A couple of years ago when I was done preaching at the mission, and they began setting up the tables, this black guy was helping and he kindly asked a white gal to move her backpack so they could set up the table. She was no doubt on something and she just had a meltdown! She began SCREAMING F--- you N-----!!!!! And she continued to scream the same thing over and over again, at least thirty times! I was about 20 feet away and kind of stunned, and expected him to scream back and see this escalate into who knows what? But he didn't, he kept his composure and continued to set the table up. Finally, after about a full minute of her screaming at him, I could see he was getting heated and he walked away from her while she was still screaming as they finally ushered her out. (no small task) When he came by me I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "that was the greatest display of Christian charity I've ever seen." We ended up becoming pretty friendly after that.

`Now an interesting thing is, there were thirty people lined up against the wall waiting for dinner, and almost no one there even glanced over to see what was going on, it was, "business as usual" no big deal. Street life exposes you to all of life's extremes. That really got me.

Some years back, we met this girl that was about 9 or 10; she was an acquaintance of mines daughter. We were drawn to her so strongly, so my wife and I befriended her and we would have her over once in a while just to go on a picnic and do fun things with her. Her mom was fairly good to her, but she was very unstable, always after some guy and spent no time with her, and she had been married and remarried a number of times. Anyway, I was teaching Sunday School, so we invited her to church and she just loved it, she was so drawn to Jesus! One day she heard they were doing baptisms at the church and asked if she could get baptized. I was so happy and introduced her to the pastor and he too was thrilled. So he got a paper for some basic information about her, and she began to fill it out with me by her side. The first question was - What is your name, first and last. She paused for a minute, and then turned to me and said -- "What name should I use?" Her mother had been with so many men she didn't know what name to use. It still saddens me so: no child should ever have to wonder that.

 

"In considering the life of the Lord Jesus Christ the student of Scripture cannot fail to be struck wth exceeding richness and many-sidedness of every event recorded. The simple fact means so much. The side-lights and cross-lights are as full of meaning and instruction as the front view on which the direct sunlight falls. The raising of a dead man may be to us a sign of power; it may be an evidence of the Godhead of the Eternal Son; it may be the wonder of a dead man recalled to life; it may be a symbol of the resurrection; it may be an act of pity for a mother's sorrow; it may be the expression of the tenderness and kindness of Christ. We may regard it as it affected the dead man himself; we may consider the effect upon those who witnessed it; we may try and spell out the motives in the mind of Christ which led to its performance; or we may endeavor to trace the impression which it produced upon the Lord Himself.                      The combinations and permutations are almost endless; and each carries its own special lesson."  Rev. H. N. Bernard, M.A., LL.B.

Are you creative? If so you will enjoy this passage. You may not realize the Lord calls some and fills them with His spirit to do creative and inventive work. 

 Exodus 35:25-35 "And all the skilled women spun with their hands and brought what they had spun, in blue and purple and scarlet material and in fine linen. And all the men and women whose heart moved them to bring material for all the work, which the Lord had commanded brought a freewill offering to the Lord. And all the women whose heart heart stirred with a skill spun the goats hair.

The Lord called by name Bezadel, and God filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge, and in all work and craftsmanship; to make designs of works in gold and silver and in bronze and in cutting stones for settings, and in carving wood, so as to perform in every inventive work. He also has put in his heart to teach others." 

 Jesus said - "If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him."  Jn. 12:26

Am I really following Jesus if I'm separated from the very people He walked among? My heart thrills to see Jesus move in compassion, love and action among the last, the least and the lost of His world. In this verse Jesus commands us to follow in His footsteps. We too, are to be among the hurting, the destitute, the suffering and oppressed, without neglecting our own families. Christianity can never be removed from the downcast, poor and outcasts of this world and truly be said to be "walking in His steps." 

Portraits of Christ

 

 

"Jesus was made up of contrasts; he was a union of excellences which are not easily reconciled, which seem at first sight incongruous, but which, when blended and duly proportioned, constitute moral harmony and attract with equal power, love and veneration. 

