demeaning verbiage that must grieve the Spirit and present an odd manifestation of the Person of Christ. Search the internet and you can easily find scathing invectives used against lost sinners, humorous posters meant to disparage, and an overall tone of spiritual elitism. And I suggest that if a person understood all mysteries and had captured all truth with unabridged comprehension, that person would exhibit a humility and love that substantiated that very fact. To the very degree that a believing follower of Jesus Christ exhibits and practices a humble and gracious lifestyle is in direct proportion to his comprehension of the Person of Christ and His truth.

To run clean water through a dirty pipe is to contaminate the water itself, even if that water was pure as it entered. And if that pipe was clean, and if that water ran through it and retained its purity as it came out the other end, the pipe cannot and should not boast. The pipe must feel a humility and honor that it was used to deliver such refreshing water, and that same pipe must acknowledge and be constantly aware that it was created and is sustained by that very water. In essence, the pipe is a created conduit made to bring forth the water that created it to the people who are thirsty.

It has become apparent, at least to me, that we/I have a distorted target to which we aspire as believers. The picture of Jesus has, in many ways, become a caricature that does not accurately reflect the fresco of the New Testament and certainly not the most striking examples of divine humility and love that are depicted throughout the gospels. It would be impossible to comprehend the extent of loving and gracious condescension as it concerns the life and behavior of Jesus Christ, culminating in the cross. And yet we seem oblivious to the many ways in which we as believers exhibit traits and behaviors that are profoundly inharmonious to any reasonable understandings of the gospel narratives and the commands found in the epistles.

So the questions before us are these: Are we going to pursue Christ in all His fullness, or are we going to defend His truth with the energy of the flesh that ignores the finer revelations of His character in favor of a limited doctrinal triumph? Are we willing to be perceived as weak in order to exalt Christ? Are our arguments worth “winning” at the expense of retreating from Christ Himself? Does our doctrinal orthodoxy include manifesting humility, love, and grace? Can we speak the truth in love or must we win the battle with the weapons and power of our own words? Is there an indispensible relationship between Biblical truth and Christlike behavior?

Are we losing Christ as we seek to be His witness?

The End Draws Near

Where, O Lord, is Thy life? Where is the manifestation of Thy sacred power revealed in human form? Search the company of those who bear Your name and find Yourself. Does Your Spirit make Himself known in their midst, or is His voice and presence quenched by human wisdom and effort? Where are the helpless human sinners that have been profoundly transformed by Your gospel? Where is the distinct and peculiar lives that must elicit the attention of the hopeless throngs? Do these modern followers reflect Your glory, or have they created a convenient and comfortable lifestyle that makes following You a bargain rather than a glorious sacrifice? How, O Lord, can the world see Your light when Your own followers wander under the baskets of cultural acquiescence?

Stop, brothers and sisters, and look with circumspect eyes. See what the visible church has become. The many different streams of defined Christianity are a convoluted mess of all sorts of inconsistencies that are at odds with the revelation of Jesus Christ. Each “camp” has their generals and each group has their creeds. Some camps embrace the lifestyles of the world around them while others castigate that same world of lost sinners. One camp loves and defends America and believes that somehow Christ was the pen used in Jefferson’s hand as he wrote the founding documents. One camp follows and is named by one man’s name or another and defends him as if he was the reincarnation of the Apostle Paul himself.

One camp lives in the externals while the opposing camp cares nothing for behavior. One camp endorses sexual deviancies while the other crucifies those in bondage. One camp idolizes certain doctrines while another camp has no certain doctrines. What should be the shining light of the body of Christ sometimes seems no more than a convoluted interchange of disconnected thoughts about truth coming from people who closely resemble others who do not believe. And like a growing tidal wave, Christianity is being significantly marginalized around the world. The story of redemption is quickly becoming historical.

If you are a believer who has had some moderate Biblical training and/or has been a believer for more than twenty-five years, you may find some of the things about which I will mention to be repulsive and profoundly alarming. We must pray that our outrage will not just translate into treasure hunting for more outrage, but will be a divine rod of correction that motivates us all to deepen the stakes and lengthen the cords of our own walk with Jesus Christ. Describing all sorts of darknesses may indeed lull us into a different type of darkness; one that may not be doctrinal but may indeed be spiritual nonetheless. The closeness of our walk with Christ may be built upon truth, but it is dead without a passion to seek the very face of Jesus Himself. A website can be a resource for Biblical truth, but it is just a dead archive.

Jesus, Who is truth, is not just a well organized set of Scriptural facts, no, He must be a living, breathing manifestation of those facts, empowered by the Spirit of God and remarkable within a culture of darkness. We who see the continuing doctrinal calamity within the visible church must never put down our own mirror, for in that mirror, apart from the reassuring comparison of the error of others, we must see our own disturbing likeness that reflects Adam disproportionately more than it does our Elder Brother. Please keep that in mind as you continue reading this post.

Anything that welcomes the label emergent or any form of that word should be avoided by all believers who wish to pursue truth and please the Father. This is not a safe round table discussion where perspectives enhance the whole; this emergent movement is a deceptive campaign that is systematically and radically changing the redemptive face of Christianity itself. I am not a researcher, I am just a writer and editorialist. But there are internet sites that give credible evidence to the words I say even if I would take issue with some of the harshness and unnecessary verbiage some have used. The emergent “conversation” is championed by men like Brian MacLaren, Rob Bell, Doug Paggit, Peter Rollins, Phyllis Tickle, and a host of others. You may Google their names and find scores of sites that outline the most grievous errors one could imagine.

