The Christian and the mercy of God today.

     Sometimes Christians act like God is at their mercy rather than the other way around. 
    

mer·cy

ˈmərsē/

noun

noun: mercy; plural noun: mercies

1. 1.

   compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.

     It's so much easier for us to receive mercy for what we deserve as opposed to offering mercy to those who ask for mercy from us.  Where God has no desire to wield  the power of destruction over us, we seem to do that very thing to those within our circles.  If we do this to fellow Christians imagine what we are doing to those who are perishing.  Mercy may follow me all the days of my life but am I letting mercy direct all the days of my life?  While the stories abound in the Bible about mercy and the need to show mercy as well as BE mercy to others, we seem to misinterpret that imperative with others.  William James once said (about the Christian) "We may have a God in heaven who forgives us our sins; but mankind does not."  Rather than defer our ability to judge, condemn, castigate and destroy others, we seem to think that playing the god of our world will somehow make others better people.  Really?! 

     Nietzsche said, "Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful." 

     Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy."

     Steve said, "I'm sorry I haven't exercised mercy to people as I have received it."

     You said, "______________________."

     Compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.  Where is the compassion and forgiveness amongst Christians in our world today?  Where is the concern for our fellow man living amongst us?  Where do our Christian values lead us?  Are we so much better than anyone else?  No, we are worse!  We've had our eyes opened to who and what we actually are and STILL fail to give the compassion and forgiveness that has so lovingly been offered to and received by us.  Where Jesus has died and risen so that we can have life and relief from the punishment we deserve; we offer less than or nothing to those who are around us.  It's called hypocrisy. 

     Where does compassion and forgiveness begin and end in relationship to what sins we and others need to be held accountable for.  Jesus said, "For as much as you forgive others, you will be forgiven."  Ouch!  It's easy for us to justify our condemnation of others as "sinners", "them", and other phrases that distance us from our fallen comrades.  It's been said that the Christian army is the only army that abandons it's wounded.  Not only has it been said, it's truth has been validated over the centuries since Christ died for us.  Why do we live like we do?  Why is it that you and I seem to take for granted the grace and mercy of God while exercising little of it towards mankind?  It's not a comfortable question for me.  I don't imagine it's a comfortable question for you either.  Seeing ourselves as we are should be impetus enough for us to take our eyes off others and whatever they are or are not doing.  Reminded daily of my status as the "greatest of sinners." why do I still look at other's sins?  Maybe to make myself feel like I'm not that bad.  I am that bad.  So are you.  We all deserve the death and destruction of God but by mercy live another day (some of us) all because we are loved by a God who sees his image in us instead of our past. 

     What do you see in yourself?  Have you asked for the forgiveness and healing you need?  If you aren't able to receive mercy, you have none to give.  You can't give away something you don't have.  If you don't love the person (image) God loves inside of you, how can you expect to give the love of God away,.  You can't give away anything you don't have.  Let's stop giving away hate and self loathing.  That will really mess with the evil agenda of that great liar Satan.  What happens when you choose to receive the mercy of God?  You are able to give mercy towards others.  Remember, it's always your choice. 

12 Must Read Life Lessons From Jesus

Throughout the years I have had many mentors who have influenced my life, both dead and live, in the soul (mind) and body areas of my life, but there is only one who has also significantly impacted me in the spiritual area of my life.
In this secular world many people tend to forget that we are a triune being – spirit, soul and body, and that we need to tend each area that constitutes our life in order to live a full, balanced and successful life.
So let me introduce you to, in my opinion, the giant amongst mentors, taken from the most popular and best selling motivational book ever written.
This is not about religion. This is about real life lessons that can be applied to your life in an instant, and I highly recommend that you take them and apply them to your life immediately.
Below are 12 powerful quotations from Christ Jesus with additional commentary from myself.
1. To Serve Is To Be Great
“Whoever wants to be great must become a servant.”
Here is the secret to great leadership. Leadership is not about rulership. It is about serving others. And in giving to others you will never lack for any good thing in your life.
2. There Is A Cure For Worry
“Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen colour and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.”
To live a worry free life is a joy. Anxiety is a killer. So to be able to face each day, knowing that if the world can exist in such beauty and splendour, there is nothing that you need to be concerned about. Take a fresh look at nature and get the point.
3. Love Conquers All
“Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?” Jesus said “Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: Love others as well as you love yourself.”
also…
“…if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously. You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’  I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves.”
When it comes to love we are given three directives: Love God. Love your neighbour. Love your enemies.
The first step forward to develop this love in your life is to learn to pray. I have found prayer to be an incredibly energising practice. Now if this is not familiar to you, let me explain that this is not the point where you get all holier than thou on me. Prayer for me is simply sharing my heart with one greater than myself. You will often find me talking out loud as I pray, or sometimes I’m simply speaking quietly in the depths of my mind to one greater than myself.
I was actually up at 3.30am this morning praying. That happens to me from time to time. But I also pray while I’m at work. I pray while I stroll beside the ocean. I pray in the car. I pray as an individual, and we pray as a family.
But what is prayer? Simply handing over life’s good and bad that we’re handed to one far greater than ourselves – and that even includes our enemies. Seems back to front to conventional thinking – but I have seen many an enemy turned around 180 degrees through the power of simply praying that good happen in their life.
4. Follow The Golden Rule
“Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behaviour: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them.”
This is such a wonderful principle. Simply, do as you want to be done. Often the good turn won’t come back from the one you did it for – but it will come back from somewhere in this amazing universe that we live in.
5. Ask For What You Need
“Here’s what I’m saying: Ask and you’ll get; Seek and you’ll find; Knock and the door will open. Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in.”
Go on, I dare you. Ask. In sales I learnt very quickly that if I never asked for the sale I would never get the sale. The power is in the asking. Now I’m not saying that you are going to pull a sales strategy on God. But ask, and in your asking expect to receive. When my children ask me for something, as their father I cannot resist the pull that it invokes on my fatherly heartstrings to give them the best that I have to offer.
6. Judge Not
“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, and criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.  It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbour’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own.  Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt?  It’s this whole travelling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbour.”
Point one finger in the direction of another in judgment and you have three pointing straight back at you. Not good. Resist the slippery slide towards judging others.
7. Keep Your Word
“Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.”
If you can say yes. If you can’t say no. Don’t muck about by telling a lie when you know that you cannot do what you have promised. The word ‘no’ can be your most liberating friend if used wisely. You can’t do everything, so start practicing the use of it. And if you say ‘yes’ ensure that you do what you say – even if it is inconvenient. This builds a depth of character in your being and trust from those around you.
8. Give In Secret
“When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively.”
There is nothing worse than someone blowing their own trumpet. Practice the art of giving in secret. Your reward will be great.
9. Forgive Others
“In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.”
To forgive others is to free you from the disabling chains of unforgiveness. Sorry is sometimes the hardest word to say, but once said it is liberating. Don’t wait for others to apologise. You lead the way and be the first to offer the hand of forgiveness. This is not about wrong or right, but rather living a life of freedom.

10. Speak Good Words
“A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation.”
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, so use words wisely. Put a watch over your mouth and analyse the words that leave your lips. Are they positive? Or are they tinged with negativity and judgement? This is serious business, so pay heed to the advice given. It is truly the difference between salvation and damnation – here on earth – let alone throughout eternity.
11. Nothing Is Impossible If You Have Faith
“The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle.”
Faith is a small word, but a powerful one at that. Faith is trust in a greater one than yourself, trust in the abilities that have been placed within you, and trust that with every step forward you will find your way towards your dreams and your goals. With a sprinkling of persistence added to the formula you can do but one thing – win!
12. Use It Or Lose It
“It’s also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master’s investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master’s money. After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’ The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master’s investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’ The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’ The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest. Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this ‘play-it-safe’ who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.'”
Every one of us has been endowed with a specific gift or natural talent that requires use. If you fail to lose it you will lose it. Whatever you do, don’t compare yourself with the other guy or girl who seems to have been given a bunch of talents. Use the one that you have and develop it. These represent your personal strengths, and like any muscle, the best way to develop a strength in your life is by strengthening it. So at every opportunity use it – and that way you will never lose it. You will in fact enhance it and position yourself to become a leader in your chosen field of endeavour.