For example, we discover in Jesus Christ an unparalleled dignity of character, a consciousness of greatness never discovered or approached by any other individual in history; and yet this was blended with a condescension, lowliness, and unostentatious simplicity which had never before been thought consistent with greatness. In like manner, he united an utter superiority to the world, to its pleasures and ordinary interests, with suavity of manners and freedom from austerity. 

He joined strong feeling and self-possession; an indignant sensibility to sin, and compassion for the sinner, an intense devotion to His work, and calmness under opposition and ill success; a universal philanthropy, and a susceptibility of private attachments; the authority which became the Savior of the world, and the tenderness and gratitude of a son. And is His character to be explained by imposture or insane enthusiasm? Does it not bear the unambiguous marks of a heavenly origin?" William Ellery Channing.

 

 "You will of course, read other books besides the Bible; but beware lest these diminish your power. Perhaps in no department of literature are works of vigorous and original thought rarer than in theology. No profession is so overwhelmed with common- place, weak, worthless books as our ours. No text has been so obscured and oppressed by undiscerning commentators as the Bible. In theology, as in all branches of knowledge, confine yourself very much to the works of men who have written not from tradition, or imitation, but from consciousness, experience, reflection, and research; and study these, that your own faculties may be roused to a kindred energy." 

  I might add that my blog is an attempt to gather this kind of Christian thought.  

  

"Study laboriously, for much is to be learned. Do not destroy your intellectual life by imagining that all truth is discovered, and that you have nothing to do but to repeat what others have taught. It is intended by our Creator that truth should be our own discovery, and therefore He has surround us with fallible beings, whom we are impelled to distrust. Paradoxical as it may seem, we ought to discover the truths which we have been taught by others; for the light which our own earnest free thought will throw on these, will make them so different from what they were when first passively received, that they will be virtually rediscovered by ourselves. 

  Study laboriously, for much is to be learned. Do not feel as if Christianity had spoken its last word, and had nothing more to say. It is the characteristic of Divine Truth that it is inexhaustible, infinitely fruitful. It does not stand alone in the mind, but combines with, explains, irradiates our other knowledge. It is the office of a great moral truth to touch the deep springs of thought within us, to awaken the soul to new activity, to start a throng of suggestions to be followed out by patient contemplation. An arid, barren religion, which reveals a precise, rigid doctrine, admitting no expansion and kindling no new life in the intellect, cannot be from God. It lacks an essential mark of having come from the Creator of the human soul, for the great distinction of the soul is its desire to burst its limits and grow forever." William Ellery Channing. 

I read this survey in Brian McLaren's book and thought it was so interesting. He asks to rate yourself using this 0-5 scale: 

0 = absolutely untrue

1 = strongly disagree

2 = disagree

3 = somewhat agree

4 = agree

5 = strongly agree  

 __ 1. Validity: My Christian faith is highly significant to me because it adds true meaning and value to my life. 

__ 2. Intentionality: For me, Christian faith is not merely an unchosen inheritance, a social custom, a matter of convenience, or the path of least resistance; it is an intentional commitment that I uphold and practice by conscious choice. 

__ 3. Durability: I plan to remain at least as committed to my Christian faith as I am now, over the course of my lifetime, through both hard times and easy times, and I hope to pass vital Christian faith on to my children and grandchildren. 

__ 4. Intensity: My Christian faith is so central to my life that it requires of me sacrifices and commitments that are sometimes costly and even painful. 

__ 5. Purity/Consistency: I conform to the beliefs, behaviors, habits, examples, prohibitions, ideas and values that are consistent with my Christian faith, and I resist or reject their opposites as inconsistent with my Christian faith. 

__ 6. History: I consider myself to be part of the history and traditions of my faith community; Christian history is in some real sense my history. 

__ 7. Responsibility: I feel responsible for the health and wellbeing of the Christian community, now and in the future. 

__ 8. Missionality: I invest my time, energy, money, and abilities to participate in the Christian mission as I understand it. 

__ 9. Loyalty: I feel a special sense of loyalty to my fellow Christians because we are connected to one another through our shared faith and mission. 

