Heavy Much?

Re: Biblical Illiteracy

2010-11-03T20:07:00.001-04:00

I'm getting a bit tired of all the modern and fresh preachers and speakers who are heralded as ambassadors of change yet who really aren't saying anything new. Rob Bell echoes Brennan Manning who echoes Lewis who echoed MacDonald who echoed Augustine... Mark Driscoll echoes Rich Mullins who echoed Francis of Asissi, Rick Warren echoes Dietrich Bonhoeffer who echoed Luther, ect. And at the root of all this is someone who chose to simply accept scripture for what it is and thus echo and announce God's truth. Maybe the Bible is just old fashioned and way out of style now? But maybe if we were more willing to just open our it and read/listen a bit (not just the token 15 minutes so we can say we did) we would see these "revolutionary" and "fresh" ideas and messages are thousands of years old and that the Holy Spirit is waiting to lead us into "discovering" them personally if we'd just take the time to search a bit? Is that something reasonable to suggest?

To illustrate this, here's a story I remember a good friend of mine and fairly well traveled speaker shared. He was speaking at a large Christian music festival and didn't know what he should speak on. He prayed and felt that he ought to simply read "The Sermon on the Mount" from Matthew's Gospel. The response was overwhelming- people praying and praising and crying at the beauty of the simple manifesto Christ gave His followers. After the message. He shared that many people, not just one or two, came to him and said that was one of the best sermons they'd ever heard and wanted to know what inspired it and how they could get a copy. He was stunned. They owened Bibles, but never read them. It's like claiming to have never been to the other side of town while there's a gassed up, mechanically sound car sitting in the driveway.

Biblical illiteracy has a solution- it's called intentionality and prayer.

Re: Testimonies

2010-11-03T19:49:00.004-04:00

I’ve heard a lot of testimonies in my life. I’m sure you have too, so many of us have attended so many youth conventions and church conferences and etc. that we basically know the shpeel (sp?). Until very recently I don’t think I’ve questioned our format for “testimony giving,” which mostly follows a diagram of:

1.name
2.background
3.specific sin struggle
4.evangelistic experience
5.life change

Maybe that’s not what you’ve heard, but it is what I have. In fact, most often what I have heard focuses on #3 the most. I’ve heard drugs, sex (both homo and hetero distortions), porn, pride, occult, gang, murder, pain, and so many other things spoken on in my life that it sometimes seems that the “problem” becomes the emphasis of the testimony. This is what I’ve been thinking through and what I felt like God was speaking to me last week some friends were discussing testimonies at a local Bible Study.

Depravity is not a thing, it is an absence. When we speak of God’s grace, we always speak of it covering over something- that’s not the point. It’s filling life back in- there’s an absence of something VERY important, a relationship with God Almighty which every person on the face of the earth was created to participate in with ever increasing intimacy. If that relationship is missing- it doesn’t matter what is filling it in, the point is that the relationship with God is not there. I resolve here to not emphasize the coping mechanisms that I used to alleviate that depravation, but rather to declare that there was once an absence in my life, it matters not what was used to attempt filling it in, God alone would fill the void and He will always have grace enough to push the faulty filler out.

We are depraved from birth, meaning we lack something. That something is a relationship with our Abba and Creator and Redeemer and Friend. If we emphasize the sin or what-not which we participated in our attempts to ease that absence, we miss the point that we all have the same testimony: I once did not know God and existed in death; I now know God and live a life of abundance. The struggles are part of the testimony, I will not deny that- but they are not the point or even the emphasis, the emphasis is the love of God which is so great that even a __________ like me can still know Him even after all I’ve done to increase our separation. I know God. The same grace which is extended to my former drug dealing brothers is the same grace extended to my former brothers who were disobedient to their parents or who cheated on their schoolwork. That same grace is extended to those who still live in the absence of His presence and love. I hope I and maybe you also can learn to focus on the fact that people around us don’t know God rather than what it is that they do know. I want to not care if someone has known umpteen men or women in their bed, known almost every drug on the street, known every drink behind the counter, known every tax law avoidable, etc. I want to care that that someone doesn’t know God, and that’s what He wants for them… it’s not that they would stop X, Y, or Z- it’s that they would know Him. He’s not emphasizing the action… no, He’s emphasizing the lack of relationship. He’s emphasizing their lack of life.

Now, as a simply brief disclaimer: I am aware of the parable which Jesus tells Simon the Pharisee while dining at his house (Luke 7:36-50) of the parable was to emphasize one thing: the appropriatey of the former prostitute’s display of gratitude and how she knows a depth of forgiveness which the Pharisee does not yet know.

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.[h] 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”

40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”

“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.

41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver[i] to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”

43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”

“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon,“Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”

50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

-Luke 7:36-50, NLT

Does she know more grace than the Pharisee can know- I do not believe so, because it doesn't seem to me that grace is quantifiable, but she has experienced something which Simon has not experienced- a forgiveness based on faith alone which has enabled her to freely love God and know Him rightly. She can tell a story of her encounter with Jesus, but I do not think that story would emphasize her sinful life prior to that encounter, rather, I think that it will emphasize the encounter and belittle the life prior, for it is now a small thing compared to the life she knows. It is a very small thing compared to what she has. It is the expression of depravity vs. fulfillment, and how emptiness feels so much emptier once you’ve been filled, the same way a dark room seems so much darker after you’ve gone outside at noon. She has life- why would she speak about her death?

Why do you and I?

Let’s emphasize the beginning and continuing of our life, and maybe only throw in that death part in reference to its END, sound good?

Live on.

Re: My Desire

2010-11-03T19:49:00.001-04:00

"Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"
Matthew 7:22-23 (NIV)

I don't want you to copycat Jesus. I want you to know Him.
I don't want you to develop the characteristics of a disciple of Jesus. I want you to know Him.
I don't want you to do what Jesus did. I want you to know Him.
I don't want you to become a moral superstar. I want you to know Him.
I don't want you to echo the words Jesus said. I want you to know Him.
I don't want you to practice what Jesus preached. I want you to know Him.
I don't want you to wear what Jesus wore. I want you to know Him.
I don't want you to perform miracles like Jesus. I want you to know Him.
I don't want you to develop the marks of a follower of Jesus. I want you to know Him.
I don't want you to watch Jesus.
I don't want you to be able to pass an "Orthodox Theology" exam. I want you to know Him.
I don't want you to go to church.
I don't even want you to become more like Jesus... not without knowing Him.

Nothing matters except that you know Him. I don't care that you can answer the right questions or say the right words or do the right thing just like all the famous Jesus people did... It doesn't matter if you don't know Him. It doesn't matter that you can repeat the same words to the demons. It doesn't matter that you walk and talk like a Disciple of Christ if you don't know the Christ the disciples did. It doesn't matter that you read the right amount or sing the loudest and with the most passion... It matters that you know Him. You can have all the characteristics of one of His followers... Good job. I just want you to know Him.

Holiness VS. Morality

2010-09-17T02:33:00.002-04:00

Alright…

It's been awhile, but I'm restless tonight and these thoughts have been working through for a bit...

Holiness VS Morality

I don’t think they’re the same thing, but I think that as a church we’re allowing the two to become synonymous. I’d say that holiness is a foundation for morality… even that morality is an expression of holiness… but the two are otherwise fundamentally distinct. I’ve written on this before, and my position still remains that there is no holiness outside of a relationship with God. God alone is holy and there is nothing else that is holy without being connected (in relationship) to Him. Morality, on the other hand, is an evaluation based on legal standards. That is- morality is our term to describe how well we do or do not adhere to certain behavioral standards (laws). For some reason, I’ve heard a lot of talk in the last few weeks about needing to preach holiness and how we are forgetting that holiness is an essential element of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I agree, but I think that most often when I hear this the word that should be used is morality. Why? Because most often this message is accompanied with a list of things that Christians should be concerned about- drinking, abuse, abortion, sexual perversions, etc- rather than being accompanied by an emphasis on growing in intimacy with our God.

Let’s split the two up… holiness is not achieved by what you do or do not do. Holiness is the result of God’s presence. Holiness is the result of growing in relationship with God. Morality is just one way that we are ENABLED to EXPRESS that relationship. In conclusion… we can’t see morality as a means of holiness, REVERSE IT. Grow in your relationship with God. Learn to diligently and intentionally accept His love and forgiveness and the blessing of the Holy Spirit- and LIVE. Focus on His presence. Transformation is His work, not ours. Sanctification is HIS work, not ours. Consecration is your willingness to submit to His work in you, not your struggle to fix yourself so you can feel like a “better Christian.”

Re: The Return

2010-09-17T02:33:00.001-04:00

Luke 15:1-7
1Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." 3Then Jesus told them this parable: 4"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Okay…

So… Here’s what I see and hear. There was a moment in my life that I brought God more joy than in all the rest of my life ever. It was the moment I simply turned to Him. That’s it. It wasn’t any other act of obedience or something like that. It was the return. Know what that means- the struggle for God’s joy over your actions IS A FALLACY. Can we please stop pretending that by our actions or thoughts or something else that we can somehow get God to love us more… as if somehow right now in our relationship with Him He is dissatisfied and unfulfilled? He chose us. He begged us to choose Him in return. We can, and in that moment it is done. Live in the joy of that reunion from then on! Yes, it is a relationship and we do have the privilege of getting to know Him more, but com’on- let’s drop the game that strains to earn something by doing more devotions and praying more and more and more every day… It’s entirely anti-Christ and undermines the Gospel itself! Jesus said “Follow me.” Are you? He’s not your boss. He’s not your taskmaster. He’s not your slave-driver, He’s your Teacher, Redeemer, Older Brother, Savior, Champion, Defender, and Friend. He loves with an unconditional love and it is not my or your right to take that love and try to do something to increase it… that mentality presupposes that He isn’t loving you as much as He can, and it’s a slap in the face. Stop.