On this post, however, I want to briefly touch upon one such individual who many emergents and liberal Christians find inspiring and worth reading as a Christian resource. Her name is Anne Lamott and she calls herself a Christian and has written books on her brand of faith. Let us look briefly at some of her beliefs and practices and see if they would qualify as Biblical truth or Christian behavior. This lady professes a brand of Christianity while at the same time uses extensive profanity and allowed her 4-year old little boy to us it as well. Even the “F” word, which is one of her favorites, was used by her toddler. And on one particular Christian blog the story of her 4-year old using that word found humor among some of the group that writes and comments on that blog.

That is just an aspect of her lifestyle, but let us briefly look at what she believes. It seems that Ms. Lamott was once controlled by alcohol and wandered into a small church and found sobriety. It is primarily that event which makes her a Christian. Let us overlook her pro-choice politics and seeming hatred for all things “conservative”. Below is a part of an interview with Lamott in which she is asked about her Christian faith.

“I've always belonged to the same church, St. Andrew, and it's always been a church that believed in the Jesus of Martin Luther King. It's a social gospel church and totally inclusive — It's a big Jesus-y "Shalom" (welcome) — that's how I ended up there, drunk and hung over for a year before I got sober. So I've never been instructed — I've never taken extensive Bible study. I read a little Bible every day, but I don't believe it to be the literal word of God ... I don't even particularly have a relationship with God or God the Father. If I think of God, I think of God, the Mother-Father God and Creator, you know? The Big You. And I really have a relationship with Jesus. I'm one of those very rare Protestant girls who has a real affiliation with Mary. I wear a Mary around my neck. I think of Mary more like Bette Midler, a rich, juicy Jewish woman of 18, instead of the anorexic, meek, Lutheran blue-eyed Mary of the Sunday school posters.”

Any believer who has had even a mediocre teaching in Christian truths can see without hesitation that this poor lady is probably not a born again believer, and if she is by God’s grace, she should not be held up as a source of Christian devotion and wisdom. And yet believers, even evangelical pastors, quote her as an edifying source of spiritual encouragement. And pastors embrace as appropriate humor stories concerning her toddler using serious profanity. Why? It is obvious that the conscience of some has been seared and some have become careless and captured by the worst elements of the hedonistic culture. And some of these are not just “pew dwellers”, no, these are ordained pastors who teach the flock and are an example to them as well.

And some use profanity just as vulgar as does Ms. Lamott. But that is not the most grievous part of this growing scandal; the deepest and most disturbing element of the modern preachers is that they unashamedly hold up someone like Ms. Lamott and others as legitimate fountains of spiritual truth. Men like Marcus Borg who denies the resurrection are quoted and read. Men like Peter Rollins who preaches a works salvation are watched and enjoyed. And men like Rob Bell who speaks in a mix of philosophy, technology, imagery, and overarching generalities are fed to even the young people.

Let us not get puffed up about ourselves, no, let us fall down on our faces and weep between the porch and the altar since the church has lost her way and like Samson she does not even know her power is completely gone. The vain philosophies that are now penetrating the very fabric of evangelicalism are not just compromising some peripheral doctrines; they have rapidly eroded the very core of what redemption actually means and they have refashioned the very mission of Christ and His Sprit.

Thirty years ago while I was attending Bible college our professors would warn against liberalism, that at the time seemed marginal, coming into the church. At that time we thought liberalism was mainly for the mainline denominations and not for the gospel preaching fellowships. Even the Southern Baptist expelled many liberal teachers that had nested in their seminaries. At that time if someone had suggested that it would become fashionable for evangelical preachers to use vulgarity, much less in the pulpit, we would have denounced such a suggestion as alarmist. But here we are today with ordained pastors saying all sorts of curse words and telling off color jokes. And this is all in the name of “making it real”.

And who would ever have suspected that a woman such as Anne Lamott would be held up as a Christian writer and her words quoted as spiritual food? All this and worse has taken place in the space of 30 to 40 years. And with lightning pace it continues today and second generation pastors who cut their spiritual teeth on teachings from men like Bell, MacLaren, and Pagitt are now filling the pulpits of churches across America. Do not just stand firm in your faith, you must pursue Christ with all your hearts. The end is upon us, and the events in the world are not the only sign of the end time Biblical prophecies; the spiritual state of the church is also a blinding neon sign that reflects what the New Testament has informed us as to what the last days would look like.

The end draws near with an accelerated pace.

In Christ's Name - Reject Hatred

Hatred just may be the most vicious manifestation of pride. Jesus equated hatred with murder and commanded His followers to not just avoid hatred, but to indeed exhibit love instead. Hatred is at odds with God’s gospel of redemption and should find no place within the church. If there is one thing that the world should never see in the company of believers it is hatred.

And yet hatred continues unabated in the church of Jesus Christ. It is disguised in many ways since no one would desire to be accused of hatred, but make no mistake, it is hatred nonetheless. We have seen and continue to see unabashed hatred from professing believers for President Obama. This is not about whether he is or is not a believer, or even about his views that obviously are at odds with Scripture. This is not about him at all; this is about who we are and Who we serve.

