Game Changer: Transition

     Every so often during our lifetime there are things that happen that I call a "game-changer."  It is when either an event of magnitude happens to change the course that you were or are on.  In a horse race it is the "long shot."  In poker it is the high stakes hand that changes the players, who stays in and who folds and is out.  Baseball the grand slam, football the hail mary. and so it goes.  Things rarely stay the same for a long long time before life changes for you.
     It is at this time that flight or fight kicks in and we can be forever changed by the event.
Christ was a game changer for the whole world.  The Romans didn't see him coming nor did the Jews.  Everything and anything he was around changed forever.  Likewise if we are to come into contact with the true Jesus, then you can expect to be changed,your views totally altered and your mentality takes a 360 to view the new world that you have just encountered.
    It is with caution that I say be careful because there are those within the way that will try and shape you to their idea of Christ and his doctrines.  One must have a little skepticism in regards to believing everything and everyone during this critical time of change.  New believers must be aware of truth not bent or maligned to an individual but must examine for themselves the truths Jesus spoke and you must eat the word and Jesus said, eat my body and drink my blood!  Quite barbaric?  The Jews misunderstood too.  If Jesus is the bread from heaven and gives ever lasting life then you must find out what that means.  It cannot embrace methods of churches nor can it embrace strictly doctrines or you will be a weak Christian and rely on others.  You are the one to open your eyes, I know I let others feed me way too many food groups within Christology and for some years now I have learned to listen in a quiet place and find out again just what that game changer apprehended me for.
  Now I am not saying be alone in your Christianity, just find a Christianity not imposing a man's will mixed with singular vision. It's so much more.  We must find it within ourselves to be as open and pliable as Jesus and take into consideration that what he did and said had limitations for us.  The guidelines he drew were non restrictive in that he did not require a man or woman to be forced into believing nor did I think he intend institutions to be that way either.  So if there is a church or type of one that says "this has to be the way it is" just be careful.  Everything I have read so far about the life Jesus led and the things he did were on a level of love for us.  While he  relieved us of certain sufferings and performed miracles to prove that the kingdom of God did exist and changed our misconceptions of God  he explained sometimes in parables  just what it was he was offering to us while we live here on this little blue ball.
     None of it included a divided church de-nominalized and fractured to the point of stagnation.  Nor did it include isolationist churches" better than they" so that it became internal and pregnant with it's own form of Christianity sometimes toxic to those who had pure hearts and searched for Jesus at all cost to themselves.  I was one of them.  It aborted it's own members as time went on and was blinded to the harm inflicted on the ones who labored in it for the sake of  "spot or wrinkle" showing up.  It was legalistic after all.
     Now for the good news after all of that.  It is possible to live as Christ intended and it takes time to let the Holy Spirit do this in you.  If and when we rub shoulders with all there is on this planet of ours then we either become bigoted against what it is we think we do not want to be or we let the game change us and find that the passions and ideas that we foment within can be toned down to the point of no offense as did Jesus. So what if we do not agree politically or socially with another?  So what if we do not agree with lifestyles in the open?  Do we take a stand?  Carry a sign and protest?  We could but in its temporal form it will be with us until this world ends.  There are fights to do this in at times when repression or lives are at stake.  But in day to day living finding a fight does not necessarily win the day.
     So how do new Christians deal with the many things that come at them like a bounding snow-ball?
Jesus is patient and he will allow things in our lives to temper us and to not become extreme.  One of the many facets of Christianity has been like a diamond.  Within many churches that hold to certain ways of worship there have been those that really love God and spurn rigidity and so I feast on it wherever I find it.  Like a good desert it will  satisfy and we can be assured that there are many thousands of people that serve Christ purely and so you will find a part of Christ's  body there.
     Church hopping today is I would guess is prevalent because no one is willing to totally be out there and risk it all or they just have not tasted the desert yet!   Hunger is one of the strongest of urges we have aside from sex and it will drive us to find the truth.
     Jesus offered the woman at the well water of life to thirst no more.  She met the real deal.
"Blessed are those who believe and have not seen," Jesus said.  So we are blessed when we let  the high stakes poker hand come our way and change us forever. Though it is not easy to follow.
IXOYE.
   

One step and into another kingdom: FAITH

     Alternate universes need not be thought of as far away or impossible to enter into.  Side by side realities exist right now,right here on earth.  What? You say? How is this possible?  Listen to some of these words spoken by...you know who...John 8:23

But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

John 8:22-24 

1. John 13:36
   Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
   John 13:35-37 (in Context) John 13 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

Result pages:33 

Do you know the laws of the heavens?
    Can you set up God’s[a] dominion over the earth? (Job)

Footnotes

     

     So as our wonderful scientists delve further into the smallest particles "The God Particle" or Higgs-boson there are physical laws not working as they should and were broken by Jesus 2000 + years ago.

