A Rational Jesus?

THE MODERN ATTEMPT

TO MAKE JESUS RATIONAL

"My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence…
To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."
Read the New Testament. Go ahead, just read it. Now if it is all metaphors and poetic devices and erudite imagery, then it ranks with the Brothers Grimm. If it is spirit lifting imagery that when taken in earthly context is very pragmatic and reasonable, then it is a wonderful self help book that contains beneficial advice for living. And if so, then Jesus is a wise teacher with all kinds of deep perspectives and many creative ways to communicate them. So if all that is true then the New Testament is an exceptional treatise on living and the path to fulfillment in this life. And many today, whether with or without intention, have treated it as such.

But there is another view of the New Testament. If those twenty-seven letters are indeed a communication from the Creator which deal with the invisible realities of the kingdom of God, then that changes everything or at least it should. If those words are spirit, as Jesus taught, and if the truths are eternal and not just confined to a temporal understanding, then the entire perspective must be eternal and the affects upon our earthly lives must be dramatic when believed. And given that premise, followers of Jesus and His teachings must understand and process everything altogether differently than those who do not know or follow Christ.

But there are legions of teachers today who have taken sections of God’s Word and used them in a completely temporal setting and have removed any hint of the eternal. The existence of a place called heaven is usually all that remains of the invisible glory of the eternal expanse of God’s kingdom, and that can be gained by muttering a few repeated words. Even God’s unspeakable dwelling place has been relegated to a human caricature and assigned a “place” mentality in the same way we think of Saturn or Mars. Not much about heaven is talked about today, much less pondered, because in this pragmatic culture you either are going there or you are not. The particulars or the implications are a waste of precious temporal time that must be used for temporal desires.

If taken at face value, the teachings and truths set forth by Jesus are irrational in a temporal setting. They are literally absurd when juxtaposed against any earthly culture. In order to practice them they must be restructured, redefined, and given a much more accommodating practicality in order for those who claim to believe them to live lives friendly and unremarkable within any fallen culture. Since the Industrial Revolution the western culture has become a hedonistic factory which subtly imprisons people and forces them to live their lives according to the dictates and mores of the culture by the sheer strength of the culture itself. Like zombies we all march to the norm and accepted and only question it when it presents some personal inconvenience, or worse yet, some personal financial decrease.

And the church in the west has adopted the invisible cultural rudders and continues to set sail right along side those who do not profess Jesus, with the only difference being a few doctrinal words. And in order to make ourselves feel spiritual or somewhat different, we have our statements of faith. But should not our lives be our statements of faith? When did creeds replace living epistles? Creeds became our witness when it became evident that many of the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament as a whole were incompatible with the practices of the culture. So in order for us to embrace the culture, save for a very few moral issues we treat as talismans, we had to modify those teachings. And after a few modifications, eventually we eviscerated the eternity out of His teachings and made them little more than earthly guidelines and a few moral squabbles.

But if we take the words of Christ literally we cannot help but see their nature is from another world. The totality of His teachings, interlocked together as one, are so dramatically at odds with any earthly culture that to embrace them and live them out must always make that life extraordinary and even miraculous within that same culture. Imagine walking in a cave one mile beneath the surface of the earth where no light is present. Then imagine lighting a match. That match will become a beacon merely because it is the only light available in that circumstance. So when we live in a culture of profound darkness, how should we as the light of Jesus appear? But instead the church loves the darkness, especially when it presents itself as innocuous or more cleverly the divine will. This western culture provides entertainment, recreation, social mores, spiritual practices, and many and varied avenues of prosperity, all of which are fallen and of no value to a believer. And yet the church loves them all, only sometimes avoiding the most obvious sinful practices. But even adultery and divorce and addictions and the love of money are practiced extensively and even approved by the church.

But all that is irrational screeching if the teachings of Jesus are not meant to be believed and practiced in all their glory. And that is exactly how the western church sees words like these. In fact, that is how I would have seen them as well only a few decades ago. We love to say that we must always teach God’s Word in context. Well, there is an element of truth in that, but many times we have kept the teachings of Christ captured in their original context and refused to apply them to this present context. And in essence they become historical events rather than eternal truths meant to be revealed in all situations and contexts.

But how do you tell a man who feels better than he has ever felt that he is sick? When everyone is experiencing such success and fulfillment, how do you inform them that they are doing something wrong? You sound like some killjoy who hates seeing people being happy. I mean the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental right is it not? Isn’t that the way of Jesus? Is the overarching theme of His teachings the happiness of man discovered through a utilitarian practice of the faith? And when people are accumulating material things, and when they are leaving their children a more prosperous culture than what they had, and when their children have been the beneficiaries of a better education, how could that not indicate the blessings of God?

Who discusses eternity except in some constricted and doctrinal form in some sermons? Who walks with a sense of eternity and a passion to be an instrument for God’s eternal plan? For every word that is spoken about eternity there are a thousand that are spoken about politics. For ever word about denying self there are a thousand complaints.

If you step back and assess the situation you must come to the conclusion that the church as a whole no longer believes God’s Word and no longer follows Jesus, the stale statements of faith notwithstanding. Did those words make contact with your inner man? It should be an earth shattering ( and I do mean earth shattering) indictment to us all. And even if you come to even a partial agreement with that conclusion, the task of personally unraveling man’s teachings and replacing them with the teachings of Jesus in your own life is a monumental task that only God’s Spirit is equipped to accomplish. Painful, yes. Sacrificial, yes. Humbling, yes. Startling, yes. Disturbing, yes.

And the task that is set before you will naturally result in some lost fellowships, and some uncomfortable introspections, and a long process requiring much patience. You will have to become reacquainted with Jesus even though you once believed you had already embraced Him fully. The temptation to judge others will be ever present and powerful. And the deeper you go in Christ, and the more the Spirit helps you to make spiritual alterations in your life, the stronger that temptation becomes. In fact you must battle that temptation until you see the Redeemer. Sometimes you will be successful and other times not.

Imagine a man going through a forest and looking for a particular house. Suddenly he comes upon an opening in the forest, and there is the house he was looking for. There are many people living there who had made the same expedition as he. They wave to him and call him over. He happily goes to be with them and he finds the house delightful and affirming. He is in ecstasy. He makes many friends and many people keep coming. The leaders among the people inform the people that this house is where the Owner of the forest told them to wait because he has a much greater house prepared for them. And these leaders have written instructions from the Owner of the forest which they say proves what they say. But while they wait they can enjoy this house. All of them find great fellowship among each other.

So I ask you, how can anyone tell these people that they are waiting at the wrong house? Regardless of what you say or how you passionately speak to them, you cannot change their minds. Only the Owner of the forest Himself can come and show them their error and change their minds. In fact, you were once happily in that house and only when the Owner came and showed you and empowered you were you able to leave.

There only two instruments that God can use to help awaken a sleeping and carnal church. Prayer, and a bold and humble change in some of our lives. Both are spiritual labors that are easily abandoned when we reach the first level. We are so easily distracted and we are prone to chase all kinds of earthly battles and therein leave the eternal cause of Jesus Christ. And when we do that we leave Christ. And that is the ultimate defeat even if on earth we win some meaningless moral or political battle. The journey which sees Jesus as He is and follows in His teaching footsteps is not rational. It can never make sense to a blind and fallen world.