As you peruse the blogs you will find the most malicious rhetoric about President Obama including many personal invectives that demean and slander his character. These are not supposed to be right wing blogs, these are supposed to be Christian blogs that claim to embrace the redemptive gospel of Jesus Christ. In many blogs he is shown no respect, and even among those who claim to believe the Bible’s command about giving honor to those in leadership. And many of these writers are among those who highly tout the sovereignty of God including saying they believe God puts the men in office by His will. What a paradox.

It is unseemly and even unchristian to speak such things about anyone, let alone the President. And what do those who know not Christ and admire President Obama think? Are we placing stumbling blocks in their path because they read such cruel and ruthless words about Obama? The name calling; the demeaning hyperbole; the dismissiveness; and the blatant disregard for the language of redemption are counterproductive to everything we say we believe. It is not enough to stand against abortion; we must stand for redemption and God’s gospel love as well. We may dress it up and call it moral outrage or righteous indignation, but it is hatred nonetheless.

While being careful not to compromise our pro-life credentials, we have openly and profoundly compromised the life and mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus did not come into this world to condemn the world, He came to seek and save that which was lost. Why, then, has some of the church taken on the robes of politics and project harsh words of hatred and harshness? Why are we not beacons of redemption and lights of hope, not postures of condemnation? The world sees us disrespect the nation’s leaders when their policies do not align with ours and what must the world think of that? Are we not called to love our enemies and bless those that curse us? Where is the “do unto others” principle in all our demeaning vitriol?

Have we camouflaged our hatred inside our battle to combat “liberalism” and unBiblical morality? And in so doing, are we becoming a manifestation of the Ten Commandments rather than the Risen Christ Who bids them “come”?

We seem to do the same with the gay communities. Many are fearful of being accused of compromise so they castigate gay people with words that diminish their humanity and are absent of love and full of hatred. Have we forgotten the depths from which we ourselves were rescued? Have we no compassion on those that are blind and attempting to fill the void with whatever they can get their hands on next? Jesus said “If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto Me”. He did not say that if we diminish people and verbally stomp upon their very beings that they will see Jesus and come running.

Hatred is very often the commodity with which the church deals when approaching the world. The chorus of “amens” fill the church when the pastor preaches against sin, and most noticeable, the sins that do not directly apply to the listeners. And when he “opens up a can” against the gay community the amens come all the faster and all the louder since it is the piñata that when struck, showers the people with the candy of self righteousness. But where are the tears, and where is the sacrificial love and pathos for those who struggle with such things? Again, the loathing and scorn eclipses even the faintest hint of intercession and compassion.

Is it not time we forget about our reputations and our peer groups and utterly exhibit the love of God through Jesus Christ without compromising either our view of sin or our view of Him and His gospel message? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is God’s redemptive message for the entire world, regardless of the sinner and his sin. For too long the church has moved toward a self righteousness that vents itself against sinners and their sin, and yet our Lord was a friend to sinners.

Ours is a call to love and not hate. It besmirches the Name of Christ and His cross to speak words of hatred, regardless of the dirty politics of it all. There is no one deserving of anything good from God, and those of us who have need to share that goodness that can only come from the hand of Christ. Tear down the moral pedestals and let us humble ourselves, wrapped in the redemptive love of Jesus Christ in both word and deed.

Even So Come Lord Jesus

A child cries from hunger.
Even so come Lord Jesus.
A gay man is dying.
Even so come Lord Jesus.
A family is dividing.
Even so come Lord Jesus.
A teenage girl sells herself.
Even so come Lord Jesus.
A homeless man begs.
Even so come Lord Jesus.
A drug addict gets another fix.
Even so come Lord Jesus.
A young man wants to kill himself.
Even so come Lord Jesus.
Another unborn baby dies.
Even so come Lord Jesus.
Sin is exalted.
Even so come Lord Jesus.

“But I have already come”, Jesus says, “Now you go, they are waiting for you to come”.

Fifty Questions

When was the last time you felt God was really doing something new in your life?

How many of us have our testimony as an historical narrative but have no current revelation of the Spirit’s work in our lives?

Is there a momentum carrying you into whatever buffer zone still remains between you and Jesus?

Do you think I am speaking of something mystical, something that God is doing specifically to bring you to a greater level of obedience, trust, and worship?

Are you living in yourself or in Him, and is your spirit soaring over all your problems or are you chained to your circumstances?

Can you actually hear the voice of the Spirit or are you even listening?

Does the Word leap in your spirit or are those Words just doctrinal pieces to some dead orthodoxy?

Does eternity permeate your being and cause you to walk with a pilgrim’s mentality?

Can God speak to you at any moment?

Do some people consider you a fanatic or is everyone comfortable around your benign brand of Christianity?

Are you even weary of the mundane practice of religion or are you hungry for a life that walks with Jesus in such a way as to have some effect on those around you?

Would you be willing to sell everything tomorrow and start a journey without first knowing the destination?

Is your faith predictable and at its strongest when you can actually see what you are trusting?

Do you believe Jesus desires a deeper and closer walk with you?

Does your prayer closet have more shoes and coats than prayer?

When was the last time you earnestly fasted with no thought of weight loss and with a passion to see God’s face?

Are there places that have mildew because of the tears of intercessory prayer?

Have you come to the place that you do not care about anything but following Christ?

Are there still plans and strategies that have captured your heart or have you given everything to Jesus and are resting completely in His wisdom and will?

Do you travail in prayer or does it seem like hollow words while your mind wanders?