 Water into wine... compound change, increased matter... (bread and fish to feed many more people than the food they originally had on hand.  Elements silenced...stormy seas and lightening calmed by a word.  Peter walking on a liquid surface.  Jesus walking through the door and appearing as what "a changeling, and morphing back into someone the disciples could recognize?  The brightest of bright white lite as he transfigured on a mount. 

     Paul taken up to a third heaven whether in body or not he did not know. Enoch and Elijah taken alive into the heavens before witnesses.  And so the list ever grows to shape a mystery not easily understood.  

     There is yet another mystery, Faith.  By faith men were healed and by faith those first disciples received from heaven the Spirit ( an invisible spirit) that caused them to speak in other tongues. They were witnesses of the Messiah  The Son of God, who came from another place, dimension or reality (yet born of a virgin) we cannot see with our eyes.  But yet by faith we take one step by belief and enter into another kingdom with different rules and different physical properties right here, right now and find ourselves caught up in a fabulous world  that God had intended from the beginning.  Healings now apprehended, wisdom and peace found.  Answers to hard questions answered.  Will we still suffer and be in this world?  Yes but with an advocate who went through everything possible and then.....raised from the dead. And we also will raise and be like him.......What kind of body? A spiritual body Paul says... of flesh transformed like Jesus and glorified somehow able to eat food again and live forever. Fantastic!

Defying Caesar's decrees: There is another king!

     They are all defying Caesar’s decree saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil.
     GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, CUBA –  The commander of the Guantanamo Bay naval base decided Wednesday to move Nativity scenes from two dining halls following complaints that the decorations improperly promoted Christianity.

"They are terrified. Right now, there is a witch hunt going on to find out who did this," said Weinstein, a former Air Force lawyer who said the troops wanted to remain anonymous.

"By placing these displays in prominent common areas, the impression is that one faith is better than others and that the military institution singularly promotes Christianity," said the email, provided to The Associated Press by the organization without the names of the senders.

The senders said they put up with a great deal of hardship in their jobs, including having bodily fluids hurled at them by prisoners, and should not be made uncomfortable on their time off.

But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city.

     

     Let's compare notes!  Today we have this story headlined in the NY times suggesting persecution of sorts in that a display of the Nativity was aggressively promoting Christianity and not respecting others.  Lets look at this seriously...these are only representations of people who lived 2000 years ago.  It represents the birth of Christ.  Was there proselytizing going on? People to people? The article did not say so.  Could people think what they chose concerning the Nativity? Yes I think adults have the capacity to think for themselves.  But because of the power behind the Nativity and the IDEAS therein lies the problem.  

     Look at the trouble Paul stirred up when he began preaching the very gospel he used to persecute others for.  There is a behind the scenes spiritual power play going on every day for the fight for truth.  Even in the ridiculous.  Does Satan fear the name of Christ? You bet!  So it will always be repressed on every front on every battlefield so that there is a blackout of truth.  Funny though it was such a threat considering it is within a military compound of the world's strongest military that holds Muslim prisoners........though extremists in their own right. If in fact the MRFF Military Religious Freedom Foundation was correct in adhering to free and democratic principles as denoted by the Constitution and the founding fathers intention to separate church and state issues for fear of duplicating in this country what England tried to enforce, should mere viewing of the Nativity invoke such turmoil?  Surely Paul went to Prison and his death for more weighty matters. Such is American Christianity.  

From Every Nation Tongue and Tribe: Those who believe will be accepted:

     

     9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

     To the Jews these words spoken by Peter were a new revelation they had not yet heard. Concerning uncircumcised Gentiles now allowed in the presence of their company and God's as well.  This was a call to fulfill God's plan in saving the known world and spreading a new and vibrant life in Jesus Christ.  Those Gentiles having heard the message of Christ were now a people in grafted into the new and forming Church.  Peter brought the initial word of acceptance  to those of the house of Cornelius and at the same time one Saul of Tarsus a devout Jew and a member of the Pharisees persecuted "The Way" seeking letters from the Priests to haul them away and imprison them and or kill them.  He was stopped dead in his tracks on his way to Damascus and blinded by a great light, Jesus, who confronted him and told him it was he who Saul was persecuting, i,e the new Christians Jesus now made known they were his people and part of himself. Simultaneously Saul, now renamed Paul was sent to the Gentiles as a missionary. He preached Christ crucified and risen and  converted those who would hear in what would be a fantastic ministry to the known world.  Jews and Gentiles and all nations who would accept Christ as Savior would be included in Salvation and knowledge of Jewish history.
     The promise was to those "near and afar off" and as many  who would confess Jesus as Lord.  Who could have seen that one who was murderous and zealous for "God" (actually what had become a religious system and empty of life) would instead be turned a three-sixty and used by the one true God to change the world!  
                       " There is neither Jew nor Greek nor slave or free" but all are one in Christ Jesus.

