Times have changed

“Call me old fashioned 

and a bit out of date

But I know what I like, 

and what makes men great,

 

I know what normal is, 

and an absolute,

And rewrites of history,

their agenda to suit.

And when I come to my final conclusion,

I’m not left to those who “trust in confusion” 

Living in a purple haze of drug induced illusion.

I learned what it means to ‘be still and wait,’ 

The way of love, and the way of hate.

God’s merciful love still extends to the sparrow, 

So as for me and my house, 

     We’ll choose the straight and narrow.” 

                  If you don’t know where you’re going

                        Any road will take you there.

 

Do I know the voice of God??? 

I’ve included many scriptures here that explain and define who God is, how God speaks to people, and what God says. 

Like so many things, good can be turned into bad, and faith and religion can be used to control, to threaten and to oppress those who don’t know what the Bible teaches about God’s nature. 

One of the most beloved verses in the Bible is Jeremiah 29:11, I’ll begin with that – 

“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”  

“I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. 

Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: 

The faithful love of the LORD never ends! 

His mercies never cease. 

Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.” Lamentations 3:20-23

“The Lord is my shepherd,

I will not be in need.

2 He lets me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside still waters.

3 He restores my soul; Psalm 23:1-3 

 “Let my teaching drop as the rain,

My speech distill as the dew,

As the droplets on the fresh grass

And as the showers on the herb. Deuteronomy 32:2

“I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop blessing them with good things, and I will put in them a fear and respect of Me so they will not turn their backs to Me again.” Jer. 32:40

 ”Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:16-17

“Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature,” Heb. 1:3

“Then God said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” 

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, 

but the Lord was not in the wind; 

and after the wind an earthquake, 

but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 

12 and after the earthquake a fire, 

but the Lord was not in the fire; 

and after the fire

a still small voice.” 

1Kings 19:11-12

In Christ's kingdom, as I read the Bible, to force, threaten, coerce, pressure or browbeat anyone into submission, whether it is of a spiritual nature or physical, contradicts everything Jesus taught. 

In the Kingdom of God that Jesus ushered in, spiritual enlightenment is internal and cannot be done by any external force, it is a matter of the heart. 

 

Jesus said – “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

This would include how we treat our spouse, and how parents treat their children, and it applies to all of our dealings in society. This also includes leaders of the church, whether in deed or implied by threats. 

 In the New Testament there are only three nouns used of God, and they are: 

God is love, 

God is life 

and God is light, the three L’s. 

Everything else is an adjective; God is righteous, adjective. God is Holy, adjective. God is sovereign, adjective. 

 Jesus said - “Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart"." Matt. 11:29 

Martin Luther King changed an entire countries’ thoughts on race with meekness; 

Mahatma Gandhi freed an entire country with meekness 

and Jesus changed the entire world with meekness. 

Paul emphasizes this all through his writings 

and it is the only spirit that God promises to bless.

 “For in Christ all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 

10 and in Him you have been made (Full) complete, 

and He is the head over every ruler and authority;” Colossians 2:9-10

“We regard the Spirit of love, charity, meekness, forgiveness, liberality, and benevolence, as the badge and distinction of Christians, as the brightest image we can bear of God, as the best proof of true devotion to Christ. “The great truths of Christ, seems to me, are not only sustained by proofs which satisfy the reason, but to be one of the deep instincts of our nature and conscience.”

“Now to the God who can do so many awe-inspiring things, immeasurable things, things greater than we ever could ask or imagine through the power at work in us...” Eph. 3:20

God said - “Can a mother forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? 

Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.” Isaiah 49:15

 “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 1John 4:16

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Cor. 13:4-7

 

 

 I love this quote!

Jesus was the first to explain that God is "Our Father."

All other religions failed to understand this important truth.
All the world's religions have many good and important values, but all failed to see God is our Father and His love is parental, without that understanding we are left without the hope of true intimacy with God.

  My oldest son has pastored a church in the "working poor" part of town for years and often posts about it online. Whatever we post we all know that we will always have our critics, and this is the response my son gave to someone online minimizing him.  