__ 10. Hostility: I see other faiths as wrong, false, or evil, and I maintain a posture of opposition to all faiths but the Christian faith.

His emphasis is on question 10. He poses the question, "Is number 10 essential to the list? Must you as a Christian maintain hostility to other faiths if you are going to hold a strong Christian identity?"

He then goes on to suggest an alternative number 10 and replaces the word Hostility with Solidarity describing it as follows -- 

"My understanding of Jesus and His message leads me to see each faith tradition, including my own, as having its own history, value, strengths and weaknesses. I seek to affirm and celebrate all that is good in each faith tradition, and I build intentional relationships of mutual sharing and respectful collaboration with people of all faith traditions, so all our faiths can keep growing and contributing to God's will being done on earth as in heaven."  

If hostility could be replaced by solidarity, would any of the previous nine items need to be changed? 

This comes from his book, "Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road." I find it to be a very challenging book and very relevant.  

 

If I'm asked, "Do you believe Jesus can do physical healing today? I always say, 'Yes! He's the same yesterday, today and forever!' Then when I'm asked if He can deliver the homeless addict on the street? I drop my head and mumble something like, "They have to be at their bottom, and we can't make them get clean until they're ready, they have to be willing."

But that’s what everyone says, but we never know when that moment may come, and when it does it will be because many before us had hope and ministered to them; and maybe, just maybe, we will be the one that adds the final word and they repent.

 

 

 

 

 

  "Love, where it is unobstructed, is always a joy. It is the deepest of all joys - the joy of the heart. 

And yet who can fail to see that this love is a species of death? It only exists by reason of a complete surrender of the very thought of self; the man loses himself in the being of another. The joy of love is the actual fruit of sacrifice, and would have no being apart from sacrifice.  It is the joy of a spirit that has ceased to behold itself in the glass of consciousness. It is the joy of a spirit which has lost its personal care in taking up the care of another, and which has found it's own burden to fall in the lifting of a burden which is not its own. (What parent cannot see this principle in sacrificing for one's own children? The principle is the same with all those we sacrifice for.) 

Jesus said, "Take my yoke upon you, and you shall find rest." The yoke which He asked his followers to take was the burden of humanity. He told them to enter into His own spirit of universal love. He did not conceal from them that this yoke would bring a load of universal care, but He said that the universal care would destroy the individual care and to the personal life bring rest: the new yoke would be easy and the new burden light. This thought pervades the parting utterances, "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives give I unto you."

Jesus bequeathed to His followers a peace He possessed; Christ's peace was in the Cross, and it was in it for this reason that His Cross was made, not of wood, but of love. The cause of His suffering was the source of His individual rest. He had become oblivious of all personal pain, because love had given Him a pain that was impersonal; the throbbing of the pulse of humanity still His own.

  The object of Christ's love was humanity itself; not intellectual humanity, not aristocratic humanity, but suffering humanity, in every grade and of every order. The class to which He appealed was that of the laboring and heavy-laden, a category which, comprehending as it does the whole family both of active and of passive sufferers is absolutely coextensive with the universal life of man. It is as if He had said: you think that my kinghood is disproved by the burdens that I bear. I tell you that it is the bearing of these burdens that makes me a King. The new power which I bring into the world is a power of love, and therefore a power of sacrifice. This cross I carry, so far from being an obstruction to the realization of my kingdom, is itself the very scepter of that kingdom. That which I have won, that which I offer to My followers, is not the power to avoid the calamities of life, but the power to lift these calamities.

I offer to make each man king in proportion as he becomes a priest, bears witness in his own life to the truth of sacrifice. He shall be free and fearless and independent in proportion as he has died to self interest, lost the thought of self in the thought of another, succumbed to the burden of love; that is the power which has made Me king!" 

George Matheson - "Landmarks of New Testament Morality." 

  "Whether we realize it or not, most of us that struggle with much of Christendom today are trying to distance ourselves from religious hostility. By hostility I mean opposition, the sense that the other is the enemy. Hostility makes one unwilling to be a host. The other must be turned away, kept at a distance as an unwanted outsider, not welcomed in hospitality as a guest or friend. Hostility is an attitude of exclusion, not embrace; of repugnance, not respect; of suspicion, not extending the benefit of doubt; of conflict, not sociability or conviviality."