     

But God's Word is Not Chained

     This thing, this burning, it has been with me from the beginning. The road to Damascus there is where it all began... still new and unfolding even here in this cold and dark world I find myself in.  I am chained now for the second time.  This time harsher and more restrictive than the first.  Even my friends whom I called friends have deserted me.  Those who are seen with me are criminals too.  Those who ran must have been ashamed, but I, I am not ashamed of the Gospel.
     For to me it was revealed that now I have run the last course of the race and am to be offered up in a few hours.  A spectacle awaits me.  Leering faces harsh taunts from those I do not know.  Caesars friends...not mine...not my King either.  This is why I am here.  I am now an affront to the "Roman Empire."  For thirty years I was stoned by my own countrymen, beaten and shipwrecked and the Romans just looked the other way.  Now we are hundreds of thousands spread out throughout the Empire and now a threat to Nero himself.  WE are those who love one another? Why can't they see it? It is the ultimate offering, to love one another as he first loved us!  But this is insidious, political and an evil than runs the course through mens hearts and opposes God himself.  Vanity and exaltation to the highest heavens the Last Great Empire of Daniel's Golden Statue.  This is what God will tear down and use us, a lowly people to do it.  This is what Nero fears most,,,he is already judged, he is crazy.
     Fire swept the streets last night and I was told that widespread panic gripped the whole city.  Everyone was in fear of his life.  I am told we Christians are to blame.
     I sit in chains but God's word is never chained, it goes where it will, plants seeds in the hardest of ground and blossoms fruit the world hates.  That is why I will gladly give myself to the blade.  It is Christ in me that lives and not I!
     So many years ago I watched a young man get stoned to death with a smile on his face!  Stephen.  A man I hope to meet tomorrow. A man I need forgiveness from.  A man that I had incited others to kill!  I deeply regret this.  Perhaps he was me. How could I have known?
     My feet are cold and unwrapped, my hands and wrists raw from being manacled to this wall day in and day out.  My eyes, well they are of no use to me at all.  Just as well not likely to see anything worthwhile now.
   My hope is in Christ and Timothy he is the one who will run for me now.   I am spent......and my crown awaits me....

                       St. Paul.
                       from a Roman Prison.

   

Three Times denied: Three times:Do you love me?

     "Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter."  A common and tested saying all too true.  In the  garden of Gethsemene as Jesus of Nazareth was taken captive Peter had defended him by cutting off the ear of one called Malchus, promptly in which Jesus healed the man and told Peter to sheath his sword.  A bold move by Peter.  Defending the one you love is easy. Or so it would seem. Jesus was still with him and very easy to defend because of the relative proximity to Peter and the other disciples. There was strength in numbers.   Upon seeing the reality of Jesus being taken captive and lead to authorities, doubt and fear began to settle in to Peter's understanding.  As Jesus was lead onward and away from Peter he became scared for his own life and therefore denied three times that he even knew Jesus.  The man had a serious battle with fear.  And he wept bitterly.  Confused, somewhat abandoned by the one he looked too Peter did what we all could do in that moment, deny Christ.  A fearful thing to do because of the consequences of that kind of testimony.  It is said that if a man deny Christ, then he will deny that man before the Father.  Not a position I would want to find myself in.
     Fast forward to a time after the ascension and Peter finds himself again next to Christ being probed by him asking "Peter do you love me more than these?"  Fish!  "Lord you know that I love you",Peter says. Three times this is asked and three times answered by Peter with sorrow in his heart because of his earlier denials.  It is clear to Jesus just what is needed to prod this disciple on  in order to accomplish what Jesus had intended from the beginning.  There was no mention of his denial, or failings, just a simple calling to fulfill what Jesus wanted him to fulfill. "Feed my sheep."  Mercy was already working and Peter must have known this about Jesus.  Imagine the relief he felt and inward joy of forgiveness.
     Read on in the  book of Acts what kind of man peter became after the giving of the Holy Spirit, it is inspiring..........
   
   

On The Condition of Anonymity:

     The coolness of the cave gave way to burst of sunlight as the first hour of the day drew near.  I rolled over slowly and savored the warmth against my body. I cast the ragged and dirty outerwear aside feeling that the day was going to be hotter than the night that had just passed.  My fingers, numb and stiff and my knees sore, I arose slowly and looked around for the meagher food left to me the day before.  It was tossed in by the one who always came so silently and I could never quite see who it was.  They were afraid of me.
     Covering my face I walked carefully to the bread, sniffed it and tore the green parts off and ate the rest.   Nothing else to eat, I went outside and started my slow journey towards town.  Pacing my self for the day not only because of hunger but because I was sick.   It came on slowly but after awhile I realized that there was nothing I could do to stop progression of what I had.  My skin began to turn grey and my fingers began to warp in a ghastly and crooked manner that shocked even me.  I was used to suffering, but this, was something I could not fathom.  My heart was devoid of any caring and past feeling...desolate and desperate and alone, except for those like me.
     Walking was excruciating. I had no sandals and my feet were just stumps covered in linen rags tied to keep what was left of them from dropping away.  You see I was a Leper.....
      Today I heard that the one who healed was near, but because I was Samaritan I had little hope of seeing him up close.  The Jews would see to that.  I crossed the boundary lines and sat among the olive trees eying Jerusalem in the distance.  Faint sounds came to my ears and my understanding finally caught up with my eyes.  People, lots of them, coming up the hill following one who stood out from the others.
     They were coming my way!  I sensed a freshness, even from here, hope, maybe this was him.
I grabbed my stick, rose and waited on the side of the path and with my face hidden, turned away from any chance contact. I did not want to get stoned.