Luke 15 tells three stories of return. Read one, anyone, and see if you can’t find that moment of eternal delight. There was rejoicing in heaven when I returned to God. There was more rejoicing in heaven because of that act than because of the pious acts of 99 other people more noble and praiseworthy than myself, and yet it was my act that brought the most joy. It was yours too. That doesn’t mean that pious acts are entirely wrong, it just means we should stop looking at them as if they’re going to increase God’s pleasure with us- it can’t be done.

Re: Dissatisfaction

2010-07-26T05:07:00.001-04:00

I want to see a Revolution...

Where losing money doesn’t mean losing ministry.
Where holiness has nothing to do with what you’ve done, but where you’ve been.
Where purity, not approval, is the main concern,
And radical faith is the only acceptable kind.

I want to see a Revolution...

Where your identity doesn’t come from your or your ancestors’ birthplace.
Where your leadership doesn’t live in the White House, but whose throne is Heaven and whose footstool is earth.
Where prayer is more important than education,
And opportunity is more important than tradition.

I want to see a Revolution...

Where “brother” or “sister” precedes “Mister” or “Misses.”
Where money works for you and not the other way around.
Where Spirit is more a stronger bond than blood,
And we can disagree yet still be able to hug before departing.

I want to see a Revolution...

Where the most notable element of your ministry is the fact that GOD IS AMONG YOU NOW and not that your pastor holds four graduate and post-graduate degrees.
Where offices are offices and gifts are gifts.
Where the time of day or location of meeting does not qualify your church as a church,
And there may be real wine used for communion.

I want to see a Revolution...

Where the church has no walls.
Where the people have no masks.
Where the world has no boundaries,
And your landlord is number one on your prayer list.

I want to see a Revolution...

Where the name of Jesus is more well known than the Top 5 pop artists.
Where love trumps law.
Where life cannot go on as before,
And death is nothing to dread or fear.

I want to see a Revolution...

Where a SSN or DL won’t tell me who you really are.
Where your bank account won’t tell me what you’re really worth.
Where a lady with a torch isn’t your symbol of liberty,
And we accept that guns can’t really solve any problems OR keep peace.

I want to see a Revolution...

Where we can accept that there is salvation outside the church, though not outside Christ.
Where the workplace is a mission field and not just a paycheck.
Where we cannot save face because we have no face to save,
And strangers can be talked to.

I want to see a Revolution...

Where you’d give up your freedom to keep my conscience safe.
Where borrowing a child can make their parents’ day.
Where scripture isn’t just for character development or daily wisdom,
And the MVP of your church staff is the Holy Spirit.

I want to see a Revolution...

Where you’d rather see 10 churches of twenty, than 1 church of two hundred.
Where it isn’t abnormal to pray with tears.
Where “holidays” don’t stop you from meeting together,
And that meeting may last all day long.

I want to see a Revolution...

Where you don’t need page numbers to find Philemon.
Where discipleship time precedes tennis practice.
Where children know their parents' testimonies,
And “pro-life” doesn’t just mean “anti-abortion.”

I want to see a revolution…

But maybe that’s just me…

Re: Christian Patriotism and Frozen Hot Chocolate

2010-07-05T04:46:00.001-04:00

Philippians 3:20-21
20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

Ephesians 2:11-22
11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

Peter 2:9-12
9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

10 “Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”

11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

--------------------------
To what extent are those of us claiming faith in Christ supposed to take these words? I’ve heard it many ways and in many ways, but I think as I know am rolling along in life and am currently experiencing what some have called the “real world” that a close look at my positions is in order. I see in scripture a plain and honest claim by God on me as His own. I see the words “citizenship” and “nation” used in reference to heaven and the universal Church. I see that government is not where my hope is to be put but rather a tool that God has instituted in order to maintain the lawless. In all of this I see the phrasing of Jesus, who said that His Kingdom was not of this world, in His “Sermon on the Mount” as one that uses fairly political language as if founding a standard for an organized body’s positions on morality, crime, social justice, and authority. Where does that leave us? I think it plainly leaves us in a place that stands distinct from geographical origins and loyalties. I think that it leaves us in a place that shows us that the man or woman born and raised in China who claims Jesus Christ as Lord is closer to my and more my brother/sister than the man or woman down the street who scoffs the name of Christ. I think it leaves me in a place where I cannot claim “the land of the free and home of the brave” as my truest home or greatest allegiance. You see, I believe in a Kingdom that was revealed with the incarnation of its King and that the true identity of that Kingdom as a national entity. I believe that I am more a citizen of heaven than of earth and that my patriotism is revealed on Easter Morning and not on “Independence Day.” I need to say that I have to a great extent revoked my so-called “independence” for a faith-filled dependence on a Father in Heaven who has called me to live as one belonging to a “Holy Nation” and “Royal Priesthood.” This Kingdom has no end, beginning, defeat, or civil division. It has no states of red or blue demographic, no physical boundaries, no national language, or dominant skin tone. Perhaps I’m wrestling with things out loud again and that may just get me in trouble. But perhaps I’m once more learning to take the Word of God at face value and recognizing that I also need to live it- no matter how unpatriotic that may seem. May we not forget that it was ultimately for “unpatriotism” and/or “treason” that our first brothers and sisters were persecuted for so long ago.

…………………………….
Matthew 5-7
John 18:36-37
Romans 13

Nations are Bigger than Churches

2010-07-05T04:44:00.001-04:00

Introduction
Building on the theme of intimacy and relationships that has permeated my thoughts as of late I would now like to draw on the implications of such a thing as a Biblical Theology that allows the text to dictate the belief (rather than the ever so popular vice versa approach). We know that personability is required for intimacy and that personability is not necessarily a characteristic of ink and paper. Instead, what we have is a text that has been recorded with direct intention by an eternal being- this means that the Author is always accessible and, if willing, capable of explaining the meaning and intent behind the words. This means that the text becomes a medium, or catalyst, for building and knowing the Author, because He is alive and the text is infused with His breath. As people in search of intimacy with the Author approach His words, there must be an understanding in the forefront of their minds that accepts or at the very least acknowledges that God has a purpose and mission expressed throughout the text. I believe there certainly is a vision and telos in the Scripture. Not only so, but I believe that is it clearly expressed and explained.

The Old Testament: this is my Father’s world
In reading through the Old Testament, one cannot help but accept that the central figure is God. Now, God’s role and identity is primarily expressed in a relationship to people, initially Adam and his descendants, then Noah and his, and finally Abraham and his also. Abraham is responsible for the life of Isaac, and Isaac for the life of Jacob. Jacob bears twelve sons, who are the tribes of Israel. God is active and personal throughout this entire process of setting the stage for His initial people. His promise to Abraham is one of blessing and multiplication. His words indicate that Abraham’s line will significantly affect the rest of the world in a blessed way. We here see God’s initial endeavor to create for Himself a people. The phrase declared throughout the Old Testament is simply that “They will be my people and I will be their God .” We understand the explicit phrasing to mean exactly this: God desires a people to claim Him and that He may claim. That God is in any way concerned with any interaction with humanity immediately indicates that He is in fact relational. It means that He is relational as well as purposeful with His creation. He expresses His desire for relationship with His people in many ways.
In the Old Testament, we have God revealing Himself to His people in somewhat impersonal ways. For example, He sends other people to speak in His Name. This may be troubling to think that a God who desires relationship would remain veiled and unseen by those He desires to know Him. This is the characteristic of God simply referred to as humility. God would rather woo than ravish, as C.S. Lewis puts it . If God were to reveal Himself fully, no holds barred, it is then probable that there would be no such thing as a faith response to Him. There would be no choice in the matter. There would be no desire motivating the participation in the relationship. Is anyone satisfied with a relationship that has no personal motivation behind it, but is instead the only option given a particular circumstance? I do not believe this to be anthropomorphizing too greatly, for if God has declared what He has in desiring a people of His own, yet He has not simply declared Himself and reaped the undoubted harvest of believers, then there must be a conceivable reason why this would be less than perfect. Nevertheless, we do see that God does not always reveal His presence impersonally. An example of God simply stating His presence is in the cloud that led the Israelites from Egypt . This cloud was unmistakably the direct work of God, yet it was still a veiled revelation. In closing, the Old Testament is the foundation for God’s people. It is a formation of a physical, literal, geocentric nation that has been promised the ruler who will make them “the head, not the tail ” of the world.

The New Testament: the greatest trick ever
In the New Testament we now have a different dilemma. God is perfectly personal. In fact, He has become a human person! The movie The Prestige attempts to draw out the reason why people have been, for centuries, enthralled with magic and illusion. In it, one character makes the assertion that “The crowd will never look too closely at the act, because they don’t really want to know the truth. They want to be fooled.” This may be the case, but in the instance of one of the greatest masquerades of all time, the foils certainly did not wish to play along. The incarnation is indeed what I am referring to here, and the taking on of flesh and bone by God Himself is not only an act of humility but in some senses a slight of hand or hidden event. God Himself is walking in flesh, bound, to an extent, by space and time. He becomes ultimately relational, and this is, as our theology should assert, the way He always has presented Himself. He becomes as relationally functional as possible in becoming human. Nevertheless, the other members of His race are not pleased with His words or life. This is indicative of the many kinds of relationships that human beings are capable of participating in. In reality, animosity is a manifestation of a relationship. Enmity is as well. So too is friendship and romance. These are all expressions of interaction and relationship. The point is that God not only wants us to acknowledge His existence, as animosity or enmity do, but to praise His existence and celebrate it! God has created us to be in a right relationship with Him, and the incarnation makes evident each profound way that a human being can participate in a relationship with God.

