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

  "Do you ask, 'what will educate your daughter?' 

Your example will educate her; your conversations with your friends, the business she sees you transact, the likings and disliking's you express; these will educate her; -- the society you live in will educate her; above all, your rank and situation in life, your house, your table, your pleasure-grounds, your hounds and your stables will educate her." 

 

  

 "It cannot surprise us that the impression of Christ's life and teachings culminated in the faith that "God is Love"; for this is already implied in the essence of a nature spiritual and holy. Of the Divine Spirit holiness is the rule, and of all spirit, love is the power, without which there can be no movement forth upon objects and beings around, nothing to stir the self-centered repose, or in any way to turn pure being into the definite and successive action of a true life. 

Love is the universal and ever-varying impulse, carrying each mind towards the ends assigned it as possible; while the law of holiness restrains from their indiscriminate pursuit, and selects and proportions their legitimate claims. As it is the characteristic of the spiritual nature to appreciate all things according to their worth, it will escape from the lower loves for objects that minister to self, and, as we see in Christ, be drawn at once, spirit to spirit, towards answering, yearning and suffering souls. 

From the moment of his self-dedication, when he threw his cares away and went forth not having where to lay his head, the whole energy which others spend on interests of their own was poured into his humane and divine affections, and filled his life with an enthusiasm resistless and unique."

 

 

Ellen White began the Seventh Day Adventist church and she had a lot of wisdom, some even believed she was inspired; but be that as it may, this advice from 130 years ago was good then and even more so now.

 

"When I saw this photo it really struck me; our past can haunt us, it can torment and depress us, and sometimes, we can see it on the outside. Most often we cannot; we see people who appear happy and carefree, or outgoing and energized. And there are those who change and adorn themselves in the most disturbing ways, and withdraw and seclude themselves. Regardless how we see people, we must always remember there are deep and tumultuous currents within us all, so tread carefully, lovingly. When I posted this on Facebook they immediately pulled it.

 "When  I represent to myself true virtue, goodness; not that which is made up of outward proprieties and prudent calculations, but that which chooses duty for its own sake, and as the first concern, which respects impartially the rights of every human being, which labors and suffers with patient resolution for truth, and other's welfare, which blends energy and sweetness, deep humility and self-reverence, which places joyful faith in the perfection of God, communes with Him intimately, and strives to subject to His pure will all thought, imagination, and desire; which lays hold on the promise of everlasting life, and in the strength of this hope endures calmly and firmly the sorest evils of the present state; when I set before me this virtue, all the distinctions on which men value themselves fade away. Even I, with vision so dim, with heart so cold, can see and feel the divinity, the grandeur of true goodness. How then, must God regard it? To His pure eye, how lovely must it be!

 Think no man the better, no man the worse, for the church he belongs to. Try him by his fruits. Expel from your breasts the demon of sectarianism, narrowness, bigotry, intolerance. 

My friends, I know that I am addressing those who hold various opinions as to the controverted points of theology. We have grown up under different influences. We bear different names. But if we purpose solemnly to do God's will, and are following the precepts and example of Christ, we are one church, and let nothing divide us. 

 We may all unite hearts and hands in doing good, in fulfilling God's purposes of love towards our race, in toiling and suffering for the cause of humanity, in spreading intelligence, freedom, and virtue, in making God known for the reverence, love, and imitation of His creatures, in resisting the abuses and corruptions of past ages, in exploring and drying up the sources of poverty, in rescuing the fallen from intemperance, in succoring the orphan and widow, in enlightening and elevating the depressed portions of the community, in breaking the yoke of the oppressed and enslaved, in exposing and withstanding the spirit and horrors of war, in sending God's Word to the ends of the earth, in redeeming the world from sin and woe." 

William Ellery Channing.

 

I read these statistics, and frankly, as disheartening as they are, I believe they are accurate. How does the church that embodies the religion of Jesus Christ, "a religion whose soul, essence, and breath of life is love; miss the mark so far? Has not Paul taught us that there is but one bond, Love? Has not Christ taught us that the seal set on his disciples, by which all men are to know them, is Love? Is not this the badge of the true church, the life of the true body of Christ?" No doubt we are in a cultural revolution, times are rapidly changing, but can it be the "salt has lost its savor"? What ever the answers are, I for one, will examine myself more deeply to see if I am truly walking in Christ's spirit.