  How do we disassociate from the hostility without abandoning the identity? How do we remain loyal to what is good and real in our faith without giving tacit support to what is wrong and dangerous? How do we, as Christians, faithfully affirm the uniqueness and universality of Christ without turning that belief into an insult or weapon?

How do you distinguish yourself from those who need enemies to know who they are?" 

Brain McLaren from the book "Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?" 

    "There is something real and good in my faith -- a call to love God and neighbors that I can't abandon without feeling a pang of betrayal. There is also something wrong with my faith: a vague hostility toward the cherished religions of my non-Christian neighbors that I can't exactly support without feeling an equal and opposite pang of betrayal. To accept and love God, must I betray my neighbor of another religion? 

The stronger this internal conflict grows, the more certain is my sense of calling to imagine and strive for something better. I'm seeking a way of being Christian that makes me more hospitable, not more hostile... more loving, not more judgmental; more like Christ and less (I'm sad to have to say this) like many churchgoers I have met."

Brian McLaren. 

   "Is it possible to be both faithful to the Christian faith and charitable to other faiths? 

I've struggled with this: I feel two opposing realities churning within me. On the one hand, I feel the pull of Jesus' words "Blessed are the peacemakers," or Paul's words about the gospel being a message of reconciliation, or Jame's assertion that God's wisdom is first pure and then peaceable. But on the other hand, I keep noticing how my religion has, over its first 2,000 years of existence, spent too little energy making peace and too much erecting and perfecting walls of separation, suspicion, and hostility. In the Bible I read about love, love, love, but in various Christian subcultures in which I've participated, I keep encountering fear, superiority, and hostility. In a wild array of forms, the message comes to me from the centers of religious power: I can't belong to our 'us' unless I am against 'them.'" 

Brian McLaren.

 

 

 

  "To give our views of God in one word, it is Father. 

We believe in His Parental character. We ascribe to Him not only the name, but the disposition and principles of a father. We believe that He has a father's concern for his creatures, a father's desire for their improvement, a father's equity in proportioning His demands to their powers, a father's joy in their progress, a father's readiness to receive the penitent, and a father's justice for the incorrigible." 

William Ellery Channing.

Christian Truth is Infinite. 

  "Who can think of shutting it up in a few lines of an abstract creed? You might as well compress the boundless atmosphere, the fire, the all-pervading light, the free winds of he universe, into separate parcels, and weigh and label them, as to break up Christianity into a few propositions. 

Christianity is freer, more illimitable, than the light or the winds. It is too mighty to be bound down by man's puny hands. It is a spirit rather than a rigid doctrine, the spirit of boundless love. The Infinite cannot be defined and measured out like a human manufacture. It cannot be reduced to a system. It cannot be comprehended in a set of precise ideas. It is to be felt rather than described. The spiritual impressions which a true Christian receives from the character and teachings of Christ, and in which the chief efficacy of the religion lies, can be poorly brought out in words. Words are but brief, rude hints of a Christian's mind. His thoughts and feelings overflow them." 

William Ellery Channing.

Internet sins

Internet sins; let's talk about the most common Internet sin in light of Galatians 6:7-10. 

  We know the "Law of Christ" is to love others and encourage them as they face the obstacles of life; to help them, to be a faithful friend and advocate; to show kindness and patience, and while we still have opportunity, because the time is short, and to do good to all people, especially fellow Christians. But if we shirk our responsibility, and withdraw, isolate and neglect to do all the good we can, this is "mocking God and sowing to the flesh", meaning: violating the "Law of Christ" by putting our self first by neglecting our opportunities to do good. And if we do this we will reap a corruption within; that corruption may cause a quenching of the Spirit, it may breed an exaggerated fear of people; a melancholy spirit and loss of joy. 

So let me suggest a way we frequently commit Internet sin; each time we read the attempts of others to bless us, or ask for our prayers, and you read and pass by the post, without responding, you are taking but not giving. Paul urges us to not lose heart in doing good, even the small good of acknowledging the efforts, or needs, of someone who posts. 