     People saw me an fear gripped them as they realized what I was.  "Unclean, Unclean", they cried and the crowd parted and ran away, all but the one who led them this far.   He stood in his spot unafraid of me.  I looked right at him. He looked back and said, "what do you want today?"
"Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."  "I am willing. Be clean go show yourself to the Priest and offer that which Moses commanded,"
                                                         tell no one"
    I was clean!  My hands and feet whole, my skin soft and tender again. I wept and fell at his feet convulsing uncontrollably with a newfound joy.  He healed me.....A Samaritan and him a Jew.  God had truly had shown me mercy today.  

   

Born Again: So cliche?, Overused! But Yet a reality for us as Christians that means so much more!

          Several months ago I wrote about " A Visit in The Night" concerning Nicodemus who visited Jesus and in that meeting Jesus told him he must be born again to enter the kingdom of God.  Well, we in the 21st century have heard this terminology bandied about almost recklessly to a point of nausea.  This is unfortunate because this is exactly what is needed to enter the kingdom.  We cannot enter in by another way, gate, or climb over a wall and sneak our way in.
                                              What it is and what it is not....... 
       First and foremost it is a depositing of the Holy Spirit into a vessel (us) that is seriously flawed and full of sin.  Therefore we are required to repent or consciously turn away from our own ways or works that does absolutely nothing for us.  Jesus said somewhere..."Without me ye can do nothing."  And this is the truth.  Without recognizing that Jesus was slain for us as our redeemer we will continue to live out our lives without the "covering of blood" that was necessary to blot out the handwriting of requirement (or law).  This might seem savage for us to comprehend in this day and age and require us to wrap our minds around this concept, but nevertheless it must be accepted as truth in order for anyone to enter the kingdom that is 
reserved for the children of God.  
     What blanks Nicodemus lacked in understanding as a teacher of the Law Jesus filled in quite nicely that night.   
      Baptism goes hand-in-hand with repentance and symbolically we die with Christ and rise again out of the water a new creation.  A forerunner of the resurrection to come.  
                                                
                                              What it is not!
      Being born again does not mean that we are arrogant,judgemental, disputatious, people concerned only with disputes and doctrines that serve to divide the Christian Church.  So many on the outside looking in, get turned off by these types of attitudes within the Church.  Like Paul, Peter, John and the other disciples they learned that above all we are the ones that should be open and accepting of people's sin nature and whatever form it occupies for them. After all what is anyone before coming to God?   What I mean is this:  Judge not that ye be judged!  Not my words but true.   It also means that we love one another as he( Jesus) loved us.  1st John 1:1 is an excellent read for this.  Being born again has so much deeper qualities associated with it than just a surface understanding.  It is a complete change of mind.  Looking at life's issues as God would!  Full circle and taken back to the origin of our creation and seeing through new eyes.  It dispenses with so many half truths and cleans out the barn so to speak and refreshes us for new beginnings.  It is a walking out in faith that God meant what he said and we enter into a relationship personally with the Holy Spirit as guide, counselor, lover of our souls.
     One could ask themselves why should I? And what benefit is it for me?  Much.  
Jesus healed, fed thousands, taught wisdom, walked endlessly for three years and invested himself for our sake to reinforce to us that God cares for every single thing we do, could go through or have done to us and then adds eternal life as the final topping.  This is no small thing.  I dare other faiths to even come close.  
     There is cost: It means forever living for .....(not yourself) and making yourself available for each and every teaching or "word out of the mouth of God" If we do not do this but only become hearers...then it does nothing.  
       Joy unspeakable, rivers of rushing water that rise up from the belly and understanding our place in this great cosmos:   This is being born again...................

Death is Not The End of Us:

     For us as Christians we have come to know that we will inherit promises Jesus spoke about before he was crucified and risen.  We know that death is inevitable like with everyone but with a surprise ending!  We will rise again and not only live again but will live to inhabit another earth with another Jerusalem as it's center of rule and government.   Far Fetched?  No not really.  There are harder things to understand and far wilder, such as super-string theory, the theory of everything... antimatter, worlds within worlds, wormholes, time travel, side by side dimensions and alternate realities existing alongside of ours with us in it just ,,,different people!   So why not another earth? With us in it? Again!  Hard to think of?   Sounds more plausible to me.  Here's what Isaiah said nearly 2800 years ago....
     “See, I will create

    new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
    nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
    in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
    and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
    and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
    will be heard in it no more.

“See, I will create
    new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
    nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
    in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
    and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
    and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
    will be heard in it no more.