But this is the real battle today. Is Jesus rational to a fallen world? Is he so rational and so compatible with the ways of this world that unsaved people can practice a form of Christianity and believe it is Jesus? And even more disturbing, can evangelicals who say they believe the Bible doctrinally, and who can teach Jesus doctrinally, and who have an ecclesiastical structure, can we be so deceived that can live a life far from Christ and not even know it? Yes, the modern church has presented a rational Jesus whose teachings are basically guidelines for human success and a somewhat higher moral code.

Do not be fooled. We all have much ground to retake for Christ in our own lives. But the western church does not follow the teachings of Jesus. It now presents a contrived distortion that when compared to the pristine version is nothing but a toxic mutation. Corrupted and contaminated, when practiced over time it becomes the standard while the true standard has long since been discarded. Jesus and His teachings are so rational now and so benign that they no longer represent truth at all.

If our faith seems somewhat rational to dead people than we have nothing but a saltless religion only preserved by the culture itself.

Jesus Plan for Feeding the Poor

JESUS PLAN FOR FEEDING THE POOR

 

"You feed them".

 

Any Questions?

Looking for Christ?

LOOKING FOR CHRIST?

YOU WILL NOT FIND HIM THERE

The Supreme Court will now visit the issue of gay marriage. And if they uphold the decision by some states, and if they make gay marriage legally recognized across the nation, democracy will have worked. How can some believers not see that a representative republic, which is a form of democracy, has never been of God? Just who do these men and women represent? For the most part they represent people who do not know Christ. Is that what Christ desires?

And even if all unsaved people were pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, and conservative in all their moral and economic views would that satisfy the Spirit? All that would do is appease believers and probably lesson any evangelistic fervor which is diminutive as it stands now anyway. When will the church quit chasing morals and economics? Even some of the most mature and Biblically knowledgeable believers have been swept away with this ghost of Christmas past, present and future called nationalism. Democracy has become an idol, America is a golden calf, and the founding fathers have been made into a fairy tale.

And now democracy is working with open efficiency. President Obama has been reelected. Abortion is still legal. Gay marriage will become the law of the land. And all of this is because the majority rules! Don’t you feel the love? Please, don’t you see that sweet and bitter water cannot come from the same well? Nationalism and democracy are bitter wells that sometimes deceive us into thinking they operate along side God’s eternal kingdom. They do not. The systems of man are always in opposition to the kingdom of God even if sometimes they accidently align themselves with a handful of issues with the church. Like a pedophile using candy to lure his victims so do these systems lure people by using morality. And this candy now is being fed to us by cults? Look at the wrapper on this candy. It says “Forget about who Jesus is as Savior and Lord just help us establish some morality around here”. What?? We are supposed to ignore the Lordship of Jesus for a moment while we join hands with His enemies in order to pass some laws? What kind of Lordship is that, unless Jesus considers America more important than following Him, or more suspicious yet, He considers loving and following America the same thing as loving and following Him.

And let me ask us all this question: How did abortion become legal and how has gay marriage become legal? Is it because believers did not vote in great numbers, or is it because believers did vote in great numbers? Confused? You should be. By actively and passionately supporting an antichrist system believers have empowered it. Yes, the church has given life to what is against God And unwittingly we have been made pawns in this fallen system.

I remember watching a program which had an unusual ending. A man has a dream that his wife has been killed by crossing in front of a train. The dream is so vivid that he even recognizes the very railroad crossing in his dream. Suddenly the man awakes in a sweat, and he hears the sound of his wife starting her car so she can head toward work. The man rushes downstairs to stop her but he sees her pull away in the dark. He frantically hops into his own car and speeds down the street in order to warn her. He is driving fast and reckless.

Now his wife sees his headlights coming rapidly toward her in the distance. She begins to accelerate but the headlights still are gaining ground. After a couple of minutes the husband is right behind his wife and he is leaning on his horn in order for her to pull over. But the wife is so scared she drives even faster and faster in order to get away from this maniac, she believes. It is dark and she does not realize that it is her husband. Now she is so frightened she begins to take chances on the road and as she approached the railroad crossing she fails to see the oncoming train. Pressing down on the accelerator she and the train reach the intersection simultaneously. Jamming on his brakes the man watches as his wife is killed instantly.

Do you see the tragic irony here? The man himself was the catalyst for his wife’s death and he was the self fulfilling prophetic agent in his dream. And do you see the irony here as well? When we as believers participate and support a fallen system, we unwittingly help to empower the very system we claim is veering away from God. But we ourselves have become part of the overall process that we claim fights against God. In attempting to stop it, we have empowered and emboldened it. And when we witness that same system embracing things that are unbiblical and against the commands of God we are shocked and dismayed, and yet our hands have been on the same wheel. We have given credibility to the system and we have mistakenly believed that system could ever be a part of God’s kingdom. And because of that deception we have made it stronger. And because the kingdom of darkness heard the voices of believers calling for people to vote, they too became excited about getting out the vote. And because they are and always will be in the majority, and because democracy is all they have, they came to its defense and won the day! And they will continue to win the day within that system.

But brothers and sisters, we are not of this world and we are not of that system. This is not “our” country, we belong to another. This is not our system, we belong to God’s kingdom exclusively. The wide gate will always have a numerical advantage over the narrow gate. The entire worldly mess is what God is calling us out from and not into. But please do not think that calling believers out from this system is my crusade, or for that matter God’s either. The embracing and participation in antichrist systems is a stumbling block to a deeper and more spiritual walk with Christ. But it has been my experience that when a believer is loosed from such a stumbling block that more often than not his spiritual life is rejuvenated. And that is the ultimate goal.

The kingdom of God has never been a democracy and it never will. To submit to the will of the people is against everything we know about the Scriptures and about then Lordship of Christ. But when you participate in that system you are saying you desire to be a part of the will of the people, which in and of itself is against God. In these days even the will of the church is utterly flawed to say nothing of the will of the mixed multitude. These kinds of systems have no credibility with God and they should elicit none form us. For what fellowship has light with darkness. The great problem is that the church does not see democracy and allegiance to a nation as wrong. In fact, many see them as divine.

So when you see the fallen systems of man go through all kinds of democratic gyrations while attempting to find the fair and equitable answers that best represent the Constitution and/ or the will of the people, remember this: It is all a hollow exercise that in no way represents the kingdom of God even if they happen to stumble upon the right moral answer. In fact, the evil one has used the right moral answers to deceive millions of professing believers. Satan enjoys all the benefits of a democratic system just as he enjoys the benefits of totalitarianism. He just changes his robe to fit the circumstance. In this nation Satan comes dressed as an angel of democracy when in fact he is the enemy of our souls.

World Wide Christianity?

IS CHRISTIANITY WORLD WIDE

OR IS IT ONLY LOCAL?

Are we as followers of Jesus supposed to process His words through the prism of where we live and what we know, or is His ministry and calling universal and unalterably applicable to the entire world? This is not some philosophical question. The answer to this question changes the meaning of discipleship and takes what generally is considered Christianity and stretches it to the expansiveness of the entire world. It alters the definition of accountability, compassion, generosity, responsibility, and the overarching gospel commission. If, in fact, every follower of Jesus, regardless of the parochial nature of his life and specific ministry, is called to the four corners of the world then the core meaning of Christianity must be dramatically enlarged in theory and in practice.