Read more at http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/12-must-read-life-lessons-from-jesus/#jKermlfoqPsl2fAB.99

Has the Christian community given up?

     Yes.  For the most part anyway.  No for some of the remnant.  The Christian community has come to the place where they seem to be placated by the "lesser of two evils" type mentality.  We are far from alone in this predicament.  People have been settling for less than for time eternal.  Whenever we settle for less, less is what we get.  Then we get used to the new "less than" and come to believe that this is the best we can get.  Until we settle for yet another "less than" move downward.  It's similar to the frog in a pot of cold water story.  The heat turned on warms up the frog but the frog doesn't know to get out of the water and is boiled alive without so much as a fight.  So here we are, the Christian church, being boiled in water and no one seems to be noticing that we are in danger of being killed off.  Call it what you will but don't deny it's not happening.  The legalization by our government of sin makes it almost impossible to swim against the current of public outcry.  Think not?  Think you stand firm on your faith and for the Gospel?  Why isn't your and my world changing? 
     It's been estimated that when the Israelites left Egypt they numbered 2.5 million.  That's a lot of people even in that day.  Many years later of disobedience, rebellion and denial of God they went into Babylonian captivity numbering 80,000.  The belief in God diminished to the point of bringing in other manmade gods to appease the people.  The leadership of the Israelites did this!  The people let them!  Yet, not much is different today.  Without a vision, the people perish.  That's what the Bible says.  Vision of what?  Well, we can talk about having a nice new shiny red bicycle all we want, show people pictures of it, even talk about how we love riding bicycles; but if we don't have the bicycle we are just pretending, self deceived, and a dreamer.  You can go to a church were the pastor, staff and members talk about God, show you the Bible (and even give you one for free), pray and worship but there is no presence of God there.  Having the trappings of being a Christian is way different than being a Christian. 
     Jesus refers to the true follower as "my little flock."  "Little", as in few.  Though many claim to know him, many are pretenders, opportunists and even anti-Christ.  It used to be a serious charge to label a pastor or any Christian a heretic.  A heretic was someone who preached something other than what the Bible taught.  Kind of like the prosperity gospel preachers of today.  Maybe like those who are so accommodating that no one really knows boundaries for behavior.  Why aren't the gifts of the Holy Spirit evidenced today in most of the churches and Christian communities of the world?  Because they are maybe part of the world instead of separated from the world.  It's more costly, in many minds, to be offensive to people than to be offensive to God.  So, the choices are made just which gods are going to be worshipped.  Robert Schuller preached in the Crystal Cathedral for many years.  He never once mentioned sin because, "people know that they sin.  We don't need to remind them."  Religious groups claiming to be conservative choose to obey man rather than God on a regular and ongoing basis. 
     Has the Christian community given up?  Have you "settled" for what is offered by man rather than demanding what has been offered by God?  Yes, so many of the Christian community have given up in order to please others, themselves and to hide behind the new "normal".  The Bible hasn't changed.  Mankind has.  The Bible is as true for today as it was when the Holy Spirit gave ink to the pens held by those who loved God. Mankind's version or interpretation of the Bible is far short of what was written.  The Old and New Testaments are full of the prophecies of the end times.  This "giving up" by the Christian community was prophesied by the prophets of old and new testaments alike.  That has not changed either.  Things will get worse and worse.  Things will only be better when Christians stand up for what is central...Jesus.  Nothing but Jesus.  Have you given up?  Do you settle for the status quo?  Do you believe there should be a higher standard?  The choice is always ours.  So are the ramifications.

Whatever Became of Sin?

     Written by Karl Menninger about 30 years ago (plus or minus) and a real insight into what humanity has done with the concept of sin.  Mr. Menninger takes us from the garden of Eden and Adam and Eve and brings us to even our present day.  Every instinct within man is manifested in our selfish desire to sin and not be responsible for that sin.  At the center of Menninger's theory is the belief that mankind doesn't really want accountability for their wrongs but want all the kudos for their right choices.  The Christian finds, when reading the Bible, that this is backwards.  We need to be accountable for our sins while giving praise to God for all those things right and good.  Imagine if you will the world if Eve had not listened to the serpent (Satan) and had stayed true to the command of God.  Where would we all be?  What would be the result of obedience on that grand of a scale.  Yet, under justification, and rationalization we dodge the bullet...or so we think. 
    All is not lost on mankind.  God has made us in His image and that stamp is on our very souls.  The enemy wants to keep us as far away from that image as he can.   The closer we get to that image, the more dangerous we are in our world.  Dangerous in a good sense as we are able to be more available and usable by God in this world.  The classic war then isn't between good and evil as much as it is between obedience and rebellion.  Different words but a different focus as well.  So many Christians act like being a Christian is a much detested job that they are required to do in order to escape hell.  While being a Christian (true) is the obvious ticket out of an eternity in hell, our lives are either transforming to the world around us or they are not.  It's been said that if you aren't being attacked by the enemy that you need to questions whether you have a relationship with God or not.  Well, do you?  How much of the image of God is shining through for the world to see?  Do your co-workers know you belong to Jesus?  Do your friends on social media know you are a Christian?  How about your family, neighbor, enemies and others?  Do they know?
     Jesus provided the means by which we can know him as Savior.  He spent his life unselfishly to the cross where he died.  Though tempted as we are He lived a life exemplary of how we should live.  The basic question isn't whether or not we have accepted Jesus but rather whether or not we have been transformed by Him.  The churches of the world should take note of whether they are passing on the message of Christ to the dying world around them.  We should take note of whether or not we are passing on the message of salvation to those around us.  When we license sin and bury the image of God that cannot and will not happen.  Why is it that we spend so much time avoiding the real issue of uncovering the image of God?  Do we so love the world we live in that we are willing to perish in order to enjoy the world?  Are our excuses enough of a convincing argument that we lead others on that same path to destruction?  I know that many of my Christian years were just that.  Sometimes they still are.  What makes the difference in our lives?  Is it living for self (selfishness) or living for Christ (selflessness)? 
     Menninger had it right.  We have utilized the worlds excuses to avoid accountability.  Why would we even think that this would be okay with God?  We have become a people (Christian and non) whose first instinct is to blame everyone and everything for what we think, do and say that isn't in the will of God.  Tolerance has become the rule for most.  The Gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing.  Does my life and your life represent foolishness for God or foolishness against God?  It's my choice and it's your choice.  God awaits.