So, bear one another's burdens and take advantage of the countless opportunities, every day, in every post, and do some little act of kindness, even if it's simply clicking on "like".     

Discouraged?

 Discouraged? Will you take a minute and be encouraged by one of God's great soul surgeons? Let this old Puritan use his Bible scalpel to bring you healing and lift you up. 

"Behold says the Lord, I will allure her (that is the church, His people) and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her, and I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope." Hosea 2:14 

But you say, 'a wilderness condition is a lost condition, so what comfort can one have in a lost, condition?' True says God, you cannot, in and by yourselves, but here I will speak friendly and comfortably to her, and of all the times that I choose to preach the gospel to a poor soul, I choose to do it in a wilderness and lost condition. But you say, though the Lord does speak comfortably to us, yet if we are in a dry and barren wilderness where no food nor comfort is, how can we be anything but discouraged? No, says the Lord, but "I will give her vineyards from there." But you say again, if we sin and murmur in the wilderness, as the Israelites did, the Lord will cut us off as He did them, and a wilderness is a place of trouble, wherein we are apt to murmur and be discouraged. No, says the Lord, "But I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope." Now understand, the valley of Achor was the valley of anxiety, trouble, and of great discouragement, when the men of Israel fled, and fell before the men of Ai, for the sin of Achan, Joshua 7:26; yet it was an inlet to the land Canaan, to the land of rest. Now, says the Lord, see how it was with them, through the valley of Achor was a valley of trouble and anxiety, yet it was the door by which the Israelites come into the land of rest; so shall it be with you; I will make your troubles and discouragements the very door of your hope! The valley of your discouragements shall be the door and inlet unto all your rest and comfort. 

God takes the same way with the members (church) as He took with their Head; Christ's cross was an inlet to glory. 

Where is the Gerasene Demoniac in your city?

 In Mark 5:1 Jesus shows us the downcast He seeks is often on the "other side". The other side of the tracks, the downtown skid row, the homeless camps, the "byways and hedges." He will be dwelling among the dead, not the physically dead, but those who have lost all in life worth living for. 

Those places where no one is able to reach him with the tug of matrimonial bonds, in fact he has even broken the chains of relationship with his own children. No love is strong enough to bring him to repentance. You see him constantly, day and night, walking among others that share his fate or hidden away from all in the lonely places of isolation. There he drinks away his bitter tears and lives in self-destructive patterns; sometimes displayed by addiction, or cutting or other self destructive behaviors, sometimes wailing and crying out in a drug induced psychosis, or deep and relentless anguish of heart. 

What can save this wretch of a man? Violent, lost in addiction, repugnant: no reason to live and no hope but further torment. 

Oh but there is one! 

One has made a long trip over rough seas into the heart of hell just to find this poor abandoned and neglected soul! The drama for his soul begins when he meets Jesus in the depths of his addiction, the years of demonic torment, emaciated in body and mind, he meets the Master face to face! 

Only Christ's power is able to subdue and breath life back into this repulsive looking man! But we are left with the parting scene where we see this man sitting down, clothed and in his right mind as Jesus sends him to share what He did for his soul. 

Who has a message so divine? Who knows a power that knows has limits? We do! The ambassadors of this Mighty Savior's love! May we never see anyone beyond His reach!

 

I was reading Luke 6:35-37 today and Jesus explained that God the Most High loves His enemies and is kind to ungrateful and evil people. 

He then explains further by saying; 

Be merciful to ungrateful and evil people 

Do not judge ungrateful and evil people, 

Do not condemn evil and ungrateful people 

Pardon evil and ungrateful people, and in so doing we will be sons and daughters of God. 

Surely the "law of Christ" explained here is why we love Him so. 

I chose this photo because she has an unapproachable appearance; she may well be a saint. 

Torah

"The sphere of Christian brotherhood is wider than the sphere of Jewish brotherhood. It would be a great mistake, however, to suppose that even within its own sphere, the brotherhood of Judaism reaches the intensity of the brotherhood of Christianity. 