20 “Never again will there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
    will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
    or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
    so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
    the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,
    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,
    they and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer;
    while they are still speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
    and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

          So these words penned or should I say scribed thousands of years ago paint a pretty impossible but good picture for those who trust in God.  Failing to live to a hundred and considered accursed? The days of a man will be like a tree...hundreds of years old.   Houses lived in no longer taken away by what?  Bad credit? Loans? Death prematurely?  Even more delightful..we will and can enjoy our work!  That in itself should be something to be hoped for.  A lion that eats straw..yes I'm for that since I lost my cat to a mountain lion three months ago. Eaten.  Sorry but it's true I live in Colorado and the lions range when they are hungry into our territory.  So I believe with all my heart and faith that these things will be true.  Those who have not acquainted themselves with the Gospel..read on. It's so much more that a book of stories, but of lives lived. Impossible men and impossible women in impossible situations God had redeemed from lives that could have been ho-hum but instead.....
                               A man in lion's den and lives
                               Boys in fiery furnaces and lived
                               Servant girl to Queen (Esther)
                               Adolescent killing a giant (David)
                               Sailing a giant  boat across a landless globe for one hundred and fifty days
                               World's strongest man: subdued by a beautiful woman (Delilah)
                               Walls that fell flat (because of sympathetic vibrations? or God intervening?
                     
                                          You be the judge!  Fantastic stories, how come they don't happen now?  Because the Spirit of God has fallen to those that believe and did so two thousand years ago and will continue until The Lord comes again... and he will.  We are the fantastic story now..........

Remembering the Past; So that I may live in the now:Living in the now so I can be assured of the Future

     There is a saying that goes something like this: If we fail to remember the past we are sure to live it all over again including the mistakes.  I say this in regards to Paul's letter to the Romans regarding our state of being.  Paul asserts that we who are now alive through Christ were once dead under the law because it could not offer what Christ's sacrifice finally won for us.  Grace and redemption and no longer slaves to sin and no longer under law.
   If we go back to the works state of mind, then we are under law again and fail in our attempts to please God.  We can never do that.   When we forget this then we are easily overcome and the fallen state of mind can deceive us again. Fear,worries, and the pressures of daily living can rob us of the joy we can experience in the realization that we are truly free if we can exercise our faith, almost like body builders do in the gym.   Daily, the Holy Spirit is the guiding "counselor" of our lives along with the family of Christians we get to know.  Reading the "word" which should be translated as Jesus said, "we do not live by bread alone, but by every word out of the mouth of God" this is our strength.
   Think of it as proteins for our body and our spirit.  In the world there are myriads of ways we use to build us up in our body, soul, and spirit, many of them fail. Protein shakes, for the body, meditation for the spirit, music for the soul...etc, etc.  I do not fault these but they are limited in fulfilling what Christ intended.  These in and of themselves do not add to our eternal state or change us inwardly
    Remember in Daniel, those who fasted before God because of King Nebuchadnezzars's decree were found to be healthier than those who ate.  A testament to faith and works together.
     Christians that live in the Spirit and do what Jesus said are not merely hearers, but doers and they fulfill a deeper calling than those that merely attend meetings and rely on say a Pastors' leadership to lay out the course for them.  I know, for many years I did not exercise my faith as much as I should have and relied entirely too much on others and not Christ or the leading of the Spirit.
      I have tried this week to remember the sheer joy of the initial moment of being set free in Christ and laying down my life (repentance) and living for him.  In that moment, I could realize eternity and cast aside the fear of death I had always been afraid of.  This was my moment of freedom and( Aha!) moment that I never want to lose!  God drew close to me because I drew close to him.  This is what he always wanted, a return from a foreign land.   Study the Old Testament and one can see how many times the Israelites experienced exile because of their disobedience.
     Joy often gets squashed and pressed out of our lives because there are just so many things to contend with daily.  Raising kids, college, money worries, and trying to ignore issues of  terrorism and shootings,and bombings all  tend to steal and rob us of joy.
     Focusing on a kingdom not yet attained is harder and more of a stretch to comprehend and easier to ignore.  It is for this reason that we must daily think on:
      Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 

     These things are the excellent things we should think on.  They make for life, joy and is our meat and drink as Christians.  

Christianity: What is it exactly? What are we embracing & what are we becoming?