The New Testament is the record of the significant events that set in motion the formation for the people of God as ones spiritual, literal, and Heaven-focused. These people are of all races of the world, thus fulfilling the promise to Abraham. In fact, that promise is remembered so clearly that emphasis is laid on the nations being ministered to immediately following the Spirit’s empowerment of the disciples . The promise to bless the nations through the seed of Abraham is fulfilled in Christ , and the nation of God is now being formed. The New Testament is not unlike a record of events occurring in America’s history from 1765-1800 as time of national formation and foundational importance. In the end this is the important thing- in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, Slave nor Free, not even Male or Female . Christ is the Reconciliation of every form of animosity. There is no such thing as racial tension in the Kingdom of God because there is no such thing as earthly race in the Kingdom of God!

Now, it would be of the greatest benefit that I explain what I mean in referring to the incarnation as a “trick.” I do not mean such as if God were deceptive or intentionally malicious. However, as we look at the climax of the incarnation, that is the point of time that proves indubitably that this person who claimed divine rights and status was in fact mortal, we see that there was something beyond just His hope to be recognized as God in flesh. In proclaiming that Jesus should die, the people of that crowd were ultimately saying that they preferred a world where God did not walk around in flesh to a world where He did. The trick is this- that in killing the incarnate Son of God and ridding the world of His presence, they released the possibility for His presence to transcend space and time and yet still be immediately present! He who was once bound by space and time is no longer so, but His Spirit is freed to the entire world and there is no place He does not fill. That is the trick, that in His death, what they hated the most was multiplied, and that Spirit is still present.

The Holy Spirit as the mark of citizenship
That presence that was loosed on the world with the ascension of Christ at the end of the Gospels and the beginning of Acts is indeed the Holy Spirit. He is present in the world and not only that, but active . He actively reconciles people to Christ and expands the Kingdom of God here on earth . The Holy Spirit is the binding force of the nation of God . As God Himself is the nation’s founder, His Son is our King, and the Spirit is the unifying presence for us all we see that His original plans are indeed being fulfilled. The New Testament consistently asserts that those who are Christ are a new creation . This subsequently means that the former identities associated with their life are nullified. I am convinced that in Heaven, there will be no such thing as a German, a Greek, a Roman, a Russian, a Canadian, a Brazilian, a Jew, or an American, but instead there would be only former people of these former races. People who would much sooner claim their nation as something beyond the sky and more expansive than the ocean. The Holy Spirit is the citizen maker of our time, just as He has always been. He is the power behind the people of God and the leader of individuals to greater intimacy with Christ their King. It is by the presence of the Holy Spirit that we are presented the privilege of being the people of God. It is by the will of the Father, the obedience of the Son, and the power of the Spirit that this nation is a reality at all.

Conclusion: nations are bigger than churches
In the end, there comes a new understanding of the teleology of the Lord. We cannot move along in a simple-minded way of thinking that suggests that praying a prayer or entering a building is the hope and pleasure of God. Nations are bigger than churches, and in fact, the Universal Church itself is more a nation than it is comparable to any other earthly thing. Jesus asserted that the Kingdom of God has been forcefully advancing in this world from the time of John the Baptist . Paul declares that we are now citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household . Peter writes that we ought to consider ourselves strangers to this planet . The writer of Hebrews tells us that even our faith’s ancestors in the Old Testament, who had not seen what was promised to them, understood that they were not to claim this world as their home ! God’s desires are to claim a people and to be claimed in turn by them . If we are going to claim to own a Biblical Theology, then the text must dictate belief, and the text unanimously declares that God wants a nation to be His own just as He is their only God! May we all learn to live as citizens of a nation rather than just members of a church. May we all learn to claim our King in faith that He would also claim us. I am convinced of the theme of scripture. In light of the implications, I can only hope that as a citizen I might be an agent of reconciliation (thus expanding the nation) and a participant and agent of intimacy with the King (thus fulfilling His creative purposes and experiencing the joy of real life). This is my conclusion, that the text of Scripture speaks explicitly to the emphatic hope of God’s forming a people to call His own. His formation of that people includes their consciously and intentionally claiming Him as their God and thus trusting His leading and authority over their lives.

..............................................
Genesis 17:8, Exodus 6:7, Leviticus 26:12, Deuteronomy 7:6, Psalm 135:4, Jeremiah 24:7, Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 11:20, Zechariah 8:8, Malachi 3:17
The Screwtape Letters, letter viii
Exodus 13:21-22
Deuteronomy 28:13
Philippians 2:8-10
Acts 1:8
Galatians 3:16
Galatians 3:28
Acts 2:23
2 Corinthians 5:17-20
Ephesians 4:3
2 Corinthians 5:17
Matthew 11:12
Ephesians 2:19
1 Peter 1:17
Hebrews 11:13
Titus 2:13-14

Forty Days of Gratitude: Day 13

2010-06-15T23:35:00.002-04:00

Back on the wagon...

Been out of the blogging world for quite a bit now, but such a rest was worth it. The last month has been full of surprises and struggles both, blessings and disappointments. I've got to say that I'm incredibly thankful for the friends who we have here in Koloa. It's not everyday that you'd find a couple who have been married for only 7 months, are expecting a child in August, and who were transitioning into leadership of a church to take in another couple they believed God had called to their community and let them stay until God took them away- but we did with Matt and Jamie. Tonight is our last night in the Metzger home and partly that is relieving and yet partly that is sad. We've been blessed to get to know them over these last four weeks so much better than ever before and it is obvious that God has great plans for us all coming. Joy thrives in gratitude and I couldn't be more thankful for Matt and Jamie and the servant hearts God has called them to live with and enable.

Forty Days of Gratitude: Day 7

2010-04-29T18:19:00.001-04:00

I am thankful for my wife who goes on walks with me at midnight so we can catch up on the day. I'm also grateful for friends who help prepare specialized dinners that i dream up for the previously mentioned walking wife. Fresh Pineapple is good, but 8 cups of rice is too much for four people.

Forty Days of Gratitude: Day 6

2010-04-29T18:18:00.002-04:00

I'm thankful for strong relationships that can be renewed and appreciated over 39 cent wings. I cannot say that every relationship I participate in picks up where it left off even after two months. I'm glad such things exist and exist by choice.

Forty Days of Gratitude: Day 5

2010-04-29T18:18:00.001-04:00

I'm very thankful for genuine people. I got to see and hear some of the most authentic lyrics, thanks and gladness tonight at the farewell show for Here Comes Hope. The guys played and showed their hearts and I'm very thankful I was able to see it. I'm proud of them and am glad for their musical example of authenticity.

Forty Days of Gratitude: Day 4

2010-04-29T18:17:00.002-04:00

I'm so thankful for cheap laughs. this day started out with so many frustrations, and yet a simple and genuine party at Rachel's house can make so many things seem less overwhelming. It is good to be together and enjoy each other. Catchphrase, Burgers, and class memories are worthy things to be grateful for.

Forty Days of Gratitude: Day 3

2010-04-29T18:17:00.001-04:00

i have no idea what im thankful for today. i guess, well, im thankful that this atage of life is three days from over. it's about time.

Forty Days of Gratitude: Day 2

2010-04-22T22:56:00.001-04:00

I am grateful for dreams.
Can you imagine if we weren't allowed to hope for anything beyond our current situation? I'm very grateful for the fact that we can make plans, be excited about them, and then be okay with their not coming to fruition as well... we are allowed to be unpredictable, dreaming, hoping, forward looking creatures. In the last two months Lyndee and I have had dreams of going to Seminary, working in a needy neighborhood and owning a house, now going to Hawaii to minister as our passions and hearts are wired. I'm glad just thinking in those terms is okay...

Forty Days of Gratitude: Day 1

2010-04-21T22:01:00.001-04:00

I am very grateful for rest. Tonight we had Vespers, and it was such a good thing to simply SLOW DOWN and take a few breaths and thank God for being there constantly. I am very thankful for rest, and I am very thankful for restful ministry. I mean, come on- sing some songs and pray? Done. Stress about it? Not a chance.

Forty Days of Gratitude: the beginning

2010-04-20T19:20:00.001-04:00

I'm going try something pretty intentional here. I'm going to blog for forty days and in each post present something from the day that warrants my gratitude. I'm going to try being very specific about it all, and basically just throw them out there for whoever you are to hear. I'm posting this for the sake of the intentionality in it, the "anonymous accountability" if you will. I'll start tomorrow, on April 21, 2010 and end on May 30, 2010 we'll see how it all went and hopefully a pattern and recognition of all the gracious things there are in my life will be instilled. Thanks for taking the time to read just a short intro.

We'll see how this goes :D

2010-02-25T16:27:00.003-05:00

Re: Repetition of History

I think it’s time to spell something out.
We’ve come to a time in the formation of the church where we are repeating history, and it’s not a good thing.

Check out Acts 15:1-35
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2015:1-35&version=NLT

The Jerusalem council of the first century was convened for a simple purpose, to decide whether or not it was in accordance with the message of the gospel to make gentile converts uphold Jewish tradition in their new faith. The controversy had much to do with circumcision, Sabbath, synagogue attendance, and obeying the Torah and then forming Talmud. The decision? “No”- upholding the Jewish cultural law was not going to become contingent and equal with the gospel of new life in Jesus Christ. They decided that the Gentile believers were just as much included in the blessing of God’s presence by manifestation of the Holy Spirit as the Jewish and Samaritan believers before them. The decision made history- but we have neglected to act in accordance with their wisdom. Instead, we have taken on the pride of these early Jews and decided that if church isn’t done in accordance with our traditions and with our cultural preferences, then it isn’t being done correctly. Some have criticized Western Christianity in this way, claiming moral outrage at such arrogance. Anymore I think the criticism is legitimate.