St. Paul certainly had a different opinion; when he says, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ," he clearly means to imply that we cannot reach this goal by merely fulfilling the law of Moses. 

And indeed it may be said that, as a whole, and making allowance for isolated exceptions, the law of Moses exhorts not so much to bear as to forbear. It is not so much a command to confer benefit, as a prohibition to inflict injury. It does not so much aim at the glorification of humanity, as at the prevention of any act which would maim or mutilate humanity.

Hence its most powerful watchword is not, Thou shalt, but, Thou shalt not!

It seeks to refrain the hand from doing wrong rather than to nerve the heart for doing right. It forbids to kill, to steal, to perjure, to covet; and though in this last instance it reaches something like an inward state, it is at best only a negative inwardness. It tells a man not to desire that his brother's wealth may be transferred to him, but it does not tell him to desire that the good which is possessed by him may be equally possessed by his brother; that command to "covet the best gift" -- the spirit of charity, was reserved for another dispensation.

 Nor is the religious side of the Decalogue more positive than its practical side; the duties of the sanctuary are, like the duties of the community, prohibitions from doing any wrong. To worship no other God, to make no image of God, to take not God's name in vain, to do no work on God's Sabbath -- this is the sum and substance of the religious code of Judaism. The one positive precept of its moral law is assigned neither to its sanctuary nor to its community, but to that relation of the family which is its symbol of all sacredness: "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land." George Matheson. 

 

  "Men differ in opinions as much as in features. No two minds are perfectly accordant. The shades of belief are infinitely diversified. Amidst this immense variety of sentiment, every man is right in his own eyes. Every man discovers errors in the creed of his brother. Every  man is prone to magnify the importance of his own peculiarities and to discover danger in the peculiarities of others. This is human nature. Every man is partial to his own opinions, because they are his own, and his self-will and pride are wounded buy contradiction.

  It's truly astonishing that Christians aren't more aware of the unbecoming spirit, the arrogant style, of those who overlook the exemplary lives of other Christians because they differ in opinion on some of the most subtle, and difficult subjects of theology.  Their language towards them is virtually this: "We pronounce you to be in error, and in most dangerous error. We know that we are right, and you are wrong, in regard to the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel. You are unworthy of the Christian name, and unfit to sit with us at the table of Christ. We offer you the truth, and you reject it at the peril of your souls." Such is the language of humble Christians to men, who in devotion, apparent obedience and holiness are equal to them. 

But those who judge so object and say, "Did not the Apostle denounce the erroneous doctrines of others and pronounce a curse on the "abettors of another Gospel?" This is the stronghold of the those who exclude others. But let us never forget that the Apostles were inspired men, capable of marking out with unerring certainty those who substituted "another gospel" for the true. Show me their successors, and I will cheerfully obey them.

Let us not forget that the debate of the present day is not between the Apostles themselves and men who oppose their known instructions, but uninspired Christians who equally receive the Apostles as authorized teachers of the Gospel, and who only differ in judgment as to the interpretation of there writings.   

I maintain that we have no right as individuals or as an association, to bear our "solemn testimony" against these opinions, by menacing with ruin the Christian who listens to them, or by branding them with the most terrifying epithets, for the purpose of preventing candid inquiry into their truth. To do so is a common weapon which will always be most successful in the hands of the proud, the positive and overbearing, who are most impatient of contraction, and have the least regard to the rights of their brethren.

But whatever may be the right of Christians, as to bearing testimony against opinions which they deem injurious, I deny that they have any right to pass a condemning sentence, on account of these opinions, on the characters of men whose general deportment is conformed to the Gospel of Christ. Both scripture and reason unite in teaching that the best and only standard of character is the life; and he who overlooks the testimony of a Christian life, and grounds a sentence of condemnation on opinions about which he, as well as his brother, may err, violates most flagrantly the duty of just and candid judgment, and opposes the peaceful and charitable spirit of the Gospel. Jesus Christ says, "By their fruits shall ye know them." 

William Ellery Channing. 