Church Division

   "I have expressed my abhorrence of the sectarian spirit of the Roman Catholics; but in that, as in all other churches, individuals are better than their creed; and amidst gross error and the inculcation of a narrow spirit, noble virtues spring up, and eminent Christians are formed. It is one sign of the tendency of human nature to goodness, that it grows good under a thousand bad influences.

The Romish Church is illustrated by great names. Her gloomy convents have often been brightened by fervent love to God and man. For example, St. Louis, and Fenelon, and Massillon, and Cheverus; and her missionaries, who have carried Christianity to the ends of the earth; her sisters of charity, who have carried relief and solace to the most hopeless want and pain.; do not these teach us that in the Romish Church the Spirit of God has found a home? 

How much, too, have other churches to boast! In the English Church we meet the names of Latimer, Hooker, Barrow, Leighton, Berkeley, and Heber. 

In the Dissenting Calvinistic church, we have Baxter, Howe, Watts, Doddridge, and Robert Hall; and among the Quakers, George Fox, William Penn, Robert Barclay and our own Anthony Benezet, and John Woolman; and in the Anti trinitarian church, there is John Milton, John Locke, Samuel Clarke, Price and Priestley. 

To repeat these names does the heart good. They breathe a fragrance through the common air. They lift up the whole race to which they belonged."    William Ellery Channing. 

 A friend of mind shared this with me today. 
 

"I shared this story last year. Suicide is taking many. Why aren't we loving others before they reach this point? You can make a difference in someone's life.

"A man wanting to jump off a bridge in London was talked down by absolute strangers who proceeded to hold him for an hour until help arrived to get him down safely. Look at that grip. Look at the care, compassion, selflessness, and determination shown by complete strangers to a hurting human being.

This is what we.......the church should look like. Start seeing those who are hurting today. Be the light on the hill that God called the body of Christ to be! Matthew 5:14-16"

 

 

 

I was reading 2 Cor. 6:1-10 this morning and verse 10 jumped out at me.  

"Sorrowful yet always rejoicing." 

When we are involved with those in crisis: the hurting, struggling, oppressed, we enter a world of sorrow. As the heart of Jesus pours out his compassion and mercies through us, we are caught up in such emotional drama that it can sometimes weigh and drag us into melancholy. Oh but as He touches their mind and hearts, and we share in His presence, we can't help but leave rejoicing!  

There are sects of Christianity, even among the Orthodox denominations, that will influence their members to avoid reading anything but the Bible. Of course the Bible encourages just the opposite, but rather urges us to --

"To understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles." Pr. 1:6

"One who walks with wise people will be wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm." Pr. 13:20

To submit to one voice, even of a pastor, is what can lead to cultic like thinking.

TO MY OLD FRIEND, WILLIAM LEACHMAM

Fer forty year and better you have been a friend to me,
Through days of sore afflictions and dire adversity,
You allus had a kind word of counsul to impart,
Which was like a healin' 'intment to the sorrow of my hart.

When I burried my first womern, William Leachman, it was you
Had the only consolation that I could listen to—
Fer I knowed you had gone through it and had rallied from the blow,
And when you said I'd do the same, I knowed you'd ort to know.

But that time I'll long remember; how I wundered here and thare—
Through the settin'-room and kitchen, and out in the open air—
And the snowflakes whirlin', whirlin', and the fields a frozen glare,
And the neghbors' sleds and wagons congergatin' ev'rywhare.

I turned my eyes to'rds heaven, but the sun was hid away;
I turned my eyes to'rds earth again, but all was cold and gray;
And the clock, like ice a-crackin', clickt the icy hours in two—
And my eyes'd never thawed out ef it hadn't been fer you!

We set thare by the smoke-house—me and you out thare alone—
Me a-thinkin'—you a-talkin' in a soothin' undertone—
You a-talkin'—me a-thinkin' of the summers long ago,
And a-writin' "Marthy—Marthy" with my finger in the snow!

