Less you think I am perfect or that everything goes as planned:
Now I am not at my sharpest any longer.
If I ever was.
Though I am told I am still formidable in a question of logic and reason.
I think I am dumber than a stump these days.
But .....
This week's study was done along an intuitive line of reasoning.
Usually with reasonable results.
This week, not so much.
We were looking at John 2:4 .....
It is the story of Jesus' first miracle.
I expected a discussion perhaps as to why were they in Cana in the first place.
Maybe something on the presumption of Mary.
But no ....... It was the water pots!!!!!!
One person commented that the water was the entire point.
Another that the jugs were really wash basins.
etc
etc
ETC!
By the time they were done,
They had completely lost the point of the story:
Jesus was obedient to his mother.
As any good Jewish son would be.
They spiritualized the water, the jugs, the wine, the bride-groom.
Nothing was left in the story of God, Jesus or tradition.
I was thunder struck.
Even with a partial brain, it was obvious, at least to me.
But I held my tongue.
I am now slow to speak.
For I truly lack any knowledge anylonger.
Sigh ...
So the meeting ended in a stalemate.
Only frustration and confusion.
And I sat there stunned.
How could something so simple be so easily missed?
How could a knowledgible group be so mislead?
It is like a veil lay over their eyes ......
What does the future hold?
I really do wonder.
And pray with trembling this not a sign of the future ......
Showing posts with label Doctrine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doctrine. Show all posts
September 27, 2018
May 1, 2018
Grace
One of those touchy topics where you would be darn tested to find in the Bible, and yet it is a valid doctrine.
So, no direct references to talk from.
Read Genesis 1
What Is It?
"God's Riches At Christ's Expense"
But this limits Grace to the cross only!
"Undeserved love (goodness, kindness, forgiveness, etc)
"Love when you are unlovable."
"One way love - you have nothing to offer in return."
There are no demands made upon you to do anything for it.
Offered to everyone, no matter their/yours/my sin!
Where is it found?
The proof of Grace is found throughout the Bible.
In the characters of the greats of the Bible.
We find it in stories, not in doctrine.
Think of Samson, David, Paul, Peter, etc!
All were just like you and me.
All failed.
All were given Grace.
None of them deserved it.
Seen In A Garden
Creation left us with variety.
Not for God's pleasure, but ours.
We were given control of, not for destruction, but to enjoy.
All of life can be viewed as a gift of God.
And Grace makes religion compassionate!
So, no direct references to talk from.
Read Genesis 1
What Is It?
"God's Riches At Christ's Expense"
But this limits Grace to the cross only!
"Undeserved love (goodness, kindness, forgiveness, etc)
"Love when you are unlovable."
"One way love - you have nothing to offer in return."
There are no demands made upon you to do anything for it.
Offered to everyone, no matter their/yours/my sin!
Where is it found?
The proof of Grace is found throughout the Bible.
In the characters of the greats of the Bible.
We find it in stories, not in doctrine.
Think of Samson, David, Paul, Peter, etc!
All were just like you and me.
All failed.
All were given Grace.
None of them deserved it.
Seen In A Garden
Creation left us with variety.
Not for God's pleasure, but ours.
We were given control of, not for destruction, but to enjoy.
All of life can be viewed as a gift of God.
And Grace makes religion compassionate!
April 19, 2018
Free To Live
I wrote this across many days and tears last month.
I might live,
I might not.
No way to predict,
Only it will be way sooner than i expected ...
Galatians 5:1-6
We are free to live,
In the Kingdom of God,
Only if we remember to:
Stand Free
We are intended for FREEDOM,
Not slavery to the Law of Moses.
Freedom does not lead to lawlessness.
Your are NOT a slave,
Yet you are a voluntary slave!
His yoke (teaching) gives rest to our soul.
Teaching brings life!
Trust Grace
Faith vs Rule Keeping
Frees us - Rules bind us
Faith is to live as if something is so.
To fall from grace is to fall into legalism.
We want a checklist - God wants more than the list from us
Life by grace is to depend on God for all things.
Life Without Lack
Only God can offer us hope.
Think of Psalm 23.
Follow close to the shepherd.
Trust God, it is your choice, and He will not force to!
It is our hope - we are assured of the Holy Spirit.
- we bget to live with Him in His righteousness.
We must respond to His Word/Message.
Consider reading the whole of John's Gospel and his Letters as well ........
I might live,
I might not.
No way to predict,
Only it will be way sooner than i expected ...
Galatians 5:1-6
We are free to live,
In the Kingdom of God,
Only if we remember to:
Stand Free
We are intended for FREEDOM,
Not slavery to the Law of Moses.
Freedom does not lead to lawlessness.
Your are NOT a slave,
Yet you are a voluntary slave!
His yoke (teaching) gives rest to our soul.
Teaching brings life!
Trust Grace
Faith vs Rule Keeping
Frees us - Rules bind us
Faith is to live as if something is so.
To fall from grace is to fall into legalism.
We want a checklist - God wants more than the list from us
Life by grace is to depend on God for all things.
Life Without Lack
Only God can offer us hope.
Think of Psalm 23.
Follow close to the shepherd.
Trust God, it is your choice, and He will not force to!
It is our hope - we are assured of the Holy Spirit.
- we bget to live with Him in His righteousness.
We must respond to His Word/Message.
Consider reading the whole of John's Gospel and his Letters as well ........
December 27, 2017
Service
Notes from thinking on how we should be living our lives and as to what value any of this is ...
John 13:1-17
Acts 2:2-47
1Corinthians 12:12-20
Serving Was Jesus' Mission
Jesus served by example.
Serving the absolute lowest in society.
Serving Was The Early Church's Mission
Service as a lifestyle witness.
Serving freely brought the curious.
Serving set the Christians apart from the world!
Serving At The Heart of the Church Today
Service must be!
No one is useless.
No one is without value in Jesus' Church.
Service Must Be At Our Heart
We are here to service, to help, as a witness for Jesus.
It turned the 2nd century Roman people to wonder.
It showed there was truth behind Christian claims.
It brought the Roman Empire to its knees.
John 13:1-17
Acts 2:2-47
1Corinthians 12:12-20
Serving Was Jesus' Mission
Jesus served by example.
Serving the absolute lowest in society.
Serving Was The Early Church's Mission
Service as a lifestyle witness.
Serving freely brought the curious.
Serving set the Christians apart from the world!
Serving At The Heart of the Church Today
Service must be!
No one is useless.
No one is without value in Jesus' Church.
Service Must Be At Our Heart
We are here to service, to help, as a witness for Jesus.
It turned the 2nd century Roman people to wonder.
It showed there was truth behind Christian claims.
It brought the Roman Empire to its knees.
February 13, 2017
Two Kingdoms
As I mentioned, I had an epiphany of sorts last week. I have struggled for years with what has been my greatest failure in life. I have even been able to find the flaw in me which allowed failure to exist - a pragmatic upbringing, a pragmatic discipleship, a pragmatic Church. Even though I have suspected for decades that pragmatism is the road to Hell - I had nothing to work with in my mind on this topic.
For as long as I have been a Christian, I have found the conflicting dual nature of Christianity to be both frustrating and confusing. My mentors both in and out of the Hutterite group I was associated with had nothing to offer as to how to answer the question. Their ultimate answer was Pragmatism. But, there was an answer that the once Christian church of the West went with in my lifetime - and I was appalled but I could not say why. I could see the symptoms - I just had no idea as to why the church had gone sideways so far, so fast.
And you even know almost everything I am going to say but the perspective may not be the same ...
Kingdom of the World
It is where we live.
You work a job.
You manage your resources (hopefully wisely).
You establish your family.
You do what we all do on a daily basis.
God's Kingdom
It is a place where we live - only we do not live like it!
Everything in this physical existence is only temporary.
What has any value is what God defines.
So two conflicting views: one from a physical world perspective and the other from God's. But, only one is valid. No, the World is not the answer, nor does it offer any eternal answers. Sorry 20th century theology, which sold our God for the pleasures of this world, got it wrong.
How are we reconcile this?
It involves your choices.
If you what you choose is for yourself - you are choosing the World.
If your choice serves others - you maybe choosing God.
If your goal is to advance yourself in this world, you have your answer.
If your goal is to advance yourself in the eyes of others, you still fail.
If money, sex, power, etc are the goal, you fail again.
If building that all important nest egg is the goal, you fail as well.
There is nothing you can do in this world which will bring you success in God's Kingdom.
Like many, I thought - "If I could be best man I can be, The best friend I can be, The best brother, The best son, The best youth teacher, The best computer nerd for my clients ....." - I will have achieved what is needed to please and prepare for what God has next for me ..... And I worked very hard to be the best ... at everything. Of course that is a recipe for failure, and failure frustrates me - sigh ...
And I am very trusting. I am easy to lie to because I will trust those whom appear to be truthful - and - I have found this nature to be my biggest stumbling stone! And, I hate failure ...
I have always desired to serve God and God alone. Somewhere in there I became too concerned about the World and its values and its systems. So where should my eyes have been?
Certainly God does not need the world's best computer nerd, though He certainly gave me my abilities (and rewarded with me patents!). God does perhaps want me to be the best at interpersonal skills and dealing with others, because His Kingdom is about others, not me.
In fact, there is very little you can do in this life which is going to be of any eternal value - with the sole exception of investing your time and resources in others. Everything else you do, every other choice is part of the wasted resources God has given you - to be held against you!
Well, working in 15 minute spurts, it has taken three days to type this! And now, I really must sleep .......
For as long as I have been a Christian, I have found the conflicting dual nature of Christianity to be both frustrating and confusing. My mentors both in and out of the Hutterite group I was associated with had nothing to offer as to how to answer the question. Their ultimate answer was Pragmatism. But, there was an answer that the once Christian church of the West went with in my lifetime - and I was appalled but I could not say why. I could see the symptoms - I just had no idea as to why the church had gone sideways so far, so fast.
And you even know almost everything I am going to say but the perspective may not be the same ...
Kingdom of the World
It is where we live.
You work a job.
You manage your resources (hopefully wisely).
You establish your family.
You do what we all do on a daily basis.
God's Kingdom
It is a place where we live - only we do not live like it!
Everything in this physical existence is only temporary.
What has any value is what God defines.
So two conflicting views: one from a physical world perspective and the other from God's. But, only one is valid. No, the World is not the answer, nor does it offer any eternal answers. Sorry 20th century theology, which sold our God for the pleasures of this world, got it wrong.
How are we reconcile this?
It involves your choices.
If you what you choose is for yourself - you are choosing the World.
If your choice serves others - you maybe choosing God.
If your goal is to advance yourself in this world, you have your answer.
If your goal is to advance yourself in the eyes of others, you still fail.
If money, sex, power, etc are the goal, you fail again.
If building that all important nest egg is the goal, you fail as well.
There is nothing you can do in this world which will bring you success in God's Kingdom.
Like many, I thought - "If I could be best man I can be, The best friend I can be, The best brother, The best son, The best youth teacher, The best computer nerd for my clients ....." - I will have achieved what is needed to please and prepare for what God has next for me ..... And I worked very hard to be the best ... at everything. Of course that is a recipe for failure, and failure frustrates me - sigh ...
And I am very trusting. I am easy to lie to because I will trust those whom appear to be truthful - and - I have found this nature to be my biggest stumbling stone! And, I hate failure ...
I have always desired to serve God and God alone. Somewhere in there I became too concerned about the World and its values and its systems. So where should my eyes have been?
Certainly God does not need the world's best computer nerd, though He certainly gave me my abilities (and rewarded with me patents!). God does perhaps want me to be the best at interpersonal skills and dealing with others, because His Kingdom is about others, not me.
In fact, there is very little you can do in this life which is going to be of any eternal value - with the sole exception of investing your time and resources in others. Everything else you do, every other choice is part of the wasted resources God has given you - to be held against you!