 I heard this little tip about how to improve our marriages.

  When we have news, whatever it may be, share it with your spouse first. We all know that "once a story's been told, it can't help but grow old." The first time we share an event we are engaged emotionally and we enthusiastically present it; the second time not so much, the third time it's becoming old hat. So, reserve the first share for your spouse. 

I like that!

 Jesus tries to explain what the "Kingdom of God" is like in this teaching, He describes it this way -- 

"It's like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it's sown, grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade." 

As I considered the meaning I saw the seed, which I take to be the word of God -- sown upon the soil, which is the earth --  growing up in the garden, which I think may represent the spiritual pursuits of humanity -- and from it's meager beginnings -- beginning with 12 disciples -- it extends it's branches and offers shade -- which I believe may be spiritual rest -- to all the birds of the sky; which again, I think may represent all spiritual pursuits. 

  I think Jesus saw all religions as containing a germ of truth, but incomplete. And in His kingdom, all are welcome and will find the completion and fulfillment in Him. I don't think Jesus was hostile or antagonistic towards other religions whatever they were, or even those who had no religion. His only harsh words were towards the hypocrite. I know that may seem overly generous to some, but I believe Jesus came to unite and not divide. As I read about how He ministered to the non-Jew, even those hostile to the Jews, I always see acceptance and invitation, not division.  

 

Look at things from many angles

In Mark 4:24 Jesus says, "By your standard of measure it shall be measured to you; and more shall be given you besides." 

So when we consider that probing statement about measures, we must experiment with different angles and applications to make sure we draw out all it may contain. 

For example, when I read something like that I put in different words to see if it illuminates the verse. So let's substitute the word "measure" for mercy. That now becomes a great promise. Or let's put "love" there. "By your standard of love it shall be measured to you, and more love shall be given you besides." 

So I continue to exchange words such as, compassion, patience, kindness or even anger,  hate or lack of forgiveness. This is in part what Jesus means when he says, "if any one has ears to hear, let them hear." 

Bible study isn't about reading many verses, but by considering each verse, and what it means to us. 

   "Therefore we also have as our ambition...... to be pleasing to Him." 

  Many of the influences I've had in Christianity cast a dark light on all of humanity; the emphasis on our heart as being desperately wicked and all or works as filthy rags left me seeing God, not as my Father, but only as my judge. We, being evil, love our children always, even when they misbehave and are disobedient. Our human love is created in God's image, He loves us always, even when we are disobedient, and He is pleased when we do loving and kind deeds. He has designed us to sense His approval when we do for others. Even when we do a simple act of kindness to a complete stranger, we bear testimony in our hearts that God is pleased.  

 

 

 Stop Reading Your Bible So Much!

Does that sound like good advice? Let me explain: God speaks through the Bible, so we read His Words one line at a time. It is not how much we read but how much we hear His voice. We are not in school with an assignment to read a chapter or a book; we come before the Lord anticipating He will speak, and if He whispers will we hear it? Here's an example -- He tells us in Deuteronomy 32:1, "Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, as the droplets on the fresh grass, and as showers on the herb." 

This is a perfect example to illustrate my point. Here is one verse, and in it much symbolism, gentle truth, penetrating instruction. Do not rush by a verse like this on a quest to finish the chapter, No! savor the words: each one paints a picture: stop to consider His Holy choice of words and what they mean to you in the moment, in the upcoming day as you learn from others, or as you teach your children or interact with love ones, as well as strangers. Consider every possibility in which this magnificent verse can apply.   

                             William Ellery Channing

Discern the spirits

Know the spirits

Many are "Church hurt" because they can't discern the spirits of their brothers and sisters. Here are three common types that are in every church. 

Prophetic spirit

We know this spirit in people because their message is fear filled. They preach fire and brimstone, they are zealous to condemn the evil but miss the beautiful. "They never see a good quality in a man, and never fail to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness and blind to the light, mousing for vermin and never seeing noble game." This is the person that studies the times and the seasons, lives to unravel every prophecy of end times, studies Revelations, but fails his neighbor's need. They see all in black and white. They remind you God hates evil doers and they have a hostile attitude toward the world.  We leave their presence feeling less.