          If Christianity is equated to other great religion's of the world  and is nothing more than a set of rituals or a set of beliefs to embrace what good is it as compared to those other  great religions?  Why elevate it and why aggressively promote it over the many other religions of the earth?
    First it has to be defined as to what it is and is not.  It is not it is supposed, man made nor of earthly origins.  It revelatory in nature and reveals to us the given nature of a one true God and his efforts to be made known to people that lost the original knowledge of him.
        Separated in our sinfulness we have lost our way and the intimacy of walking with him.  God himself set out plans for redemption of the human race and has throughout our mortal history intervened in our lives in such a way as to reveal his nature to us.
     It is a love call...if this sounds too easy it shouldn't be misconstrued as so.  Reading through the Old testament that is filled with stories of bloodshed, overthrown kingdoms, wars and treachery it would seem that the message of a kind and benevolent God is lost or at best is one who you do not want to tangle with or get to know!  The Israelites a chosen people?  This is arrogance isn't it?  A chosen nation and royal priesthood?  This can seem unbelievable that is until you step into our present day and experience for yourself the promise of the Holy Spirit still at work in men and women and redemption.
     If then you receive the Baptism of the Spirit of which Christ spoke then suddenly it brings full circle the history of the Old Testament and New Testament (interpreted as nothing more as a will from a testator)  and begins to transform not only our thinking but adds to us the promise of new life as living water Jesus spoke about.  How is this so?
     The Old Testament is filled with idolatry and images of man made Gods and sacrifices made to those Gods sometimes of human bloodshed in offering to appease them.  Far from animal sacrifices and atonement rituals that the Israelites performed to appease our God from their sins.  These sacrifices were replaced as Paul said by GRACE of the Lord's death the only blood that redeems.  Though grotesque, death on the cross revealed the side of God that would willingly sacrifice his own son for us to bring about a total world redemption of his creation.
     Moral codes, commandments, and rituals did nothing for us internally to change our nature and our desire to run away from the presence of God.
   Rather if we embrace other major religions (and I have not experienced many) is there a fearful presence associated with their belief systems and is there any change internally to benefit our nature or add immortality?  I have not seen evidence of this.  Elephants and Rams heads or Cows do not provoke a fear in me but a God wrapped in pillars of fire by night and clouds by day and who shakes the Cedars of Lebanon do! A God who proclaims he made the Leviathan whose scales are so tight that arrows and spears would not pierce his hide and a God that is not man that he should lie or made Orion and the Pleadies and set them in the sky and arranges them for navigation is an awe inspiring God.
   We must be careful not to mix our imaginations with truth.  Getting back to present day, God has poured out his spirit on all flesh as the book of Joel proclaims and as Jesus promised, he did send the comforter after his ascension from earth.  Peter and the disciples clearly preached this so did Paul, Barnabas and many others. Do we believe it today?  There is ample evidence of their lives lived and how these men changed the world for us today as well.  Historically we have Archaeology to confirm many of these things.  Dead Sea Scrolls for one confirm ancient writings of Isaiah and of the books of the Pentateuch.  Stone inscriptions on marble mention Paul. Pilate was real and governed an unruly people full of laws the Romans saw as foolish.  Jerusalem was reduced to rubble one stone upon another torn down in A.D. 70 as Jesus foresaw and wept for.
        What Jesus did when he came and preached the kingdom of God to us was a break through of the eternal into the mortal.  The miracles performed weren't the issue that he wanted to profess and show (because men wanted signs) but rather he wanted us to become like him...without sin.....and raised to new life uncorrupted by the Devil's kingdom and hold on our lives.  To wreak havoc with our thinking so to speak and re-orient  us to his way of thinking.  A revelation of God, as near to us and anything else we could imagine.
     So Christianity is not a group of people that gather every Sunday to perform rituals sing songs reduce guilt temporarily, and get their kids into a Sunday school and teach moral systems that may or may not be true.  It is so much more.  It is PERSONAL living and sacrifice and obedience to a God who bought us back with his own blood.  It is a change of heart a repentance (turning away from our ways) and realization that we are limited in what we can do in our own strength and rather what God wants for us.  It is a culmination of his plan from the beginning that was interrupted by our decision to disobey his original command not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Though this sounds hokey, look at what exists in our world and ask yourself do we need the knowledge of mass shootings of children, insanity, insecurity of financial situations daily, government shutdowns, and Middle East unrest that won't go away?  If there was an Adam that had knowledge enough to name each and every single animal that "came to him" (think Lion and be afraid) and was clear in mind enough to do so as these animals exhibit traits of falleness now like Scapegoat (sin), stubbornness (Mule)  Hawk(war) or dove (peace) etc. etc. then one can wonder if the story for all it's simplicity is true, too simple as to be ignored or endlessly debated about and bandied about in doctrinal circles and pulled apart and analyzed to death.
     If then Christianity promises what has become to be associated with Jesus's teachings and of the things he promised us, why not embrace it? It's because the majority of people see that it has become commercialized and promoted with men's interpretation over the years and it weakens the truth.  De-nominationalized and packaged into beliefs palatable to the way "we" want to know God and ignoring the thousands of years of the working out of God's plans for us in his way of revelation.
     So what of Islam?, Confucianism? Hinduism?... Do these offer change of our nature and do they reveal an awesome God interested in our growth and  becoming like him?  Can we be broken in tears, filled with joy, our fears subdued, and least of all..... raised from the DEAD? Like Lazarus?
     You be the judge!  It has to come by ......revelation...  a preaching and hearing of the Gospel of good news correctly understood,received and walked out.... a personal touch of God himself. If this is a trait of arrogance or narrow mindedness of Christianity then let it be so.  For Jesus said himself narrow is the road that leads to salvation but wide is the gate that...leads to destruction.    The blindness is all over the world the scriptures reveal but one day we will see as he sees.    