Riches are in the eye of the beholder

     We all have, at one time or another, been consumed with the desire to have riches of one kind or another.  It may have been that lure on Facebook that you have won $600,000 or the email from the FBI saying you have $6.5 million from a claim from Nigeria (both are real and have been sent to me.  Though they are not real.)  Other people's riches are the most tempting.  We see our friends with a new car, clothes, buying a house or however else they are going into debt and we want that...without the debt!  When the church falls into this space the Gospel is no longer being delivered.  The gospel (small g attached to $) is being preached and encouraged of it's members by the leaders.  The government, not to be outdone, has it's own means of taking your riches.  I'm particularly vexed with the taxes on just about everything but air.  The resale of a vehicle 12 times brings about taxes on that sale 12 times.  There is no end of taxes except death.  Guess what?!  There are taxes after death as well on your estate!  So, what exactly are the riches we need versus the riches we want?
     Most of us know the first part of that famous song in Fiddler on the Roof: "If I were a rich man..."  I remember seeing that movie when I was younger and wasn't impressed with money at the time.  Why?  Because we didn't have any.  No one told us that.  It was something called a "fact".  We were poor farmers/ranchers who struggled with everything including the weather.  My memories would shock many of you.  You would think I grew up in the depression.  Yet, I didn't KNOW I was poor.  "Back in the day" no one talked about their financial status or what they did and did not have.  People were generous with whatever they had.  It's just the way it was in life growing up on a farm in North Dakota.  I'm sure I would have liked to have had this clothing, car, status like any teenager.  Who wouldn't.  Yet, we were clothed, housed, fed and educated.  We worked hard, were serious about our futures and had no aversion to serving our country.  Compared to today's youth, we were rich!  Rich beyond measure.  We were rich in ethics, morals, and freedoms.  You can't put a dollar sign on that.  We didn't have allowances or money to do as we wished.  We worked for our money even at an early age.  We had a beat up old truck that the 7 of us kids would be bundled into the rear (covered with a tarp) and make a 70 mile one way trip to Grandma's house for holidays when it was 20-30 below zero.  We would get one bought gift at Christmas.  We were rich!  You see, being rich really is in the eye of the beholder.
     Some of the biggest names in Christian preachers are the richest people I know.  Some of the biggest names in Christian preachers are the poorest people I know.  And, there are those anywhere in between.  Same goes for those who follow their preaching.  You know what I mean.  Billy Graham is the most outstanding preacher of our era.  He is the most widely known and respected Christian preacher bar none.  He limits his income, has his clothing donated and relies on what God brings his way.  The rest goes into people.  He takes his riches and passes them onto others by way of Jesus.  He is one of the richest men on earth.  Billy is a real man of God and rich beyond what any televangelist would ever conceive.  Why is that?  Because his riches are found in Jesus.  His retirement is in Jesus.  His belongings belong to Jesus.  His wife, kids and grandkids belong to Jesus.  Everything about Billy Graham shouts "I have all the riches of God in heaven because I have Jesus!"  He needs nothing else and will tell you so. 
     If you are like me, you fall into the middle ground between the two extremes.  There are times when my faith is great and I know that all God needs to do to sustain me is to sell one of the cows he has on a 1000 hills.  Other times I wonder where the money is going to come from to buy toilet paper.  Thank God for newspapers!  The news is bad but the use of the paper is great.  I struggle with life as many of you do.  I try to not complain about it to anyone but God.  What profits it a man if he has the world but not Jesus?  I am the richest man on earth.  He has blessed me beyond my imagination.  He has blessed me in the future beyond my imagination.  I'm a stranger in this land passing through like a sojourner seeking the path that leads home where Jesus has prepared a place and a banquet for ME.  He did it for me.  My past does not dictate what Jesus has for me.  My present and my future don't either.  God has fixed it in his heart that he would and does love Steve with all he is.  Who could be richer than that?  Wow!  The God of the universe thought I was so precious that he died so that I could be blessed in spite of myself! 
     Riches are in the eyes of the beholder.  What do you behold?

Listening and hearing are different.

     They are different in ways perhaps you've not thought of.  Listening has an interactive sense to its function whereas hearing is perceived as intake of information.  Listening is work while hearing is not.  Listening is intense, intimate and inclined to make one think and feel. Hearing is function and not much more.  Listening is something we can use to go deeper in relationships.  Yes, even with God.  Hearing is intake of information but little else than we need to function.  Have you ever been in a conversation where you are giving answers to questions asked and note that the person who asked isn't even listening?  There is that glazed over look their eyes, they don't have an emotional connection on any level and their stance says, "I'm not here."  There is a good chance that what was more important to them is the question they asked than the answer that they asked for.  Rhetorical questions are frustrating especially when we are trying to move through a topic in a fashion where we want to have closure.  Ever been in a meeting where committee of one heads for the door when they are done?  They may have heard but they aren't listening.  They expect you to listen yet they don't reciprocate. 
     I've done a LOT of reading over my lifetime.  I used to read therapy books and say to myself: "that describes so and so."  Reading books with others in mind isn't listening, it's hearing.  Just a different focus.  When we are involved in communication where the other person is always the center of attention our needs aren't listened to.  People hear what they want but demand others listen to what they say.  In order to really listen there is a need to be aware of who and what we are first.  We filter everything through our past.  Definitions are taught by parents, social circles, education and experience.  Those definitions direct us in our lives as we grow into adulthood.  The person who repeatedly listens to people saying they won't amount to much; won't amount to much as a rule.  Those who are praised for what they do and dream of doing, are more apt to do just that.  We teach our children to hear when we should teach them how to listen.  Reading books with a focus on bettering me makes me more able to listen and to encourage others to listen.  Jesus lived a life where those around him listened to him.  The religious authorities lived a life where others heard them but didn't have a need to listen.  See the difference?  When we listen with a heart of concern and compassion, people listen in return.  When that atmosphere is set in place people want to listen to what you have t say about Jesus.  Those who just hear and don't listen turn are ignored for the most part by those who are perishing.
     We have several capacities that God has given us to listen.  He has given us a heart, soul and mind to listen with.  In order to listen with each we must first listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to our heart, soul and mind.  The first commandment is for us to "love the Lord God Almighty with your whole heart, soul and mind."  Wow!  What happens if we do?  Our lives are changed.  If your heart, mind and soul aren't listening but only hearing, your life and circumstances will not change, people will not see Jesus in you and you will be ineffectual in the world.  Just where Satan wants you.  Listening and hearing are different.  There is no doubt that when we listen change takes place.  Why?  Because we are looking to change, move forward, do what is right and please God.  Whey we only hear there is no application of the Word in our lives.  We are like the field where the seed falls on the rocks and is eaten up by the birds before it can sprout and produce fruit.  Those who listen are like trees planted beside the streams of water growing and producing.  It's about time Christians determine whether they want to listen or hear.  Of course, it's always your choice. 

Keep Looking Up

Keep Looking Up - Political Correctness and the Christian Faith

-- By Nick Gholson, columnist for the Times Record News in Wichita Falls, Texas. Published in September of 1999
I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December. I don't agree with Darwin, but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his theory of evolution.
Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game. So what's the big deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire book of Acts. They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game.
"But it's a Christian prayer," some will argue. Yes, and this is the United States of America, a country founded on Christian principles. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So, what would you expect-somebody chanting Hare Krishna? If I went to a football game in Jerusalem, I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer. If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad, I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer. If I went to a ping pong match in China, I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha. And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother me one bit. When in Rome...
"But what about the atheists?" is another argument. What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to pass the collection plate. Just humor us for 30 seconds. If that's asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer. Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations.
Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Now, a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying. God, help us.
And, if that last sentence offends you, well... just sue me.
The silent majority has been silent too long. It's time we let that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard, that the vast majority don't care what they want. It is time the majority rules!
It's time we tell them, you don't have to pray. You don't have to say the pledge of allegiance, you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honor Him. That is your right, and we will honor your right… but, by golly, you are no longer going to take our rights away. We are fighting back... and we WILL WIN!
God bless us one and all, especially those who denounce Him... God bless America, despite all her faults, she is still the greatest nation of all... AND God bless our service men and women who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God!
May this be the year the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions.
Keep looking up... "In God WE Trust."

Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone

     If you don't remember this show, look it up before you read on.  If you remember this show you are probably wondering how it ties in with our Christian Walk.  Read on as well.  There is and always has been a group(s) with conspiracy theories as their main focus.  Why this happened or that didn't happen.  Aliens and microchips from immunization injections.  John F Kennedy being alive and kept somewhere close to Elvis.  You know the things that get said.  Now the Bible is a tough one to even come close to with conspiracy theory.  Have you ever or are you now reading the book of Revelations?  The background is set on the island of Patmos where John is incarcerated alone.  He has previously been judged guilty of loving Jesus and was to be killed by boiling him in oil.  Didn't work!  So, he's put on this island so that he cannot "infect" others with his belief in Jesus.  He's there meditating and the Lord comes to him and tells him to write a book about the end of time as we know it here on earth.  John doesn't even hesitate.  He takes pen in hand, parchment available and writes what he is shown.  He's asked to describe to a first century world what a 21st, 22nd or later century will be seeing, hearing and experiencing.  He is watching the future!  Wow!  I don't think even Paul had visions like that in prison! 
     Now that you have the scene set, you know why there is Satan's competition in the realm of the unreal.  In order to keep Christians and non alike not believing what John wrote, Satan brings about different modes of communication about the unreal appearing real.  Remember Orsen Well's "War of the Worlds"?  Aired on radio and was so real the public listening was sent into a panic fearing that the war was real and that America had been invaded by conquering and destroying aliens.  There was panic in the streets as people fled their homes and town trying to find someplace safe.  They believed the deception of a fiction story.  We do that kind of stuff when we don't know but wonder.  We don't know what all is being done behind the scenes from how Twinkie's are made to secret weapons in space aimed at whatever to destroy at a moment's notice.  Our minds run wild with imaginings and fears based on this world's communication and belief.  In the process we lose track of what Jesus said to us.  He said, fear not.  Pretty simple if you believe it.  Really, what do we have to fear?  Nothing if we are believers and everything if we are not.  Just as John conveyed the judgment of the end times, we are to understand that as believers we have the choice of believing that judgment or ignoring the judgment.  The church today has taken the latter stance.
     I can remember as  a young boy watching The Twilight Zone, sitting on the back of the couch, back against the wall watching mechanical bugs climbing up the pant legs of people killing them.  That was in the early 60's.  They have bugs that do that now.  I remember Dick Tracy with his wrist watch radio.  They have those now.  I remember the Roadrunner and Wyle Coyote and his falling off cliffs and surviving.  They still don't have that.  Can you imagine having a show depicting space travel with a space station?  They have that.  Yet, we have little or no interest in what is coming in the way of prophetic events for the world we live in.  We are content to the point of perishing.  There is no urgency to save our family, neighbors, world or even our enemies like there was with the War of the Worlds.  Lassie did a better job than most Christians are doing today.  The dire warnings of Rod Serling with The Twilight Zone were adhered to more than the Bible's warning of those who are lukewarm or have fallen away much less those who do not believe.  What's wrong with us?  Where is the urgency to see people saved?  Why are we more content watching a show called "Lucifer" on TV than telling our sons and daughters that Jesus loves them and died for them?  Because we live in the Twilight Zone rather than the Revelation Zone. 
     What we believe, take into our hearts and minds, and pass onto others should reflect our love of Jesus and not our love of conspiracy theory.  What profits it a man if he gains the world but loses his life?  Whey did we become so selfish and fearful that we don't mention the reason for our hope as we should?  What happens when we get to Heaven and are watching people we knew come before Jesus and find their names were not written in the Book of Life?  That's reality.  What will we think and feel when they look back at us and ask, "Why didn't you say something?" as they walk into hell.  Human lives are at stake and the Christian church does nothing and even makes it easier for people to go to hell.  What's wrong with this?  What's wrong is the choices we make.  It's your choice.  It's my choice.  Don't pretend that your and my choices aren't important. 

Problems show symptoms but have causes. Look at the causes.

     It would be easy to give some trite answer here like, "Sin is the cause.  Don't do it." That would be too short and easy.  There's nothing like delving into a problem and finding you need to have different perspectives on how to deal with it.  So, here goes.  Imagine you wake up feeling like throwing up.  Do you immediately say, "I feel like throwing up." or "I wonder why I feel like throwing up?"  See the difference?  The one is an immediate response to a situation while the other is designed to prevent the feeling in the future.  Maybe the liver and onions you had for dinner isn't something you should repeat.  Whoops!  There I go.  The cause wasn't the liver and onions.  The symptom may have manifested itself in your wanting to throw up, but the cause may have been a variety of choices.  You may have allergies, you may have tainted onions, you may have had ill prepared liver.  You get the picture.  There are symptoms and then there are causes.  The same goes for people and situations around you.
     The problem isn't the addiction to alcohol.  The problem isn't the addiction to food.  The problem isn't the deficiency found in the water we drink.  The problem can only be identified when we go past the symptom and head directly to the cause.  Providers in the various helping professions all to often treat symptoms.  That keeps us going back because the cause isn't being treated.  The Bible (James) says that we "ask and do not receive because we ask with wrong motives."  We ask for our addiction to go away.  We ask that our symptoms of illness go away.  We ask for money and possessions to make our wants go away.  We ask for that person, place or thing that we "think" will fulfill us.  We have not because we ask not.  That is, we ask with wrong motives.  In order for our motives to be pure, we need to identify the root problem...the cause and not just the symptoms.  I may have inadequate relationships because people don't want to be around me.  Why?  It's not because I didn't shower, say the right things or even have the right "stuff."  It's because my presentation and their perceived wants clash.  One is my problem and one is not.  My presentation is controlled by the interaction of symptoms unaddressed and wants being placed above needs.  The cause isn't that I'm ignorant or even stubborn.  The cause is my priorities are wrong.
     We all have (according to the Bible) the image of God in us because he made us in his image.  That's not necessarily a physical or even sexual image.  It's the "soul" image that is the image of God.  What we are born into, raised within, educated about and determined by our society has worked to cover that image of God.  We spend our lifetimes searching for solutions to the symptoms when we should spend our right now moment determining the cause.  The cause is partly our focus.  We are sinful people.  We are not a sinful creation.  We are a people created in the image of God so we are not intended to be seen as a sinful creation.  Yes, we are sinners.  No, we are not without the image of God.  The symptoms are focused on the sinner.  The cause is focused on the hidden image of God.  The simple answer is to uncover the image and let that live through you and I.  There is the problem!  We live in a world where we are constantly running from one symptom to another and NO ONE tells us that we are created in the image of God and can live above the symptoms. 
     Please don't misunderstand.  I know that physical illness and mental disorders/illnesses are real.  I do understand that needs aren't met and not because of sin.  I understand.  I also know that when I focus on the image of God that the rest is just symptoms.  The more I focus on the image of God the less of me focuses on me and my symptoms.  I know it's not as easy as I make it out to be.  The journey of a 1000 miles begins with one step.  Taking that first step is the beginning.  Taking the next step is the beginning.  Every step is the beginning of the life of Christ living through you and I.  It's true that we need to confess our sin and ask for forgiveness.  That's treating the symptom.  It's also true that we need to daily come before God and ask for guidance.  That's treating the symptom as well.  It's true that we can profess our faith in God and be the martyr enduring our circumstances.  This is treating the symptom as well.  To go beyond the symptom and treat the cause is to discover the image of God in us and live that life.  When I am empty of me (symptom) all that is left is God.  Many saints have come and gone who have found the cause, died to self and lived poured out lives that society and even many Christians could not or would not understand.  Forsaking all else and being Christ to the world means just that.  Forsake yourself.  Treat the cause and not the symptom.  Ask yourselves moment by moment (if you have to) whether this is Christ or is this me.  Christ is selfless love.  What are you?

This is not where I belong.

     This is not where I belong.  On October 1, 1972 I changed my address and have been away from home ever since.  My address is heaven.  When we choose to have Christ in our lives we are no longer residents of planet earth or any other planet.  As such, my life should resemble that of a sojourner here on earth rather than a permanent resident.  I'm passing through and one day I will go home.  My last breath here on earth will signify my first breath in heaven.  Home!  Yes, like Paul, I long to go home.  It's not that this life and place and time isn't okay.  It is okay.  However, why satisfy yourself with okay when you can have great?  The big question for me (and maybe you) is whether or not I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing or am I so heavenly minded that I'm no earthly good.  Some days yes and some days no.  That's a fair assessment.  I don't belong here and some resentment sits in my soul that I have to be here.  Yes, I said it.  I resent having to live in a foreign country where I'm not welcome if I am heavenly minded.  Living as an outcast isn't necessarily fun but it's what we are called to be.  At least that's what the Bible says. 
     Being in the world but not of the world are radically different situations.  We aren't given any other option though.  We are to be here until he takes us home.  Being in the world isn't a bad thing.  Being of the world is a bad thing.  Living with the attitude that I belong to God and he will deliver me from this world one day is awesome!  Living in this frame of mind keeps us stayed on the mission he has left us on earth for.  Each of us have a mission and we need to be active in accomplishing that mission.  Right now you are probably thinking what is my mission?  The "church" has done much damage to people being able to accomplish our mission on earth by delineating "jobs" to those who belong to the community of Christ.  There are so many people who have told me, "It's not my job."  Well, if it isn't your job, whose job is it?  I get ahead of myself.  What is our mission?  It's simpler than you think.  We are to bring glory to God.  That's it.  He does all the rest.  Making your life about bringing glory to God is a choice.  When we choose to be in that space, God can reach people who have previously been closed off and living in the world and of the world.  Our job is to live a life so tempting and tantalizing that people seek us out and ask us what it is about us that we have that they don't.  We have hope.  They need hope.  We give them hope.  That's simple and that's it.  That's our mission.
     In that respect, Jesus went to dinner with a taxman, hung around with the unclean and healed those who were untouchable.  He cast out demons, threw the money changers out of the temple and sacrificed his life for all of mankind.  We're to be "little Christ's" to our world.  Are you?  Am I?  If I am comfortable with being here and doing nothing then I am not and neither are you.  Christians should NOT be comfortable living in this world.  There is not a single encouraging word for us to be of the world.  There are many encouraging words for us to be in the world but not of the world.  We are a nomadic people in knowing we are moving on from this country to heaven which is our home.  One of the questions I ask myself is whether I will hear "well done my good and faithful servant." or "Steve, just what were you thinking or were you thinking at all?" when I get to heaven.  We are not only asked to give an account then, but we need to give an account now...daily...to God.  If we are living for him as strangers in a foreign land then our testimony is that account.  Paul counted his life here in this world as dung, crap, manure BUT counted Christ as everything. 
     This is not my home, I'm just passing through.  That's a phrase from an old hymn.  Many sing it but few believe it or even understand what it means.  Joshua 24:15 "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  If we serve the Lord, the Bible attests, we cannot serve the world.  I know what that means for me.  What does that mean for you?  This is not where I belong.  You shouldn't belong here either.