Well, working in 15 minute spurts, it has taken three days to type this! And now, I really must sleep .......
September 22, 2016
Expectations
So, I am working Mark 15, we did the first 15 verses yesterday - three groups we each fall into, and I thought ... how do I quantify the rest of the chapter?
It all revolves around expectations.
A very sore point with me. You hope for the best, work towards the best and yet you get trashed constantly, completely misunderstood, attacked without ceasing ... there is no rest. There is expectation which will ever be found or met. There is no reason to ever have an expectation, must less hope ....
And expectation is what I have to post about if I am to keep working my way through Bible books ... But, as a Christian, I can have some expectations which will come to fruition.
Expect People to Mock God, Jesus & You
People are cruel (yeah, tell me about it!).
People spit, mocked, and derided Jesus.
They will do similar to you!
One of the oldest non-Biblical references we have to Jesus:
The drawing of a man with a donkey head and ears, with the statement: "Worship your God".
Expect The Unexpected
You will be on the receiving end of the unexpected.
It looks like life is finally presenting itself at your feet - nope.
It looks like you can trust friends and family - nope.
Life should be, but - nope, is not.
But, that can include unexpected opportunities for service!
By placing your trust only in God, it will matter not what others do to you.
By allowing yourself to be available to be used by Him, others can not use you.
Free to answer whatever the call from Him.
Free to impact other's lives.
Expect The Cross To Always Be The Key!
No Cross equals no Gospel ...
No Gospel, then it is all about you - doing all for you - nothing for God!
And though reward may await you, do not expect it .....
(sometime we can talk about that!)
It all revolves around expectations.
A very sore point with me. You hope for the best, work towards the best and yet you get trashed constantly, completely misunderstood, attacked without ceasing ... there is no rest. There is expectation which will ever be found or met. There is no reason to ever have an expectation, must less hope ....
And expectation is what I have to post about if I am to keep working my way through Bible books ... But, as a Christian, I can have some expectations which will come to fruition.
Expect People to Mock God, Jesus & You
People are cruel (yeah, tell me about it!).
People spit, mocked, and derided Jesus.
They will do similar to you!
One of the oldest non-Biblical references we have to Jesus:
The drawing of a man with a donkey head and ears, with the statement: "Worship your God".
Expect The Unexpected
You will be on the receiving end of the unexpected.
It looks like life is finally presenting itself at your feet - nope.
It looks like you can trust friends and family - nope.
Life should be, but - nope, is not.
But, that can include unexpected opportunities for service!
By placing your trust only in God, it will matter not what others do to you.
By allowing yourself to be available to be used by Him, others can not use you.
Free to answer whatever the call from Him.
Free to impact other's lives.
Expect The Cross To Always Be The Key!
No Cross equals no Gospel ...
No Gospel, then it is all about you - doing all for you - nothing for God!
And though reward may await you, do not expect it .....
(sometime we can talk about that!)
January 20, 2016
Getting Passed Your Past
If you are looking for the ultimate in psychology to help you get passed the mess you have made of your life - sorry, that wisdom can only be found on your knees in prayer.
If you are looking for the wisdom of Soloman - sorry, that is long gone but the Holy Spirit can help you with wisdom - if you ask for it in prayer to God.
If you are looking to be get past being held accountable for your actions - sorry, God holds you accountable. It is called justice. Except, He will cover your sins but not the cost of them. :(
So what is holding you back from stepping forward in your life?
Finances? Lifestyle? People you associate with? Poor past decisions? Sin? Selfishness? Pride? Anger? Self control issues? Sigh ... LIFE!!!!!!!!
Mark 9:43-48
Take Inventory of Your Life
You know what leads you to sin.
So control that path as best you can!
Your hand is what you can do
Your leg is where you go
Your eyes is what you see (stare at).
Guard your heart - your desires and your will.
Friends build you up, all others tear you down.
What is rotten in your life and can/will/has take(n) you down.
Radically Remove What Is In Your Way
It is not literal that you should chop off your hand, your leg or pluck out your eye!
It was understood that you would rather stop your activities than to lose body parts!
It is all in your mind, not your members!
Mind over your life, not the other way around.
Walking your faith is hard.
Discipleship is hard.
Going only where you should is hard.
(Places, Books, Internet)
Fully Consider The Consequences
All of the easy/fun/ crowded roads lead to Hell (eternal death)
The path to God avoids Hell
Hell - Gehenna (the place of the burning).
Where children were sacrificed.
Where the garbage was thrown.
The place of eternal fire.
Decay and Destruction.
So, what does all this give us?
That to reach God:
It will take real effort on your part
It is possible
It will take God's help
It will not be the way of the world or with the crowd
It will not be the "fun" way
It will require you to act
To be cautious
To be considerate in our prayer and associations
To understand that His ways are not our own
To walk a lonely road
.... and rejoice when we find others on that road with us ...
If you are looking for the wisdom of Soloman - sorry, that is long gone but the Holy Spirit can help you with wisdom - if you ask for it in prayer to God.
If you are looking to be get past being held accountable for your actions - sorry, God holds you accountable. It is called justice. Except, He will cover your sins but not the cost of them. :(
So what is holding you back from stepping forward in your life?
Finances? Lifestyle? People you associate with? Poor past decisions? Sin? Selfishness? Pride? Anger? Self control issues? Sigh ... LIFE!!!!!!!!
Mark 9:43-48
Take Inventory of Your Life
You know what leads you to sin.
So control that path as best you can!
Your hand is what you can do
Your leg is where you go
Your eyes is what you see (stare at).
Guard your heart - your desires and your will.
Friends build you up, all others tear you down.
What is rotten in your life and can/will/has take(n) you down.
Radically Remove What Is In Your Way
It is not literal that you should chop off your hand, your leg or pluck out your eye!
It was understood that you would rather stop your activities than to lose body parts!
It is all in your mind, not your members!
Mind over your life, not the other way around.
Walking your faith is hard.
Discipleship is hard.
Going only where you should is hard.
(Places, Books, Internet)
Fully Consider The Consequences
All of the easy/fun/ crowded roads lead to Hell (eternal death)
The path to God avoids Hell
Hell - Gehenna (the place of the burning).
Where children were sacrificed.
Where the garbage was thrown.
The place of eternal fire.
Decay and Destruction.
So, what does all this give us?
That to reach God:
It will take real effort on your part
It is possible
It will take God's help
It will not be the way of the world or with the crowd
It will not be the "fun" way
It will require you to act
To be cautious
To be considerate in our prayer and associations
To understand that His ways are not our own
To walk a lonely road
.... and rejoice when we find others on that road with us ...
January 4, 2016
Religionless
I finished my reading of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's, Letters From Prison. I marked a few pages to go back to and think about after I was done. Terms we have today in Theology really were not in wide usage in the 1940's - much less to a German in a prison awaiting death.
Religionless is one of those terms. Bonhoeffer had seen during the war, the falling away of a people rich in Christian tradition and he had no way to describe the status of this new people other than religionless. From April 30, 1944:
" ... What is bothering me incessantly is the question what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today. The time when people could be told everything by means of words, whether theological or pious, is over, and so is the time of inwardness and conscience - and that means the time of religion in general. We are moving towards a completely religionless time; people as they are now simply cannot be religious any more. Even those who honestly describe themselves as "religious" do not in the least act up to it, and so they presumably mean something quite different by "religious".
.....
Are there religionless Christians? If religion is on a garment of Christianity - and even this garment has looked very different at different times - then what is a religionless Christianity? ... "
Of course, the issue Bonhoeffer had stumbled across was that society and culture was turning away from God and becoming atheistic. A thought which would have confounded him mightily. His beloved German had indeed turned from God. Well rot starts at the top and the National Church (Lutheran), as well as, the Catholic priesthood had openly accepted National Socialism and the powers that be were more than happy to have lots of photographs taken showing the church leaders all in stiff arm salutes to Hitler.
How would you have reacted? Your pastor, priest, bishop - what have you, is openly accepting evil in the open. Your faith is weak because the National Church has no requirement that you have any faith in God what so ever. Yeah, you are going to abandon that faith and stay home from now on - you become religionless aka an atheist.
Bonhoeffer's predecessor at the head of the Church, Karl Barth, had noticed this falling away as well, but had no solution. The people had fallen into secularism, they needed to be called back into the congregations ... but ... outside of saying they needed to be restored, there was no wisdom passed on.
Today, we see this problem clearly. We understand that it is the Holy Spirit's responsibility to call people as well as call them back in the event they fall. But just as in Bonhoeffer's day, we see that "faithful" using God as nothing more than the impersonal "deus ex machina" - the problem solver to save our bacon when we go astray, foul up, we have no other options to fix the problem ...
Of course, God is the best problem solver, He is even better at helping you avoid those problems in the first place as well - but that requires a personal relationship with Him, not a superficial one! And well, mankind anymore seems to think a superficial relationship is just fine. God exists to serve man and his desires.
So, it seems that the ultimate end to the problem Barth and Bonhoeffer saw 70 years ago is not a drawing back of the believer but rather paganism. We now create gods to be what we want, that serve us, deride those whom are not willing to do so and go our merry way - ignore those whom care about us and desire to turn us back to the one true God.
Yeah, my reading of Bonhoeffer this time really cleared up the very same questions for me as well - only this time I could see the parallel as well as the ultimate goal Evil has brought mankind to. And I will address this next month ... lots more thinking to do!
Religionless is one of those terms. Bonhoeffer had seen during the war, the falling away of a people rich in Christian tradition and he had no way to describe the status of this new people other than religionless. From April 30, 1944:
" ... What is bothering me incessantly is the question what Christianity really is, or indeed who Christ really is, for us today. The time when people could be told everything by means of words, whether theological or pious, is over, and so is the time of inwardness and conscience - and that means the time of religion in general. We are moving towards a completely religionless time; people as they are now simply cannot be religious any more. Even those who honestly describe themselves as "religious" do not in the least act up to it, and so they presumably mean something quite different by "religious".
.....
Are there religionless Christians? If religion is on a garment of Christianity - and even this garment has looked very different at different times - then what is a religionless Christianity? ... "
Of course, the issue Bonhoeffer had stumbled across was that society and culture was turning away from God and becoming atheistic. A thought which would have confounded him mightily. His beloved German had indeed turned from God. Well rot starts at the top and the National Church (Lutheran), as well as, the Catholic priesthood had openly accepted National Socialism and the powers that be were more than happy to have lots of photographs taken showing the church leaders all in stiff arm salutes to Hitler.
How would you have reacted? Your pastor, priest, bishop - what have you, is openly accepting evil in the open. Your faith is weak because the National Church has no requirement that you have any faith in God what so ever. Yeah, you are going to abandon that faith and stay home from now on - you become religionless aka an atheist.
Bonhoeffer's predecessor at the head of the Church, Karl Barth, had noticed this falling away as well, but had no solution. The people had fallen into secularism, they needed to be called back into the congregations ... but ... outside of saying they needed to be restored, there was no wisdom passed on.
Today, we see this problem clearly. We understand that it is the Holy Spirit's responsibility to call people as well as call them back in the event they fall. But just as in Bonhoeffer's day, we see that "faithful" using God as nothing more than the impersonal "deus ex machina" - the problem solver to save our bacon when we go astray, foul up, we have no other options to fix the problem ...
Of course, God is the best problem solver, He is even better at helping you avoid those problems in the first place as well - but that requires a personal relationship with Him, not a superficial one! And well, mankind anymore seems to think a superficial relationship is just fine. God exists to serve man and his desires.
So, it seems that the ultimate end to the problem Barth and Bonhoeffer saw 70 years ago is not a drawing back of the believer but rather paganism. We now create gods to be what we want, that serve us, deride those whom are not willing to do so and go our merry way - ignore those whom care about us and desire to turn us back to the one true God.