William Leachman, I can see you jest as plane as I could then;
And your hand is on my shoulder, and you rouse me up again,
And I see the tears a-drippin' from your own eyes, as you say:
"Be rickonciled and bear it—we but linger fer a day!"

At the last Old Settlers' Meetin' we went j'intly, you and me—
Your hosses and my wagon, as you wanted it to be;
And sence I can remember, from the time we've neghbored here,
In all sich friendly actions you have double-done your sheer.

It was better than the meetin', too, that nine-mile talk we had
Of the times when we first settled here and travel was so bad;
When we had to go on hoss-back, and sometimes on "Shanks's mare,"
And "blaze" a road fer them behind that had to travel thare.

And now we was a-trottin' 'long a level gravel pike,
In a big two-hoss road-wagon, jest as easy as you like—
Two of us on the front seat, and our wimmern-folks behind,
A-settin' in theyr Winsor-cheers in perfect peace of mind!

And we pinted out old landmarks, nearly faded out of sight:—
Thare they ust to rob the stage-coach; thare Gash Morgan had the fight
With the old stag-deer that pronged him—how he battled fer his life,
And lived to prove the story by the handle of his knife.

Thare the first griss-mill was put up in the Settlement, and we
Had tuck our grindin' to it in the Fall of Forty-three—
When we tuck our rifles with us, techin' elbows all the way,
And a-stickin' right together ev'ry minute, night and day.

Thare ust to stand the tavern that they called the "Travelers' Rest,"
And thare, beyent the covered bridge, "The Counter-fitters' Nest"—
Whare they claimed the house was ha'nted—that a man was murdered thare,
And burried underneath the floor, er 'round the place somewhare.

And the old Plank-road they laid along in Fifty-one er two—
You know we talked about the times when that old road was new:
How "Uncle Sam" put down that road and never taxed the State
Was a problem, don't you rickollect, we couldn't dim-onstrate?

Ways was devius, William Leachman, that me and you has past;
But as I found you true at first, I find you true at last;
And, now the time's a-comin' mighty nigh our jurney's end,
I want to throw wide open all my soul to you, my friend.

With the stren'th of all my bein', and the heat of hart and brane,
And ev'ry livin' drop of blood in artery and vane,
I love you and respect you, and I venerate your name,
Fer the name of William Leachman and True Manhood's jest the same!

 This is such a beautiful church, and as awe inspiring as it is, worship is directly designed to lead us when we go out to recognize God in our own nature and to see in men His children; to respect ands serve them for their relationship to the Divinity, to see in them signatures of greatness amidst all their imperfections, and to love them with more than earthly love. We must not look round the universe with awe and on man with scorn.

God dwells in every human being more intimately than in the outward creation. The voice of God comes to us in the ocean, the thunder, the whirlwind; but how much more of God is there in his inward voice, in the institutions of reason, in the rebukes of conscience, in the whispers of the Holy Spirit. I would have you see God much more in the clear judgment, the moral energy, the unselfish purpose, the pious gratitude, the immortal hope of a good man, than in all of nature. 

Go from this house to worship God by reverencing the human soul as his chosen sanctuary. Revere it in yourselves, revere it in others, and labor to carry it forward to perfection. Worship God within these walls as universally, impartially good to his human offspring; and go forth to breathe the same spirit. 

Go forth to respect the rights, and seek the true, enduring welfare of all within your influence. Carry with you the conviction that to trample on a human being of whatever color, clime, rank, condition, is to trample on God's child; that to degrade or corrupt a man, is to deface a holier temple than any material sanctuary.  

Mercy, Love and compassion are more acceptable worship to God than all sacrifices or outward offerings. The most celestial worship ever paid on earth was rendered by Christ when he approached man, and the most sinful man, as a child of God; when he toiled and bled to awaken what was Divine in the human soul, to regenerate a fallen world. 

Go forth to do good with every power which God bestows, to make every place you enter happier by your presence, to support all human interests, to throw your whole weight into the sale of human freedom, and improvement, to withstand all wrong, to uphold all right, and especially to give light, life and strength to the immortal soul. 