Waiting in the shadows.

     It's hard to fathom the difference of what is seen and not seen when you are either standing in the light or standing in the darkness.  One thing for certain is both present shadows to us.  It's not a hallucination and I'm not high on drugs (legal or otherwise).  I remember on a particular camping trip standing outside the campfire and being able to see all that was going on in the camp area.  But, no one could see me.  The light blinded them from seeing me.  When I stepped into the light I was illumined and people could see me...vaguely at first then more clearly as I came closer.  When I turned around all I saw was blackness even though I knew there were trees and rocks and trails out there.  We know what is out there and we are either captivated by it or we fear that blackness.  Looking from the darkness into light and light into darkness prevents us from seeing the rest of the picture.  There are shadows that are always there in either situation.  The shadows come from different projections of amount of light or darkness away from itself.  I'm enthralled with the beginning of time.  Imagine a world yet to be formed.  The Bible tells us that there was darkness but God said, "Let there be light!" and there was.  Wow!  Then he differentiated the light of the day and the light of night.  Wow!  Eventually, after the fall we would see that the light was still there and darkness was as well.  Their identities had changed.  We are to be people of the light and not people of the darkness or the shadow.
     Pure light is difficult to take in.  We cannot look directly into the bright sunshine without damaging our eyes.  Nor can we do good straining to see in the darkness of the night.  We weren't meant to do either one.  We are designed to reflect that which is hidden inside of our hearts, minds and souls.  For some people there is a reflection of darkness.  For others, the light of the Lord is our reflection.  Since I am a sinner and saved by grace you would think that I would be the reflection of light.  I'm more like the reflection of shadows as I'm still a sinner and not perfect.  That's the way it is going to be until I pass from here to there.  Until that time I can engage change brought about by the Holy Spirit or revert to darkness by the way of the god of this world, Satan.  The choices are there for all of us.  How much light we project and how much darkness we take in are all determined by the "what goes in, comes out" nature of our selves.  If we take in the darkness then no light can shine.  When we take in light the darkness recedes and is illuminated.  Sanctification is the process of the light revealing the darkness and pushing it out of ourselves by repentance and continually looking at the light.  When we look directly at the light of God we cannot see anything else.  The illumination is so great that we do not dare stray away from the light.  When we look away, we do just that.  We stray away from God.
     As I look at the light from the darkness I can see everything that is illuminated.  I cannot see what is in the shadows.  There lurks the danger and the deception.  What looks good may not be good at all.  What lures us to the shadow is less than the light.  Always been and always will be.  If we fill our minds with shadow things (secular, worldly, evil) we will lose that illumination that Christ intended us to have and be.  The more we engage the world around us the less we are that light upon a hill and more like a light under a bushel basket.  For some the light inside has become more like a small flicker.  Some even seem to have let the light go out.  If we are in Christ, the light lives within us to the degree that we focus on Him.   The less we choose to live Christ's life the more we live the world's life.  There is no in between.  There is no fence.  There is one or the other.  Moment by moment and hour by hour we are faced with this choice of living in the light or living in the darkness by the shadows we choose.  The shadows are sin.  Something made to be chosen for those who look for fulfillment outside the realm of Christianity.  It's always our choice.  What is your choice?

Autocorrect really isn't!

     I received a text message the other day from a friend.  It reminded me of the scene from a movie where someone actually insults someone in the other person's language when they intended the comment to be a compliment.  Voice recognition isn't all that it's cranked up to be...yet.  We are at the mercy of whomever designs and implements the program.  It's not a one size fits all thing.  Even my GPS has difficulty conversing to me.  I don't have the option of conversing with it.  However, it does have the chance to interpret where I turn and what lane to be in to get from point A to point B.  Telling me that I need to turn left when the road only turns right is funny but frustrating.  So is autocorrect.  I've had people in my life who are determined to "autocorrect" me on pronunciations, spellings, accuracy, whatever else I'm doing "wrong" in their mind.  The more insecure the person, the greater the autocorrect process.  This is particularly frustrating when they know precisely what I meant when I said what I said.  You maybe have similar situations where you've felt just as put out as I do.  If you know what I mean what's the purpose in autocorrect?  I'd like to turn it off in people like I can with my cell phone or GPS.  Wouldn't that be interesting!
     People like to tell jokes.  I love to tell jokes.  I love to hear jokes.  My enjoyment in hearing jokes is to see and feel the happiness the teller has in delivery.  When someone tells me a joke I don't interrupt with "I've heard this one before."  I listen and do an obligatory laugh or groan.  Why?  Because the telling of the joke isn't about me.  It's about interaction with another human being where they are.  It's putting importance on someone's interaction with me.  It's important to me that I convey my pleasure that they have thought it important enough to engage me.  When someone tells me, "I've heard that one already." my countenance sinks and I get turned off.  Same with the person who does the autocorrect thing.  Turning off my desire to communicate with them is my autocorrect.  When we approach people with the Gospel the same rules of engagement are employed.  I heard it said once, "People don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care."  Are you listening autocorrect people?  When we approach or are approached, how do people perceive us?  Are we open to information, comments and autocorrect?  Are they open to the Gospel being shared or rammed down their throats?  Are you stating the Gospel or are you living the Gospel? 
     Living with others isn't easy when they are on autocorrect.  Why?  Because the need to be right overshadows the desire to love.  Love isn't about autocorrect.  Love is about being Christ to people in such a way that they want what you have, desire your input, and engage you because you care.  Are those hallmarks in our lives?  If you are living a life of autocorrect you have a wall put up that tells the world that life is to be lived and interacted with on your level and definition alone.  Sometimes I think it would be nice to have never evolved to a place where we autocorrect.  Don't get me wrong, there are times when we need to say that "hard" thing, confront sin, and hold accountable.  If we do that in love, Christ's love, people will know it's God's love and not our autocorrect.  If your life is marked with having to be right, you're not.  If your life is isolated and no one knows you really, you're not sharing Christ's love.  The Word of God is a lamp unto our path so that we are attracted to the lit walkway instead of avoiding the light.  When autocorrect is turned on we frustrate people and send them away from the very God we want them to see.  Autocorrect...it's our choice.  Turn it off.

Sometimes the best place to be is broken.