Yeah, my reading of Bonhoeffer this time really cleared up the very same questions for me as well - only this time I could see the parallel as well as the ultimate goal Evil has brought mankind to. And I will address this next month ... lots more thinking to do!
December 30, 2015
No Easy Choices
Friday I watched a show on ABC, called 20/20, usually I ignore ABC, never have been impressed with 20/20 and certainly anything to do with ISIS is an utter turnoff - I know what affect that subject will have on me - and I already crippled Islamic expansionism out of Yugoslavia once. Conversely, I also crippled the Slavic Army's attempts to mass murder Muslims in Bosnia. Hey, am at my core still a Hutterite - I hate war and murder!
But, the program seemed to be about refugees in Iraq, so it might be interesting ...
Link to the program: http://abc.go.com/shows/2020/listing/2015-12/18-2020-121815-escaping-isis
If you are not on a system which allows you to view past programming, you can get the idea via numerous sources here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=escaping+isis
You really do want to get the idea before you read further: Rape and murder of women and children, execution for all adult males.
As I mentioned yesterday, I have been rereading my Bonhoeffer. He wrote two noteworthy books: "Cost of Discipleship" and "Letters From Prison". In Cost of Discipleship, he takes a hard look at the cheap grace being sold to the masses through religion and calls for faithful followers of Christ to realize that being a Disciple of Christ comes with a Cost - a very personal and steep cost. End result however was isolation of the believers and empty piety - the very things he was hammering the Lutheran Church about! Book backfired because the laity did not understand how to transform from a dead church into a living belief.
His collection of letters from prison make up the second book and you can follow his thoughts across time as he at first believes he is going to be set free shortly, to realizing that he hosed up badly and the gallows awaits him. Yesterday's quote from him came from the point of realizing he was being held responsible by God.
And so, I watched the Escape From Isis, on ABC. The story of a refugee camp in northern Iraq of families whose town was run over by Isis. A Christian town utterly destroyed. Christians running for their lives - literally! Of Christians asking the hard questions: "Why" and "What now?". Ten thousand of them, trying to live their faith in the absence of everything!
Bonhoeffer saw the disappearance of the Jews, he had to have heard the rumors of the camps. And he did nothing. He saw the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and never muttered a word in public - although in private he did equate Hitler to Satan incarnate. And that belief, that Hitler really was Satan, led him down a path of becoming involved in the attempt on Hitler's life! And a corresponding death sentence for himself and all of the other males in his family whom were involved in the plot.
Coincidental with Bonhoeffer's silence was the rise of the White Rose Group (Die Wiesse Rosen) in Munich. Kids whom saw the apostasy and lies - and published fliers telling the hard truth of National Socialism and the War on the Eastern Front - which also revealed the existence of the concentration camps. Bonhoeffer was to follow them to the gallows.
I contemplate the travails of the Iraqi Christians and the cost they are paying for their faith. Here at home - no one actually cares. "It does not affect me..." syndrome.
And we, as Christians, now stand at a crossroads - the decisions we make, the leadership we follow, will all have a telling effect upon our our Christianity and witness - or the lack thereof.
God never guaranteed to save any of us from persecution and martyrdom.
God never said life was going to be easy.
God did say He would meet our needs.
God did say all was to be to His glory.
We, like it or not, are to be of one body and we are currently represented by an apostate western church, unworthy of the price being paid in Iraq by those isolated Christian believers. The same could be said of believers in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Liberia, Yemen, Egypt, etc, etc, etc!
Get the point?
Christianity is under attack worldwide.
Evil has raised its head.
Now, what are you going to personally do about? Yes, your choice will be judged and you will be held responsible. To act is to draw that evil upon you and your loved ones. To not act will eventually cost the lives of you and your loved ones ...
And what did Dietrich Bonhoeffer think? Continued from yesterday's poem:
"Until thou wipe out our guilt,
Keep us in quiet patience.
"We will silently prepare ourselves,
Till thou dost call to new times.
"Until thou stillest storm and flood,
And thy will does wonders.
"Brother, till the night be past,
Pray for me!"
So, your move: stand for God and thwart evil or support evil through your disinterest ... And remember, to fight in God's world is to do so on bent knees - and He will move or He will tell you to.
But, the program seemed to be about refugees in Iraq, so it might be interesting ...
Link to the program: http://abc.go.com/shows/2020/listing/2015-12/18-2020-121815-escaping-isis
If you are not on a system which allows you to view past programming, you can get the idea via numerous sources here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=escaping+isis
You really do want to get the idea before you read further: Rape and murder of women and children, execution for all adult males.
... INTERMISSION ...
His collection of letters from prison make up the second book and you can follow his thoughts across time as he at first believes he is going to be set free shortly, to realizing that he hosed up badly and the gallows awaits him. Yesterday's quote from him came from the point of realizing he was being held responsible by God.
And so, I watched the Escape From Isis, on ABC. The story of a refugee camp in northern Iraq of families whose town was run over by Isis. A Christian town utterly destroyed. Christians running for their lives - literally! Of Christians asking the hard questions: "Why" and "What now?". Ten thousand of them, trying to live their faith in the absence of everything!
Bonhoeffer saw the disappearance of the Jews, he had to have heard the rumors of the camps. And he did nothing. He saw the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and never muttered a word in public - although in private he did equate Hitler to Satan incarnate. And that belief, that Hitler really was Satan, led him down a path of becoming involved in the attempt on Hitler's life! And a corresponding death sentence for himself and all of the other males in his family whom were involved in the plot.
Coincidental with Bonhoeffer's silence was the rise of the White Rose Group (Die Wiesse Rosen) in Munich. Kids whom saw the apostasy and lies - and published fliers telling the hard truth of National Socialism and the War on the Eastern Front - which also revealed the existence of the concentration camps. Bonhoeffer was to follow them to the gallows.
I contemplate the travails of the Iraqi Christians and the cost they are paying for their faith. Here at home - no one actually cares. "It does not affect me..." syndrome.
And we, as Christians, now stand at a crossroads - the decisions we make, the leadership we follow, will all have a telling effect upon our our Christianity and witness - or the lack thereof.
God never guaranteed to save any of us from persecution and martyrdom.
God never said life was going to be easy.
God did say He would meet our needs.
God did say all was to be to His glory.
We, like it or not, are to be of one body and we are currently represented by an apostate western church, unworthy of the price being paid in Iraq by those isolated Christian believers. The same could be said of believers in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Liberia, Yemen, Egypt, etc, etc, etc!
Get the point?
Christianity is under attack worldwide.
Evil has raised its head.
Now, what are you going to personally do about? Yes, your choice will be judged and you will be held responsible. To act is to draw that evil upon you and your loved ones. To not act will eventually cost the lives of you and your loved ones ...
And what did Dietrich Bonhoeffer think? Continued from yesterday's poem:
"Until thou wipe out our guilt,
Keep us in quiet patience.
"We will silently prepare ourselves,
Till thou dost call to new times.
"Until thou stillest storm and flood,
And thy will does wonders.
"Brother, till the night be past,
Pray for me!"
So, your move: stand for God and thwart evil or support evil through your disinterest ... And remember, to fight in God's world is to do so on bent knees - and He will move or He will tell you to.
December 2, 2015
Trump On Salvation
I have never cared for the 'Donald', just another ego maniac strutting his stuff in the public sector for the past 30 years that I have been aware of him. And honestly, I have little use for people whom do not know when to shut up on what they are ignorant of.
Take religion for an example. Now Trump has made many shadowy statements about Ben Carson, things people can point to and howl about - but he can brush off because - hey, he never said that. Indeed, he never did, he just alluded to whatever the fracas over.
His recent speech in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Trump pronounced Ben Carson’s story of conversion from violent troublemaker to Christian to be so much “crap.” “He goes into the bathroom for a couple of hours, and he comes out, and now he’s religious . . . . Give me a break. It doesn’t happen that way,” said Trump.
And here Trump shows his complete ignorance of true Christianity. In true Christianity this is but one of several ways one can find God. Not necessarily on the toilet, but isolated - thinking - wondering about this whole reality of a Creator - God - Savior. In history, it has often happened this way. On the road from Jerusalem to Damascus, a nasty character named Saul got whacked by God and became the utterly transformed Paul.
In A.D. 386 , Augustine heard a child’s voice chanting, “Take up and read,” opened a Bible randomly to Paul’s letter to the Romans, was convicted to the core and abandoned the life of a hard-partying pagan.
Around 1510, a monk named Martin Luther understood Paul’s letter in a new way — one version locates this revelation in the “cloaca,” or bathroom — and “felt I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.”
On May 24, 1738, John Wesley heard someone reading Luther’s Preface to the Epistle of Romans in a meeting on Aldersgate Street in London, and at 8:45 p.m. felt his “heart strangely warmed.” (as a side note I have to admit that Luther's work on the first seven chapters of Romans to be without equal.)
And in September 1973, a young man whom had been witnessing miracle after miracle for months, lay in bed and finally had to admit this whole God thing just might have something to it. And I prayed for God to prove it. No nothing happened. I slept soundly, I awoke refreshed, my fears were gone and I had peace for the first time in my life. So, pronounced was the change that I guessed He was real ... it also was apparent to many in my uncle's church. This troubled young man suddenly seemed far less troubled!
Yeah, Trump would like to be thought of as a progressive Christian, but unfortunately, that ain't necessarily so. Instead of giving Ben Carson black eyes, and himself some in the process, he would do better to get on his own knees and dump his heart out to God.
Take religion for an example. Now Trump has made many shadowy statements about Ben Carson, things people can point to and howl about - but he can brush off because - hey, he never said that. Indeed, he never did, he just alluded to whatever the fracas over.
His recent speech in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Trump pronounced Ben Carson’s story of conversion from violent troublemaker to Christian to be so much “crap.” “He goes into the bathroom for a couple of hours, and he comes out, and now he’s religious . . . . Give me a break. It doesn’t happen that way,” said Trump.
And here Trump shows his complete ignorance of true Christianity. In true Christianity this is but one of several ways one can find God. Not necessarily on the toilet, but isolated - thinking - wondering about this whole reality of a Creator - God - Savior. In history, it has often happened this way. On the road from Jerusalem to Damascus, a nasty character named Saul got whacked by God and became the utterly transformed Paul.
In A.D. 386 , Augustine heard a child’s voice chanting, “Take up and read,” opened a Bible randomly to Paul’s letter to the Romans, was convicted to the core and abandoned the life of a hard-partying pagan.
Around 1510, a monk named Martin Luther understood Paul’s letter in a new way — one version locates this revelation in the “cloaca,” or bathroom — and “felt I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.”
On May 24, 1738, John Wesley heard someone reading Luther’s Preface to the Epistle of Romans in a meeting on Aldersgate Street in London, and at 8:45 p.m. felt his “heart strangely warmed.” (as a side note I have to admit that Luther's work on the first seven chapters of Romans to be without equal.)
And in September 1973, a young man whom had been witnessing miracle after miracle for months, lay in bed and finally had to admit this whole God thing just might have something to it. And I prayed for God to prove it. No nothing happened. I slept soundly, I awoke refreshed, my fears were gone and I had peace for the first time in my life. So, pronounced was the change that I guessed He was real ... it also was apparent to many in my uncle's church. This troubled young man suddenly seemed far less troubled!
Yeah, Trump would like to be thought of as a progressive Christian, but unfortunately, that ain't necessarily so. Instead of giving Ben Carson black eyes, and himself some in the process, he would do better to get on his own knees and dump his heart out to God.
November 24, 2015
As The World Sees The Church
Just as all Islamic sects are lumped together as being "Islam", Christians of all tastes and varieties are also lumped together by the world as being Christian, when in fact there is nothing Christian about them or their activities.