There were times when it was impossible to minister to people across long distances, but today it is well within our reach even though we ourselves cannot go. Over the years since television poor people from all over the world have been used to raise funds for unscrupulous ministries that make wicked men and women wealthy. But even though that should repulse us, the poor people pictured in those videos are real and are in need of real gospel ministry. There are billions of people around the world who are silently sounding the Macedonian call.

There is a rule of thumb as it concerns the ministry of the Word and Biblical truth. If it cannot be preached in Washington D.C. as well as in Darfur then it is not absolute truth. If what you preach can only mean something in America, then it is false and a man made concoction. So if you preach prosperity to prosperous Americans, but you could never preach that to a woman in Darfur with a dying child at her breast, then it is a lie. You see, the Word should be relevant in the palace as well as in the street. The prince and the pauper should hear the same message of truth.

So if our locale influences the Word then it ceases to be the Word. But in today’s western culture everything must bow to our way of life, our way of thinking, and our way of doing things. And in that context we have taken the Word of God and rounded off the rough edges and shined it up and made it presentable to a fallen culture. Careful we have been not to eliminate some of the more familiar words that catch our doctrinal eyes, but what is believed and preached is no longer God’s Word. That is if God’s Word is universal and we are part of the universal church and not just an outpost with our own by-laws and mores. If the entire Bride of Christ is under the authority of “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all,“ then we must walk under that calling and with our eyes opened to the entire world.

So if this faith is comprehensive and without geographical boundaries then it presents all sorts of conflictions when we compare it to what is purported to be Christianity here. Just a token missionary effort cannot absolve us from this colossal responsibility. Just some short term mission projects cannot provide fig leaves for the nakedness of our embarrassing faith. Living our entire lives for ourselves with a minor evangelical exception is a pitiful excuse for so great a faith. Look out upon the fields and see what God has called us to. Not just the neighborhood in which we live, as important as that is in God’s eyes, but look to the horizons and imagine a sea of humanity adrift in darkness and in need of the nail scarred hands of redemption. That, my friends, is what calls us from within and without.

But look what we have done as we scurry to raise funds for our magnificent ecclesiastical edifices filled with cold air, warm air, and the most modern sound systems. And see millions upon millions of professing believers sit and take it all in, returning to their narcissistic lives, only to revisit that same redundant blessing experience the next week. The church cannot even keep marriages together much less reach the world. Our youth are spiritually lethargic and supremely interested in the same things as are their parents - what benefits them most - education, success, money, sex, entertainment, and a generally pleasant life filled with all kinds of hedonistic toys. Wow, did I just say that?

But can we enjoy such an existence while millions perish? When so many have no food or water, can we enjoy a life of abundance and waste and still claim to be followers of the Redeemer? That is some spiritual deception, unless God showers material blessings of some and withholds them for others. Or more accurately, God’s will has been for believers to be consumed with the welfare of others and live very modest lives in order to share whatever material “blessings” are placed under their care. But that concept has long since been discarded and made way for a new and much more comfortable lifestyle that can hold onto this world with one hand and with the other hand pass out a few scraps which elicit no sacrifice and do not deny ourselves anything.

The question remains. Are the followers of Jesus called to a world wide vision, or are we supposed to be preoccupied, entangled, and generally formed by our immediate surroundings? Can we live in a constricted view of the faith and still legitimately claim to be followers of Jesus and His redemptive vision? I suggest that for far too long the western church has acquiesced to the culture and even formed our ecclesiastical structure accordingly. And there is a wide variance of excitement and commitment between building programs here and missions afar. You see, we see and appreciate and make use of the tangible here, but we receive no accommodations when we give to help the needy which live beyond our borders. We are much more responsive to that which meets our needs than anything we cannot see or enjoy the benefits thereof.

But if we are to admit to a universal calling which places great and glorious responsibilities on us all, then we are going to have to begin a routine of sacrifice which most would consider somewhat extraordinary. But what should we consider extravagant or extreme when it comes to sacrificing for our Lord? And even if we should begin afresh today, would there not be a great many back payments? We have lived such easy and careless spiritual lives that only generate concern with temporal issues. It is time we see the faith for what it is and not for what we have made it.

Jesus calls us to a far greater mission than that which is in driving distance. In fact His ministry covers ground that is out of this world. But let me finally couch it in practical terms. When we know that millions suffer around the world, and are literally dying because of starvation, thirst, and exposure, should that enter into all financial decisions we make here? And when some of those are brothers and sisters in Christ, should that be a concern as well? Those question are never asked in the context of American Christianity. A few food pantries a few special offerings and a few week long mission trips seem to provide a conscience salve. Now if our faith is only local, then those questions are immaterial. But if our faith cannot be restricted to geographical and cultural boundaries, then we must reexamine how we live and how we express our faith through how we show our concern and care for those around the world. This a vital analysis of the Christian faith when it lives in a hedonistic culture. Are we careful not to allow our culture to be the measuring stick as to how we live? Are we compelled by the Spirit to assess everything we do according to God’s Word and in the light of what most benefits the church world wide and the great commission?

Is our faith inexorably and immovably connected to the world, or can we live completely within our cultural dictates and remain subjugated to what is true in our own parochial setting? Let me illustrate:

There was almost 5 billion dollars spent on the 2012 election. There will be almost 500 billion dollars spent on "Christmas" in 2012. In one year almost 9 million people, half of which are children, will die of starvation around the world.

Now that is just one example of what is happening across the globe while our circumstances seem so out of touch. So as believers and followers of Jesus and His way, can we ignore those facts or be resigned to how things are, or must we process that kind of reality and adjust our lives accordingly? Does what is happening in other parts of the world impact our lives and our response to Christ, or are we granted some kind of geographical dispensation because we live and experience a much different set of circumstances? I contend that is untrue and unbiblical.

Phil.4: 15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
16 For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.

II Cor.11: 8 I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.

These verses clearly reveal a common giving pattern wherein churches were concerned over the ministry of the gospel that was completely out of their own location. But James goes further.

Jam.2: 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

Jesus had a heart for the poor, and even while the early church was coming to grips with salvation by faith alone and the inclusion of Gentile sinners in the gospel, they often mentioned the poor. But perhaps the greatest teaching on unconditional generosity and humanitarian passion is the parable of the Good Samaritan. Not only was that man in great need of help, but he had been passed over by the “orthodox” folk of his day. And in a stunning and shocking way to both disarm and alarm His listeners, Jesus makes the central figure a Samaritan. The Samaritans were considered mongrels and a mixed breed of Jews and Gentiles and they were generally avoided and looked down upon. But here is this Samaritan showing the compassion that Jesus calls us to.

Are we called to meet needs of people we do not even know? Are we called to be inconvenienced in meeting needs? Are we called to be aware of needs around the world and to go to some lengths to help? And are we called to sacrifice and lead lives of modesty in order to free up funds for the needy and the spread of the gospel? Many churches have mission conferences and they call for pledges for missions during the next year. Sometimes they even set giving goals. But what does that tell you? That speaks loudly to the fact that American believers do not normally give as they should, and that they respond to methods and fund raising techniques more than they do the leading of the Spirit year round.

The church which lives in America must lift up her eyes and revolutionize her thinking. If we actually believe there is an eternity and that sinners spend eternity in either one of two places, and if we really believe we have been given eternal life already, then how should that impact they way we think and subsequently live? And if others do not have that life, should that dramatically impact the way we live and think?

If the answer is no then go ahead, resume general swim.