     We all love the good time, the best times and the cool times.  We don't like the worst times, the bad times and the screwed up times.  Our lives have a plethora of both times.  Good versus bad.  That's what the daily fight is all about.  We are faced with ourselves and who we are 24/7.  There is no escaping the past or the present.  We can plan for the future though.  When we finally learn that lesson where we cannot fix ourselves we also admit that we are broken.  There isn't just something that is broken; there are many areas of our lives that are broken.  Fact is every area of our lives that isn't turned over to God is broken.  We cannot fix them.  We cannot hire someone to fix them.  We cannot ignore them and we cannot forget them.  We are a broken people from conception to eternity.  If we are all broken, why do we seem content to stay broken?  I'd like to suggest that we take our lives and create a new "not broken" definition.  Yes, we have problems but so does everyone else and thus we aren't broken.  Wrong.  A few years ago I was building a project and a piece of wood fell and struck the big knuckle of my left hand.  I knew I was hurt and that something was most likely broken.  Being the person I am I chose to continue working and two weeks later decided that I needed to have my thumb looked at by a doctor.  Yep, there is something in there that's broken.  He said this with the "you're a dumb one aren't you."  Yes, I'm broken and fight going to get help when it's needed.
     After the fact is about how most people live their lives.  We know that we are broken and yet, we don't really care to do anything about it.  So, we make the same errors over and over expecting different results.  When that happens we just re frame the thought and make it our new definition of what is normal.  After all, everyone else is doing it.  Over the years of my life one area of reflection has been the language we use when we write or talk.  We've taken simple sentences and laced them with profanity, misspelled words, and invented words to boot.  One must almost learn a new language to talk with our children today.  Language has become broken.  Even as I write there are words being created and words that are being eliminated due to one force or another.  Yet, the Word doesn't change.  The Word doesn't get misspelled.  The Word isn't redefined.  The Word is not obsolete and to be ignored.  There is no new Word.  What's been said in the Word remains forever.  The Word isn't broken and there is no need to fix anything that isn't broken. 
     I've had the most common of broken bones; the little toes on both feet.  I've broken both of my thumbs.  My right ankle, both wrists, left elbow, both shoulders and my knee have all been broken (torn or damaged) and remind me of their broken status every day.  Sometimes there is no option by replacing broken with new.  My left knee is worn out.  It needs to be replaced and when I drop a few more pounds I'll have it replaced.  It cannot be fixed.  The old has to be removed and the new installed.  I have hurt so many years that I've come to ignore the pain and just plow on through that pain regardless.  Very little comes in my way that I cannot do.  That's the way it is with our souls as well.  They were created before the foundation of the earth by a God who knew everything that would happen in our lives.  He knew we would live with broken souls and broken dreams because we had a broken heart.  There was only one way to heal the broken hearted.  That was to send a new heart.  Jesus is that heart.  When he gave his heart so I could live, I not only gained a new heart but a soul and dream as well.  My broken heart is gone and Jesus' eternal heart remains within me.  That doesn't mean I've arrived.  I still fight to retain broken parts of my life.  You do it too if you are honest with yourself. 
     Realizing I was broken was the first step in allowing myself to be mended.  Like David, I asked God to create in me a new heart.  Psalm 51 is that plea and lament.  We need to recognize that something is broken in order for us to be aware that we need Jesus.  Complacency in the Christian community is nothing but broken people who have redefined their Christianity so that they don't want the new heart of Jesus.  If they had Jesus' heart they wouldn't be sitting around justifying and rationalizing their lives and ridiculing the lives of those who live for Jesus.  Broken is as broken does.  Don't be broken for eternity.  Choose to have the broken replaced with the whole.  It's always your choice.

Miscellaneous thoughts today

     My mind is scattered today.  Some of my friends and relatives would suggest that's more the norm than the exception.  I don't think it's bad that my thinking is scattered here and there.  Especially if I don't have to focus on anything in particular in the first place.  There are times when my thoughts are so focused that I am consumed by them rather than they be at my beck and call.  That isn't good either.  When we think about the way we think there are some general conclusions we can draw.  First is that we may have a different way of thinking or approaching situations than other people.  I remember a bumper sticker from the 60's "Different but not wrong."  We can think differently and that's good within the body of Christ.  That thinking can open the imagination of how we approach the sharing of the Gospel in our church, home, and community.  The Bible tells us that we are to be all things to all people so that we can share the Gospel (Paul).  My way isn't the only way to reach people and neither is yours or theirs.  What may work for one community would be a turn off for another.  What's permissible in your work environment might get you fired in another.  Having the ability to think differently and even engage on different levels with different means doesn't mean it's wrong.  Being able to do so is allowing the Spirit of God to work through you in spite of you and I. 
     It's important that when we are awake that we have our minds and hearts open to the Holy Spirit and what God wants us to think, say and do.  That doesn't mean we have such open minds that our brains fall out.  Common sense is still essential even for the Christian.  Okay, I have a problem with common sense sometimes.  There, I admitted it and the world didn't end!  Being open to what God wants through us is where the differenced shows up.  When it's His way and not my way things happen in wonderful and profound ways.  People know when it's me or Thee.  They know it about you as well.  When Christians think about being and doing whatever God wants they tend to freak.  "What if He asks me to say something to so and so in the supermarket?"  "What if he tells me to confront my friend/relative about gossiping and spreading false rumors?"  "What if..." keeps us from being open to hearing what God wants.  Sometimes it's best to have a scattered mind and to follow the lead of the Spirit and let things fall where they may.  Think about who talked to you about Christ.  What did they say?  Did they have insight into your problem/life that they couldn't have known?  I know that was reality for many of the people who shared Christ to me.
     The Spirit of God wants us to have our minds stayed on Him.  We simply cannot do that if we are so inclined to run our own  lives.  The Lord himself spoke on us focusing on what's important (Him) and not being swallowed up by the cares of the world.  Our thinking gets us into trouble more often than it gets us the "Well done thou good and faithful servant."  Why?  Because we forget who we are serving.  We are serving the God of the universe who created and recreates peoples lives so that we can and will be more of his image to the world.  Get out of the way!  That's what I need to hear on a daily basis.  When I run the thinking mill I always get so busy that I can't and don't hear the voice of God.  He's in the whisper of the wind and the thunder of the sky.  It's sudden like a strike of lightening and drawn out like the labor in giving birth.  The voice of God is recognizable to those who seek Him.  When we seek him with ALL of our hearts then we will find him AND he will fill us with him.  So that, it is no longer I who live but God who lives within me.  Paul said that too.  He said that because he had emptied himself of everything so he could be poured out like a love offering for Jesus.  He said that too.  It's a simple thing to do.  We are requested to do it.  We make it so difficult and THAT is our choice. 

Disasters everywhere! What to do?!