   

If The Son Sets You Free: You Are Free Indeed; Do not become re-shackled by anything.

 This verse of scripture should be very familiar to most Christians.  Jesus, freed us from just about anything you can think of in terms of our nature of sin and the binding that the devil had also accomplished in his descent into our earthly realm.  He is the "Prince of the Power of the Air and so controls just about anything in this domain, that is until Jesus came and reversed it for all time and eternity to come.
     When salvation was finally revealed to me and I accepted it in the doctrinal stance that Jesus atoned once and for all (men)  on earth it was a miraculous day for me.  It was totally freeing to know that God had me reconciled to himself thru his only Son.  My guilt and all of the things that are wrapped up in us in not only bodily for but also spiritually was broken for all my time on this earth.  The gift of grace that Paul so eloquently speaks of often was poured out on me.
   I was fortunate to hear the preaching of the word that broke down barriers effectively making the way for me into God's kingdom here on earth.
     What was unfortunate was that it came wrapped up in a single man's vision of what Church should be and was part of the Shepherding movement of the early 70's and 80's.  In earlier blogs I attempted to explain what exactly this was. For 15 of those years I never questioned the movement or the numerous counselings that went on in this "Body of Christ."  But with eyes, I saw both the beautiful and the destructive nature of this particular expression of the Church.  Top down leadership was unquestioned and rules of legalism crept in over the years and so did the micro-managing of people's lives.  It was no less than bondage itself, disguised in a very lovely outward expression. If one were to have the ability financially then one could become part of the "inner circle" and those who seemed to struggle (like many and myself included) then you were not really part of the movement and had little say in the many changing directions of the Church over the years.  It seemed that every two years or so a "new revelation" was given to leadership and we followed along as good sheep.
     Those who excelled continued to do so and those who started to ask valid questions about these directions were counseled and leadership abilities taken away.  For example:  One family I know of started to have marital struggles and so one was counseled to split away from their spouse.  This was totally wrong.  Every marriage has struggles at one time or another and it does not mean divorce.  Another family was devoted for 10 + years, lead in music abilities and gave abundantly to the church.  HOWEVER when they began to see inequities of the structure or wanted to "teach in another way" they were expelled quite fast and were marked as "fallen away."
     Repression was not part of the Gospel of The Good News.  And we do not live in a 1960's cold war state of mind with suspicions arising at every dark corner of our lives.
     When Paul and any one of the disciples ministered it was with tremendous grace and love.  Peter who had denied Jesus, repented and transformed those around him and became a Pillar for others to lean on and a leader in the early church to be admired and emulated. John wrote such beautiful words in the beginning of his gospel.  How then do men get ahold of such "revelations" and use them to gain control of others so easily?  It's because we want to hear truth and when it is presented with the truth of the gospel mixed with men's ideas it can be deadly.  Think Waco, Jonestown or today's\ Elizabeth Smart trapped and bound for years and there are valid objections that should be raised when we see these things:
                         A.  A cutting off of Family relations with those who are "unsaved"
                         B.  New and revealed revelations often and changing too fast to implement
                         C.  An inner circle and and outer circle
                         D.  Bypassing those who have labored faithfully and responsibility given instead to                                    family members of the inner circle.
                         E.   Refusal of those in leadership to hear others ideas or questions of concern in                                        directions planned.
                         F.  Splitting of families
                         G. Inability to build with other Christian churches, isolated, insulated and                                                 introverted.
                         H. Being left behind financially when things are tight and are given no help when you                                have tithed faithfully for many years.
                         
                          These are just some of the earmarks to watch for that will put you firmly in bondge again in the midst of a seemly good Church.  Works will not get us into the kingdom only grace thru Jesus Christ.  More and more it is God who draws near to us when we draw near to him.  He wants us to be free and stay that way.  So be wary about what is presented to you and by all means think about what you enter into....I stayed in this for 17 years slowly cooking until it was time for me to be free.  I still have my salvation and I have also spent the last 15 years undoing my thoughts and re-orienting myself to the Gospel as it should be.    I finally have found the grace and because of this I blog about it so others can see as well.  Don't get cooked....
                       

What is it That Makes Sense To You?

     Ever try and make sense of just what it is in our world that does not make sense?  We live in a very complicated world.  Now more than ever with the advent of media at our fingertips we have the ability to plug into almost anything, anywhere at once.  We can see events unfold immediately somewhere 3000 miles away and empathize with world events the same as with a neighbor 10 feet way.  We can feel the sorrow of those less fortunate that we, who hunger, and thirst for the very things we take for granted.  Clothing should not be a luxury nor food to eat.  But nevertheless we see these things and long for closure to end suffering.  Sometimes the things we do are not enough on the grand scale of life's needs.