So to this end was this interesting essay I read on the "Christian Church" and its goings on:
*****
How can a church whose officialdom is worldly and corrupt present Jesus to the world? Pope Francis thinks it cannot. He once told people at the morning Mass in his small chapel, “To be believable, the Church has to be poor.” He has spoken of personal revulsion at seeing a priest drive an expensive car. When he spoke of money as “the devil’s dung” (he was quoting a church father, Saint Basil), some took this as an attack on Western capitalism. But it was a more general message, part of his apology in Bolivia for the church’s role in colonialism. And when Francis looks around the Vatican, he finds the same devil-stench. In one of his earlier interviews as pope, he said, “The Curia is Vatican-centric. It sees and looks after the interests of the Vatican, which are still, for the most part, temporal interests.” He said to assembled Cardinals that some approach the Vatican as if it were a royal court, with all the marks of such courts — “intrigue, gossip, cliques, favoritism, and partiality.’’
That list of sins could be taken as a table of contents for the scandalous activities recorded in Gianluigi Nuzzi’s new book, “Merchants in the Temple,’’ a title taken from the Bible account of Jesus driving money lenders from the Temple court. Nuzzi is the journalist who received the “Vatileaks” from the papal butler, revealing the scheming and profiteering that occurred during Benedict XVI’s papacy. He demonstrates an equal access to secret documents and conversations in the papacy of Francis, which show a concerted resistance to papal efforts to make the Vatican bear at least some resemblance to Jesus, however remote.
The official church is wealthy and poor because it always overspends itself. It lives on display, favoritism, and unaccountability. Its 14 personnel agencies create honorary posts for clients who will be subservient to their patrons. This is as true of the Vatican State Department as of the Vatican banks. We know of the scandalous and money-laundering Institute for the Works of Religions — commonly called the Vatican Bank. But another money manager is equally unaccountable — the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See.
In what is called Peter’s Pence, Catholics from around the world send money to be spent on the poor. But four-fifths of that money is spent on maintenance of the bloated Vatican itself. The official church owns large amounts of real estate inside and outside Italy, but these holdings drain as much wealth as they collect, because so many of them are given at low or no rent to prelates and their flunkies, who redecorate them to their refined tastes, using Vatican money to do it.
Francis, who handled financial scandal in the diocese he took over in Buenos Aires, knew that he could not get control of the Vatican unless he had a true audit of where all the money was going. So he set up a special body to find this out – COSEA (Commission on Organization of the Economic Administration of the Holy See). This commission hired outside auditors, internationally recognized experts, to go over the money in all the papal departments (dicasteries). But faced with this demand for records from lay experts, the skilled ecclesiastical maneuverers in the departments reported sluggishly, incompletely, or not at all. COSEA’s frustrations over this may be why their members leaked tapes of their meetings to Nuzzi and others. Indeed two of them (a monsignor and a lay woman) were arrested in early November by Vatican gendarmes for leaking — though these leaks are on the pope’s side, unlike the earlier leaks.
Controversy about the official church has normally centered on doctrinal disputes, over things like contraception and abortion. These are seen as struggles for the mind of the church. Francis is more interested in the soul of the church. Does the church really speak from prelates’ posh apartments in Rome and from bishops’ palaces around the world? In our trips to Rome, my wife has given up entering Saint Peter’s, since she cannot find anything like Jesus in that riot of celebration of the great papal families, with monstrous large statues of past pontiffs in all their ecclesiastical regalia. Jesus did not wear expensive chasubles and jeweled mitres (or any ecclesiastical garments).
What Francis is engaged in is less a matter of theological dispute than a re-Jesusing of the church. If he fails, we have failed Jesus.
*****
And this is a thought we must take seriously: how do we collectively, as well as, individually - fail Jesus commission of us? How are we individually failing God's expectations of us in our daily lives? Failure is not acceptable in either situation ... and yet this is actually what we do.
And so what you are going to change your failure in life to God? What are you going to do to address your failures with other your Christian family? What are you going to do to address your church's direction? The list goes on because we are surrounded by and overcome by the failure of ourselves, others and organizations.
Yet, we are told to go ... have you, are you, will you? Faiurel is not okay I fear.
So to this end was this interesting essay I read on the "Christian Church" and its goings on:
*****
How can a church whose officialdom is worldly and corrupt present Jesus to the world? Pope Francis thinks it cannot. He once told people at the morning Mass in his small chapel, “To be believable, the Church has to be poor.” He has spoken of personal revulsion at seeing a priest drive an expensive car. When he spoke of money as “the devil’s dung” (he was quoting a church father, Saint Basil), some took this as an attack on Western capitalism. But it was a more general message, part of his apology in Bolivia for the church’s role in colonialism. And when Francis looks around the Vatican, he finds the same devil-stench. In one of his earlier interviews as pope, he said, “The Curia is Vatican-centric. It sees and looks after the interests of the Vatican, which are still, for the most part, temporal interests.” He said to assembled Cardinals that some approach the Vatican as if it were a royal court, with all the marks of such courts — “intrigue, gossip, cliques, favoritism, and partiality.’’
That list of sins could be taken as a table of contents for the scandalous activities recorded in Gianluigi Nuzzi’s new book, “Merchants in the Temple,’’ a title taken from the Bible account of Jesus driving money lenders from the Temple court. Nuzzi is the journalist who received the “Vatileaks” from the papal butler, revealing the scheming and profiteering that occurred during Benedict XVI’s papacy. He demonstrates an equal access to secret documents and conversations in the papacy of Francis, which show a concerted resistance to papal efforts to make the Vatican bear at least some resemblance to Jesus, however remote.
The official church is wealthy and poor because it always overspends itself. It lives on display, favoritism, and unaccountability. Its 14 personnel agencies create honorary posts for clients who will be subservient to their patrons. This is as true of the Vatican State Department as of the Vatican banks. We know of the scandalous and money-laundering Institute for the Works of Religions — commonly called the Vatican Bank. But another money manager is equally unaccountable — the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See.
In what is called Peter’s Pence, Catholics from around the world send money to be spent on the poor. But four-fifths of that money is spent on maintenance of the bloated Vatican itself. The official church owns large amounts of real estate inside and outside Italy, but these holdings drain as much wealth as they collect, because so many of them are given at low or no rent to prelates and their flunkies, who redecorate them to their refined tastes, using Vatican money to do it.
Francis, who handled financial scandal in the diocese he took over in Buenos Aires, knew that he could not get control of the Vatican unless he had a true audit of where all the money was going. So he set up a special body to find this out – COSEA (Commission on Organization of the Economic Administration of the Holy See). This commission hired outside auditors, internationally recognized experts, to go over the money in all the papal departments (dicasteries). But faced with this demand for records from lay experts, the skilled ecclesiastical maneuverers in the departments reported sluggishly, incompletely, or not at all. COSEA’s frustrations over this may be why their members leaked tapes of their meetings to Nuzzi and others. Indeed two of them (a monsignor and a lay woman) were arrested in early November by Vatican gendarmes for leaking — though these leaks are on the pope’s side, unlike the earlier leaks.
Controversy about the official church has normally centered on doctrinal disputes, over things like contraception and abortion. These are seen as struggles for the mind of the church. Francis is more interested in the soul of the church. Does the church really speak from prelates’ posh apartments in Rome and from bishops’ palaces around the world? In our trips to Rome, my wife has given up entering Saint Peter’s, since she cannot find anything like Jesus in that riot of celebration of the great papal families, with monstrous large statues of past pontiffs in all their ecclesiastical regalia. Jesus did not wear expensive chasubles and jeweled mitres (or any ecclesiastical garments).
What Francis is engaged in is less a matter of theological dispute than a re-Jesusing of the church. If he fails, we have failed Jesus.
*****
And this is a thought we must take seriously: how do we collectively, as well as, individually - fail Jesus commission of us? How are we individually failing God's expectations of us in our daily lives? Failure is not acceptable in either situation ... and yet this is actually what we do.
And so what you are going to change your failure in life to God? What are you going to do to address your failures with other your Christian family? What are you going to do to address your church's direction? The list goes on because we are surrounded by and overcome by the failure of ourselves, others and organizations.
Yet, we are told to go ... have you, are you, will you? Faiurel is not okay I fear.
July 27, 2015
Avoiding Leaven
If there was one thing I had to wonder about in the Old Testament, it is the prohibition against leaven bread. You know, light fluffy white bread, Wonder Bread. What on Earth could the problem with Wonder Bread be? It is supposed to be good for you! In the New Testament, leaven is equated to all things worse with the world ....
In case you do not know leaven is nothing more than bacteria, it falls from the skies, is carried on the winds, it comes with the apple pollen - the old way to leaven bread. I grew up with unleavened bread, it was normal. In spring and when the apples and cherries bloomed, all manner of bowls could be found on tables and chairs underneath those trees - leavening the bread dough for wonderful breads and rolls! Something to live for, that is for sure!
But somehow this is bad.
Mark 8:14-17
Grace
Jesus warns against signs and "leaven" of the religious leaders.
Leaven is being equated with evil.
Leaven would then be legalism and worldliness.
Consider Ecclesiastes 12:10, "words of truth" ...
And Romans 14, protect the faith of the young and weak from vain arguments.
Lesson to be learned is that rules, regulations, the nonsense of religion are to be avoided. It will turn you from your desired purpose and path!
Big Picture
Matthew 23:23
What is not leaven and therefore good: justice, mercy and faithfulness - and lest we forget - obedience in faith.
Consider also Luke 10:27 and Micah 6:8, within the context of this discussion!
"Love your neighbor as yourself", applied outside of 'christianity's' New Age Pagan understanding.
"To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
The Correct Path
Points to the Kingdom of God, not man.
Must keep our eyes on the correct path and not be deviated from His direction.
Focus our eyes on Jesus .... NOT man's rules and regulations.
It is so terribly easy to get waylaid on our journey in Jesus - we blink and find ourselves knocked sides. Make no mistake, get knocked sideways - then get back up, wipe yourself off, repent and continue the journey. It is just that easy, oh yeah, it might take you years to get that first trembling foot back on the path - but it will be there, Jesus will still be there and with the help of the Holy Spirit - you are going to make it! You might need a very trusted friend in the faith as well, if you are so lucky.
One last verse, Philippians 2:12 I will toss out for you to consider in this entire discussion ...
In case you do not know leaven is nothing more than bacteria, it falls from the skies, is carried on the winds, it comes with the apple pollen - the old way to leaven bread. I grew up with unleavened bread, it was normal. In spring and when the apples and cherries bloomed, all manner of bowls could be found on tables and chairs underneath those trees - leavening the bread dough for wonderful breads and rolls! Something to live for, that is for sure!
But somehow this is bad.
Mark 8:14-17
Grace
Jesus warns against signs and "leaven" of the religious leaders.
Leaven is being equated with evil.
Leaven would then be legalism and worldliness.
Consider Ecclesiastes 12:10, "words of truth" ...
And Romans 14, protect the faith of the young and weak from vain arguments.
Lesson to be learned is that rules, regulations, the nonsense of religion are to be avoided. It will turn you from your desired purpose and path!
Big Picture
Matthew 23:23
What is not leaven and therefore good: justice, mercy and faithfulness - and lest we forget - obedience in faith.
Consider also Luke 10:27 and Micah 6:8, within the context of this discussion!
"Love your neighbor as yourself", applied outside of 'christianity's' New Age Pagan understanding.
"To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
The Correct Path
Points to the Kingdom of God, not man.
Must keep our eyes on the correct path and not be deviated from His direction.
Focus our eyes on Jesus .... NOT man's rules and regulations.
It is so terribly easy to get waylaid on our journey in Jesus - we blink and find ourselves knocked sides. Make no mistake, get knocked sideways - then get back up, wipe yourself off, repent and continue the journey. It is just that easy, oh yeah, it might take you years to get that first trembling foot back on the path - but it will be there, Jesus will still be there and with the help of the Holy Spirit - you are going to make it! You might need a very trusted friend in the faith as well, if you are so lucky.