     We live in a world that is full of alarmists both true and false.  Some are alarmist just because they like to see people react in unrealistic ways.  Our media feeds us with ads and shows that depict the gullibility of mankind.  And we in turn fuel that message.  There is a little "chicken little" in all of us.  We may not like to admit it but it's true.  Though the sky isn't falling, we still are repeating the cry of the wolf.  You and I fall into the spectrum which operates in our personal and global community.  Between the eternal optimist and the extreme conspiracy theorists there is enough fodder to keep us going for quite some time.  For instance, Elvis is alive.  Well, no, he's not.  We didn't go to the moon.  Well, yes, we did.  Optimism and paranoia come from the same tree.  We are optimistic about that which we want and paranoid about that which we don't want.  We have faith in the optimistic while there is little faith with the paranoid and their thinking.  Boiling it down to the issue of faith, we find the Christian in a world governed not by the grace of God but the abyss created by man. 
     The Bible lays out the signs of the end of time for man on earth.  We don't pay attention to them from a healthy Christian perspective.  We use those signs to condemn this or that group.  We use those signs to justify our actions and inaction's.  We use those signs to talk about "them" and to make ourselves feel better about ourselves.  We have pathetic lives because of this behavior and thought pattern.  Yes, there are wars and rumors of wars.  Yes, there are earthquakes and natural disasters.  Yes, there is a movement in the world for one world church and one world government.  Yes, there is the talk of the microchip in each of us being the sign of the beast.  However, none of it really matters if our mindset isn't God focused.  When we focus on my, our and your world we miss the point of the signs of the end of time for man on earth.  One of the key prophecies is that the Tabernacle needs to be rebuilt on the Dome of the Rock before Christ comes.  Until then, we need to have a God focus and not a human focus.  Though many of the prophecies of the Bible have been fulfilled (600+ by Jesus' life alone), the end is not here.  What to do?!
     The more appropriate questions is not "What to do?" but "Why aren't we doing something?"  We are not here on earth to let the world "just happen."  We are not here on earth to let someone else do the work of Christ.  We are not here on earth to point fingers.  Do you know why you are on earth?  Do you know what your place is within the body of Christ?  Have you made the choice to have Christ the center of all of your life or is Christianity just something you do on Sunday morning (unless there's an important sports game on.).  Having the mind of Christ should compel us to action in word, thought and deed.  Should you not be producing the fruit of the spirit then you are part of the problem and not part of the solution.  Not being what the Lord wants you to be in the world you are living in isn't helping matters.  Playing part time Christian and having part time Christian lives coupled with part time focus leads to no time for Christ.  Part time Christianity is an oxymoron.  You can't catch fish without the essentials.  You need to do something.  It's essential to do something.  I can sit in my chair and talk about fishing all day long.  If I don't go to where the fish are then I won't catch any fish.  If I go to the fish and don't bring the bait they won't bite.  If I don't put a worm on the hook they won't be caught.  You get the picture.
     What to do?!  Do something!  Don't just say things.  Do things!  Don't just think things.  Do something!  Don't just go through the motions.  Do everything to the glory of God.  Do.  Do.  Do!  The disasters in our lives, families and world won't be addressed with the best of intentions, wise words or even good thoughts.  You and I need to do something.  Not just anything, but something that God wants us to do.  What would that be?  He wants us to let every breath we breath, every beat of our heart and every action of our hands to be His.  Sounds like we need to have a revival of our hearts.  There are disasters everywhere.  Don't focus on them.  There are distractions created by well intentioned dragons (preachers and Christians who have the alarmist attitude).  Don't focus on them.  Read the Word, apply it to your life and the lives of those you interact with.  What to do is always your choice.

Happy Valentines Day!

   This is the real deal!  Valentines day means nothing if you haven't received your valentine from God; his Son Jesus.  I'll keep it short and sweet (no pun intended) and wish all of you a happy Valentine's Day.  Remember to thank God for what he has accomplished through the love he lived for us. 

 



God's Coffee

 

-- Author unknown
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite -- telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups."

"Now consider this," he continued... "Life is the coffee. The jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."

God brews the coffee, not the cups... Enjoy your coffee!  
"The happiest people don't have the best of everything.
They just make the best of everything they have."
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.
Speak kindly... and leave the rest to God.

What you think say and do is everyone's business.

     We have grown up in a time and place where the world tells me that the title for today is untrue.  We are told that what we think, say and do is private and none of your business...especially in Las Vegas.  Our world is so private and public at the same time that it drives people crazy.  The thought of our government being "transparent" causes many to roll on the floor with laughter.  Yet, there are some things going on that are not laughing matters at all.  We parents are told that the school nurse needs our permission to give our child an aspirin but we have no right to know that our daughter is pregnant, getting a divorce and someone from school will be accompanying her to kill the baby.  Our workplace, homes, and social gathering places (even online) are marked by the power of the secret.  The Bible tells us that God knows the sin we keep in our secret place.  We cannot hide from God and neither can anyone else.  I have secrets and so do you.  Let's just get that out of the way right up front. 
     We have secrets because of the fear inside of us.  That fear is of condemnation, judgment and exposure.  What if "they" knew "this" or "that" about me?  Would they react positively or would negatively?  Unwilling to take that chance we harbor our secrets that only God knows.  Whenever we decide to "come clean" there is sure to be someone who will either right away or years down the road revisit the confession and use that confession as power over us.  That's the way the world works.  Power is gained by having "dirt" on people.  It doesn't even matter if it's true or not.  People still want the power that isn't theirs.  I get a kick out of the churches that post on their sign that people should "come as you are."  What would happen if you did?  Charles Sheldon in "In His Steps" explores that very situation.  The person who came radically changed not only him but his congregation as well.  A stranger who was ill came to church, went down front and asked for help.  You see, our churches today don't want to change, they want you to change to be like them.  Truth be told we Christians are to be transformed so that people see Jesus and not some church gathering.
     What the church thinks, says, and does is everyone's business.  Wherever there is manipulation, control and secretiveness, there are problems.  Run away as fast as you can.  There is nothing about Jesus that endorses manipulation, control and secrets.  Nothing.  So, if it's in our "Christian" churches where did it come from if not from Jesus?  That's right, our old enemy the enemy!  Satan goes about seeking whomever he can devour.  Is that you?  If you are trying to be like Jesus you are a threat and will feel the sting of his attacks.  If you are not trying to be like Jesus you are not a threat and he moves on to others who are effective Christians.  The church has fallen and embraced, as Hal Lindsay says, "doctrines of demons."  Harsh words but true words none the less.  Where do these church rules come from and to whom do they benefit?  Are they meant to proclaim the Gospel or the gospel of that particular church?  Same goes for us.  Do we proclaim Jesus or do we proclaim our version of Jesus.  Do we water down the Gospel and the work of Christ or do we embrace it in it's fullness?  People do care what you represent in what you think, say and do.  Satan does as well.  Are you a threat to his domain, this world?
     I'm a hypocrite and know that I'll be a hypocrite every day of my life to either a tiny degree or a major degree.  It's called my sinful nature.  I'm unable to be totally free from sin because of my imperfection.  You are no different.  The Bible says that "ALL have fallen short of the glory of God." That is no excuse for stopping the sanctification process.  What if you were totally transparent to others with your life?  Does that scare you?  What's the power behind your secrets?  Fear of the rejection of man is greater than the fear of God in so many of us.  God wants us to know that we are loved, accepted and approved just as we are.  This is from God who knew us before the foundation of the world.  He knew yesterday, he knows today, and he knows tomorrow.  The Bible tells us that we can approach the throne of God with confidence that we have a loving Father there waiting for us, his children, to return home.  Which do you want?  Do you want to keep your secrets and fear of exposure?  Do you want the love acceptance and approval of a loving Savior?  It's always your choice.

Never judge what you don't understand.

     Lutefisk, haggis, and a few other foods like them come to mind when I first penned that line.  Actually I stole the line.  It was to good to pass up!  Anyway, until I tasted these delicacies I didn't like them mainly from the description others gave me.  Anchovies included.  Then there is escargot.  Eating snails?  Yep, I've tried those as well.  From my point of view I can render an opinion on all of them because I tried them.  Now that logic doesn't apply to sin.  You don't have to try sin in order to determine whether it's good or not.  There is an innate understanding in our moral fiber that determines right from wrong.  When we contemplate judging what we don't understand we need to understand that there are different definitions of what judging actually is.  Judging can be condemning, evaluating, or even discernment.  The food mentioned about is not for the weak hearted.  I don't condemn the foods or those who eat them.  I have evaluated them and discerned that they are good.  Did I mention kimchee?  You see how it works.  We have the obligation to discern and evaluate.  We don't have the right to condemn. 
     I've been diagnosed with a condition called undifferentiated spondyloarthritis combined with chronic pain.  I don't expect you to have a medical or lay understanding of the condition.  I don't expect you to go and look it up and try to understand the condition.  I do expect you to not judge what and how my body reacts to that condition.  The same goes for many of the mental disorders/illnesses and even to the degree of where you and I are in the process of sanctification.  That's the big word for becoming more like Jesus.  We can evaluate only when we have knowledge or insight or it has happened to us.  We can discern only when we have knowledge or insight or it has happened to us.  We can not judge others because it's God's sole right to judge.   We can judge that which is before us.  Should we do so we would do well to judge ourselves and our lives before we do so with others.  It's our obligation to tell other Christians that what they are doing is sin.  Yes, we can see that so and so is stealing from the neighbors.  Yes, we know it's wrong.  Yes, we can tell so and so to stop.  Yes we can do this because we have evaluated, discerned and determined by judging that this is wrong.  We also have the obligation to restore those who have fallen in sin (all of us) with grace that God has given us.  Many forget where they came from and what they have done when judging others or others problems. 
     We can pretend that we are not judging.  However, pretending won't clear up the issues and deliver us from a spirit of condemnation.  We are condemned from birth because we are born sinful.  All of us.  So, we don't have the right to point to someone and say they are sinning because we are as well.  We do have the obligation to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ to understand the Scripture, return to fellowship and to repentance from the wrong they are doing.  Not everyone who says Lord Lord is saved.  Don't fall into the trap.  If you have anything unconfessed you are in no position to tell someone else to confess and get right with God.  Get right with God first, engage his mercy and grace and then offer that mercy and grace to others.  Leave the judging to God.  The Holy Spirit is given so that we can rightly discern between right and wrong and what to do.  The Son is given so that we have grace and forgiveness when we ask.  The Father is there to hear our pleas and to be with us through every day of our lives.  If we are concentrating on our relationship with God we won't have the time or inclination to bud into others lives and condemn.  Self examination will keep all of us busy for the rest of our earthly lives.  Go ahead and discern and evaluate.  Leave the judging to God.