Do we not realize that we are not called to be a “church” (that is, the connotative definition of an assembly of people professing the same cognitive beliefs) as much as we are reborn to be a nation (that is, a people who by their way of life and adherence to particular original truths find themselves unified though they do not necessarily share space and/or time)? Let me suggest something very simple here- nations are bigger than churches. Christ died to redeem and purify for Himself a people of His very own. They same desire that the Father has expressed since the beginning of His interaction with humanity on this fallen world. But no, instead we reserve the right to decide what people must believe and do in order to be acceptable in our sight rather than look for God’s blessing on their affirmation of His work and love through Christ. When will we repent of this arrogance and stop asking cultures unlike our own to conform to our cultural and linguistic preferences before we accept them as brothers and sisters in faith? The missions movement is a wonderful thing, missions work is a wonderful thing, but let us not mistake the medium for the message. Just because we have experienced the power and truth of the Good News in a particular medium (pulpits, buildings, books, radios, etc) does not mean the power and truth of the message is limited to that medium. When we look at the narrative of Acts, we see that there was a deciding factor that told the council what the reality was. The Holy Spirit had indeed been manifested among the gentiles. This indicated God’s Sovereign presence and blessing on their actions and affirmations, meaning that what the Jews wanted them to do in order to experience that blessing was irrelevant.

Let us follow in their footsteps and remove the yoke of cultural uniformity before we further nullify the true meaning of the Gospel as the good news for the world.

Someday there will be more written on this fragile screen regarding the formation of the people of God. For now I am mulling over this abuse and looking to affirm its correction and remedy.

Press on.

Re: Perspective and Interpretation

2009-11-12T14:54:00.002-05:00

The Circumstances

You are in a dark room, lit only by one light that hangs over a table in the center. On this particular table there are bindings and straps- it is so vile in its depravity. You know these people you have lost your freedom to use it for their own foul and horrid purposes. You know you do not want to be here. You have been stripped, the decency of a single cloth is your only accommodation for these circumstances- you feel less than human. The room is cold and still you grow more and more terrified of who may be coming in for you and what they may do to you. The room, echoing your heart, feels dirty and full of risk. You found this place by accident, never intending your involvement with these people and their secluded organization to get so intense and out of hand. You have little rights with them, indeed, they tell you what your options are anymore and you either comply or face the consequences. What have I gotten myself into is all that you can think as you stare at the door and wait for their latest instructions. What will they have you do this time? Tell them more secrets? Tell them more things you swore you'd never tell anyone? Show them more vulnerability as if you deserve to be at their mercy? Try to resist and yet fail as time and time again before? Someone comes in, they're masked as usual, and you are hardly able to contain yourself and your anxiety. He brings with him others, all masked and dark. They tell you to stand and that they are in control of the situation- your time is up."Everything is going according to plan," they say to one another with pleasure. Fear grips you even still- what does that mean? You do not want to stand. Someone grabs your hand and pulls you up from your place, you cannot bear to resist anymore- they have proven themselves too strong in recent times. This table was meant for you, and you know they are going to injure you. This is going to hurt. They will harm you. How could they?! From the time you met them they said they only wanted to help you. From the first time you spoke to the masked one he said nothing of this. That table is yours. You climb your Golgotha and await your sentance, unwilling to attempt escape. It’s no use. They surround you and look you over. How will they perform their ritual this time? How long have they been practicing this dreadful routine? How many others have been where you are now- at their mercy? How did you come to this place? How did you give them so much power? The man stares at you from behind the mask and says, “Just relax,” but you know it's no use. Then he holds his sinister blade above your flesh and lowers it as you pray to escape into the relief of unconsciousness…

The Question

Where are you? There are many answers that could suffice, but I kind of want to see how this short little verbal presentation affects you. Where do you think you are? (and if we’ve had this conversation before, please don’t answer)

Re: Recent Tunes (v.II, "A New Law")

2009-11-08T15:15:00.001-05:00

So... I've been listening to a couple of artists lately that have some pretty good things to say. The first is the ever folksy and ridiculously talented Mr. Marc Scibilia and the other is one known in some circles as "the most dangerous man in music," Mr. Derek Webb. I was privileged to see both of them at the Wealthy Theater in Grand Rapids, Michigan about a week ago and consequently, one of their albums has been playing near my ears since then. Fixity is Marc's only full length release thus far, but it certainly packs a punch. He lulls you onward with very fanciful piano progression all the while that he's sneaking a prophetic challenge and cry into your heart through the back door. Derek Webb has a different approach to say the least. Derek comes at you like a freight train, and as one good friend likes to reflect, "there are times he sings something and you just have to stop and ask 'did he just say that??'" The album of his we're referring to here is Mockingbird, and wow, it is beautiful and hardly a spin off of someone else's efforts. Derek's unique voice and questioning, forceful lyrics say something new each time I play a track. At any rate, both of these men have been on the side of truth this week and in very timely fashion reminding me of some of the beliefs my life holds that just don't find opportunity for expression in my daily surroundings (that being Bethel College and the Northern Indiana Bible belt). I think Derek was brilliant to name his last album "Stockholm Syndrome." Though where I am is not necessarily captivity, sometimes it is much easier to simply blend in or comply with your circumstances than to intentionally affirm what you know to be true. As C.S. Lewis put it (though I can't remember where)- the road to spiritual apathy is comfortable and full of only slight compromises, the kind we always have the intention to return to and fix when no one is looking. A professor of mine likes to say "You can't choose your beliefs," and I tend to agree, however, we can definitely choose what beliefs we protect and remember. At any rate, both of these guys have been influencing my thoughts and faith this past week and I wanted to share a bit of Derek's thoughts with you. Why? Well, because "you deserve it"... like a coke or something. (I think it'll be refreshing)

A New Law
By: Derek Webb
Album: Mockingbird

Don’t teach me about politics and government
Just tell me who to vote for
And don’t teach me about truth and beauty
No, just label my music
And don’t teach me how to live like a free man
No, just give me a new law

I don’t wanna know if the answers aren’t easy
So just bring it down from the mountain to me

I want a new law
I want a new law
Just give me that new law

And don’t teach me about moderation and liberty
I prefer a shot of grape juice
And don’t teach me about loving my enemies
And don’t teach me how to listen to the Spirit
No, just give me a new law

I don’t wanna know if the answers aren’t easy
So just bring it down from the mountain to me

I want a new law
I want a new law
Just give me that new law

‘Cause what’s the use in trading a law you can never keep
For one you can that cannot get you anything
So do not be afraid

Do not be afraid…

Re: Recent Tunes (v. I, "A King and A Kingdom")

2009-11-08T01:19:00.002-05:00

So... I've been listening to a couple of artists lately that have some pretty good things to say. The first is the ever folksy and ridiculously talented Mr. Marc Scibilia and the other is one known in some circles as "the most dangerous man in music," Mr. Derek Webb. I was privileged to see both of them at the Wealthy Theater in Grand Rapids, Michigan about a week ago and consequently, one of their albums has been playing near my ears since then. Fixity is Marc's only full length release thus far, but it certainly packs a punch. He lulls you onward with very fanciful piano progression all the while that he's sneaking a prophetic challenge and cry into your heart through the back door. Derek Webb has a different approach to say the least. Derek comes at you like a freight train, and as one good friend likes to reflect, "there are times he sings something and you just have to stop and ask 'did he just say that??'" The album of his we're referring to here is Mockingbird, and wow, it is beautiful and hardly a spin off of someone else's efforts. Derek's unique voice and questioning, forceful lyrics say something new each time I play a track. At any rate, both of these men have been on the side of truth this week and in very timely fashion reminding me of some of the beliefs my life holds that just don't find opportunity for expression in my daily surroundings (that being Bethel College and the Northern Indiana Bible belt). I think Derek was brilliant to name his last album "Stockholm Syndrome." Though where I am is not necessarily captivity, sometimes it is much easier to simply blend in or comply with your circumstances than to intentionally affirm what you know to be true. As C.S. Lewis put it (though I can't remember where)- the road to spiritual apathy is comfortable and full of only slight compromises, the kind we always have the intention to return to and fix when no one is looking. A professor of mine likes to say "You can't choose your beliefs," and I tend to agree, however, we can definitely choose what beliefs we protect and remember. At any rate, both of these guys have been influencing my thoughts and faith this past week and I wanted to share a bit of Derek's thoughts with you. Why? Well, because "you deserve it"... like a coke or something. (I think it'll be refreshing)

A King and A Kingdom
By: Derek Webb
Album: Mockingbird

Who’s your brother, who’s your sister
You just walked past him, I think you missed her
As we’re all migrating to a place where our Father lives
‘Cause we married into a family of immigrants

So my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country or a man
My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
It’s to a King and a Kingdom

There are two great lies that I’ve heard
"The day you eat of the fruit of that tree you will not surely die"
And that "Jesus Christ was a white, middle class Republican
And if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like him"

But my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country or a man
My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
It’s to a King and a Kingdom

And nothing unifies like a common enemy
And we’ve got one sure as hell
He may be living in your house
He may be raising up your kids
He may be sleeping with your wife
Oh he may not look like you think

Re: Reconciliation

2009-10-06T17:01:00.001-04:00

Forgive my tardiness for this post to this site. This is a former written work and again recently I'm seeing the same word tossed around and the same motivation behind it... so I felt like dusting it off for a minute and letting it fly again.