One last verse, Philippians 2:12 I will toss out for you to consider in this entire discussion ...
June 2, 2015
Thinking On Bonhoeffer
Once a decade, I return to reading of Bonhoeffer's, The Cost of Discipleship. If you are one of my early readers from Blog 1 in 2005, you might remember me talking about this back then. But, that site was hacked and destroyed by one of the apostate Churches I tend to take on. I returned the compliment and never had a problem again with them ... :)
I am both an admirer of and appalled by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
A German pastor from before World War II, he rose to head the National Church of German (aka Lutheran to the rest of the world). Now Hitler had no real use for the National Church, other than to try and not directly raise their wrath against him. And Bonhoeffer never had any appreciation for Hitler, coming to believe by 1942 that Hitler was at least the Anti-Christ, and then Satan incarnate. So you can see how these two might not agree on much.
I admire Bonhoeffer since he served as the head of the Church. He had a solid Christian background. He had everything he needed to bring the average German through the tempest of World War II. And, then politics, family politics, intervened.
And now I am appalled. He backed the attempted murder of Hitler. The attempt failed and he with most of the males in his family, extended family and friends were now arrested. A list was found which named names and dates. He was guilty but Hitler kept him alive, no one needs a martyr during a war.
Literally, in the last week of the war, Bonhoeffer's death sentence was carried out ... no one wants a hero to survive the war, if the leader is now dead.
So, his best book, because it makes me think, is, The Cost of Discipleship ... because he understood the destruction of Christianity which was coming. He could see it, he could describe it, and he did have an unpopular answer. However, I knew that he was wrong. His answer led to piety ... not Christianity.
In his letters from prison, Bonhoeffer had by now seen how those following him had exchanged their Christian faith for piety (approved works). Well, at least he could admit his error!
The value to be found in The Cost of Discipleship is that Christianity does bear a cost, and well, if you are unwilling to not pull away from the world - you will be lost - much as the state of the Western Church today. Of course, we now live in the Post-Christian Age - Bonhoeffer's fear realized ...
In 1937, Bonhoeffer wrote (selections from just his introduction):
"When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die."
"We propose to tell how Jesus calls us to be his disciples. But is not this to lay another and still heavier burden on men's shoulders? Is this all we can do when the souls and bodies of men are groaning beneath the weight of so many man-made dogmas? If we recall men to the following of Jesus, shall we not be driving a still sharper goad into their already troubled and wounded consciences? Are we to follow the practice which has been all common in the history of the Church, and impose on men demands too grievous to bear, demands which have little to do with the centralities of the Christian faith, demands which may be a pious luxury for the few, but which the toiling masses, with their anxiety for their daily bread, their jobs and their families, can only reject as utter blasphemy and a tempting of the God? Is it the Church's concern to erect a spiritual tyranny over men, by dictating to them what must be believed and performed in order to be saved, and by presuming to enforce that belief and behavior with the sanctions of temporal and eternal punishment? Shall the word of the Church bring new tyranny and oppression over the souls of men? It may well be that this is what many people want. But could the Church consent to meet such a demand?
Yeah, Bonhoeffer makes me think, he called it straight during a time of religious corruption - not so unlike our own pagan culture ...
I am both an admirer of and appalled by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
A German pastor from before World War II, he rose to head the National Church of German (aka Lutheran to the rest of the world). Now Hitler had no real use for the National Church, other than to try and not directly raise their wrath against him. And Bonhoeffer never had any appreciation for Hitler, coming to believe by 1942 that Hitler was at least the Anti-Christ, and then Satan incarnate. So you can see how these two might not agree on much.
I admire Bonhoeffer since he served as the head of the Church. He had a solid Christian background. He had everything he needed to bring the average German through the tempest of World War II. And, then politics, family politics, intervened.
And now I am appalled. He backed the attempted murder of Hitler. The attempt failed and he with most of the males in his family, extended family and friends were now arrested. A list was found which named names and dates. He was guilty but Hitler kept him alive, no one needs a martyr during a war.
Literally, in the last week of the war, Bonhoeffer's death sentence was carried out ... no one wants a hero to survive the war, if the leader is now dead.
So, his best book, because it makes me think, is, The Cost of Discipleship ... because he understood the destruction of Christianity which was coming. He could see it, he could describe it, and he did have an unpopular answer. However, I knew that he was wrong. His answer led to piety ... not Christianity.
In his letters from prison, Bonhoeffer had by now seen how those following him had exchanged their Christian faith for piety (approved works). Well, at least he could admit his error!
The value to be found in The Cost of Discipleship is that Christianity does bear a cost, and well, if you are unwilling to not pull away from the world - you will be lost - much as the state of the Western Church today. Of course, we now live in the Post-Christian Age - Bonhoeffer's fear realized ...
In 1937, Bonhoeffer wrote (selections from just his introduction):
"When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die."
"We propose to tell how Jesus calls us to be his disciples. But is not this to lay another and still heavier burden on men's shoulders? Is this all we can do when the souls and bodies of men are groaning beneath the weight of so many man-made dogmas? If we recall men to the following of Jesus, shall we not be driving a still sharper goad into their already troubled and wounded consciences? Are we to follow the practice which has been all common in the history of the Church, and impose on men demands too grievous to bear, demands which have little to do with the centralities of the Christian faith, demands which may be a pious luxury for the few, but which the toiling masses, with their anxiety for their daily bread, their jobs and their families, can only reject as utter blasphemy and a tempting of the God? Is it the Church's concern to erect a spiritual tyranny over men, by dictating to them what must be believed and performed in order to be saved, and by presuming to enforce that belief and behavior with the sanctions of temporal and eternal punishment? Shall the word of the Church bring new tyranny and oppression over the souls of men? It may well be that this is what many people want. But could the Church consent to meet such a demand?
Yeah, Bonhoeffer makes me think, he called it straight during a time of religious corruption - not so unlike our own pagan culture ...
May 28, 2015
Making Do With Little
Thinking on Mark 23 and 24 ...
As Christians, in this Western Pagan Culture, if you are a Christian and seem to be one of the Pagans, then you have to decide whether or not you have bought into the lie (Do you make excuses for God?) ... If you have, well - welcome to paganism, if not I would be surprised ... even Satan bought into the lie and it is far smarter than you and I combined ...
We count ourselves as smarter than the average bear, we have wealth, we have status, we are capable of supplying all of our own needs. Things which should be in the area of faith, in God, we have usurped from God as our own ...
God Wants to Use You
Surprise! You have NOTHING to offer God. He does not need you, He can use any of millions of others in your place, He is God - you are not.
You make demands on God? Well, in the end, you will get what is coming to you! Surprise!
However, what God does want from you is your praise! So, rejoice if you truly do know the real God in Heaven!
And if you really do know Him, then understand this:
Serving Others = Serving God
Serving Jesus = Serving Others
What others? Oh, I see you are a member of the Pharisees .....
Try ALL others! Your service to the non-Christian and Christian alike is your testimony in this Pagan culture. Do you have a testimony? (hint: has nothing to do with your salvation!)
What Have You Got
You have no need of knowing what God is doing
You are have no way to know either, you are not God's counsel!
What His plans are, is above your level, since you are not God
Because your job is to obey
Give what you have to His purposes. Not sure what they are? Then you have a problem.
Either you do not actually know the real God because the paganism of this culture has conquered you, or you are supposed to stop running around like a chicken with its head cut off, stand still and listen!
Listen to what?
That quiet voice we so easily drown out in lue of listening to what we want to do!
Study your Bible - if you know your Bible you will know the counterfeit God of this age and see it at work.
Prayer - your life devoted to prayer, even in your confusion, God will come to your aid!
Stand firm in what you know!
When seeing God's desire for your service - go and serve.
God wants willing hearts.
Able hands.
Open minds.
Your praise.
Bless God For What/How He Provides
Every thing you learn.
Every thing you experience - become a tool for God to use.
He may even call upon you to do the unthinkable in this culture (apart from sin), if that is what it is going to take to accomplish His purpose in those you are exposed to!
His goal: ALL your acquaintance, ALL of your family - are His!
Praise
Be more than satisfied with what God provides.
Be more than satisfied when you are given an assignment.
Be more than satisfied He cares, He listens, He answers ...
And it all starts with knowing your Bible.
Where to start? Read through Luke, Acts, John's Letters and finally Revelation - in that order! And from a solid translation ... NIV if that is what you have access to ...
And what about making do with little?
Yeah, you are not a prize, you are what God has to use in this world.
He has to overcome you stubbornness and hatreds, over zealousness, and drifting into lukewarmness - all because you are not where you are supposed to be! Doing what you have been called to do.
Now, start praying, swallow your pride, go beyond fear, fear and get out there and perform!
As Christians, in this Western Pagan Culture, if you are a Christian and seem to be one of the Pagans, then you have to decide whether or not you have bought into the lie (Do you make excuses for God?) ... If you have, well - welcome to paganism, if not I would be surprised ... even Satan bought into the lie and it is far smarter than you and I combined ...
We count ourselves as smarter than the average bear, we have wealth, we have status, we are capable of supplying all of our own needs. Things which should be in the area of faith, in God, we have usurped from God as our own ...
God Wants to Use You
Surprise! You have NOTHING to offer God. He does not need you, He can use any of millions of others in your place, He is God - you are not.
You make demands on God? Well, in the end, you will get what is coming to you! Surprise!
However, what God does want from you is your praise! So, rejoice if you truly do know the real God in Heaven!
And if you really do know Him, then understand this:
Serving Others = Serving God
Serving Jesus = Serving Others
What others? Oh, I see you are a member of the Pharisees .....
Try ALL others! Your service to the non-Christian and Christian alike is your testimony in this Pagan culture. Do you have a testimony? (hint: has nothing to do with your salvation!)
What Have You Got
You have no need of knowing what God is doing
You are have no way to know either, you are not God's counsel!
What His plans are, is above your level, since you are not God
Because your job is to obey
Give what you have to His purposes. Not sure what they are? Then you have a problem.
Either you do not actually know the real God because the paganism of this culture has conquered you, or you are supposed to stop running around like a chicken with its head cut off, stand still and listen!
Listen to what?
That quiet voice we so easily drown out in lue of listening to what we want to do!
Study your Bible - if you know your Bible you will know the counterfeit God of this age and see it at work.
Prayer - your life devoted to prayer, even in your confusion, God will come to your aid!
Stand firm in what you know!
When seeing God's desire for your service - go and serve.
God wants willing hearts.
Able hands.
Open minds.
Your praise.
Bless God For What/How He Provides
Every thing you learn.
Every thing you experience - become a tool for God to use.
He may even call upon you to do the unthinkable in this culture (apart from sin), if that is what it is going to take to accomplish His purpose in those you are exposed to!
His goal: ALL your acquaintance, ALL of your family - are His!
Praise
Be more than satisfied with what God provides.
Be more than satisfied when you are given an assignment.
Be more than satisfied He cares, He listens, He answers ...
And it all starts with knowing your Bible.
Where to start? Read through Luke, Acts, John's Letters and finally Revelation - in that order! And from a solid translation ... NIV if that is what you have access to ...
And what about making do with little?
Yeah, you are not a prize, you are what God has to use in this world.
He has to overcome you stubbornness and hatreds, over zealousness, and drifting into lukewarmness - all because you are not where you are supposed to be! Doing what you have been called to do.
Now, start praying, swallow your pride, go beyond fear, fear and get out there and perform!
April 28, 2015
In Disaster
We know as Christians that we have an obligation to our fellow brother and sisters of the faith. Lip service to pray for them, but we never do. And when disaster befalls non-Christians? Well, I guess God is judging them - they have it coming! Right?
Really? Is that the understanding of the early Christian Church?
