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.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Sunday, October 13, 2013
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....
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....
Saturday, October 12, 2013
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. 
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
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.....
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