..............................................................................
[Original Posting September 28,2009]
So I this has been weighing me down for some time because more and more I see this word, "reconciliation" being thrown around and I get the feeling we're letting the world define it and give us our mission rather than letting Jesus declare it and send us with it.
Here goes...

Dear you,
Your passion for reconciliation is good, but you have missed the point. Our Lord did not come to reconcile the world to itself. He did not come to bring peace between the gentiles and Jews, create political stability for Palestine and Israel, harmony between sexual orientations, union to Republicans and Democrats, familiarity for races, neutrality to genders, equality for the rich and poor, or agreement between any other differing ideals! Our Lord Jesus Christ did NOT die on a cross so the world would have peace with itself as if all sin were now abolished (by Him, not through Him) and the enemy no longer has rights to create havoc. The ministry of reconciliation that Jesus came to demonstrate is NOT the reconciliation of the world to itself. Indeed it is entirely the opposite.

• Rom 5:10-11: For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
• Rom 11:15: For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
• 2 Cor 5:18: All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…
• 2 Cor 5:19: that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
• 2 Cor 5:20: Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
• Col 1:20-22: …and through Him God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His Cross. And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, as as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him…

The concept and nature of this word does connote the idea of some restoration taking place or the exchange of some substance for something else and I think that the Theological implications are greater still. First, I think that the implication made is that a prerequisite for reconciliation is a fall. In order for something to be reconciled, a prior, somehow greater connection between the two things must have been lost. The implications are this, that we were at one time in right relation with God, but through our own choices, we broke the connection between us, offending God, and losing the original greatness of our bond. In order to regain that relationship, reconcile it, that is, payment, or an exchange of some kind must be made. Knowing that the result of sin (that is, the offense of God) is death, the only possible payment for sin (wages, that is) is death itself; therefore, restitution to God is made only in death. However, considering that all humanity has chosen this offense, and that it is impossible for that which is impure to purify itself, it is therefore impossible from humanity’s standpoint to reconcile itself to God. But if the pure were to die, fulfilling the just price of the offense, reconciliation might be had through the pure. That is what happened, the Pure, God himself, chose to reconcile us to Himself by paying the price Himself. The debt was not cancelled as if it never happened- it was paid in full by the indebted! The exchange of His life for each of ours is what defines the reconciliation of humanity back to right relationship with God. In this light reconciliation is in fact, payment, replacement, exchange, and substitution- all combined to identify the act of restoration carried out for debtors to God by God to God (not a redundancy, read it carefully).

The goal of Christ is the reconciliation of the world TO HIMSELF, all things come FROM THIS POINT FIRST, for it only THROUGH HIM that all things are made new. It is not the agreement of holiness and sin, it is the removal of sin to reveal what is holy! It is IN HIM that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, etc.- why are we attempting to reconcile that which cannot be reconciled without the work of Christ taking place first? There can be no reconcilation of the Church and the world outside of Jesus, and even then it is no longer the world, but an expansion and addition to the Church! To have friendship with the world is to be the enemy of God- have we forgotten this? Neither the Jew and Greek nor the Church and the world will be or can be reconciled without FIRST being made new in Jesus, for it is at that point that national origins, political preferences, personal rights and ideals SUBMIT THEMSELVES TO HIS WILL and are thus CONFORMED to the likeness of the SAME IMAGE- Jesus Christ. It is when we seek conforming to the same standard that unity is created, but for the saved, the Church, our standard is Jesus Christ Alone, Who is our Head and Author, can we then submit to the standard of the world which we have been alienated from and estranged to?

I cannot help but let this go from here. As more and more throw this word around as if somehow it is our mission to reconcile others to others I will continue to cringe, for the reconciliation of Christ can only be done as we bring others to HIM and NOT to each other. Reconciliation is not about tolerance and false unity, the bringing together of light and darkness as if that were possible anyway. Rather, it is about being recreated in the same image as the ONLY Reconciler, Jesus Christ, Who has paid our debt by His death on a cursed piece of wood. It is about the rebirth of our life, the renewal of our relationships, the restoration of our purpose, and the reduction of what is not of Him. Let us press on in the ministry of reconciliation as it is intended, not by what the world would rather it be.

In Him,
Me

August 14, 2009: What of Dreams?

2009-08-14T05:21:00.000-04:00

Dear you,

I do not know how to talk to you.
Such a notion as conversation seems so…
Small.
That is…
In light of the things I see,
And what I long to show you…
Such a vision cannot be presented with words.
Yet I see you…
And…
Well…
I don’t know what do with that sight either.
Suddenly wetness fills my eyes…
A salty substance I did not invite.
Each bead races down my face…
And falls.
In singularity declaring a hope…
A sighed prayer…
A reckless dream.
Yet on impact with the ground…
The end?
No.
The abundance.
They multiply.
This is how I feel when my dreams land
On His heart.
They explode…
And one suddenly becomes one thousand…
For you.
When I dream for you
It cannot be in terms of one…
For I dream dreams upon dreams...
Countless.
And yet…
Even if you actually found my face…
It wouldn’t help.
The dreams aren’t there…
Only a subtle trace remains.
That’s not what I want to share with you.
The dreams…
All of them…
Have landed in a heart…
And it is heavy.
For dreams can only be seen…
And you know what that means.
So I am still speechless.

Love,
Me

July 30, 2009: Something Shallow

2009-07-30T06:56:00.001-04:00

Dear you,

I’m sorry.
Those seem to be the only words that my heart allows at the moment…
I’m sorry.

I’m sorry you’ve been abused… broken… hurt… tricked… taken advantage of… mistreated… downplayed… pained… scarred… hated… lied to.

I’m so sorry. I don’t know what else to say…
Except… well.

I love you.

I love you, and the love that I have for you may as well be nothing when compared to the love I am learning to reflect. This reflection is dull… darkened… shallow... overshadowed by my own depravity, selfishness, and humanity, and yet the source, He who shows me pure and true love, has no darkness or dimness. His light is pure and unimaginably freeing. I want to love you that way. May He teach me more honestly and openly, for I see such pain and brokenness in your life. I want you to know this love. I want you to know this joy. I want you to know this FREEDOM. And yet the only words I can say are… I’m sorry. I don’t know why… but I wish I could undo it all. I want to take the pain and the lies away. I want you to know the truth and I want you to be free. I love you. I don’t know what else to do… I know you’re tired of hearing it, yet I feel the resolution to live it before you. Would you dare to see it? Or, will you hide behind closed eyes, tolerating the pain and the sorrow, hoping everyone just goes away?

Open them… please.

You close them and it undermines everything. Glory is ultimately something we must see, not just hear. Love must be known in action, not only speech. I know my words have reached your ears, yet I pray desperately it would reach your eyes, and through them, your heart. My heart is broken for you… even now I don’t know what to do but write in with the simple hope your heart will find a moment to read such things that are daringly expressed in the face of depravity. What is next for us? I don’t know. My love for you burns anew each day, as if the sun itself adds sets my heart ablaze each morning with its rising. Maybe someday I’ll learn the magic words needed to show you what I really mean. Maybe someday I’ll learn the secret of speaking directly to your heart. Maybe someday I’ll really know what you’re thinking and can then speak against the fears and the past pains that numb your ears to His words and close your eyes to His heart. Maybe someday… or maybe someday you’ll just want to know what it is that I see in you, and maybe on that day you’ll be just honest enough to look past me to see the One whom I represent, asking what it is that HE sees in you, calling your name with tears in His eyes, asking you to come home… maybe you’ll look around for the source of the reflection… you’ll learn that I’m nothing but an expression… and you’ll laugh as you realize what it is that you’ve been caught up in, indefinable though seems to be... you'll cry and I'll heave a great sigh of relief and joy and celebration... I'll marvel at what He has done and thank Him for the chance to be part of it for you. I'll look at you and pray you see what He sees. I'll cry in your healing... you'll laugh in His love... and the Kingdom will be ours. I can see it...

And yet in my vision is also the sight of what blocks your view, and for the sake of that sight I am sorry, and I am willing to help you tear down that wall, that you may hold the promises meant for your life, that you might know joy, hope, and peace, that you might run freely and with strength... because I love you, and I want you to know the Reason why.

Love,
Me
.........................................................................................

Micah 7:14-20

14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
which lives by itself in a forest,
in fertile pasturelands.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
as in days long ago.

15 "As in the days when you came out of Egypt,
I will show them my wonders."

16 Nations will see and be ashamed,
deprived of all their power.
They will lay their hands on their mouths
and their ears will become deaf.

17 They will lick dust like a snake,
like creatures that crawl on the ground.
They will come trembling out of their dens;
they will turn in fear to the LORD our God
and will be afraid of you.

18 Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.

19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

20 You will be true to Jacob,
and show mercy to Abraham,
as you pledged on oath to our fathers
in days long ago.

BS2

2009-07-06T12:37:00.001-04:00

Re: Today

2009-06-21T17:04:00.004-04:00

Sometimes I want to give up. Period. Like today... there's just this funk about it. The kind of funk that comes from reading ill-casted facebook notes and hearing vomitous words spoken from hardly honest traditions held. These days make me want to go back to a place called "easy." Where all I have to do is sit in a room with a semi-circular table and wait for open minds to come through the door. Where I simply have to choose three or four logically associated lyrically appropriate tunes to string together and inspire willingly led people into emotional highs. Where language arts, background education, and rhetorical skills were afforded more authority than the Holy Spirit's anointing, prophetic spew, or a burdened heart. This day seems more likely to crush me beneath the weight of unwilling hearers and steadfast tradition holders than anything else. Some days it would just be easier to go back to the place of frustration at things that felt less than eternal and were therefore easier to get through. Where a shower and a guitar session did ease the heaviness of my spirit at the disobedience of my friends. Where pursuing an uncommon relationship was the goal rather than the pursuit of a holy one. Those were the days.