He who rears up one child in Christian virtue, or recovers one fellow-creature to God, builds a temple more precious than Solomon's or St. Peters, more enduring then earth or heaven."          William Ellery Channing. 

YOU WILL HAVE MANY QUIET REVOLUTIONS.

MUTED APPLAUSE IN THE SHADOWS.

SILENT TRANSITIONS WITH BEAUTIFUL OUTCOMES.

IT WILL LOOK UNEVENTFUL AT TIMES, IT WILL FEEL POINTLESS IN

MOMENTS, BUT THIS IS HEALING, THIS IS GROWTH.

  I turned 74 this month, and I've been a Christian for 52 years now, and the biggest change I've seen in the church over the last half century is we are taught to share our faith but not our heart. Many think if they simply share a verse or dispense some Biblical truth they are planting a seed. But planting requires cultivating the ground first, that is done heart to heart, cheek to jowl. 

 

  "The lips of the righteous feed many." Pr. 10:21

  If we examine our lives and find that our lips are not feeding many, it is, perhaps, because we we don't discern the presence of God because He is too close, too near, too inward. Jesus said the kingdom of God is within, and those who need to be fed the Bread of Life will not reveal their hunger on the outside: it is inward, within the soul, and we, like God, must learn to speak to the secret, inward places of others. We must tune our ears to the hearts of others. God has given us His spirit of compassion, and this sensitive voice is often His only prompting; follow it, it is the gateway into the souls of others. We must have "eyes that see and ears that hear" the deep need of others. 

  

 

 

 

  "God has not always been worshipped as a Father, even among Christians, as we well know. Men have always been inclined to think that they honor God by placing Him on a distant throne, much more than by investing Him with the mild luster of parental goodness. They have made Him a stern sovereign, giving life on hard terms, preferring His own honor to the welfare of his creatures, demanding an obedience which He gives no strength to perform, preparing endless torments for creatures whom He brings into being wholly evil, and refusing to pardon the least sin, without an infinite satisfaction." William Ellery Channing. 

 The author provokes me to think and consider how I perceive God and His ways among men. I believe it's good to have our established thoughts challenged, and certainly the unbelieving world considers these very thoughts, and "always having an answer for the hope that is within us" demands we understand what we share as Gospel. 

 

  "God gives birth to the mind, that it may grow and rise for ever, and its progress is the end of all his works. This outward universe, with its sun and stars, and mighty revolutions is but a school in which the Father is training his children. God is ever present to the human mind, to carry on its education, pouring upon it instruction and incitement from the outward world, stirring up everlasting truth within itself, rousing it to activity by pleasure and pain, calling forth its affections by surrounding fellow-creatures, calling it to duty by placing it amidst various relations, awaking its sympathy by sights of sorrow, awakening its imagination by a world of beauty, and especially exposing it to suffering, hardship, and temptation, that by resisting it may grow strong, and by seeking help from above it may bind itself closely to its Maker. Thus He is the Father." William Ellery Channing.  

 

"The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stone. The sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars." Is. 9:10

Reading this verse today it stuck out and I considered what application could be made for me today. Here's mine - 

 As Christians if we continually lose spiritual battles, we want to take care not to just continue doing the same things again, only with more and greater determination. The Israelites lost their battle and decided they needed stronger stones and wood for building defense against their enemy; but the problem wasn't their building materials, it was a matter of the heart. Sometimes we lose battles and determine to fortify what we have already been doing such as reading the Bible, praying, attending church, and giving. If we only do it more we will have a break through; but it may be your building materials are already good, but you have overlooked the weightier matters of seeking justice, showing mercy, and being faithful to the less fortunate.   

This is a photo of the Big House at The University of Michigan. It is the largest football stadium in the United States and holds 107,601 people!

Now imagine a crowd 7.4 times this size...

...that’s how many children go missing every year.

Now ask yourself...

Is this not a pandemic as well?

Why doesn’t main stream media address this?

Where are the celebrities and athletes speaking up for awareness?