Christmas - A Pathetic Idol

CHRISTMAS - A PATHETIC IDOL

Who can grasp the fullness of eternity? Who can know its expanse and its glory? Who among us smiles with knowing confidence when someone says that God has always existed and had no beginning? It is the mystery of all mysteries. God is a spirit, but what human words can even define the word “spirit”? Our God is high above all that we are even capable of imagining, and one day all who have been washed by the Lamb’s blood will see Him as he is. Go ahead, feel those goosebumps.

But God knew that man in his fallen condition could never find God since man will always have an ingredient of narcissism and human wisdom. So God uses Noah. Then God uses Abram. Then God calls Moses and protects him from dangerous circumstances and even uses Pharaoh’s court to educate His servant. And then Moses presents His law with all kinds of profound ways to bring mankind to a place of need and understanding concerning redemption. For thousands of years God’s people practiced His laws which included days and months and years and feasts and many types of symbols.

But then came Bethlehem. This was never meant to be a feast. This was the culmination of hundreds of prophetic utterances and this day was the end of the law of Moses and the beginning of an unfathomable miracle that would lead to, of all things, a human sacrifice. But further still, it would be the sacrifice of THE divine Being. Only a few decades ago men believed that our galaxy was the entire universe and it contained a few million stars. Soon they saw many billions of stars. Then Edwin Hubble discovered more galaxies. Today men know that there are hundreds of billions of galaxies with each one containing hundreds of billions of stars.

Today human intellects imagine a great architect, a powerful force, that created and oversees the universe. They envision a colossal celestial mind that throbs with knowledge and power. While that may be true and even understated, what the mind of man misses is the greatest expression of the Creator even known to mankind. Quietly step over animal droppings and the crackle of straw, ignore the stench of cattle, peek over a wooden trough, and look into a tiny human face.

You have just seen God. There is no other. Yes, Bethlehem became the place where God actually revealed His face. This was God coming in the likeness of sinful flesh. Mystery of mysteries and glory of all glories. It soars above all reason. It goes way beyond philosophy. The reality of God is beyond us, but to think that He who created everything stepped into a human body is unimaginable. The Incarnation is a doctrine of the church which elicits sentimentality once a year, but it is the revelation of all that had been foretold and all that would be accomplished.

Who but the fallen ingenuity of man could take the Incarnation when God came in the likeness of human flesh and turn it into a merchandise extravaganza? Who could use and abuse such an event and make it little more than a “season” or some religious sentimentality? God comes to rescue mankind and we create a self serving “holiday” that is not only warned against in the New Testament, but we place it months after the event actually happened as this study illuminates. (It has been brought to my attention that the writer of the link I provided belongs to an aberrant theological community. I do not endorse that, only his research as it pertains to Christmas.) This, as in past Decembers, will provide much fanfare, much warmth, much eating, much buying, much family get togethers, but will once again treat His coming as an aside and completely miss the holiness and the sacred redemptive essence of that God-child.

Yes, the western church has managed to desecrate that holy visitation and turn it into an “observance”. And billions of dollars emanating from evangelical pockets will be spent on each other, and much of it on fluff and worthless hedonistic toys. This is the stuff which boggles the mind, and when your eyes have been opened you eventually become horrified at the entire spectacle. And many who read this post will consider me a raging maniac who has taken a wonderful time of the year and attempted to suck out all the joy. Yes, to many, I am the Grinch.

But this event many call “Christmas” is so much more than seasonal colors and manger scenes and trees. God gives His only begotten Son and yet man creates a self serving holiday that is so tepid, so compromised, and so diluted that even the heathen enjoy its benefits. But Bethlehem’s event will never be Christmas. Christmas is a man made observance which wallows in hedonism and all kinds of hollow sentimentality. When I was a boy my family would open our gifts on Christmas Eve and the go to the midnight service at the Lutheran church. It was one of two times my father went to church. It was centered around music and gifts and smells and the general spirit of the season. Oh yes, Jesus was mentioned and the obligatory story in Luke was read. What an unscriptural farce.

And what does Santa and Mommy and Daddy ask the little child? “And what do you want for Christmas?” What an incredible training toward hedonism and narcissism. My father was German and rarely showed any emotions. He was the only child born to a 39 year old mother. He grew up never really having any emotional training and although he was a good man, he had no sensitivity. I can remember a room full of Christmas presents with only one small one for my mother. And even though I was only eight I can still remember feeling sad because my mother gave everything she had. You see, the materialism was paramount.

The entire spectacle has burgeoned into a full blown hedonistic festival which lines the pockets of store owners while retaining just enough Jesus to make it a religious holiday. But let us not be deceived. We are not celebrating the birth of Jesus which most likely occurred around the Feast of Tabernacles or the Day of Atonement. And even if we were to move the day to a more Scriptural time if it were practiced as it is today it would still be akin to dancing around a golden calf. It does not mean that some people do not love Jesus or are not saved. But what it does reveal is a disregard for Scriptural truth regardless of how we claim to be “Bible believers”.

The Book of Galatians was written to correct the church about attempting to mesh law with grace. Paul goes into great detail about the superior nature of the New Covenant and how God had used the Mosaic Law to point us to this new and surpassing covenant. In the 4^th chapter Paul explicitly says that Hagar, representing the law, shall not be heir with Sarah, representing the grace found in Christ. And yet some still desire to incorporate certain parts of the law while still clinging to grace. But Paul refutes that entire concept and in some cities his life was in jeopardy for that very teaching.

Gal.4: 9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

And what shall we make of these inspired words? Shall we just ignore them and do what we desire to do anyway? Should we just confine them to a law vs. grace metaphor and acknowledge the grace of Christ but still observe the things Paul warns against? This is just another example of how far we have strayed from the Scriptures even though we claim they are God’s very Words. And our flesh, when confronted with things like this, screams out in much discomfort. What will happen if we do not observe Christmas? It almost seems like an impossibility.

This kind of outward structure is as strong as being confronted with the carnality and spiritually damaging essence of politics and nationalism. People might believe we have gone mad. And what about the children? You see, the discussion itself does not center on what God’s says but on the repercussions we might face. Again. I judge no one's standing before God as it pertains to their personal redemption. The Lord knows those who are His. But how can we expect to be renewed and progress mightily in our spiritual journey if we are unwilling to examine our hearts and address things about which the Scriptures teach? Is a greater and deeper relationship worthy of some sacrificial and even painful inward spiritual business?

Every year I write about Christmas and almost every year some have their eyes opened. However every year I warn all of us against being self righteous. It has been my experience that anytime God has graciously called my out of some unscriptural ways or called me into a deeper intimacy with Him my flesh strongly urges me to feel superior. This is not something that happens now and then, but even when I write about these things I still must do spiritual battles lest I be lifted up in my own eyes. And so my fellow followers of Jesus, I do not exhort you from the fort called “Arrived”. Far from it. In fact, to whom much is revealed much is required.

And just what was the first step for me concerning Christmas? Well after I became aware of the inaccurate date, and after I had read Galatians again and again, the next Christmas I walked through December with my ears and eyes opened. And I was extremely shocked at just how secular most of it was. Many of the songs were about the season or Santa Claus or the gifts or the tree. But what shocked me even further was how the church went to great lengths to mesh the secular with the spiritual. And those who professed to believe in and follow Jesus spent their money on Christmas with the same vigor as did the unbelievers. And as I became a fly on the wall I hardly heard anyone speak of Jesus. I heard believers speak of traveling, or speak of family times, or speak of crowds, or speak of traffic, or speak of the Christmas pageant, or speak of house lights, but I could not believe how little Jesus was mentioned. We were comfortable speaking about Christmas but not about Christ.