The Christian and being miserable.

     Jeremiah was about 13 when God called him to be a prophet.  God told him that he shouldn't have possessions, a wife and a family because his life's mission and messages would render his life miserable.  I don't know about you but at the age of 13 I wasn't even contemplating any of those issues.  Can you imagine telling a 13 year old today that message?  Mary was probably close to 15 when she was engaged to be married.  Not unusual for that day.  The Lord told her that she was with child (pregnant) and that she would give birth to the Savior of the world.  No pressure here.  But how to tell your man that you are pregnant but haven't slept with anyone and have him believe it.  What a miserable set of circumstances!  Then to see Jesus launch into his mission with eventual death on a cross at 33.  I'd be miserable too.  John was an evangelist through and through.  After Jesus was resurrected he went on to preach and was arrested.  They tried to kill him by boiling him in oil.  When that didn't work they sent him to the island of Patmos where he lived out his life in solitary...except for the Lord who gave him the book of Revelation.  Imagine seeing the end of humanity and the new world and not being able to preach any of it to the lost.  John was filled with the joy of Jesus but also had misery. 
     I've been miserable many times.  Most of the time it's because of my own doing.  We create our circumstances by doing something or not doing something, saying something or not saying something.  It's what we do.  We seem to do this the most when we aren't listening to God.  But then look at the above examples of people who were listening to God.  Why is it that the Christian has misery?  Apart from the world the Christian has no misery.  Misery is something the world has plenty of for everyone.  It's because of our being fallen men and women who don't focus on God.  Think about it.  If we are a new creation and the old has passed away; then that which we are miserable about is also passed away.  BUT you and I take that box of misery like a box of chocolates and stash it in our suitcase for the journey.  You never know when a dose of misery may be needed!  What would your life look like if you had no misery?  Would you take for granted people, places and things?  Would you take for granted your health, wealth and happiness?  Maybe misery is there to be a reminder to us of that which we have been blessed with.
     Jeremiah had all his needs met by God who sustained him through his long and contentious life.  He prophesied captivity and destruction for Israel all of his life.  Mary and Joseph had their needs met as well despite the whispering of the community.  They provided God a place to come to mankind to save and restore.  John provided important prophecy and insight into the end of time for all who want to know.  His prophecy spells out the negative and the positive God has in store for those who love him and those who despise him.  The misery in the lives of these people (and many more) serve as a lesson that out of our misery can come and should come the blessings of God not to us, but to those around us.  How we handle misery is a testimony to the grace of God that lives within us.  Paul says that he has the peace of God which passes all understanding.  He had lots of misery but counted it all as joy pouring out his life for the Savior he loved so much.  Misery doesn't mean we have failed.  Misery doesn't mean we are less than.  Misery doesn't tell us to give up.  Misery is a means to reflect on what is good, what is positive and what we have as blessing.  Those blessings then can be transferred to others who are watching you and I.
     I still don't like misery.  I don't really think anyone does.  Yet, Jesus was arrested, beaten beyond recognition, made to carry his cross and then was nailed to a cross to die.  He endured the cross and everything involved with that cross for you and I.  So that we could understand that misery can have positive in and around our lives.  I challenge you to look at your misery from open eyes as to what God is and wants to do in your life.  It's your choice.

For the Christian who is depressed and anxious.

     Billy Graham said that when he gets overwhelmed and or depressed he goes to the cross and prays the burdens on his heart.  If Billy Graham can get depressed, then so can you and I.  If Billy Graham can be up front and honest with this, then so can you and I.  If we as Christians would first of all honestly address our depression and anxiety we could then address the problem.  Problem is we don't talk about it.  We don't mention it.  We don't ask for prayer for it.  Why not?  Fear.  Fear of rejection, accusations of not having enough faith, suggestions of unaddressed sins, and many other things we come up with out of our fear.  When is the last time that you stood up in church when the pastor asked if anyone needed prayer and said, "I need prayer for my depression and anxiety.  I'm at the point of suicide."  Knowing that few if any have actually done such a brave thing, I want to tell you that I fight with depression and anxiety daily.  People don't understand the depression and anxiety.  Nor do they want to.  If you hear what is really going on there is an inclusion of your action to pray, counsel, or just be with that person.  It might interrupt the game you were going to watch on TV. 
     There are many different levels of depression.  First there is dysthymia where a person has a low grade depression all the time.  They have lived with it for a long time usually and this is their "normal".  They generally don't ask for help much less admit something is wrong.  The next distinction is cyclothymic depression.  As it's name indicates, the depression cycles in and out of your life.  The cycling can be rapid or seldom and is not always noticeable in a person's life.  The cycling can be shallow depression to deep depression.  People sometimes say they feel like they have dropped into a hole.  Bipolar depression has two components.  First there is the cycle we have already talked about.  Added to this designation are times when you feel "high" able to function above the crowd, and are convinced that you don't have a problem at all.  Many of these cycles of highs and lows are on the level where daily functioning is still capable.  The deeper the depression, the less functioning takes place.  The cycles can also be short or long.  The longer the depression goes untreated the longer the residing in that cycle gets.  Borderline personality disorder has a component of self harm where feelings are so extreme that extreme measures are taken to "feel".  People with borderline personality disorder self harm in many different ways.  This depression is very debilitating.  Major depressive disorder is a very serious level of depression that is most often very debilitating.  People who drop into this depression are more often than not seriously depressed and have a difficult time functioning.  These are very simplified descriptions of the different types of depression.  Anxiety follows in many of the depressions listed.  You know someone or you are someone who has one of these problems in your life.  And you are a Christian.  How do we reconcile that?
     The expectation is that Christians are happy go lucky people who have given all their cares and concerns to Jesus.  Nothing can happen to burst that bubble and heaven forbid you or I say something that might actually render us human and in need of help.  Expectations of "giving it to Jesus" are frequently spoken along with the "just get over it" from the church and the world.  People challenge your faith and accuse you of having inferior or insufficient faith.  After all, if you believe that God can do all things why are you depressed and anxious?  We are the only army in the world that abandons our wounded.  Have a problem, the church doesn't want to hear it.  That's not a rule for some churches and some Christians.  My experience with my own depression and others depression leads me to state the truth.  The truth is there is an attitude that we shouldn't have problems if we are Christians and truly have the faith that comes with our faith in God. 
     Hats off the those, like Billy Graham, who have told the truth and are no less human than before we knew.  Hats off to those who seek help.  Hats off to those who recognize a problem and offer help in any of a number of forms.  Hats off to those who honestly understand we are not perfect but are perfectly safe to include in a fellowship.  Hats off to all the believers who are praying for those afflicted in many different ways.  Hats off to the pastors who understand and are merciful and considerate with who they are preaching to and who they are preaching for.  Sometimes we do not see the deliverance we seek.  It's not because of sin necessarily, though it might be.  More often we are in a situation for the glory of God.  I don't like that and neither do the many Christians I've talked with and ministered to.  Hats off to those afflicted who have kept moving down the tough road that's before them.  Hats off to medicine and counseling by COMPETENT people who see us as humans being first and foremost.  Hats off to those who can help us see outside of the hole.  There are Christians all around you who are depressed and anxious.  What are you going to do?