Well, actually no. We know that the region of Galatia (modern Turkey), in particular Ephesus and north, was destroyed by massive flooding. The Roman Empire, due to its own problems actually had no response. The people of the region had no response either - they lost everything. And though it took weeks, if not months, the Christian Churches of Mediterranean region amassed significant funds to help dig the region out, rebuild roads, etc.
And the people of the region were stunned. Yes, there were Christians in the area but it was not just the Christians that the funds were used to assist. Hmmmmm. Want to guess what the Roman Response was?
Thunderstruck - that the very people being persecuted by the Empire, were the very ones digging the Empire out of a hole it had made for itself! Awesome witness.
And today, with the sanitized Christian response to disaster:
Sigh, modern charity is so self-fulfilling!
And I have thought on this for very many years now. And then this morning, 7.8 earthquake in Nepal. Our news service was undecided as to which story was more important: that 1500 were known dead in Katmandu or that an American climber died in an avalanche on Everest ... Really? 1500 lives are so insignificant to barely rate a mention but an America climber, member of Google, dies and suddenly that is the story!
I wonder how the response will be any different by governments, organizations, churches, Christians ...
Any takers on a bet?
Being a witness of the Truth of Jesus' life and salvation - begins and ends with you.
The exercise of charity, and all fruits of the Spirit, begins and ends with you.
If the people of Nepal or anyone, anywhere in the world, will ever see Jesus - it begins and ends with you.
There is no clean, hygienic, impersonal way to pass off your responsibility Jesus has given you.
You are expected to share in the pain of our brothers and sisters.
You are expected to reachout to the lost world, in its pain and show them God's Love with no strings attached.
You are expected to spread seeds of witness to all around.
You are expected to share what God has given you to help others.
Even if a dollar, if that really is all you have, you are expected to reach out with it.
Sure there are lots of arguments here to be made for and against, but in the end, it is just a test of the hardness of your own heart and greed of the culture we live in...
Really? Is that the understanding of the early Christian Church?
Well, actually no. We know that the region of Galatia (modern Turkey), in particular Ephesus and north, was destroyed by massive flooding. The Roman Empire, due to its own problems actually had no response. The people of the region had no response either - they lost everything. And though it took weeks, if not months, the Christian Churches of Mediterranean region amassed significant funds to help dig the region out, rebuild roads, etc.
And the people of the region were stunned. Yes, there were Christians in the area but it was not just the Christians that the funds were used to assist. Hmmmmm. Want to guess what the Roman Response was?
Thunderstruck - that the very people being persecuted by the Empire, were the very ones digging the Empire out of a hole it had made for itself! Awesome witness.
And today, with the sanitized Christian response to disaster:
- send in the Red Cross
- see if the Mormon Church is doing anything
- see if the government is doing anything
- donate your old clothes (usually inappropriate to the region it will go to!)
- donate canned food (usually outdated!)
- donate cash (in small amounts)
- rest easy and know you have done all you can
Sigh, modern charity is so self-fulfilling!
And I have thought on this for very many years now. And then this morning, 7.8 earthquake in Nepal. Our news service was undecided as to which story was more important: that 1500 were known dead in Katmandu or that an American climber died in an avalanche on Everest ... Really? 1500 lives are so insignificant to barely rate a mention but an America climber, member of Google, dies and suddenly that is the story!
I wonder how the response will be any different by governments, organizations, churches, Christians ...
Any takers on a bet?
Being a witness of the Truth of Jesus' life and salvation - begins and ends with you.
The exercise of charity, and all fruits of the Spirit, begins and ends with you.
If the people of Nepal or anyone, anywhere in the world, will ever see Jesus - it begins and ends with you.
There is no clean, hygienic, impersonal way to pass off your responsibility Jesus has given you.
You are expected to share in the pain of our brothers and sisters.
You are expected to reachout to the lost world, in its pain and show them God's Love with no strings attached.
You are expected to spread seeds of witness to all around.
You are expected to share what God has given you to help others.
Even if a dollar, if that really is all you have, you are expected to reach out with it.
Sure there are lots of arguments here to be made for and against, but in the end, it is just a test of the hardness of your own heart and greed of the culture we live in...
March 26, 2015
Thinking
I think quite often on the destruction of Jerusalem. God handed His own chosen people, the Hebrew people, over to false gods, brutal tyranny and erased practiced Judaism from the face of the Earth.
Exactly how mad was He at them? Pretty darn mad that is for sure!
And they had the real God on their side but worshipped false gods in his temple, and they preyed upon their neighbors (other Jews) for wealth, and they stole from the poor, and they ignored the widows, and they ignored the plight of the orphan, and ....
We are just like then in oh, so many ways!
But, hey, people are people, right? I mean, we all fall short, we all sin, we all disappoint God and we are not all that bad, right?
... Right ... ? Hello God, right ... ?
And I think on Daniel 9:1-20, Jeremiah 25:11, and so many more verses.
God has a breaking point, He forgives, He gives chances, and this cycle seems to endlessly repeat until ... something gives. A measure of sin is met, the heart of man never considers his Creator any more, every thought, every action is only on sin. And God moves suddenly, swiftly, assuredly against those whom would call themselves by His name and yet then tarnish His name with their - er - "excesses" (face it sin!).
Jeremiah: "this whole land will be a desolation and a horror ..."
Ouch! God will make His promised land cursed and a place of death.
Yet, for as sure as God's judgement is, He held out to His people in Jeremiah 29 - hope that He will hear them again and will act in their behalf!
I think about parallels in history: the Hebrew people, whom had it all with God; the Christian whom has it all with God. A Hebrew people sold out in sin and through corrupt leadership a nation in sin. And I think about western culture ... wait a minute I lost my thought there, how are WE any different than those Hebrews whom felt the wrath of God via the nooses of the Assyrian or bronze bolts of the Scythian archers? How different are we from those, such as Daniel and his three friends, led to captivity in Babylon with nooses around their necks! - a very long walk for a teenage!
Yet Daniel and his, kept their faith with them! And we can keep our faith in the face of overwhelming odds!
Daniel witnessed those whom thought they controlled him. Just as we should be doing to ALL whom come in contact with us!
I am sure they were uncertain at the time. And I know all of us doubt, but like Daniel we have to stand on proven ground!
And I often then close my eyes pondering ... why has God not moved against this culture, this country, this state, this city, this unworthy man? How much worse could Israel and Judea have been .... ? And I nod off secure in knowing I am His, no matter the day, no matter those surrounding me, no matter ....
Exactly how mad was He at them? Pretty darn mad that is for sure!
And they had the real God on their side but worshipped false gods in his temple, and they preyed upon their neighbors (other Jews) for wealth, and they stole from the poor, and they ignored the widows, and they ignored the plight of the orphan, and ....
We are just like then in oh, so many ways!
But, hey, people are people, right? I mean, we all fall short, we all sin, we all disappoint God and we are not all that bad, right?
... Right ... ? Hello God, right ... ?
And I think on Daniel 9:1-20, Jeremiah 25:11, and so many more verses.
God has a breaking point, He forgives, He gives chances, and this cycle seems to endlessly repeat until ... something gives. A measure of sin is met, the heart of man never considers his Creator any more, every thought, every action is only on sin. And God moves suddenly, swiftly, assuredly against those whom would call themselves by His name and yet then tarnish His name with their - er - "excesses" (face it sin!).
Jeremiah: "this whole land will be a desolation and a horror ..."
Ouch! God will make His promised land cursed and a place of death.
Yet, for as sure as God's judgement is, He held out to His people in Jeremiah 29 - hope that He will hear them again and will act in their behalf!
I think about parallels in history: the Hebrew people, whom had it all with God; the Christian whom has it all with God. A Hebrew people sold out in sin and through corrupt leadership a nation in sin. And I think about western culture ... wait a minute I lost my thought there, how are WE any different than those Hebrews whom felt the wrath of God via the nooses of the Assyrian or bronze bolts of the Scythian archers? How different are we from those, such as Daniel and his three friends, led to captivity in Babylon with nooses around their necks! - a very long walk for a teenage!
Yet Daniel and his, kept their faith with them! And we can keep our faith in the face of overwhelming odds!
Daniel witnessed those whom thought they controlled him. Just as we should be doing to ALL whom come in contact with us!
I am sure they were uncertain at the time. And I know all of us doubt, but like Daniel we have to stand on proven ground!
And I often then close my eyes pondering ... why has God not moved against this culture, this country, this state, this city, this unworthy man? How much worse could Israel and Judea have been .... ? And I nod off secure in knowing I am His, no matter the day, no matter those surrounding me, no matter ....
March 23, 2015
Anger
(re-reading this several days later - and oh my gosh! You would not realize that English is my third language! Oh heavens! My apologies! I hope I get it cleaned up correctly this time!)
I have one area of sin I am victim to: pride.
It is subtle.
It is when I put myself ahead of God in what I am doing..
It is never observed until I find I have been tripped up by Satan.
Then, well, yeah, I have to repent and try harder for no new next time.
I do not talk about my pre-Christian life, there is very little to say of any value to anyone.
I was quite simply the most violent person you have never been able to even imagine.
Sorry, Hollywood is not going to be able to help you here.
Killer Elite, came even close to the level of violence I am referring to here.
And violence was triggered back then by my reaction of anger. Note: not an emotion of anger.
Emotional anger is consuming until it is vented.
Reactionary anger is there, then it is not, it has a trigger, it is not a force.
And that trigger has always been injustice for me.
Show me an injustice, I will show you a victim in the making. Pure and simple.
And that was how my private life and early military experience went.
And the US Government was happy then, but just wait until my book is published !!!!!
I mentioned across the past weeks that Satan has been banging on me like there is no tomorrow!
And I could not figure out why.
Then I had a day straight out of the Twilight Zone.
Everything was weird, nothing normal was happening, and I realized - in time - Satan was trying to get me to react in anger to all that was befallen me.
Now understanding, I was able to succeed in putting this behind me.
I was not going to be falling prey to anger again, and the past it drags forward each time.
(Yeah, later Satan nailed me with Pride yet again ... sigh ... start over, AGAIN!)
So last week I was at an awards presentation for some Christian kids - and - well - all @#$% was to break lose over the disappointment expressed by some. In fact it grew into a mini riot as 20 kids started trashing things! Really? And ANGER rose up in me and I exploded.
I hit a table so hard that kids, heck parents, all sat down instantly and there was utter quiet. And, none to quietly I lashed out at them with a lecture concerning respect ...
I hear myself talking, but it is not me, hearing words I can remember from my discipleship back in the Hutterite Community and I can see that I am angry but it is not a bad anger that is going to lead to sin - it is ultimately calling the kids and adults to repent.
Two verses came to mind and I covered them in-depth, how they affected themselves, how they were damaging others and in violation of Jesus direct words .....
The easiest summation is that if you do not respect yourself, you will never be able to respect others.
If you can not show respect to others, no one will ever respect you.
The Christian life you are called to is to put the other first - not you. Nothing in life is about you!
Utter silence followed ...
Then an 8th grade girl says, "Do you mean to tell me that life is about my being able to put others before me and my wants and desires?"
She turns and looks that the others, "Is that stupidest thing you have ever heard or what?"
And all went their way.
So, I went out of my way to contact this group and see where they were a day later.
Averted eyes, very quiet, respectful.
Hmmmm, so there is a kind of anger which is good, if used by God to call His own into account.
Cool ...
I have one area of sin I am victim to: pride.
It is subtle.
It is when I put myself ahead of God in what I am doing..
It is never observed until I find I have been tripped up by Satan.
Then, well, yeah, I have to repent and try harder for no new next time.
I do not talk about my pre-Christian life, there is very little to say of any value to anyone.
I was quite simply the most violent person you have never been able to even imagine.
Sorry, Hollywood is not going to be able to help you here.
Killer Elite, came even close to the level of violence I am referring to here.
And violence was triggered back then by my reaction of anger. Note: not an emotion of anger.
Emotional anger is consuming until it is vented.