"What is Christian ministry like in our church? 

Healthy church ministry is seeing people come to Christ, 

baptizing them, 

walking with addicts in living free, 

helping the poor and marginalized into homes, 

fixing cars, advocating for employment, 

caring for the elderly, sick and depressed. 

Walking with people through life debilitating disease, 

standing alongside abuse victims as they go through deep and difficult healing.

Befriending those in the LGBTIQ community, men, women and trans who are in the shelters and celebrating their sobriety and employment victories as well as their first turnings towards Jesus.

Standing with married couples in their fight to come back from the edge of divorce. 

Standing firm against sin and also administering grace and mercy.

We’re in the hood, 

at the margins, 

hating soiled garments but reaching in the fire. 

Mourning the dead from overdoses, encouraging workers from despair and rallying good folks to use their time, treasure and talent for the kingdom.

Sooooo, I don’t know what your reality is but this is no online talk or pontificating keyboard trolling, it’s conversations born of blood and bone brother."

 

Has your spouse cheated on you? 

Here is some counsel to help you going forward - 

"First of all, I hope you are finding sounding boards to help think through the difficult journey you're on. 

 I’ve walked through, with a number of parishioners, who had very difficult divorces as a Pastor over the years.

I am intertwined into people’s lives, families and souls through the work I do.

 My place is often right in the chaos of unraveling, attempts to reweave, and sometimes the dire hope of resurrection. 

I wish I had more stories of rebuilding instead of burying, but that’s been my witness.

 

Relationships are surprisingly difficult to save once the fabric of trust is severed. 

I’ve seen it happen but it’s painfully rare.

What I have seen more is the slow suffocation of people’s souls who try to carry the dead in their life beyond the graveyard.

 There’s a time to lay to rest our deepest hopes, 

our longest battles, our best attempts.

We can’t ever give up before we should, 

but the stench of a fool’s hope is often dragged too far in relationships, when it should have been washed off through repentance, grieving, mourning and healing. 

I’ve seen people build such an apocalyptic view of divorce, that it is more often built on the failure of mature people to walk out and divorce, than the actual divorce itself.

 I know that in some children it isn’t the divorce that devastates the child but it is the way life and relationships are handled by the parents. 

So much could be far less damaging, and life could be put together far sooner, if that season would have been handled better. 

It doesn’t have to be so dysfunctional. 

I’ve seen families break up but go on to mend and actually act like mature people in the aftermath. 

Yes, there were difficult moments, big emotions etc. but the driving desire to do what was best for the children resulted in being able to reign in the drama, and trauma, of it all.

Children need healthy parents. 

Doing what is best for the children isn’t about maintaining a family structure, as much as it’s about having a mom and dad that are healthy in their heart, mind and soul.

 Life isn’t formal, it’s organic and the light or dark in one’s inner life spills out in parenting. 

We can’t “play parts,” we must live in truth, our children need us and if we are lost in the process, nothing we gain is true.

Children don’t want just to see their parents together, as much as they want to be happy, and to see their parents happy. 

Seeing people suffering out-loud, is very difficult for children, but absorbing their silent suffering is even more deforming to an inner disposition about life, love and marriage. 

Children need light to grow and sometimes what’s around them needs to be pruned out to get more light in. 

Suffocating, tense, despairing, soulless living, 

poisons the soul of children.

 Dark tales need to end, and sometimes it’s the parent that needs to close chapters or books sooner than later. 

Some stories don’t need to be read, and some need to come to some sort of conclusion, either as a “tragedy” or “happily ever after.”

 We need to resolve stuff, much more than we do, for the sake of tomorrow.

I’m not advocating for divorce, but I am not advocating for prolonging something that needs to be dealt with honestly and bravely.

 There are many seasons of life that I wish I would have been braver and most of those matters revolved around endings, more so than beginnings. 

 We know how to start, way better than how to end, but both are a part of life.  

Just remember to give your children the best YOU they can have, and if that isn’t possible, then do whatever it takes to get there, no matter how dark it may be to let go of the dock.”

Pastor Eric.