Were these days counted? Yes. Was this cost laid on the table and deemed worth every tear? Yes. Was there a moment when I knew I couldn't go back? Yes. Was there a time when I realized that my education was probably all for not? Yes. Was there at any time the option afforded to simply stay and enjoy the temporal happiness of fluid and shallow relationships spend over profane and even evil entertainment? Yes.

So what now? What was that cost counted for? Where is the joyful fruit of nearly two years on the naughty list of people I love and respect? Where is the return of the risky and almost desperate investment in real freedom and empowered speech? Where is the exchange on education for anointing and information for heart cutting truth? Where is the fruit grown from the rain of tears I have let go over lives I couldn't bear watching run down the same path of which I saw death standing at the end?

Where is it?

Oh, it's around. :D

M.M
J.H.
A.B.
D.P.
R.O.
.............................................................

If I Stand
Rich Mullins

There's more that rises in the morning
Than the sun
And more that shines in the night
Than just the moon
It's more than just this fire here
That keeps me warm
In a shelter that is larger
Than this room

And there's a loyalty that's deeper
Than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs
That I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes
For the allegiance
I owe only to the Giver
Of all good things

So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home

There's more that dances on the prairies
Than the wind
More that pulses in the ocean
Than the tide
There's a love that is fiercer
Than the love between friends
More gentle than a mother's
When her baby's at her side

And there's a loyalty that's deeper
Than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs
That I can sing
The stuff of Earth competes
For the allegence
I owe only to the Giver
Of all good things

So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can't let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home

And if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can't let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home

And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home

www.kidbrothers.net

Decisions

2009-06-13T17:37:00.001-04:00

I was told last night by a co-worker who has evidently "seen it all" that at this point in his life he is hoping for nothing else than to "die comfortably." I don't know if I can explain in any amount of words how shocked and absolutely appalled I was. He is admittedly in disbelief of any god or purpose, and as far as his life is concerned now, that's all he wants. He doesn't want the slow, drawn out thing that so many go through. He doesn't want the out of the blue car accident or anything like that. Does this surprise me? No.

My thoughts wander more towards those around me to confess belief and yet chase the very thing my friend is: a comfortable death. Well? How about it? There are thousands of comforts in out lives, things that money affords and things that all kinds of stuff can bring about. I know many believers, some of whom are my closest friends who literally are doing nothing other than "dieing comfortably." Here is my question:

What about the "abundant life" that Jesus Christ claimed He had come to bring? What about freedom? What about fruit?

Is your "abundant life" anything more than "dieing comfortably?" Or is it a drawn out, spiritually fruitful, hell defeating, heaven proclaiming, disciple making, and freedom creating empowered life?

I believe that's for you to decide.

Heartache

2009-06-12T04:57:00.003-04:00

*sigh*

It's about 3:00am where I currently am, and I have had an enduring pain in my soul for several days now. I truly wish I knew how to be rid of it, but clearly such relief is not meant for the present moment. I do not know what is next in my life right now... I suppose that is in itself a very good thing. Work in the mountains never gets old (though this heartache does), and I continue to experience a new brokenness for/in my generation nearly every day. I wonder anymore if this pain is nothing more than a distraction... something to keep me chasing my own hopes and whispered prayers into darker and darker, more secret corners of my life instead of simply spewing them into the air and being rid of the heaviness so often befalling my heart. Somehow my voice is bound and unable to share these things with those around me... I am free with only a few people and there have found no resolution.

I don't know what to do. In all honesty the one thing that comes to mind is weep, and as experience has proven before, that doesn't help. I work among people who not only reject the spiritual nature of their lives, but thwart it, starve it, kill it. They drown the cry of their existence in soulish desires and fruitless experiences. All I really want is some honesty right now I think. I'd like to have an honest and genuine conversation with someone about life in general, but alas, most often what comes from the mouths of those around me are lies bathed in alcohol and caressing flatteries laced with self-interest. Those that I love the most seem afraid to share what they are truly going through, as if vulnerability is something I do not respect and protection is not my most natural and fiercest passion. I truly crave honesty more than anything else right now. Other than that (Perhaps even because of that), I am exhausted. My heart is nearly dehydrated it has wept so often in the last week. My mind feels flat for trying in vain to figure out how such lifestyles as I see are appealing or desired at all. My body wonders when it'll enjoy a normal sleep cycle for just one week's time. My spirit sees the many needs and calls in earnest for authentic and holy help, only to see the enemy sweep in and provide a distorted and shallow solution to eternal problems. All that to say, I ache, and I don't know the nature of the sharpest, deepest tear in my heart, which is perhaps more frustrating than anything else.

Rich Mullins on "Love"

2009-06-07T22:24:00.001-04:00

Another radical Rich Mullins quote:

If you've ever known the love of God, you know it's nothing but reckless and it's nothing but raging. Sometimes it hurts to be loved, and if it doesn't hurt it's probably not love, may be infatuation. I think a lot of American people are infatuated with God, but we don't really love Him, and they don't really let Him love them. Being loved by God is one of the most painful things in the world, it's also the only thing that can bring us salvation and it's like everything else that is really wonderful, there's a little bit of pain in it, little bit of hurt.

Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rich_Mullins

June 1, 2009: Time

2009-06-02T05:51:00.000-04:00

Dear you,

It’s been a little while now, hasn’t it… I mean, since this whole thing started. Just about a year ago I found my heart towards you. In the same moment I discovered you were not as much opposed to this love as you were fearful of it. So much has changed, yet still that hasn’t. I think of you and pray for you almost all day long, and literally (right now) all night long too. I watched you drink away the pain again tonight. I hadn’t seen that side in some time. Later you allowed the shallow wooing of a shallow lover to comfort your flesh and soothe the headache you can’t tell is truly of your heart’s origin. Sure, you laughed through the whole thing, but when you walked by late one afternoon and saw the salt trail on your cheek. I still don’t understand. I know you know that, what I don’t get is why you are so afraid. I pray against it every day. I turn my own heart over to our Father every day. I seek His pleasure above my own and truly want nothing more than for you to know Him as He has bled to let you. One year ago I mistook this pain of a loving fervor for the pain of a annoyed cell-mate. Again, how things have changed, that certainly has.

I hold to the hope that someday you’ll be ready to look into my eyes and receive the joy of your heart’s longing being fulfilled. I hold to the hope that you will be free. I hold to the promise that you are His. I do not always know what to do with the pain of watching you self-destruct. Most times I must remind myself of the awakening that comes when you finally crash into the canyon floor and I hope you’ll let me help you clean up the mess. (though so often I am not only ill equipped for such endeavors but too overwhelmed with joy at your lies’ demise to be of any use!) You ask me for things I pray you don’t receive. Can you understand the torture of such a circumstance? I pray that you finally run out of places to hide and yet you ask me to help you search for somewhere new. I pray you run out of energy to hold up your fortress wall and you ask me to help you keep stamina. Can’t you see this is counter-productive? I suppose I could be the one out of my mind and that I am being entirely selfish in hoping you come to the same place of joy and rest that I myself was brought to after a struggle that lasted longer than necessary and a weight I wasn’t supposed to carry was lifted, but I don’t think so. At any rate, this is about one year since and I wanted to write this just to say I still see you and I still love you, at this moment more than ever yet. You have turned just a little bit, and that alone has brought me joy enough to remain awake several nights just smiling. You have let down your guard one the rarest of occasions, yet that moment provides the hope of a lifetime in the same risked interaction. I have no promises, no guarantees, no assurance of any kind, yet I cannot turn away from you. There are no moments with you worth trading for any anywhere else. There is no favor, short-lived as it is most often, shown that could spur my prayers and fervent, humble desire on with pure delight that I accept but yours. Even so, I know that my heart is most often than not, misunderstood and I know that there is a great amount of time and growth to be done before this converstation can even be attempted. Yet still, I must reveal. I can hide nothing from you, though I feel I am through for now.

Goodnight.

-Greg

Re: Heartburn

2009-05-19T00:17:00.014-04:00

SO... I don't know what is going to come of all this, but the Lord has truly broken my heart in the last few days for one thing and one thing only: to know God's heart. I found myself on my face last night, sobbing and simply longing to know any part of Him that I do not, and I realized that though He has privileged me to hear and see His thoughts and hands and feet at work, I am not intimately acquainted with His heart. After this encounter, He brought me to this passage of scripture in Jeremiah (Chapter 3), and by His grace I will soon hear what He has in it for me. His ways are mysterious sometimes, and I so often wish He were simply CLEAR with His message. Though I do no know that any confusion of the message lives in my filter of hearing and not in His voice. Let His Spirit penetrate my life and teach me what He desires. That's really all I have personally. For more on the internship experiences see: www.bcywominginterns.blogspot.com . Press on.

Is this Right?

2009-05-12T22:38:00.003-04:00

This interview is from August of 2005. The source page is YouTube, but for a fuller presentation of Mr. Robertson's statements, see: http://mediamatters.org/clips/200508220006

Yes, I know this is old, but to me, it's new. You know that I am anti-violence, but I think there are things that cross lines for even the most aggressive of people claiming faith in Christ. I've got to wonder what the rest of the world thinks when things like this are spoken from the mouth of one who has the support of many Christians in America. Does this represent the living and dying by the sword? I think it's pretty clear. Now, if Mr. Robertson is making a statement from the viewpoint of America as a political nation, then that's one thing, if however, he is presenting his personal opinion as a Christian leader... well, that's quite another isn't it?

Re: Purpose

2009-05-06T20:03:00.002-04:00

I have a question for you: which of these circles represents the better hole?