Have you been brought so low that you can only see Jesus or are you still clinging to something about you that makes you feel worthy?

Is your own understanding how you interpret things or are you relying on the leading of God’s Spirit regardless if goes against all you “know” to be true?

When was the last time you were actually physically immobilized in prayer way beyond the time you planned to spend?

How do you plan to spend the rest of the life God has given you which is in reality His to spend?

Are you willing to return to the place of salvation itself and begin again and turn away from all the mistakes you have made before?

If you felt the tugging of the Spirit to radically change all that you are doing, will you have to get it approved by others?

Or will it have to be approved by you yourself?

Are you willing to take steps backward and even risk the ridicule of friends and foes alike in order to get out of the comfort of the dry boat deck and walk by faith upon the waves that rage around you?

Is Jesus in your boat or is He calling you from in the midst of the storm?

Can you actually risk the danger of exposing everything to God’s inspection or will you allow a few minor adjustments?

If no one else sees what you see or hears what you do will it affect your passion and determination?

Are you willing to repent of even the smallest sins and can you be trusted not to become a judgmental legalist concerning others who are careless in their lives?

Will you be humble, painfully humble, without being prideful in your humility?

If God does use you to bring His power and grace to others will it elevate you in your own eyes?

If others are drawn to you because they are thirsty as well will it make you feel good about you or good about Him?

Are you prepared to love those who you could never love before?

If God touches something about you that you never thought He would will you be immediately obedient or will you resist?

When God tells you words to speak to someone, words that might be extremely embarrassing and uncomfortable, will you speak them?

Are you ready to be completely shocked when the Spirit reveals to you the level of narcissism that has dwelt inside you for years?

Are you willing to worship Jesus publicly with an abandonment that does not purposely draw attention to yourself but makes no concessions because of the presence of others?

Will you endure unwanted attention because of the conspicuous changes in what used to be your life?

And will you handle criticism with grace and joy while rejecting any hint of being a self serving martyr?

Can you be trusted to give all the glory to Jesus without allowing the flesh to create a pseudo-piousness that projects selflessness but is actually self righteousness?

Will you grow weary when you fall or will you get up and begin anew and afresh?

And when all is said and done, will you live and share Jesus in everything you do and say regardless of the consequences or inconveniences that must come with a dynamic divergence from the mainstream of western Christianity?

Will you be honest with God and yourself concerning all these questions?

Are willing to pursue what it really means to walk in the Lordship of Jesus Christ?

Can you endure the spiritual pain of deconstruction?

Can you receive His strength necessary to rebuild the broken walls and burn the walls that were never in God’s original design?

Are you ready to die to live?

Whatever You're Doing

(Sanctus Real)

It’s time for a healing, time to move on
It’s time to fix what’s been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong
It’s time to find my way to where I belong
There’s a wave that’s crashing over me
All I can do is surrender

Whatever you’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, somehow there’s peace
It’s hard to surrender to what I can’t see
But I’m giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone, time to begin again
Reevaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow your will
Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is you want from me
I give everything I surrender

Whatever you’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, somehow there’s peace
It’s hard to surrender to what I can’t see
But I’m giving in to something heavenly,
something heavenly

Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I’ve wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever you’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You’re up to something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly

Whatever you’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
You’re up to something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly,
Something heavenly

It’s time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out

The Call of God's Altar

Where do we first see what God calls the “altar”? We see a glimpse when God slew animals to make coats for Adam and Eve and wherever that event took place that was the first altar of sacrifice. The altar was a place of sacrifice, blood, death, and worship. From the very first sin of man God began a revelation that included death and blood and that place would be named the altar. And this altar would not just be an appeasement to a vicious God who desired His revenge, no; this would be a place of redemption, reconciliation, forgiveness, and worship.

God instructs Abraham to take his son, Isaac, and go to Mount Moriah and sacrifice his son. Abraham arises early in the morning and heads to Moriah with Isaac, wood, a knife, and two servants. When they get to the place of sacrifice Abraham takes the wood, the knife, and a fire and heads to make an altar of sacrifice. The wood is placed upon the back of Isaac in a startling prophetic disclosure that one day God’s own Son would carry the wooden altar upon His back as He climbed the mount to adorn that wooden altar with Himself.

And we realize that when Abraham lifted his knife to offer his son, God stepped in to allow a ram to take Isaac’s place. But Abraham’s altar was still a place of blood and death, and a place of worship as well. There is no painless redemption and there is no bloodless sacrifice that can be the atonement. Although God pardoned Isaac He still required blood, the blood of a ram. The altar is always a place of sacrifice and blood. It is Jehovah’s butcher block anointed by the Spirit of God, and God’s attention is drawn to that holy place of worship before Him.

God prepared two Roman planks that would serve as an altar upon which He would sacrifice His Son. That would be a place of much pain and much blood and much suffering. It would be the altar upon which the Passover Lamb would die as a sacrifice for sins, and all who enter into that death by faith would be crucified with the Christ of God and in that death they will find life. In a mystery, when Christ was sacrificed on that vertical altar, all who by faith embrace that sacrifice are partakers of that sacrifice. The Passover Lamb of God becomes our sacrifice and His blood is applied to the doorposts of our hearts and souls, and death must pass over us as a defeated foe.