That was when I repented of my own blindness. I would never celebrate Christmas again, but I would embrace the Incarnation all through the year. Yes, I have grandchildren. Yes, I have three children. Two of my children still observe Christmas, and I give my daughter some money to get the kids something. So as you can see I am far from perfect. But I just cannot celebrate that which is now dead to me. I no longer need days and times. I no longer need holidays. I no longer need shadows. I no longer need seasons. I only need Christ, and I need all my energy and sacrifice seeking Him. Christ has nothing to do with Christmas. Perhaps this year the Spirit will gently tap you on the shoulder of your heart. And if He does it will not be easy.

But I am not alone. Let me share with you a quote from someone about whom you may have a greater consideration.
"We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or in English; and, secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and, consequently, its observance is a superstition, and not because of divine authority."
Who said that? Charles Hadden Spurgeon.
But God will more than fill whatever space is left vacant because you no longer embrace the event men call Christmas. In some ways our hearts are mangers, and Paul says,

Gal.4: 19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

In some ways the day you believed on Jesus your heart became Bethlehem, and now the Spirit desires your heart to be Calvary. And one glorious day you will be raised in the full likenees of the Risen Christ! But it all began at Bethlehem.

A Culture of Complaining

A CULTURE OF COMPLAINING

I Cor.10: 10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Phil.2: 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

I have fellowshipped with people from many different parts of Africa. I have been with Haitians and people from Central and South America. I have also met with people from China. The one thing I think they seem to have in common that makes them quite different than people who live in America is that they do not seem to complain, or at least on the same scale as do Americans. It is quite unique, especially considering some of them would have a lot to complain about. They seem genuinely thankful for small things.

But here in America complaining, or as the Scriptures say it “murmuring”, is almost an art form. Americans complain about almost anything. I remember a few years ago when one of the administrators of a “discernment” blog was ranting about the gay agenda and she made reference to the inconvenience she had suffered because she had to wait in a traffic jam because the gays were holding a parade. Can you imagine such a thing? Instead of sitting in her car and praying she was irritated because she had to wait, and then she used that inconvenience as another way in which gays adversely affect her western lifestyle.

In fact this same woman, a professing believer, was not treated well in some department store as she was checking out. So she called the manager and told her all about the seemingly bad attitude the checkout girl had. This believer threatened to take her business elsewhere if she had to put up with such treatment. You see, it’s the American way. Jesus would not have put up with bad treatment either.

But if you listen, and not very carefully, you will hear believers complain about a wide range if issues. Let’s face it, it has become a redundant element in our attitudes and speech, and so much so that we do it without any real though. It has become a natural expression from our heart. In Bible school one night I was fellowshipping with some friends in the dorm and we were getting a little loud. The student down the hall opened the door and yelled, “You cotton’ picken’ turkeys be quite - I’m trying to have devotion!!” I hope you can see the paradoxical nature of his statement along with his approach.

We complain about gas prices.

We complain about noise.

We complain about our cars.

We complain about grocery prices.

We complain about our health. We complain about our jobs.

We complain about liberals.

We complain about the government.

We complain about the heat.

We complain about the cold.

We complain about the rain.

We complain about the lack of rain.

We complain about the President.

We complain about having to go to the store.

We complain about the poor.

We complain about taxes.

We complain about unbelievers.

We complain about restaurant service.

We complain about moral decline.

We complain about medicine.

We complain about teenagers.

We complain about our clothes.

We complain about our spouses.

We complain about congress.

We complain about our lives in general.

We complain about our teeth.

We complain about our backs.

We complain about having to wait.

We complain about the referees and umpires.

And on and on and on it goes. We live and participate in a culture of complaining. We expect to have certain things, and we expect to be treated in a certain way, and when they do not meet our expectations we complain about it. And when we practice complaining our hearts begin to change and our flesh begins to rule our minds. While we complain about entitlements and those who we believe think they are entitled, we ourselves exhibit the spirit of entitlement. We deserve better and when we get any less our lips rush to communicate our displeasure.

But just think about the greater picture, even in the natural. When I was young and we complained about having to eat certain foods, our mothers would say “Little boys and girls in China are starving”. Of course that meant as little to us then as it does to us as adults now. All truth is local and if it does not affect us directly then it does not move us. As an elderly woman who has been a believer for over 50 years said to me when asked about the inconceivable conditions in Darfur, “We don’t live there”. Although her statement is more stark and less buffered than most, it still exemplifies how most believers think and act. But think about it in the natural. How can we complain when there really are children who will die this day of starvation and dehydration? I mean what kind of self absorbed hypocrites are we when we complain while living in abundance while even brothers and sisters in Christ suffer greatly and even live with their lives in great danger? Is it not repulsive to you?

But it is habitual and addictive, and we have learned it from the heathen. We have learned it from a capitalist culture that has embraced a hedonistic lifestyle and demands a certain level of consideration and demonstrably reacts to almost any inconvenience. It is almost second nature to complain. I can remember when the drive-thru lanes at fast food places were first introduced. It was so wonderful when you didn’t even have to get out of your car in order to stuff yourself with all kinds of non-nutritious food! But here we are 40 years later and if you are sitting in your nice, air conditioned vehicle, listing to your amazing stereo, and the car in front of you takes too long to order or too long at the food window we get an anxiety attack. And heaven forbid if we get to the food window and we get the dreaded “Please pull up over there and we will bring your food to you.” That deserves a level of complaining that borders on going berserk!

We have bought into the system and now the system owns us. We can complain on the way to church and on the way home from church and even while we sit in church. Wow, we have become experts at complaining. Here we are claiming to have eternal life and yet we act like the Princess and the Pea. The littlest inconvenience elicits some form of complaint. In fact, many believers listen faithfully to all kinds of talk shows that are dedicated to complaining. Hour after hour and day after day they feed their listeners a steady diet of complaints about people and policies. And believers absorb such things and naturally live a life of complaining. And we call that following Jesus?

It is no unlike our Master. It is antithetical to the call of a disciple. It is so carnal and self centered. It is an open expression of fallenness and far from being an expression of Christ. Complaining presents a falsehood in the eyes of the lost. Here is a metaphor.

Suppose a man wins a billion dollar lottery. He gathers his family and they get into the car to drive to the capital of that state to claim their winnings. The excitement is palpable. But after a couple of hours he pulls into a gas station and while the car is being filled with gas he reaches into his pocket for the five dollar bill he knew he had. He wants to go inside and get a drink. But to his surprise his pocket is empty. Now he was sure he put five dollars in there, so he begins to look around to see if it dropped out.

The man becomes so agitated that he begins to exert great effort to search the inside of his car looking for that five dollars. He begins to accuse his family of taking it, and he screams at everyone to help him find it. He tells his oldest son to help him take out the car seats so he can look under them completely. It becomes a spectacle. He yells and complains about how people touch his things and do not respect his privacy. A woman exits the convenience store and asks the wife what her husband is doing. She explains to her about the five dollar bill. The woman cannot believe someone would act that way over a five dollar bill. The woman asks the wife,

“Where are you headed?”

“Oh, we won the billion dollar lottery and we are on our way to collect”.