   However do not despair, there is one who came before us who understands this condition and met all of the needs of our current dilemma. Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Though he walked only three years among us in bodily form he was foremost in ministering to our needs.  Food, healing, wisdom, comfort and many other attributes he manifested among us and showed the way to a greater understanding of our humanity.  If we consider the way that Christianity is ministered today we can become sick at heart because there are so many basic principles that are lost in the way churches minister.  Salvation, atonement and repentance are just three of the very basic principles that Jesus taught that sometimes get lost by the wayside and replaced by programs, seeker churches and prosperity doctrines that are more prevalent in churches and more focused upon than our innate  human need to fill our spirit.   

     If we consider just the particulars of what we need, food, clothing, shelter, and our redemption from our sins that estranged us from our God, then we can realize that all of the other things that complicate our lves are extraneous.   Yes in America we are blessed to have many comforts other nations do not have,  but what is our responsibility on a daily basis?  To love our neighbor as ourself, to love our enemies. to feed the poor and visit the sick and those imprisoned.  When we have done these things Jesus said. "You have done it unto me." " No greater love hath a man than this that he lay his life down for his brother. " We can be assured of these things of the future,. We will inherit a kingdom with out spot or wrinkle and without tears.  A new heaven and earth is promised for those who believe.  This belief need not be complicated at all.  It is we who complicate the truth.  For us to enter in is to enter into it as with faith as a child.  Innocent and wondering full of curiosity of the things we do not readily understand.  As in " A Leap of Faith, In the Indiana Jones movie when he crosses a  unseen bridge.  That bridge for us is in Jesus Christ and one that will never disappoint.  

No Longer Able:

      We have won the victory in Christ, the Devil no longer will be able to reach us.  We will inherit a kingdom free from travail, lies and deceit will no longer exist and  our minds will be clear like Jesus.

What we were intended to be will be revealed and our treasure in this earthen vessel will be on display.  No longer will we have a nemesis who on a daily basis tries to corrupt our very way of life and steal us back into his kingdom of darkness.  "The Pits" that King David refers to numerous times in the Psalms are reserved for those of Satan's fallen followers that have made their choice and those of earth that have rejected the "Word of Life" will also fall into those pits.  Harsh? Not really.  

     When you multiply all of the thousands of years of turmoil, wars and deaths of innocents then you can look clearly at the judgements of a God who sees the beginning from the end.  Third Reich, Stalinism, Maoism, Rwanda and now Egypt, Tunisia, and North African nations without law.....there is Lawlessness.  There was a reason for the 10 Commandments.  A given set of morals to live by because we have no guidelines otherwise.  Nurture vs. Nature....? Take the old movie Trading places with Eddie Murphy victimizing the clueless and finally becoming a moral person given the chance of a plush living and a different set of circumstances then think Madoff!. Bernie who took millions from trusted friends...then realize it's what's in us that has to change.  Fiction vs. reality and Eddie made a very funny movie... just a movie.

     The only way it can is with outside intervention...A man who hung on a cross willingly and                                                                      ...TRADED PLACES.....

Clothed From Power on High:

     45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

     44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”[e] When he had said this, he breathed his last.

     Though the verses above leapfrog one another this was to make a point.  As Jesus gave out his last breath he committed his spirit to his Father.  
After his resurrection Jesus walked along the road to Emmaus with two of his disciples that did not recognize him and opened their eyes to all that had taken place.  Now glorified he encouraged them to wait in the city to be "clothed with power from on high."  What did he actually mean? And did they understand at this point?  
   Three days later the world would change.  Praying in the small room they waited and as promised all were filled with the spirit of God.  The same spirit Jesus had committed to his Father....So as Paul wrote we have this treasure in earthen vessels 2nd Cor. 4:7 that this power received would be heavenly in nature and power from our God.  This power translated into bold speaking and a preaching of the kingdom of God just as Jesus did in his ministry, now transferred to his friends.  Miracles, healings, deliverances and many who believed were added to the now new Christian faith.  
       For those who are seeking  something in this world, but do not know how to define it...or even seek it out, this is the absolute truth in scripture that will change your life here on earth and for the eternity to come.  
    In earlier blogs, I wrote about being careful of churches that demand things that may in time become unbalanced and not necessarily an accurate representation of what it was that Jesus wanted for all men.  Church has in this country become something of a program oriented church leaving out the gold and precious gems that are to be part of our lives.  
     To those who have in the past or are now trapped in a church that is cultish or abusive in leadership or lukewarm..... flee! And find the truth and simplicity of Jesus's teachings and of receiving the spirit yourself in the right way.  It is tangible and necessary and will lead you in joy, perseverance, faithfulness and will "open your eyes" the same way it  did to those on the road to Emmaus 2,000 years ago.  The message has not changed, but men have changed it, manipulated it and added innumerable nuances to it for their own reasons.  
    Search out Paul's warning not to listen to another gospel if it comes your way. (Gal. 1:8)  Be forewarned.       And be wise.  And you will live in this life happier than you were before and in the next with the Lord and with a new heaven and a new Earth.