If not us, then who will speak for them?

Demand answers. But also, support organizations that stop Human Trafficking; if every Christian helps it can make a HUGE difference!

   The following quote will no doubt strike each of us a little differently. My background in Christianity is varied and over fifty years long; so I've seen many methods of worship, Christian charity, as well as methods of sharing our faith and communicating. I offer this quote as a balance and not a carved in stone declaration of how all worship, preaching, witnessing or conversation should be. But simply the opinion of some.

  "We interpret with much rigor those precepts of Christ, which forbid ostentation, and enjoin modesty and retirement in devotion. We dread a showy religion. We are disgusted with pretensions to superior sanctity. We believe that true religion speaks in actions more than in words, and manifests itself chiefly in the common temper and life; in giving up the passions to God's authority, in inflexible uprightness and truth, in active and modest charity, in candid judgment, and in patience under trials and injuries. We think it's no part of true devotion to publish its fervors, but prefer a delicacy in regard to these secrets of the soul; and hence, to those persons who think religion is to be worn conspicuously and spoken of passionately, we may seem cold and dead, when perhaps were the heart uncovered, it might be seen to be "alive to God" as truly as their own."  William Ellery Channing. 

 

Why do I love God? What a great question! Not one I can answer in a few words, so forgive me if I get a bit long winded and mix some quotes of others with my answer. The reason I love God is because Jesus Christ revealed to me by His words, actions and presence at my time of my greatest need, the exact representation of God, because Jesus is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature and moral goodness. And I can't think of another reason we would love God, or any person, apart from their moral goodness. It is the moral beauty and grandeur of His character to which alone we are bound to pay homage. The claim of God to the love of his offspring rests on the virtue, benevolence, generosity, mercy and compassion of His will. I can't imagine any being that can have any claim to affection but what rests on his character, meaning by this, the spirit and principles which constitute his mind and from which he acts. In Jesus we see His spotless purity, His moral perfection, His unrivaled goodness. It is the spirit of His religion, which is the Spirit of God. From this view you see that love to Jesus is a perfectly "natural" sentiment, and by that I mean, our natural sense of right, our conscience and our reason joins and approves His words; and our minds are constituted to feel and to cherish the words and example given to us in Christ, and they harmonize with the noblest instincts and highest aspirations of our soul. This description contains my thoughts and the thoughts of others that love Him and can express it far better than I: but my heart resonates with every line.

Here are comments by people that viewed this modern painting of the Nativity.

"I had to look at this like FIVE TIMES to register all the layers of symbolism going into the piece by Patterson of the Present day Nativity.

The hoodie as a veil.

Weisman cigarettes - refers to the three wisemen and the camels.

Each of them is haloed by an advertisement sticker.

No Vacancy sign on the motel.

Dove sticker over Maria’s head. The paper at José’s feet has an advert for Shepard Watches Maria’s hoodie says Nazareth High School The sign above José’s head proclaims ‘Good News!’

Neon sign with a star symbol also over Maria’s head.

The crown over the ‘Dave’s City Motel’ sign. “New Manger.”

The sign behind Jose’s elbow likely says ‘Herod.’

The wee little plant growing through the cracks at their feet.

Mary rode in on a donkey, and Maria is sitting on a plastic pony.

The artist added - "The verse from the prophet Ezekiel in the graffiti on the phone kiosk, the way the “Save More!” behind Mary’s head looks kinda like “Ave Maria!,” and the two ads for “Glad” and “Tide” on the newspaper (get it?)."

And "New Man" on the motel sign.It’s like a New Testament ‘I Spy.’ I love it!"

 We all have times and seasons of great spiritual reward, joy and power. None of us have them continually. They ebb and flow, so the quotes here are to prepare us for when the Spirit seems to have left forever.  

 "He who is too secure in time of peace will often be found too much dejected and fearful in time of war. It is good counsel that when you have received the spirit of fervor that you should meditate how it will be with you when that light shall leave you. And when it shall happen, remember that the light may return again, which, for your instruction and God's glory, He withdrew from you for a time." Thomas A Kempis

 "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Jn. 3:8