Now, I hope that you are clever enough to notice something here and call me out on it. “Greg,” you ought say, “We don’ have enough information to determine the better hole here. All we have is two dimensions of a three dimensional thing.” I hope you did. If so, bravo! Here’s your missing information:

What am I trying to say in as crude a fashion Microsoft Paint will allows? Well, I think you’re already tracking with me. Are we out for something widespread and shallow in our faith, or do we crave depth? I know of many, many beautifully large and wondrous ministries that seem to be viewable from space, but you know what? They barely break the bedrock of depth and truth. As Paul says, they have not moved on to the meat of faith. On the other hand, I know of only a few holes that, when viewed from above, appear tiny and insignificant, yet when they are truly explored we find they have dared to venture far beyond the bedrock into the core of matters. Though they do not cover a large amount of surface and appear so very weak because of this reality, they have declared their purpose not something of WIDTH, but DEPTH (By which is a hole judged, anyway?), and so find what few have known before them. There are craters out there made by such projectiles that impact a wide and broad area, but do not drive the impacted deeper than a few feet. Then there are those projectiles that, with precision and velocity impact something very small, but make their way into a place further than known before. I hope that you are searching for depth. I myself would rather be and reproduce thousands of narrow holes that plummet miles into the core of faith than gather millions of shallow holes that do not know for what reason others dig, but that's just me.

Re: My Discontent

2009-05-02T18:11:00.001-04:00

Excelsior... this word captured me nearly six years ago when I read a poem by Longfellow of the same name. This word that cried to never be satisfied met my heart and defined it somehow. I knew this word. It described my spirit. It was my nature. “Still higher, ever upward,” that’s what it means. It implies... no... demands dissatisfaction with the plateau and calls for ascent. I didn’t know why this word was so near to me, but recently things have become somewhat clearer in that area. I’m one who really doesn’t like to be in one place very long. I like to know the next place, and have had to learn through much frustration that God will not let me see where I am to be soon if I cannot, even with that knowledge, remain fully present where I am. I tend to become very discontent with my present surroundings, not bored, but restless. As if there is forever a movement that is necessary for me to be taking part in. Excelsior... I for many years I embraced this nature of my heart and spirit. And then I grew tired of attempting to ascend on my own strength and decided I must learn to be content. A different voice said that there was no higher place, there was nothing more to understand or know of God’s intention (all lies), and I believed it. It said that this place was good enough to rest awhile in and that there was much to do here, there was a difference to make in this place. You know what that’s called? When you know something out there is what you’re really after but you choose to either ignore that calling or you substitute something else in its place? Compromise. Compromise is the antithesis of excelsior, and I embraced it for the sake of temporal peace of mind and heart. I didn’t know what else to do.

Even in that plateau, there was my excelsior nature again. What I had settled for could not remain as it was. There must be ascent even in it. So again my flesh declared a journey to what was not mine to know, and what I considered an ascent was actually a haphazard ride straight down. Against everything I’d understood more and more, towards the place from where I began and even further until I was uncertain if I’d ever known anything but the pit. When the time came that my true nature and love could stand it no longer, and my real identity was screaming in my spirit to look at what I’d become, I claimed excelsior once again and found myself on level ground. Thank God this does not last long, and that His hand is forever long enough to reach into the pit and replace us in the Garden of our creation. He is Grace. Though I’d obeyed a different voice and left the Range I knew He’d created for me to find Him in, still He wants me to know Him anyway, and I do.

Now, as I look back on twenty one years, I wonder if for eighteen of them I knew anything but the foothills. My discontent declares there must be more and I long for the mountains. My heart hears a voice that calls me further into a range I did not know existed. My Lord made these mountains to be known. He made my heart to want to explore them and to do so with many others in intimacy and joyful adventure. Everyone makes the journey into the mountains alone and yet together. I must go higher. Sometimes I find a place of rest, as if I do not know where the next step is in this ascent, and I become frustrated once again. I hear that same voice suggesting this be “enough.” I cannot tell you how I hate that voice. I become frustrated with the limbo of between up and down. Sometimes this frustration suggests that I am back in the foothills again, and my heart becomes frightened that all is lost and I with it, but soon the light shines in that shadowed crevice and I see that there is indeed another step and my heart can once again find joy in the journey upward and homeward. This journey is not over, nor close to any from of completion. My discontent rests in the knowledge that there is more to explore in this world of faith, hope, and love. That freedom is presented to the willing that they may move and that there movement may be continuous.

My discontent does not rest in wanting more of this earth, but more of my God. I want to know what He has intended and what He has planned. My joy arrives at His word and it is this beautiful voice that calls me to claim the heights, not that I can look down, but that I may be nearer to His heart itself. You may choose where you will be. You have the right to stay where you are or to climb at your own pace. As for me, excelsior is my heart’s cry and I will run at the next word beckoning me closer that I hear. I wait for you only as long as He does not provide new light on the path. I long for you to come with me, but my desire for Him outweighs everything else. I’ve been accused of having tunnel vision, as if this is somehow a bad thing. I want Him and Him alone. Can you not support that or am I to compromise again? I will not, and it is this desire that keeps me in discontent; certainly joyful with what I have and praising Him for every Truth He has embedded in my heart, yet longing for more in the same moment. I do not thirst, yet I am not satisfied. I am willing to throw off any weight that pulls me away from Him and I am willing to cut any ties that would hinder this ascent. This may seem hasty, even harsh, rude, but I will remind you that I am not in these mountains to solely get to know you better, but Him, and if we are unified on that purpose, we will get to know each other better as we claim His calling. I am here to help you hear that ever beckoning voice. I am here to help shed light on your path if He so let’s me. I am here to declare what I have heard and how I know Him, hearing also of your discoveries and your joys. I hope you understand that I’m not out of my mind, neither am I angry. I long. I pine. I yearn. I am created to know Him and I will chase Him with everything He has given me to do so with. I just thought I’d share that with you, cause I’m not sure if it’ll ever come up in “casual” conversation. Let’s go.

Sincerely,
Greg

April 26, 2009: Watch

2009-04-26T14:18:00.000-04:00

Dear You,

I’ve been thinking about you all day... I want to say, “I’m sorry” cause I know you don’t like that... you don’t like people paying you special mind at all usually... but I really can’t help it and I can’t apologize. My heart has broken probably ten times at least in the last hour with thoughts of where you are... where you keep yourself. I guess maybe I wonder how scared you are... cause every time I’m around you I just feel like you’re afraid of something, and that something is love. I know you’re not afraid to love, but I wonder if you would let yourself be loved... I wonder how many times you’ve been hurt and therefore refuse to be vulnerable enough for that risk again... my heart breaks for you even now and I can’t explain it. I just want you to know it’s real and it’s good... that it’s nothing to be afraid of and that it will be okay. Am I making stuff up and mistaking what I see? Perhaps, but I wish you’d at least tell me with a straight face and a pure heart I’m wrong if so. I can’t speak for anyone else, so I won’t right here. I love you and I’m willing to show it as best as I can, but as it is I cannot. You’re too afraid. It’s like you’ve put a filter on your vision... a filter that blocks out everything the color of love... so it’s not even there anymore... at least not in your world (It’s allowed in others’ worlds). I know that makes me disappear, or at least most of me... what is safe to see you’ll still recognize. I feel like you’re scared, and that truly hurts... there’s a world here waiting to be added to what you know already... do you even know when you put the filter on? Again, maybe I’m wrong, but I with you’d say so. I’m not trying to be anything but myself here... I’m shy, I’m brave, I’m perceptive, and blind all at the same time, and all I really want is to see you joyful... overwhelmed with the reality of Truth... present in love. I’d speak a thousand words, which is not much by my standards, but I’d do it a million times and maybe that’d count for something... I’d give all that I have, which isn’t much at all, but I’d do it every day and it would be my pleasure... I’d give my life itself (maybe I already have)... no questions asked; I’m willing for you. I don’t have a hero complex and I am not trying to be your savior; I’m much to weak and small for that.

I don’t know what to do anymore... I will not leave this place, actually I can’t anymore than I could decide to move to Saturn. Yet I realize that some of these walls that keep us apart you put up yourself. Most of them erected before my arrival, yet some of them even since. Either way, I cannot do you the injustice of trying to tear them down. So I’ll write this little note to you and slip it through the cracks to be examined and analyzed and inspected... if I’m lucky you’ll declare it worthy of response... as it is now though, I wait. I’m dismantling my walls, hoping you see. I am willing to be seen for what I am, and I am more than willing to let you witness transformation. I am not willing to be static. I am not willing to stay as I am, I long to become what I was created to be and I am not afraid of what that looks like. I am in every sense a creature living in grace, willing to obey the call to freedom and fully devoted to that reality. I don’t know what’s next... I don’t even know if you take me seriously or if I’m now simply “out there” to you. I don’t even know if this makes any sense at all, but my heart broke and, well, this came flooding out.

I don’t know what I’m saying anymore... my heart hurts for you and I feel like you’re afraid. I don’t know what to do about that so I’m rambling with words and dreams and hopes and schemes... trying to figure out if I can help you not be afraid anymore... it’s not that there’s nothing dangerous out here, in fact, there’s more danger “out there” than anywhere else, in that sense your walls have served their purpose, you’re “safe.” The problem is, you are all there is in there, and you and I both know that you are not all that you need and that you are not all that you want. I know you just don’t want to be hurt, but staying in control doesn’t keep that from happening. In fact, it only makes the pain that much worse when it happens, because then you blame yourself for whatever reasons. Yes, there is danger outside of the walls... but I tell you the truth, I’ll protect you with a strength that could not possibly be my own. I’m not asking you to give up being yourself, in fact, I’m asking exactly the opposite. I’m asking you to let others see who you are. I don’t know how to say it. I don’t know what it is I feel like I need to say or even if I can say anything that will really reveal what I’m praying and longing for for you. I guess I’m writing this with a hint of hope and an expectation of tears in the same moment. Maybe what I’m really trying to say is that I’m in this for the long haul. I’ve seen something deeper than what you’ve shown, and I love it, I love you. Can words sway fear? I don’t know, only if they’re true, and these are. I guess all I’m asking is that you watch... just watch and when you see “it”... when it hits you that there is nothing to be afraid of and that even if there is danger it’s worth every moment of freedom you experience: RUN. Watch... with your eyes wide open, filter off, heart peeking ever so cautiously, you’ll see the truth of this love... and I think you’ll find it beautiful. I don't know what else to do. I speak only for myself with this. I can do nothing else. I love you. Goodnight.