Now I ask you, not only does that make the man’s actions even more bizarre, but will that woman even believe that they have won the lottery? Based upon the man’s actions the woman may conclude the whole family is unbalanced, but I doubt she will be convinced they are now billionaires. And when we claim to have been given eternal life with Christ and yet complain about things in this world, what do you think the unbelievers think? They surely are not convinced we even believe what we say. And they have every right to think that. Now all our complaining is an open practice of disobedience to Scripture and the life that projects the light of Jesus Christ. But, sadly, that no longer matters to the church.

I challenge you personally. See if you can go one month without complaining about anything or anyone. I suggest you begin with one day. Hint: If you do not praise God and worship Christ throughout the month, you will fail.

Phil.4: 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Having no Opinion

HAVING NO OPINION

Do you care about how the Church of Satan conducts its business? Are you concerned with the by-laws of the Jehovah’s Witnesses? What is your opinion as to where the Mormon Church holds its 2013 convention? What is your conviction as to the parliamentary procedures in North Korea? How do you feel about who is the head of your neighborhood Buddhist temple? But, you say, I don’t really have an opinion about those things. I do not belong to the institutions you mentioned and I do not care about how they run their business. They are not a part of me.

And therein lies a great and piercing principle. Let the dead bury the dead. If you care about how a fallen institution runs its business then you are invested in such an institution. Now that engenders some remarkable and probing questions. Of course if it is your company and you own it then you must desire integrity and fairness. But what if you belong to a giant company and that company is not treating its employees fairly as it concerns salary, benefits, vacations, and other issues?

As a believer should you participate in grumbling and complaining and ultimately openly protesting? Isn’t the believer called to a higher and more self denying standard? Does not God’s Word command us to suffer ourselves to be defrauded for Christ’s sake? Think about that. How easily we are drawn into earthly battles and inadvertently compromise the cause of Christ not only through our words and attitudes, but through an unholy alliance with unbelievers.

This is not some finer point of doctrine. This is a basic element of what it truly means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. How often have we read these words:

Col.3: If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Again, how often have we read those words and yet went away with the same earthly views and perspectives? Do they even have any practical meaning for followers of Christ or are they some airy doctrinal goals which create a momentary imagination which dissipates as quickly as it is read? We are called, exhorted, and commanded to live in the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ. This is no compartment within a greater western existence. This is meant to be a call to discipleship which is sometimes volatile, sometimes excruciating, but always humble and always rewarding. The life that seeks nothing but Christ and His will is incongruous with the goings on by the fallen souls of this temporal world.

So in light of this highest calling how is it we have so many opinions about how the kingdom of darkness conducts their business? Is it because we have taken our eyes off Christ and cast them upon this world? Is it because we worship morals more than we worship the Redeemer? Is it because we wish a more comfortable existence while on this pilgrimage that leads to the Gates of Splendor? It is all of those and more. When we are consumed with Christ, and when we have met with Him daily in all His glory, of what concern is it how the fallen believe? After bowing before His majesty is it not obvious how fallen they are and how deep is their need? And yet how many engage in the affairs of this life while neglecting the affairs of Christ?

So how should we feel about which laws are passed in the kingdom of the wicked one? What should be our opinion on taxes? On gay rights? On foreign policy? In truth, we should have an opinion on moral issues within the church but no opinion as to the kingdom of darkness. The problem is that we do not see two distinct kingdoms that are separated by a spiritual gulf which has no bridge but the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have been blinded by the affairs of this present world and in them we spend our time, thoughts, and much of our speech.

The pilgrims of Christ have no resting place here on earth. We have no investment in this which shall pass away. We have no place at a round table which includes all religions. We have no fellowship with those who do not serve Christ. They are in dire need of salvation and we cannot, we must not, be deterred by useless conversations about economics and politics and legislating morality. There are souls in the balance and eternity looms large. And what can we do with these words:

Matt.16: 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

If we could change the entire world to be a place of peace and prosperity and even morality and yet leave men’s souls unredeemed, then just what have we done? Of what eternal value is it when believers expend all kinds of energy and opinions attempting to clean the outside of men’s cups while leaving their souls fallen and without the hope of eternity? Did Christ come to seek and save that which was lost, or did He come to seek souls part time but also set up earthly kingdoms? Is the Holy Spirit’s ministry to both change men’s souls from the inside or is it to change men's behavior without changing their hearts?

As a believer and a follower of Jesus, we should have no opinion as to how the fallen systems of man operate and believe. How many conversations did Jesus have with His disciples over how the Roman government was conducting their business? Did they ever muse over how many people Rome was murdering? And even when Christ was asked about the unfair nature of taxes He directed us to pay them without complaining. Didn’t Jesus know just how unfair they were and that Rome was using those taxes for unrighteous endeavors? Of course He did, but Jesus knew that attacking the earthly problems was a fool’s errand and only the everlasting gospel message could change a heart.

Oh how we have left Christ and gone fishing for that which has no power. The church has lost the blinding vision of the Risen Christ in all His glory! When the first martyr, Stephen, draws close to death He sees the Christ and asks that God forgives his executioners. What a picture! Today the church calls down divine wrath on all kinds of sinners and instead of seeking people’s souls the church joins with the unbelievers to defend a nation filled with idolatry and wickedness. Muslims are spoken of as enemies and without the love with which we are commanded to exhibit.

A mosque is built in our neighborhood and instead of praying and fasting for their souls the evangelical community attends meetings of protest. Just what kind of religion have we built? Earthly freedoms are more precious to us than eternal souls. Let us face it, the church no longer believes in eternal souls, and judging by our lives, we must believe that this life is all there truly is. We are walking dead men, swallowed up in religion and earthly culture. We no longer have salt or light, and we have so many opinions as to how the fallen should act. Why? Because we now walk in their kingdom and embrace their affairs.

But where are those who are so filled with Christ that their lives are incandescent epistles that give off the light of something far different than most will ever know? We should be so filled with the love of God that sinners move us to tears and elicit outstretched hands which bear the wounds of Him who bore our sins. Do we see what once was us in them, or do we see cultural and moral miscreants who aggravate our moral sensibilities and higher religious convictions? Do we see Calvary or do we see Washington D.C.? Do we see Jesus the Christ or do we see Thomas Jefferson? Do we see conservatives or do we see lost souls? Are our opinions tethered to earthly matters or do we have an eternal opinion concerning the cross of Christ? All our opinions should be anchored in God’s word. We should have convictions, not opinions, about Jesus and His offer of grace. And this should not just be written convictions. Jesus should be our very lives and with Him we live or die! Do we live and serve the Lord Jesus so deeply and observably that no one even thinks to call us a "conservative"?

And we cannot serve two masters. We only have One Master. Let others concern themselves with earthly matters, our lives await us in an eternal world of glory and from that journey we must not be distracted. Do we build on sinking sand or on the Rock? I know, it seems so esoteric and untethered to reality. But it depends in which reality you now live.

Human Reasoning

HUMAN REASONING

A GUIDE TO SPIRITUAL DEATH

When Jesus walked the earth His words always seemed ethereal, confounding, and many times illogical. Some people scratched their heads trying to make sense of what He taught, while other became offended. His teachings soared above human wisdom and human reasoning, and they undermined what the religious leaders had taught. He even illuminated the Old Testament teachings and made them subservient to His own. He was so controversial that His life was sought many times and of course He was eventually put to death.

Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this world. And when He presented a prophetic glimpse of His soon coming death, peter rebuked Christ and proclaimed that they would never let that happen to Him. However Jesus told Peter that He was drawing from the well of human reasoning and not the Spirit realm. But when that same peter proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of the Living God, Jesus acknowledged that Peter had received that knowledge from the Father. As we can see there are two realms that battle each other and are completely at odds with each other as well.

Human reasoning is that which seems right unto a man and that which is logical and practical and fits nicely into the earthly system of things. That kind of reasoning is pervasive throughout the world. It will acknowledge religion and the existence of God, but it will not relinquish it lordship over men’s minds. It may allow a profession of faith in Jesus, but it will take His Words and buffer them with earthly practicalities and logical interpretations. And when His words are so dramatic and so incongruous with earthly wisdom and reason, then human reasoning will spiritualize them in order to render them irrelevant in the here and now.

And after many years of spiritualizing the Scriptures and making them good advice and moral parables, the Christian faith is mostly defined by the millions that drive to a building on Sundays or a handful of moral and economic issues. No one can legitimately suggest that the Christian community in the west is remarkable and startling in its lifestyle and attitudes. In fact, the dissolution of the faith has become so deep that many truths that are taught and practiced within the evangelical community are in fact unbiblical on their face.

Why has this taken place? Even without addressing the many heresies concerning universalism, or the prosperity gospel, or ecumentalism, the average “orthodox” church has morphed into a less than spectacular display of religious activity, building debt, and a Sunday morning service tradition that sees millions come and go as if they just attended a school play. But because it has been shaped over many years, the transformation away from God’s Word has gone all but unnoticed. And today, a believer, even a preacher, can spend a scant amount of time in prayer and be considered faithful. He can attend questionable entertainment venues and still be considered faithful. He can save up great amounts of money and still be considered faithful. He can complain about the economy or his circumstances and still be considered faithful.

And at the core of it all is human reasoning. Let us be honest. If we were to take God’s Word literally and apply it to our lives without any cultural compromise, our lives would have to change dramatically. And I don’t mean just a few verses, I mean the entire New Testament. If you would take the time to read through the New Testament in one week, you would get a glimpse into how we have distilled the power of its teachings into an innocuous life that seems only different in theology and much more compatible with the culture in lifestyle, attitude, and thought. Human reasoning has eclipsed the spiritual dynamic.

And the end result is that we are now following a religious construct rather than the Risen Christ. It has become all too absorbed and predictable, and human reasoning has become the interpretive vehicle for Scripture. Human reasoning muscles out the ministry and guidance of the Holy Spirit. And where there is no Spirit than what you have is a pragmatic system that not only outlines a life that succeeds in a fallen culture of hedonism, but it also sets up a system of evangelism which employs an Eli Whitney model rather than an atmosphere where the Spirit of God can call out a Bride for God’s Son. In fact, many evangelism programs have been birthed by men and women getting their heads together and implementing sales strategies with a smattering of verses and judging their methods by numbers. Again, human reasoning.

It is not reasonable to believe that the Creator came in the likeness of human kind. It is not reasonable to believe Jesus raised people from the dead, even after four days. It is not reasonable to believe that Jesus was born of a virgin. It is not reasonable to believe that His death made a way for eternal life. It is not reasonable to believe that Jesus resurrected. It is not reasonable to believe that the first shall be last in His kingdom. It is not reasonable to believe that one can be rich and yet be poor. It is not reasonable to believe that we can be the sons of God just by faith.

All these things are unreasonable to human reasoning, however they are absolute truth in the kingdom of God. It does not make any sense to the carnal mind, but to the Spirit they are eternal. Go ahead and reason it all out and you will eventually come up with an acceptable religious construct that appeals to the flesh and presents a palatable way to proceed in this temporal existence. But that will never be the way of Jesus. Never.

But the western church has adopted human reasonings and incorporated them into its theology and practice. As we wind down and approach the glorious coming of the Magnificent One the church runs to and fro without the Spirit. It is a pitiful spectacle which diminishes the gospel and presents the wisdom of man as the wisdom of God. I know, these words seem so harsh and so radical. But we will all see one day. And we will be measured not by how we interpreted Scripture, but we will be measured by what Scripture actually said.

“To die. To sleep. Aye, there’s the rub for in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off these mortal coils?”

Yes, eternity will have the last word and all the human reasonings of mankind will be nothing more than kindling for the fires of hell.

It's Time to Worry!

IT'S TIME TO WORRY!

It’s time to worry about taxes. It’s time to worry about the economy. It’s time to worry about gas prices. It’s time to worry about liberals. It’s time to worry about congress. It’s time to worry about Obama. It’s time to worry about America. It’s time to worry about healthcare. It’s time to worry about world events.

Jesus said, “Do not worry”. Oops, disregard the above. :)

(I almost wrote a longer and sometimes overly verbose post but I felt like these few words got the point across.)

Can You Keep the Whole Law?

CAN YOU KEEP THE WHOLE LAW?

 

Gal.5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Jam.2: 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Heterosexual self righteousness is quite a spectacle. Leviticus? Really? Has anyone ever heard of the gospel?

The Invaluable Teaching of Being Wrong

THE INVALUABLE TEACHING

OF BEING WRONG

In almost forty years of being a believer I have learned many things and in many ways. I have learned by studying Scripture. I have learned by watching faithful believers. I have learned by the testimony of the martyrs. I have learned under the teaching ministry of many godly teachers. I have learned by being involved with missions. But perhaps the most overlooked and undervalued learning vehicle is what we learn when I have been wrong.

Actually see when we are wrong, much less admitting it without reservations, it is a difficult and lonely path. Even when we do admit when we are wrong we usually have some open and hidden caveats. We often compare ourselves with others and minimize our own shortcomings and sins. We often present mitigating circumstances. We often rationalize our situation without completely dismissing our actions. We use the universal imperfection of our race to soften the blow. Our flesh has all sorts of ways to admit being wrong without embracing it and allowing the Spirit to use it for God’s greater good.

But when we are wrong, especially when we were not originally aware that we were wrong, and when the Spirit showed us we were wrong, we have an incredible opportunity for spiritual growth. Sometimes that kind of opportunity is more profound than when we discover some truth. It presents an opportunity to embrace the forgiveness of the cross as well as die to ourselves there as well. To repent and change due to our own sin is a great mystery of the Spirit. There are differing circumstances when we are wrong. Sometimes we have had a wrong attitude. Sometimes we have said something wrong. Sometimes we have done something wrong. And sometimes we have believed and defended something that we later came to believe was wrong. The latter is one of the most fertile ground for spiritual growth.

Beware of the believer who suggests he has surrounded all truth and all he needs to do now is spread what he knows. Beware of the believer who fully endorses a man’s theology. Whether it be Luther or Calvin or Wesley or Arminius or any other man, beware of the believer who walks in lockstep with some man’s systematic theology. There are two undisputed doctrines and all their tributaries. The Person of Christ and the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone. Those are the ancient landmarks that must never be moved.

But most of the rest must be a careful and humble journey. And once you have seen your error and embraced a clearer vision of the truth, you should become much more careful in the future. And it should also create a deeper sense of humility and reliance on Christ rather than a self righteous doctrinal air. We are all liars and thieves and self righteous sinners who have been redeemed from the penalty of our transgressions and made to be the sons of the living God. Not of works of righteousness which we have done but by His precious blood he has bought us forever. And if I were God, after he purchased me I would have returned me because I was defective. Yes, I have so many time defied His grace and sinned before Him.