But even as we are made new creations in Jesus Christ, do not believe our calling and journey is complete. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, are called to present ourselves as living sacrifices, crucified, and yet risen from the dead. All of it in Him. And now we are called again to God’s altar and there to be crucified daily. The parts of us that live are blemishes to God’s sacrifice. We must die to ourselves and live unto God and that can only happen when by faith we place ourselves on the bloody altar of death and allow the Spirit to remove the dross and mold us into His image once more. God stands with a cross with our name written upon it and He beckons us come and die and come and live.

We are so filled and even consumed with our own desires and aspirations, and the altar of God looks so painful and so gory and our flesh recoils at such a thing. Who will understand us and who will mock us if we offer our entire lives on God’s altar? What will it cost us, and what plans will it shatter? Will it diminish our joy or will it release joy unspeakable and full of glory?

The word "altar" (Greek: θυσιαστήριον) appears twenty-four times in the New Testament. The word means a place of sacrificial death. This is not the butcher block where you buy your favorite steaks, no, this is the altar of the Spirit where only God can put to death the enemy God calls the flesh. It is the flesh that contaminates our entire beings with thoughts of self and sin, and it is this flesh that makes Christ a doctrine rather than the Risen Lord controlling the vessel He has purchased and now owns. This flesh seeks its own and has very little consideration for the will of Christ, and, in fact, this flesh will present a deception and call it the will of Christ. The flesh will offer God’s will in a convenient and shallow form which costs little and gains much, but that is the very nature of the flesh.

The altar will not reach out and capture you, you must be willing to lie down upon its already encrusted crimson stains and die once more. There is no resurrection without death, and there is no pleasing God without the excruciating and liberating faith that not only allows its flesh to be sacrificed, it even invites it. The pain of death translates into the abundant life that is Him. It is impossible to please yourself and Christ as well. God will not accept a partial and contaminated sacrifice upon His holy altar; it must be the entire life. All must be offered and all must be consumed.

Do you doubt God? Are you unsure as to His ability to consume every part of you? Go ahead; pour water upon the entire sacrifice and see if God can consume it. Gather all of your desires, all of your plans, all of your insecurities, all of your doubts, all of your compromises, all of your sins, all that you hold back, and gather everything that is in the slightest bit not of God and place it all on the altar. Then lay down on top of that dung and lift your hands to worship your God who will do what He promised. Feel the pain and experience the release that walks you through the freedom of service and worship without the double mindedness that has yoked you to you and not Him. And like the birth pangs of a woman in labor, a new life comes forth.

Are you not tired of being half in and half out? Isn’t the fence a poor resting place? Are you peculiar or are you predictable? Do people find you the least bit curious or do they have trouble finding you at all? Is the crowd your home or is the crowd watching you? Are sinners uncomfortably drawn to you or are they comfortably ambivalent to your life? Are you thirsty or are you quenched? Are you content with crumbs or will you press in to eat the entire Heavenly Loaf? Do you believe there is significantly more to this life of following Jesus or do you suggest we have reached the limits of His power and presence? Are you more concerned with the things of this life than the things of the Spirit?

The altar awaits you. Approach it as a privilege and with a holy expectation of a sacred sacrifice that drains your life and flings the stone wide open to a life that permeates your surroundings with the fragrance of Jesus or at the very least causes people to question your sanity.

Unremarkable lives contradict professions of faith in Jesus and are essentially false witnesses.

Seeking Jesus the Christ

Matt.11:29 - Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls.

The gospel. The word is Greek means the good news. And the narratives of the life of Jesus are called the four gospel simply because the overarching theme is good news, the good news of redemption. In this age of political maneuvering and global orchestration that seeks to bring about an earthly kingdom without the King of Kings, we as followers of that one true King must seek His face and none other. He is all we need and all there is.

The sounding brass and tinkling cymbals have draw the ears and hearts of God’s people for way too long, and we must turn our hearts wholly to Him and Him alone. The Jews desired the Messiah to overthrow the shackles of Rome and in so doing they became blind to the freedom Christ was offering. And so it is with this spiritual generation who seek to force morality on others while being blind to our own immorality in oh so many forms. We seek governmental freedom while being yoked in bondages of all kinds ourselves. The church sees so clearly the sins of others but only casually acknowledges a self serving label of "lesser sins" within her own walls. Causes and issues fill our agenda that can only be achieved by a powerful demonstration and revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church services have become nicely compacted pageants that resemble school programs rather than expressions of grateful worship that know no limitations and have no schedule but that which the Spirit dictates. The time slots for announcements are greater than the time allotted for corporate prayer. The church building remains dark most nights and the schedule itself guards against any unexpected outbreak of God’s power and presence. Elongated seasons of prayerful seeking of God’s face are historical accounts of ages gone by and have found little place in the age of self.

There is no peace but Jesus. There is no love but Jesus. There is no mercy but Jesus. There is no grace but Jesus. There is no salvation but Jesus. There is no life but Jesus. Why has Jesus become such an invisible appendage to the church and why has He become a doctrinal test rather than a living and powerful revelation that identifies individual believers as well as the visible church? Why does Jesus find a nice and comfortable place in many lives of western believers that only slightly deviate from the lives of their lost counterparts?

And even Sunday morning, which should be the one place where believers are stripped from their cultural chains, has become a predictable and orchestrated performance that rarely changes anyone at all. And when you watch hundreds of people exiting a worship service at the appointed hour with little if any residual effect of being in God’s presence, you must wonder if God was there at all. How can people believe the claim that we have met powerfully with the Creator of the Universe and the Lord of our Souls when we are more excited or solemn when we leave a football game? And how can we expect God to manifest Himself in unusual ways when we have cavorted with the world all week and spent an embarrassing amount of time and labor seeking Him? We treat the church service like a concert where the musical celebrity shows up simply because we are there and have paid for our seats.