Legalistic spirit

This person lives to study the Bible; they quote it at the end of every sentence, study it like a legal document and use it like a weapon, but, like the Pharisees, they miss the humanity in Christ's teachings and seek to fulfill the letter and miss the spirit. They are overly cautious not to sin but lack courage in actively doing God's will among their fellowman. Holiness is their cry, humanity their neglect. They bind heavy loads on all alike, crushing the bruised reed and quenching the smoldering wick. The narrow way they explain is pinched and rigid. When you leave their presence, you feel defeated.

Blind spirit

This is the spirit that fails to recognize the urgency and desperation of the day. Their sermons get more laughs than amen's; the church meets all the wants of the congregation but none of the desperate needs of the community. Padded pews and basketball hoops, the finest electronics and paid music leaders, but little to help the poor and suffering, at home or abroad. Large congregations but small sacrifices for the destitute. When you leave their presence you feel at ease.

 Are you a fisherman or a hunter? 

Some Christians err when they hunt for wolves instead of fishing for men. They love the hunt for error more than they love fishing for lost and hurting souls. We are called to be fishers of men, leave your rifle on the rack at the ready, but keep your fishing pole in hand.  

Divorce

 Divorce, regardless what your religious or ethical views are, is a huge decision and we all know that God hates divorce. The focus of this post is to give my views for those in abusive marriages. 

All reasonable people realize divorce is to be avoided and every marriage has "seasons" where it seems there is no hope, only to overcome and grow from what once was seen as impossible. But many women, and some men, are in abusive relationships: where  verbal, physical or sexual abuse is a pattern and the spouse stays in the marriage because the Bible says - "Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives." 1Pe. 3:1

I believe if a person is in an abusive relationship, and they were able to have the direct council of Christ, that this is near to what He would say --- 

"Dear daughter, God has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives.... to set at liberty them that are bruised." Lk. 4:18 Your husband is commanded to love you as I love you, and to treat you the way he wants to be treated. Because He has violated the foundational truths of the kingdom of God, I give you freedom to find safe refuge, to follow legal means to see him incarcerated for his violence against you, to seek legal aid to prevent future attacks and if at all possible, to lead him to repentance. 

Be 'wise as a serpent' when leaving: plan, prepare and execute quickly, removing the children and yourself from his reach.          Seek restoration and remedy with diligence, but do not re-enter the relationship until you have seen the lasting fruits of repentance. And if he will not stop his abuse, you are free to leave; and if time will not work, and civil law and counseling is of no avail, then you are free to leave his violent and degrading influence on yourself and your children. You are no longer in bondage to him, because he has violated the marriage vows: so you are free to remarry after you have taken time to learn how this happened and taken careful consideration of how to avoid this from happening again."

This is the opinion of one man, and I'm certainly not a scholar, and each person must seek and search their own heart and the heart of their spouse before giving up completely and seeking divorce. 

 

  I talk with many victims of childhood trauma, and so I paraphrased Matt. 17:15, the story of the father whose son suffered terribly from seizures and often fell into the fire and water, as the only answer. 

"The father said, 'Lord, have mercy on my daughter! She has deep depression that controls her and she often breaks out in fiery rages and then into deep depressions where she feels like she is drowning! I have taken her to religious counselors but they have failed. And then Jesus spoke only four words --- 

"Bring her to Me!" 

 

"But the noble man makes noble plans; and by noble plans he stands." Is. 32:8

We are called by Jesus to walk in His steps. Jesus did heroic deeds, He changed people's lives, He gave hope to the hopeless, help to the helpless and entered the world and lives of hurting, lost and oppressed people. 

The Christian life is a noble life where God works in us and through us to do His will and express His hope, charity and love. 

The engaged Christian life is heroic! It is filled with signs and wonders of God's love; we see souls raised from the pit of despair, lifted from the depths of self-hate, raging angers, criminal activity and addictions. Oh it is an exciting life! Do you know it today? 

Are you engaged and active in what God is doing in our world today? 

Communion then obedience