And therein also lies a basis for being wrong. All of us have sinned against our Heavenly Father even after we were born again into His family. Yes there were many times when we sinned after the similitude of mankind in general and without a high level of maliciousness and forethought. But let us come clean before all creation: We all have sinned sometimes with forethought and with malice and intent. Oh yes, and with that painful truth how could we even claim anything but Christ through His eternal grace? Works of righteousness? All His. Pure motives? All His. Love for enemies? All His. Humility? All His. And the desire to know Him and serve Him? His gift to us once again. You see, He alone deserves all the honor and praise. And where do we get the power and privilege to honor and praise Him? It all comes from Him and His unfathomable grace.

So the next time you are wrong, and it will not be very long, embrace it and repent and do the works that should stem from true repentance. We are not products of a doctrinal taxidermist shop, stuffed and hung as a plaque. We are the living epistles of Christ who do good works, who do stumble, who do love Christ, who do come up short, who do love His Word, who do satisfy the flesh, who do deny self, and yet who do present a living example of the grace of Almighty God and of His Christ. Perhaps we have been wrong many more times than we could ever imagine, but it is not upon ourselves we stand. We stand completely and unreservedly upon the Rock of God who has never been wrong and who has shared His righteousness with every wrongdoer who believes upon Him.

Moses Called: He Wants His Stone Tablets back

MOSES CALLED

HE WANTS HIS STONE TABLETS BACK

Ah yes, legalism. It’s as old as Moses, and it’s as popular as the Beatles. It comes in so many forms, and it transcends generations. Male or female, black and white and tan and yellow, fat and skinny and tall and short, it has a genre for all types and ages. It is satisfying to the flesh and it is famous for creating crusades, denominations, and systematic theologies. Legalism is when believers cull out certain outward behaviors and either make them either a necessity for salvation or a necessity for being “right with God”. In almost 40 years of being a believer I am still looking for the believer who is completely “right with God” because of something he does or does not do, and that is even without examining his or her thought life which many times would rival a toxic waste dump.

The new starting quarterback for the SF 49ers is a man named Colin Kaepernick. His short term as the starter has been extremely good. He is now being criticized for his many tattoos. Wow, for a minute I thought I was in church. Tattoos, although not mentioned or dealt with in the New Testament, find their way into some churches as standards or lack thereof of…well…something. And do not fret if you are unable to find this subject in the New Covenant because there are talented men and women who can cast a line backward and reel in a prize Mosaic catch. And they can take that catch, place it on a plaque, and display it handsomely on the doctrinal wall formerly known as “grace”.

Israel just approved 3000 more West Bank settlements. China has stealth technology. The United States is going to spend 4 billion on new fighter jets. The world teeters on the edge of economic collapse. Violence still rages around the world. Children are molested and raped around the world. And tattoos get under our skin? The church is filled with adultery and divorce; our children are leaving Christ; addictions are widespread within the church; preachers are becoming filthy rich; billions upon billions of evangelical dollars go to pay mortgage interest; but tattoos are the demons we must exorcize?

But tattoos are just one example of legalism, which when unpacked is self righteousness. Believers so desire to feel righteous and vindicated by what they believe that we add to God’s Word. And armed with those outdated weapons, we wield them against all kinds of miscreants who refuse to tow the line to our dictates. But legalism is a hard task master and requires an enormous amount of self righteousness and Biblical compromise. While the legalist contends that others compromise the Scriptures, he himself is compromising the essence of the freedom in Christ.

Usually a legalist does not chose divorce or adultery or drugs as his sin of choice against which he rants. It is some periphery behavior, many times aligned to a more modern era, which elicits his hobby horse. In the above example it is tattoos, and that is a s good as any. Sometimes it revolves around honoring a certain day as holy. It used to be long hair on men or makeup on women or some other breach of an ecclesiastical construct set up by man. And when some unsuspecting saint steps over this legal line he places himself directly in the line of fire. Most of the time the legalist must be armed with some Old Testament fodder in order to complete the condemnatory ensemble.

Even today many legalists suggest a prominent display of the Ten Commandments in certain public places. But they are not using those commandments in order to create a thirst for Christ or a need for the gospel. That display is not to make sinners see that “the soul that sins it shall die”. No, quite the contrary. They contend that a prominent display of those Ten Commandments will, get this, help elevate the morals of the culture comprised of sinners dead in trespasses and sins. Oh yes, they suppose that lost and depraved sinners will elevate their sin game to an acceptable standard which will positively affect the culture which will ultimately satisfy the legalist and in turn create an atmosphere more morally pleasant to believers. Yes, I believe that is called narcissism.

Imagine a very large house completely engulfed in flames. You are in it, but as yet you do not know you are going to die. Somehow firemen come and rescue you. They bring you out into the street and suddenly you become aware of just how deeply your life was in danger. You look back at the house on fire and you are thankful you are out. You rise to your feet and begin to walk, but as you walk you hear the screams of people still trapped in that house. Their screams start to annoy you and you tell them to lower their screams. You realize they cannot stop screaming altogether, but you insist their screams are way too loud.

That is self righteousness toward the lost. But imagine that when you begin to walk you stop to purchase some shoes. Although they are a little painful, you still love them. But when you look at the feet of other people who were once in the fire with you, you notice they are walking in different shoes than are you. You hurry over and tell them they should purchase your kind of shoes because the firemen that rescued you command it. These other shoe wearers say that they have spoken to the firemen and they said nothing about shoes. And when they refuse to change, you go about speaking words of condemnation against those who wear shoes different than yours.

You see, it would seem to be difficult to place such man made restrictions upon people once we have ourselves been rescued by grace from the pit of destruction and despair. You would think we would err on the side of grace, and yet it is so easy to slip into self righteousness. In fact, the flesh demands it. And even though our theology shouts grace with boldness and even smugness, our flesh needs a consistent fix of self righteous condemnation and at least a small list of contrived dos and don’ts in order to feel spiritually content. Throughout the church age it has been an all too familiar ecclesiastical treadmill. Believers have made days and holidays and foods and tattoos and jewelry and all kinds of things their hobby horses. And like-minded people have formed ecclesiastical cliques bound together by one or more of these issues. It makes them feel spiritually superior and divinely favored. All of us are prone to such things, and many of us have participated in some form of this continuing phenomenon. Only after we are set free and repent can we see just how self righteous we were and are still sometimes.

There are some issues that are important but must never rise to the level of, legalism, even if they are Biblically sound. Of course all redemptive issues are sacrosanct and must remain sacred. But there are other issues that have varying degrees of importance and must be addressed, but they must never be our focus or our constant crusade. Politics, Halloween, Christmas, Bible versions, number of children, Biblical foods, prophecy, and others should be important but not be draped in self righteous legalism. We as believers feel very strongly about a host of issues and it is difficult to embrace things with anything less than the strongest conviction and emotion. And that can and does lead to legalism.

The gospel is a message of hope and redemption and freedom. It should never be made to carry legalistic baggage. Every true born again believer is on a journey and at any given moment he or she is either growing or retreating, but no one has arrived. But when we make things like tattoos an issue of spiritual depth or a staunch Biblical position, then we have entered the "no grace" zone. And in keeping with my title, “Moses called…he wants his stone tablets back!”