Church itself has become part of the culture and is given a small seat at the table of policy making. We as believers should not be concerned, much less consumed, with what the kingdom of darkness is doing and planning. Our kingdom is light and that light is Jesus who must be proclaimed and lived in humble boldness and sacrificial love. We are highly organized; we are highly doctrinal; we are highly educated; and we are highly cultural. But are we highly passionate in our pursuit for Jesus Christ? Our hedonism has ensnared our time and motivation and in so doing we remain in Martha’s kitchen uninterested in what is taking place at the feet of Jesus. Watch the church as she rallies new energy every election cycle only to return to her former self afterward. Listen as the church disrespects the president because he is not the one of their choosing, all the while giving lip service to God’s sovereignty in the rulers of nations.

Listen further as the church supports a particular war and with that support she tethers it to God Himself. The church uses the term “just war” in the same way others use the term “just abortion”. The American church has been carefully taught over two centuries the divine favor of God on this nation, but that teaching has always been false. Jesus is now a conservative, and the mystical absolutes found in God’s Word and in seeking His presence are now subservient to some moral and political agenda. This is not the faith of Christ, this is a mutation that continues to evolve away from the pure faith found in the Scriptures.

It is time the church, or at last a handful of awakened believers, cast off the grave clothes and set a course, albeit against the ecclesiastical wind, to seek Jesus and His kingdom. All of us must begin anew and afresh, and we must never question the redemption found only in Christ but we must now question almost everything we have constructed in practice and lifestyle. We must invite again the Spirit of God to fall on us in power and leadership as we fall in brokenness before our God. We must tear up our plans and strategies and create a thirst for God Himself.

Jesus. There is no thought and no emotion greater than knowing Him in all His fullness and in His experiential presence. How can we neglect such a privilege? How have we constructed such an ecclesiastical form while leaving Him behind? We have entire quarterly sermon series’ that deal with all kinds of relevant western issues and relegate Jesus Himself as an understood aside. We bring flag displays and soldiers into God’s sanctuary in celebration of a nation that rose up violently against its government resulting in a combined 50,000 deaths (American, British, German) and many more casualties. All because of “taxation without representation”. The entire war goes against all the teachings of Jesus Himself.

Let us return to the empty tomb and go forth with a new vigor and a new way of living and preaching Jesus. Not with a post modern compromise that obscures the gospel and not with a hardened orthodoxy that exudes self righteousness and judgmentalism, but with the revelation of the Savior Jesus in all His love and graciousness. The darkened world is desperate to see people who are selfless prisms that allow the light of Christ to shine forth without the self interest and political activism that sculptures a different Jesus than is revealed in written Scripture.

At the end of this post I want to exalt Jesus Himself. I want to publicly praise Him for showing grace to a profound sinner like me who did not deserve one cell of His precious blood. I have not been as faithful to Him as I could have been, and I am not what I could be for Him, but to His praise I am not what I used to be. I was a violent racist who sold drugs into the high schools and was unconcerned about God or man. I was widely promiscuous and rode a motorcycle and drove a van, both of which were vehicles that helped me live a life of sin. Only the providence of God rescued me from committing a murder in a planned bank robbery, but I heard the gospel from a sick bed and was saved forever. Morality did not save me; the pro-life movement did not save me; traditional marriage did not save me; conservative values did not save me; and humanitarian causes did not save me.

Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected, saved me one day in March of 1975, and it is this truth that I will cling to by His grace until He receives me from this present life.

I glorify the Person of Jesus Christ forever.

Please Understand the Situation

II Tim.4:3-4 – For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Col.2:8 – Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments (principles) of the world, and not after Christ.

There is a man who is an up and coming phenomenon in the emergent church movement. His name is Peter Rollins and he is from Belfast, Ireland with a degree in philosophy. I would like to present to you some of his teachings that I have gleaned from some of his interviews and writings. You are welcome to google his name and peruse his teachings for yourself. Here are a few meanderings that are accurate representations of his overall theology.

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“The desire to get a God’s-eye view of the world is reflected throughout history in theology, mythology and philosophy. In much of the Western intellectual tradition there’s a strong desire to name and capture God in conceptual form. I am trying to explore the ancient idea that God transcends all names. We can’t reduce God to a theological idea without making an idol out of words. Instead of thinking of God as a noun it is perhaps more useful to think of God as a verb. For God is known through action.”

“We see this in the word "doxology" which doesn’t mean belief, but rather worship. So orthodoxy actually means correct praise not correct belief. In that kind of a way, it becomes less about the affirmation of a theological approach—important as theology is—but a way of being like Jesus. We have to rediscover this idea that orthodoxy isn’t belief -oriented but praxis-oriented.”

“To bring love into the world is to know God, for God is love. This is not the knowledge of creeds and theology but the knowledge of a transforming relationship with the source of all love. Truth in Christianity is thus different from the way we understand truth in the world, for the truth of Christianity is life, not description.”

“The parable of the mustard seed grasps this. It speaks of a seed becoming a tree that will provide a nest of birds. The traditional interpretation is that this tiny movement will become an institution that will house people. But then there is another interpretation which says that the birds of the air are symbols of evil. In this reading, the movement will grow into an institution that will house that which stands opposed to God. What if neither interpretation is true but rather they both are?”