Reactionary anger is there, then it is not, it has a trigger, it is not a force.
And that trigger has always been injustice for me.
Show me an injustice, I will show you a victim in the making. Pure and simple.
And that was how my private life and early military experience went.
And the US Government was happy then, but just wait until my book is published !!!!!
I mentioned across the past weeks that Satan has been banging on me like there is no tomorrow!
And I could not figure out why.
Then I had a day straight out of the Twilight Zone.
Everything was weird, nothing normal was happening, and I realized - in time - Satan was trying to get me to react in anger to all that was befallen me.
Now understanding, I was able to succeed in putting this behind me.
I was not going to be falling prey to anger again, and the past it drags forward each time.
(Yeah, later Satan nailed me with Pride yet again ... sigh ... start over, AGAIN!)
So last week I was at an awards presentation for some Christian kids - and - well - all @#$% was to break lose over the disappointment expressed by some. In fact it grew into a mini riot as 20 kids started trashing things! Really? And ANGER rose up in me and I exploded.
I hit a table so hard that kids, heck parents, all sat down instantly and there was utter quiet. And, none to quietly I lashed out at them with a lecture concerning respect ...
I hear myself talking, but it is not me, hearing words I can remember from my discipleship back in the Hutterite Community and I can see that I am angry but it is not a bad anger that is going to lead to sin - it is ultimately calling the kids and adults to repent.
Two verses came to mind and I covered them in-depth, how they affected themselves, how they were damaging others and in violation of Jesus direct words .....
Mark 12:31
31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”Luke 6:31
31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.The easiest summation is that if you do not respect yourself, you will never be able to respect others.
If you can not show respect to others, no one will ever respect you.
The Christian life you are called to is to put the other first - not you. Nothing in life is about you!
Utter silence followed ...
Then an 8th grade girl says, "Do you mean to tell me that life is about my being able to put others before me and my wants and desires?"
She turns and looks that the others, "Is that stupidest thing you have ever heard or what?"
And all went their way.
So, I went out of my way to contact this group and see where they were a day later.
Averted eyes, very quiet, respectful.
Hmmmm, so there is a kind of anger which is good, if used by God to call His own into account.
Cool ...
March 17, 2015
Questions, Questions, Questions!
So I have been having fun with the responses last Thursday's post has brought. Yes, all of the little examples are literally true, near as I can remember the wording! Yes, seemingly odd people cross my path constantly!
Yes, I was hit by a truck in 1996, actually it was two trucks. The first one launched me and my bicycle about 30 feet from a roadway shoulder - sideways to landing on a railroad crossing. I was still straddling the bicycle when I landed and was hit by the second truck. It was hardly his fault, no one expects something to fly in front of you from the right! Net result was four broken lumbars and a totaled out bicycle.
With the exception of weddings and funerals, I have always worn jeans and a tee shirt to church. You have to understand that my entire youth was spent in either a two piece or three piece suits. Wearing a tie - constantly!, was considered just normal life by my father. Yes, he might have been royalty (via his mother) but there was nothing royal about him. The hypocrisy of it was more than I could take. So, I determined, once I became a Christian, that I would never put on "airs" and wear a suit, except to show respect to those whom have died or are getting married. When confronted I usually point out that my heart is wearing a tux, but I wear jeans because I am not a hypocrite. I even had one lady offer me her dead husband's suits because he was roughly my size. I thanked her and never went over for a fitting.
I am the most complete and utter klutz the world has ever known. That is not a brag, it is just an observation. Take last night for instance. I was at the doctor's office and needed to use the toilet. So, I am walking down this hallway and someone steps out of a room just to my right as I am passing. Instinctively, I spun to my left, completing a full circle which would now have put me behind them. So, if it was an attack, I was in the better position. Unfortunately, my right foot did not pivot nor follow through and I spun my foot right off my ankle - shredded EVERYTHING! It is so bad I am going in this week for a re-evaluation of the ankle to see if I can still have surgery in June! And I had been out of my cast for three full days ... sigh ... Back in again, back in compression tubes, with ankle braces, all stuffed into a cast now.
"Doing "something" wrong ... " Well this critic of mine believed that he could do something right. Not that I am aware. We as humans do have the ability to do something right - when God is leading the way and God is doing all of the work. We are just His hands, His mouth, His tools ... Nope you are not capable of doing something right apart from him. The speaker though was going with the premise that I did not tithe and by doing so, God would suddenly stop all of life's challenges. But, I really have not given as little as a tithe ever, because I have always believed that everything I have is from God and is God's. Yes, most Christian would argue that point - but we are talking about my walk here, not theirs. So, when God says, give - I give. God does not tell me, I do nothing and by default I support Trans World Radio and their broadcasts monthly.
Hmmm, Kris and prayer ... I pray a great deal. When I am driving, when I am on the toilet, in the bath, anytime I am free to do so without disturbing others. I was struck very early on by the story of George Mueller (English spelling). He was widely known as a man of prayer. Unlike Mueller, I am not much for anyone knowing much about my relationship with God. Yeah, those whom I have discipled know I pray a lot but that would be it. It really is no one's business but God's because it is His talking to me, my talking to Him - and usually about those I am involved with ... no matter how far they roam. Prayer, I strongly suggest it for you on a moment by moment basis! It is your ONLY communication tool with the real God. As so many in my current church have said, "Oh, I take long walks in the parks and woods. That is how I get in touch with God." (That unfortunately is not the God of the universe they are talking to, it is the feel good modern age God of self. sorry...)
Of course, the 2005 fire was astonishing, could not have happened at a worse moment and for as much as others liked to claim that it showed what was wrong between me and God - He showed His many blessings through it! No one was injured, there was no smoke damage, structurally there was NO damage and it was only $600 in repairs! So, others saw a chastisement, where I saw God really pulling out the stops to minimize something that is very common to man.
In all of the comments about Thursday, it communicated to me quite a bit:
In the end, the only conclusion you can reach Biblically, is that the modern church is not the Christian Church of yesterday. It has replaced an emphasis on God, Jesus and evangelism with an emphasis on self, and when even doing something "in the name of Jesus", it is fact still self serving and all about us in the end. It is no wonder that we face the 21st century with a failed model of Christianity!
The religion which stood up to the Pax Romana and over came it, survived the onslaught of the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages and survived it - albeit only in the inaccessible isles of Ireland and Scotland, survived the attempts to revive Christianity during the Reformation - was to die almost completely due to the cult of Self in the 20th and 21st centuries.
True believers stand in a unique spot before God, we face critics whom are justified in their statements, we face self serving members of churches whom know all of the right words - just not in their hearts, and there is this lost and seeking world out there whom has looked at Christianity and due to the examples they see - can not believe that this is actually the way to Salvation!
In fact, the ones I meet and talk to, are appalled by what they have seen, heard and why was it they should be believing in this disaster called Christianity again ...?
Yes, I was hit by a truck in 1996, actually it was two trucks. The first one launched me and my bicycle about 30 feet from a roadway shoulder - sideways to landing on a railroad crossing. I was still straddling the bicycle when I landed and was hit by the second truck. It was hardly his fault, no one expects something to fly in front of you from the right! Net result was four broken lumbars and a totaled out bicycle.
With the exception of weddings and funerals, I have always worn jeans and a tee shirt to church. You have to understand that my entire youth was spent in either a two piece or three piece suits. Wearing a tie - constantly!, was considered just normal life by my father. Yes, he might have been royalty (via his mother) but there was nothing royal about him. The hypocrisy of it was more than I could take. So, I determined, once I became a Christian, that I would never put on "airs" and wear a suit, except to show respect to those whom have died or are getting married. When confronted I usually point out that my heart is wearing a tux, but I wear jeans because I am not a hypocrite. I even had one lady offer me her dead husband's suits because he was roughly my size. I thanked her and never went over for a fitting.
I am the most complete and utter klutz the world has ever known. That is not a brag, it is just an observation. Take last night for instance. I was at the doctor's office and needed to use the toilet. So, I am walking down this hallway and someone steps out of a room just to my right as I am passing. Instinctively, I spun to my left, completing a full circle which would now have put me behind them. So, if it was an attack, I was in the better position. Unfortunately, my right foot did not pivot nor follow through and I spun my foot right off my ankle - shredded EVERYTHING! It is so bad I am going in this week for a re-evaluation of the ankle to see if I can still have surgery in June! And I had been out of my cast for three full days ... sigh ... Back in again, back in compression tubes, with ankle braces, all stuffed into a cast now.
"Doing "something" wrong ... " Well this critic of mine believed that he could do something right. Not that I am aware. We as humans do have the ability to do something right - when God is leading the way and God is doing all of the work. We are just His hands, His mouth, His tools ... Nope you are not capable of doing something right apart from him. The speaker though was going with the premise that I did not tithe and by doing so, God would suddenly stop all of life's challenges. But, I really have not given as little as a tithe ever, because I have always believed that everything I have is from God and is God's. Yes, most Christian would argue that point - but we are talking about my walk here, not theirs. So, when God says, give - I give. God does not tell me, I do nothing and by default I support Trans World Radio and their broadcasts monthly.
Hmmm, Kris and prayer ... I pray a great deal. When I am driving, when I am on the toilet, in the bath, anytime I am free to do so without disturbing others. I was struck very early on by the story of George Mueller (English spelling). He was widely known as a man of prayer. Unlike Mueller, I am not much for anyone knowing much about my relationship with God. Yeah, those whom I have discipled know I pray a lot but that would be it. It really is no one's business but God's because it is His talking to me, my talking to Him - and usually about those I am involved with ... no matter how far they roam. Prayer, I strongly suggest it for you on a moment by moment basis! It is your ONLY communication tool with the real God. As so many in my current church have said, "Oh, I take long walks in the parks and woods. That is how I get in touch with God." (That unfortunately is not the God of the universe they are talking to, it is the feel good modern age God of self. sorry...)
Of course, the 2005 fire was astonishing, could not have happened at a worse moment and for as much as others liked to claim that it showed what was wrong between me and God - He showed His many blessings through it! No one was injured, there was no smoke damage, structurally there was NO damage and it was only $600 in repairs! So, others saw a chastisement, where I saw God really pulling out the stops to minimize something that is very common to man.
In all of the comments about Thursday, it communicated to me quite a bit:
- Superstition is everywhere in the Church
- Even strong Christians can be superstitious
- People you respect can be utterly wrong in all regards
- God does not work the way today's church believes
- People can be misled easily
- People pay far too much attention to others, rather than themselves
In the end, the only conclusion you can reach Biblically, is that the modern church is not the Christian Church of yesterday. It has replaced an emphasis on God, Jesus and evangelism with an emphasis on self, and when even doing something "in the name of Jesus", it is fact still self serving and all about us in the end. It is no wonder that we face the 21st century with a failed model of Christianity!
The religion which stood up to the Pax Romana and over came it, survived the onslaught of the Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages and survived it - albeit only in the inaccessible isles of Ireland and Scotland, survived the attempts to revive Christianity during the Reformation - was to die almost completely due to the cult of Self in the 20th and 21st centuries.
True believers stand in a unique spot before God, we face critics whom are justified in their statements, we face self serving members of churches whom know all of the right words - just not in their hearts, and there is this lost and seeking world out there whom has looked at Christianity and due to the examples they see - can not believe that this is actually the way to Salvation!
In fact, the ones I meet and talk to, are appalled by what they have seen, heard and why was it they should be believing in this disaster called Christianity again ...?
March 11, 2015
Perspective
Perspective is everything, as we are told. Depending upon where you are standing, that perspective can change dramatically! "So what?", you say? Well just follow along ...
I have through the years known some mighty godly (reason for the small "g") and pious elders through the years, here and abroad. This abomination now called christianity has spread worldwide, pious people can be found everywhere. They appear mighty Godly, but when the rubber hits the road, well then we get to see their real faith was not in Jesus at all but in their own willpower.