"In other words I don’t think we experience the truth of Christianity but the truth of Christianity is hinted at in the renewed way we experience everything else. In this way the truth of faith is not one thing among other things but rather is that which brings us into new relationship with all things. The way we explore this within Ikon is by attempting to create a gathering in which Christianity is not fundamentally about an understanding or experience but rather a way of being and interacting in the world."

Taken from here.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for joining us this evening at our intimate, humble gathering. Take a seat, make yourselves comfortable and prepare yourselves. Tonight we would like to share a secret with you, a sacred secret that must be kept strictly between us. To be honest it is a secret which cannot be told, for it cannot be understood or even experienced, but only birthed within us and lived through us. Nonetheless this evening is a futile but necessary attempt to place this sacred secret into some kind of language, for language is the only messenger we know, fallen angel though it may be.

My first encounter with this secret occurred a number of years ago while I was walking home, late one evening. As I weaved my way through the half-dead trees that inhabited a piece of wasteland connecting my origin to my destination I heard an inner voice calling my name. I stood still and listened intently to what I took to be nothing less than the solemn, silent voice of God. As I stood there, rooted to the ground, God spoke to me, repeating four simple words, “I do not exist”"

Taken from here.

"You sit in silence contemplating what has just occurred. Moments before you had been alive and well, then the screech of brakes and the darkness. Now you stand in line waiting for your call to stand before the judgment seat of God. As you reflect upon the last moments on earth your name is called and you find yourself in a huge room facing an awesome throne. Sitting on this huge throne is a breathtaking being who looks intently at you before speaking, ‘My name is Lucifer the angel of light’

You are immediately filled with fear and trembling. ‘I have cast your God from His throne and banished Christ to the realm of eternal death. I hold the keys to the kingdom, I am the gatekeeper of paradise and it is for me to decide who shall enter and who shall be forsaken’.
Then he stretches out his vast arms, ‘In my right hand I hold eternal life and in my left I hold death. For those who would bow down and acknowledge me as Lord I shall let them pass through the gates of paradise, but for those who refuse I will vanquish them to death with their Christ’

"After a pause he moves his arms so that each of his hands are placed before you, ‘What do you choose’?"

Taken from here.

"What if one of the core elements of a radical Christianity lay in a demand that we betray it, while the ultimate act of affirming God required the forsaking of God? And what if fidelity to the Judeo-Christian scriptures demanded their renunciation? In short, what if the only way of finding faith involved betraying it with a kiss? By employing the insights of apophatic theology and deconstructive theory this book seeks to explore the subversive and clandestine nature of a Christianity that dwells within religious institutions while simultaneously undermining them."

Taken from here.

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At the outset please note the absence of any mention of the cross and resurrection. And anyone with a semblance of impartiality can see that Rollins has dramatically reinvented Christianity and presented it as a set of works rather than a born again experience by believing on the Risen Christ. Missing among all the philosophical gibberish is the gospel itself, and yet millions of professing Christians have accepted his “message” because he is emergent and endorsed by men like Rob Bell and Doug Pagitt.

I will not insult your Biblical intelligence by an elongated comparison with his words and the Word of God. But I wanted to present you with just a small sample of evidence of this man’s spiritual position along with the men who endorse him. And the tragic issue is that many believers who are already enamored with a man like Rob Bell will not even give an impartial assessment of these aberrant views. In fact, there is no statement and no teaching so Biblically deviant that some cannot manipulate them to say what they obviously do not say. Many lack even the most elementary discernment concerning redemptive truth because they have become followers of men rather than followers of Jesus and His Word. This is not due to any deeper duplicity or evil intentions in their beings; it is simply due to a profound deception as to what is happening and their complicity in this falling away. I alternate between anger and a deep sorrow.

The immeasurable tragedy has gained momentum through both the weariness of orthodox Christianity and the modern allurement of everything new and spiritually inclusive. There is little reasoning with those already caught adrift in this post modern tide, and it becomes somewhat irrelevant to some when we address even the most doctrinally violent teachings of men who have garnered emergent credentials. To be sure we must guard against any hint of haughtiness or hubris, and we ourselves must never believe we have arrived and are licensed to sit and evaluate all others but ourselves.

Pray and watch both for the deceived and ourselves.

The apostasy has long since gained a beachhead and moves forward with lightning speed. God help us…

Children of a Lesser Christ

There He writhes, surely in inestimable physical pain, but in infinitely more unsearchable spiritual pain and suffering for the sins of all mankind. Who can enter into that realm? Who among us can grasp the enormity of such an event, and even the partial understanding given to us renders us weak with gratefulness and worship. Only the redeemed can comprehend the spiritual implications of His death, and only a sinner enlightened by God’s Spirit can believe that event carries any sort of redemption for them personally. Only the Spirit of God can shine a divine light upon a narrative that looks on the surface like a Jew, dying on a cross, and by that light reveal something of a far greater mystery that has eternal implications for us all.

Men look into the expanse of a star filled night and find a profound wonder concerning the creation, and most find it unimaginable to be asked to believe that dead Jew was the Creator of all of it. How could such weakness be the open revelation of the Great God of the Universe? Yet there He is, draped in a crimson robe of His own blood, and gasping His very last breath. The reasoning of man not only doubts it, he rejects it with confidence. This figure impaled upon two Roman crosses cannot be anything more than another sinful Jew receiving the punishment for His own transgressions. This is nothing more than spiritual superstition.