Thinking of one of them, staunch christian, standard family, he made it widely known his faith was everything to him ... until his teenage daughter's extracurricular activities caught up with her. The suddenly prolife family is now sending her rapidly and quietly off for an abortion, selling their house at a loss and moving to points unknown. Well, I knew, they moved to the other side of town, put their daughter into a different high school, change churches and it was now life as usual. The past is after all the past ... right?
Really?
Sorry, God does not work that way. If you advertise that you are called by HIS name and you pull a huge fubar like murder of the unborn, God will hold you accountable. He will do whatever it takes, pull out the stops, to bring you back ... and we are not talking about kindness here. He is God, He is Sovereign and you little backside is toast when you cross Him. Bob moving his family, changing the daughter's school, changing churches is not going to hide anything - because our God, the REAL God, does not like secrets, does not like lies and really does not like murder! Sure you can repent of any or all of it, and you will still pay a price - because you attempted to trash HIS name, HIS witness, making a mockery of HIS salvation only He can offer. And yes, all of these changes are what precedes a full scale teenage melt down.
Conversely, Bob may well have been a real Christian, whom set his sights on the world and its standards. His reaction was therefore the same as the world's. He allowed himself to play in Satan's domain, his daughter was therefore misled, attacked, failed and got to pay a price for his either being weak or ineffectual in her life (yeah, four fingers pointing back here!). But, you know, Satan likes it when you destroy your Christian witness! One highly visible failure by us as a Christian and multiples now will never listen to anything concerning God - he is a fake right? Just like Bob or anyone of us.
And Satan will reward you handsomely for furthering its goals of leading the world away from God, away from Jesus, away from truth, away from salvation. So all is well with Bob, life is even better than before. Well, in the short run anyway ...
But, God does not work that way and will make Bob quite miserable in His attempts to call Bob back onto his knees before Him ...
To make a horrible story short - by the end of the year: Bob had lost his $200k job, when that was quite a piece of change!, his wife had left him, his daughter was gang raped in French class, when the teacher had to run to the office .....
Well, you can recover from a job loss, you can recover from losing your loved ones, you can destroy another unborn life in the attempt to keep things secret, but it is a bit harder to recover from having your daughter's mind snap from the violence she was exposed to. At their trial, the six young men involved testified that they heard from their friends, at her old school, she was "easy" - so what the heck, she wouldn't mind after all. (They were sentenced as adults and with no time off for good behavior, they still have 5 more years to go ... )
It is now 20 years later. Bob never did recover. He did come to understand that his failures as a man opened the doors through which his family was attacked. Yes, his daughter and his wife had to make their own choices and pay their own price for playing Satan's games, but the thought remains for him and for us whom watched and tried to intervene unsuccessfully: was any of this avoidable? His wife contracted HPV and died rapidly. His daughter moved in with other family and eventually fell into drugs, alcohol, prostitution and suicide.
You say, where is the perspective here?!?!?!?!
Oh it is there:
Proverbs 16:25 - There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
Perhaps just like Bob, you are living the perfect life. Health and Wealth were his because he claimed them! Too bad for fools like me whom do not understand that this is exactly what God wants for each of us! He got his, he enjoyed his, he lusted after more. And Satan had him.
So many of my friends are trapped in this religion of superstition and occultism! And randomly, God calls them to account, but they do not understand this - no, their faith must be slipping, other people in their family are the weak ones, God does not work this way ...
It is all a question of perspective after all.
I have through the years known some mighty godly (reason for the small "g") and pious elders through the years, here and abroad. This abomination now called christianity has spread worldwide, pious people can be found everywhere. They appear mighty Godly, but when the rubber hits the road, well then we get to see their real faith was not in Jesus at all but in their own willpower.
Thinking of one of them, staunch christian, standard family, he made it widely known his faith was everything to him ... until his teenage daughter's extracurricular activities caught up with her. The suddenly prolife family is now sending her rapidly and quietly off for an abortion, selling their house at a loss and moving to points unknown. Well, I knew, they moved to the other side of town, put their daughter into a different high school, change churches and it was now life as usual. The past is after all the past ... right?
Really?
Sorry, God does not work that way. If you advertise that you are called by HIS name and you pull a huge fubar like murder of the unborn, God will hold you accountable. He will do whatever it takes, pull out the stops, to bring you back ... and we are not talking about kindness here. He is God, He is Sovereign and you little backside is toast when you cross Him. Bob moving his family, changing the daughter's school, changing churches is not going to hide anything - because our God, the REAL God, does not like secrets, does not like lies and really does not like murder! Sure you can repent of any or all of it, and you will still pay a price - because you attempted to trash HIS name, HIS witness, making a mockery of HIS salvation only He can offer. And yes, all of these changes are what precedes a full scale teenage melt down.
Conversely, Bob may well have been a real Christian, whom set his sights on the world and its standards. His reaction was therefore the same as the world's. He allowed himself to play in Satan's domain, his daughter was therefore misled, attacked, failed and got to pay a price for his either being weak or ineffectual in her life (yeah, four fingers pointing back here!). But, you know, Satan likes it when you destroy your Christian witness! One highly visible failure by us as a Christian and multiples now will never listen to anything concerning God - he is a fake right? Just like Bob or anyone of us.
And Satan will reward you handsomely for furthering its goals of leading the world away from God, away from Jesus, away from truth, away from salvation. So all is well with Bob, life is even better than before. Well, in the short run anyway ...
But, God does not work that way and will make Bob quite miserable in His attempts to call Bob back onto his knees before Him ...
To make a horrible story short - by the end of the year: Bob had lost his $200k job, when that was quite a piece of change!, his wife had left him, his daughter was gang raped in French class, when the teacher had to run to the office .....
Well, you can recover from a job loss, you can recover from losing your loved ones, you can destroy another unborn life in the attempt to keep things secret, but it is a bit harder to recover from having your daughter's mind snap from the violence she was exposed to. At their trial, the six young men involved testified that they heard from their friends, at her old school, she was "easy" - so what the heck, she wouldn't mind after all. (They were sentenced as adults and with no time off for good behavior, they still have 5 more years to go ... )
It is now 20 years later. Bob never did recover. He did come to understand that his failures as a man opened the doors through which his family was attacked. Yes, his daughter and his wife had to make their own choices and pay their own price for playing Satan's games, but the thought remains for him and for us whom watched and tried to intervene unsuccessfully: was any of this avoidable? His wife contracted HPV and died rapidly. His daughter moved in with other family and eventually fell into drugs, alcohol, prostitution and suicide.
You say, where is the perspective here?!?!?!?!
Oh it is there:
Proverbs 16:25 - There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
Perhaps just like Bob, you are living the perfect life. Health and Wealth were his because he claimed them! Too bad for fools like me whom do not understand that this is exactly what God wants for each of us! He got his, he enjoyed his, he lusted after more. And Satan had him.
So many of my friends are trapped in this religion of superstition and occultism! And randomly, God calls them to account, but they do not understand this - no, their faith must be slipping, other people in their family are the weak ones, God does not work this way ...
It is all a question of perspective after all.
January 8, 2015
Holiday Reading
Over the holiday, I did some "light" reading. Francis Schaeffer, is hardly light reading for me. Usually, I read a sentence or perhaps a paragraph and then must sort through his meanings and insight. He was a brilliant man and I have a great deal of respect for him. His ideas from the 1960's through 1980's all prophesied the world we live in today. So, if you want to know where this culture, this American Theological aka Western culture went wrong and why - read his numerous books on the subject!
I read again The God Who Is There and How Then Should We Live. Lightly this time, not analyzing but just refreshing my memory with his ideas and insights. Then I picked up A Christian Manifesto ...
Never had read it before and I found it quite interesting. Schaeffer walks you through the history of politics in light of the reformation movement and post-reformation degradation of society and culture. It was interesting to see that much of what I harp on about today's society, Schaeffer finds the seeds were planted in the reformation. Hmmmmm.
About half of the book deals with the concept of Christian Disobedience and Civil Unrest. A subject near and dear to my heart.
Not found on any of my blogs, even the long dead ones, was a mention that my first book ever was, Christian Civil Disobedience. Just try to even find a copy of it anywhere on the internet or even anywhere! All twelve copies I think are now in Canada (LOL!).
I had been writing Bible studies since 1974 and freely distributed them. One of my "clients" was a protest group in Washington State of the USA. They were a huge encouragement to me back then, with a heavy traffic of questions, comments and requests in those pre-internet or even email days.
Then one day I was reading the newspaper and saw that those whacky Washingtonians were at it again and protesting nuclear missiles being shipped to a sub base there. One of them laid down on the railroad tracks and was most surprised to discover that trains do not stop like cars and his next appearance was before Jesus. I was stunned because I at least knew the guy from the letter traffic of the protest group! Stunned is perhaps too light of a word.
And I knew in my spirit I had to write on Christian Civil Disobedience. It was not much of a tome, only 58 pages but it clearly mapped out what the Bible has to say on the subject. And you might be surprised what the real answer is.
But back to Francis Schaeffer and the Christian Manifesto ... I am now reading his thoughts and seeing his logic 30 years after my book's publication and interestingly published at about the same time as his. My work circulated within the Mennonite and Hutterite communities, Schaeffer's within the general Christian community. Both came at the subject from opposite ends of the argument, mine from the Bible, his from secular history and both pointed to the same conclusion - had Francis of continued his line of reason but he was arguing politics and did not complete the Christian responsibility part.
Now I am challenged to search through all of the boxes to find my original of the manuscript. Perhaps in February I will be able to break it up and publish it here .... But, it would also be interesting to reread that manuscript and see if Kris of over 30 years ago still thinks like this new Kris ....
I read again The God Who Is There and How Then Should We Live. Lightly this time, not analyzing but just refreshing my memory with his ideas and insights. Then I picked up A Christian Manifesto ...
Never had read it before and I found it quite interesting. Schaeffer walks you through the history of politics in light of the reformation movement and post-reformation degradation of society and culture. It was interesting to see that much of what I harp on about today's society, Schaeffer finds the seeds were planted in the reformation. Hmmmmm.
About half of the book deals with the concept of Christian Disobedience and Civil Unrest. A subject near and dear to my heart.
Not found on any of my blogs, even the long dead ones, was a mention that my first book ever was, Christian Civil Disobedience. Just try to even find a copy of it anywhere on the internet or even anywhere! All twelve copies I think are now in Canada (LOL!).
I had been writing Bible studies since 1974 and freely distributed them. One of my "clients" was a protest group in Washington State of the USA. They were a huge encouragement to me back then, with a heavy traffic of questions, comments and requests in those pre-internet or even email days.
Then one day I was reading the newspaper and saw that those whacky Washingtonians were at it again and protesting nuclear missiles being shipped to a sub base there. One of them laid down on the railroad tracks and was most surprised to discover that trains do not stop like cars and his next appearance was before Jesus. I was stunned because I at least knew the guy from the letter traffic of the protest group! Stunned is perhaps too light of a word.
And I knew in my spirit I had to write on Christian Civil Disobedience. It was not much of a tome, only 58 pages but it clearly mapped out what the Bible has to say on the subject. And you might be surprised what the real answer is.
But back to Francis Schaeffer and the Christian Manifesto ... I am now reading his thoughts and seeing his logic 30 years after my book's publication and interestingly published at about the same time as his. My work circulated within the Mennonite and Hutterite communities, Schaeffer's within the general Christian community. Both came at the subject from opposite ends of the argument, mine from the Bible, his from secular history and both pointed to the same conclusion - had Francis of continued his line of reason but he was arguing politics and did not complete the Christian responsibility part.
Now I am challenged to search through all of the boxes to find my original of the manuscript. Perhaps in February I will be able to break it up and publish it here .... But, it would also be interesting to reread that manuscript and see if Kris of over 30 years ago still thinks like this new Kris ....
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