But just as the invisible wind showcases its power by its influence over that which it targets, so will the power of this event be revealed through those who receive and acquiesce to its life changing power. A few weeks after this punishment was meted out, many thousands of people, the same ones who looked into that night’s sky, will be transformed into followers of the man who died on that day. Only they will no longer view him as just another dead Jew, no, they now realize He has risen from the dead, and He is the Lord God of Heaven and Savior of their souls. They have been captured by God’s Spirit, internally changed, and they will never be the same. They now walk in a strange land which they once called home but now is just a path to walk and a temporary place of sojourning.

These believers have gladly entered a personal journey to learn of Christ and follow in His footsteps, but always looking to and delving deeper into that cross and empty tomb. The paradox of all who believe in Jesus is that all the deepest and most profound aspects of His life and Person are found in that cross and in that empty tomb. That week of passion is the foundation that not only begins the journey; it is the place where the building blocks for future understanding must be hewn. The newborn Christian chicks do not fly away to build their nests elsewhere, instead they bring any additional twigs and food back to that same nest. The tree of Golgotha houses all true nests, and that tree itself gives and sustains all life that flies to its redemptive canopy.

This is the Christ we embrace and follow and this is our faith. We must not entertain the new constructs of men who suggest our faith is found elsewhere, regardless of how noble the cause. One small step away from Calvary is one giant step toward heresy. And when we move Christ and His bloody redemption away from the very core of our teaching, we do despite to the gospel itself and in fact we present a lesser Christ, a Christ that conforms to the philosophies of men and not the Christ whose brightness destroys the philosophies of men. Anything substantively new is most assuredly not true. Only a new and fresher well that is dug deep into the knowledge of Christ that begins and ends with redemption can be considered new revelations of established gospel truth.

And so in today’s exhilarating genre of Christian thought and teaching we have so many who follow a lesser Christ. Some follow the prosperity Christ, others follow the ceremonial Christ, others follow the philanthropist Christ, some love the abortion crusading Christ, others follow the gay hating Christ, and still others follow the American Christ. These are lesser Christ’s and in a real way they are other Christ’s. Gone is the tearful brokenness produced by a deep gratefulness for the cross. Gone is the spiritual contentment that comes from meditating upon that bleeding form, replace by the philosophies of men which excite the flesh and divert the worship from the Eternal One suffering in intense agony over our very sins. The lesser Christ carries no wounds and bids us to change the world through caring for the needs of others with the bloodless offerings of Cain.

We live in an ecclesiastical atmosphere with so many paths to God and so many different representations of the gospel that it is impossible to identify those who are washed in Christ’s blood and those who earnestly follow a noble Christ with high morals, compassion for the poor, but lacking the imperative crown of redemption found only and continually at Golgotha. Some even follow a crass and reckless Christ who was indistinguishable from the sinners with whom He ate. But the true Christ is exalted in His death and all other truths flow to and flow from that same sacrifice. To speak less of the cross is to diminish Christ, and to avoid or even deny the substitutionary element of its power is to deny it altogether.

I can never assess the limits of God’s grace, and I can never pronounce knowledge of any person’s standing before God.

However I can say with certainty that many today are the children of a lesser Christ.

Abortion as a Stumblingblock - UPDATE*

Whatever cause draws us to league with unbelievers is a clandestine attempt to draw us away from Christ. To single out abortion and use incendiary verbiage to leverage the most intense and explosive emotions concerning the plight of children is unbiblical and steers the human heart away from the gospel of Christ and onto the horrors of this world. And regardless of how accurate in their assessment of that moral issue, their unguarded rants only seek to awaken uncontrollable emotions in many, the result of which has been seen again in Kansas.

It is surely true that abortion is a sin and against the will of God. It is the murder of an unborn child. But how we handle that truth within the gospel context can be a very fine, yet significant, line of demarcation. An irresponsible diatribe about abortion can excite the emotions of hatred and revenge more than point to Jesus Christ. Our calling is to lift up the Person of Jesus Christ, not engender a torch bearing mob mentality about the actions of lost sinners. In fact, the hope of the world is the gospel not the elimination of any sinful practices regardless how horrific.

Far too often in these days of political involvement the church has been known for its stand on certain moral issues and not its overt and tangible projection of Jesus Christ. Cursing the basement flood without addressing the leak in the pipe is an unproductive venture, and we as followers of Jesus should repairers of the breach rather than condemners of the lost crowd from which we came. These moral campaigns are a clandestine form of compromise since they trade in the good and not the perfect.

So the next time you read a blog post or hear a message on the subject of abortion which is purposely inflammatory with all sorts of invectives, hyperbole, or an a pictorial meant to arouse emotions of hatred and outrage, think of how that draws people to the Lord Jesus. Being against abortion is a Biblical given, but exhibiting the grace and love of Jesus Christ to the vilest among us is a challenge of the highest difficulty and sacrifice. Jesus died for the abortion doctor and calls us to offer him that redemption.

Be a light, not just a verbal firearm.

*UPDATE - If you believe that war is a God ordained way to protect human life, then by the same logic killing abortion doctors can easily be considered God ordained as well. In this age of terrorists, the doctors can be called utero-terrorists. What they are Biblically is lost.