Openly,
Greg

Re: Childlike Concern

2009-04-21T02:43:00.000-04:00

Most people in my sphere of existence are familiar with the music of Five Iron Frenzy. Brave Saint Saturn is side project created by Reese Roper and a few other members of FIF intended to let out more of the dark and intense thoughts they were not comfortable sharing via ska. This band has really captured me many times, the latest being this afternoon. These lyrics are posted for you to read, but I encourage you to listen to the song itself if you can somehow.

I'm not here to interpret a song, but I'll share with you what God wrote on my heart while I was listening if you're willing to listen. What happens to our forever protecting nature? This is not the time or place for a debate on original sin and shameless pain or evil, but I generally think that most of us at one point in time would rather protect the creation than destroy it. There is such a radical shift displayed in this song, and it depicts so many of our lives. How do we regain the childlike concern we cherish and treasure in such words as in this first verse? Maybe that's just me... maybe you don't see those words and feel inside that's the way it should be, then go on to read the second verse and realize that's what reflects reality more often than not. We must regain that concern for the HEALING and restoration that is necessary in the lives of many around us. How long will it be before our hearts break for freedom and healing? How long will it be before our tears "sing?" There's a lot going on in my heart and head right now... I wonder if there might be a bit going on in yours now, too. I hope so.

-Greg

------------------------
Starling
By: Brave Saint Saturn
Album: Anti-Meridian

Filthy bird laying in our yard,
four chambered heart never beat so hard.
Dad said she was almost gone,
upside down out on our lawn.
And I could hold her in a shoe box,
if she heals she could be mine.
And if I cannot save her spirit,
dad says I should break her spine.
Shaking, brilliant, silver-black wings,
Jesus Christ, what prayers these tears sing.

Wear your hearts out on your sleeves for
starlings... starlings.
Of the least of all of these,
are starlings... starlings.

Two years pass, I pumped the chamber,
full of air to shoot the birds.
Harmless game to hit them slightly,
to scare them off, in other words.
Starling falling to her death,
piercing copper steals her breath.
See the flutter in her breast,
starving babies in her nest.
Raise their souls up to the sky,
why must helpless creatures die?

Wear your hearts out on your sleeves for
starlings... starlings.
Of the least of all of these,
are starlings... starlings.

Every breath has sacred weight,
every life has some design.
Can we kill and also save,
speak of life, while digging graves?

Re: Heroism

2009-04-09T14:38:00.001-04:00

Just some thoughts spinning around up in my head for the past few days...

What is a hero? You know... those people we look up to as if they have found something we haven't... is there really something extraordinary in their persona or circumstances that make them such... or is it really the notion that it is THEIR persona in the midst of circumstances... if hiding is unnatural... if exposure is so risky and vulnerability is so extremely uncomfortable, yet it's something we all look up to... then what if heroes really are just people who dared to embrace being the person God created them to be? While the rest of the world is mimicking those daring few and thinking to themselves "I'd like to be that" or some such other notion, they are willing to say, "I want to be myself." What does that mean for the extraordinary? What does that mean for the ordinary? What is a hero? I really think I am coming to believe that a hero is simply someone who has done just that... become not just content, but delighted with their created purpose (note this can only be known after coming to a knowing of a purpose Creator)... someone who may just have really, truly said- "I enjoy being me. I am not just comfortable with myself, but as I discover more and more who God intended me to be with Him, I find that I am more and more delighted."

Could it really be?

I know this is repetitive... but I cannot escape thoughts concerned with the truth of our identities. I cannot escape thoughts concerning hiding and exposure and discovery and somewhere along the lines you come into those thoughts... so I wonder what you think back. Maybe we can have a small conversation... maybe not. Either way, let's get out there.

April 6, 2009: Nope... It's just me

2009-04-09T14:34:00.000-04:00

Dear You,

What are you supposed to do when something connects with your heart so purely that you're speechless? (yes, without speech) The song lyric's at the bottom of this page are not (to the best of my knowledge) original to David Crowder, though it is his recording that has struck something deep inside of me. I hear something here... and I can't really explain it. It's more than the rousing war cry that the Supertones evoke from my spirit... it's more than the gentle affirmation that Jars of Clay so often presents to my mind. It's a pain in my chest. This song hurts and I don't exactly know why, except that I feel these words as if a million people were screaming them into my heart, "All of my life, I've been in hiding..." and all I can think is that I want them to COME OUT. The world around us, our lives, our experiences, so often our own people- have done so much to distort the nature and identity that God has intended for us. Yes, I know the effects of sin, the brutality of lies on lives, and there is something here that pulls from within me an enraged cry of "ENOUGH!" There are so many hiding... there are so many hidden. Hurt, broken, deceived, embittered, torn, shattered, puffed up- all hiding. I think back to the response Adam and Eve had in the Garden when they hid themselves. Who from?

From EACH OTHER...
and...
From God Himself.

We are not meant to be hidden.

We are meant to know Him and others and be known as well. Yet we are scared... confused... and for most of us, it has been for what seems like all of our lives that we've been in this place: HIDDEN. I can't really stand it anymore. I myself do not feel hidden- and that has been a very recent freedom, which is really what it is... FREEDOM. Yes, my tactics may seem and feel a bit different than what others may have done before me, but there is something here... something that can't not be done. There is something about this that I cannot escape. Identity... BEING... the question "WHO AM I?" these things, hearing you whisper them under your breath in frustration and even sorrow, they empassion my own soul... this song... these words... YOUR and HIS words speaking to me... my heart. There are so many "wishing there were someone" and I know that I am, in all actuality, someone, and I know that I can help you come out of hiding. I know it's what I was meant to do... to introduce you to Freedom by Name... to introduce you to Truth by Face. Not simply words that carry abstract meaning and connotations of hope or a fleeting and illusive ghostly Being... the master of "hide and seek"... no, not him, but the Being, the One, the Answer, the Revealed, the Exposed (not hidden) God. He, Who truly displayed HIS own nature, was more naked than you or I could ever imagine being, when He died in our places. That is a naked God, not a hidden God. And He reveals Himself so that you yourself may be exposed, and know who you actually are... that you may know Him as He created you to... that you may know the Truth... and that you may be FREE to BE who He created you to be.

Sigh...
Exhale... again... breathe out once more... that's all I've got. There's something here and it just tears me up and puts me together all at the same time. Maybe you'll give it a listen and hear nothing. Maybe you'll hear eternity beckoning. I guess all I'm trying to say is that I'm looking for you... I want to know you... I can't as long as you hide... I'm trying my very best to let you see me... to be in plain sight... not just so you see me, but so that you recognize that I want nothing more than for you to join us.

-Greg
.....................................................

Deliver Me
By: David Crowder* Band
From: Illuminate

Deliver me out of the sadness
Deliver me from all the madness
Deliver me courage to guide me
Deliver me Your strength inside me

All of my life
I've been in hiding
Wishing there was someone just like You
Now that You're here
Now that I've found You
I know that You're the One to pull me through

Deliver me loving and caring
Deliver me giving and sharing
Deliver me this cross that I'm bearing

Oh, deliver me...

Jesus, Jesus how I trust You
How I've proved You o'er and o'er
Jesus, Jesus precious Jesus
Deliver me
Come and pull me through
Come pull me through

March 23, 2009: Do Not Be Mistaken

2009-03-23T23:36:00.001-04:00

Dear you,

(This letter will sound harsh, be warned)

Do not be mistaken, for we will not be blamed for your decisions to remain in bindings and chains, though you try, though you declare it is our fault- this is a lie. There is truth and there are standards, none so high you cannot reach them by becoming low, and none so low you cannot attain by seeing who you truly are. In the same way that a bride will not be shamed by her husband on their day of joy, this Body will not be disgraced for what She "has" or "has not done" on His day as well. Do not think for a moment your slander will be tolerated or held credible. You hold your own destiny in that point. She will be defended with fire, protected with armies, and blessed with the glory of Her Lover's presence.

If for one moment you think you will take away His joy or delight over and in Her; you do not know Him. She will not be put to shame on that day. It will not be She who is removed from favor, for She has hidden nothing from Him. It will not be She who is asked to leave His presence, for She did not invite Herself. No, it will be you: the unknown, the deceitful, the wicked who will be asked to never speak to Them again. It will be you who are removed from the joyful presence of their union. It will be you who cannot work any more division, destruction, or thievery in their lives. She cannot be touched, for She will be His own. She will not be blamed for your bondage or pain. She will not be blamed for your hatred or jealousy. It will not be. Do not be mistaken, your words against Her will not even reach His ears.

In Truth,
Me
..........................

I feel the need to explain this in part: I'm tired of hearing the excuse for unbelief/disregard for the Word of God or the Truth of Christ as the fault of the Church. I do not believe that in the day of the Lord's return (whatever you call it, whenever you consider it to be), that the Beloved Bride of Christ will be shamed by His word or by the word of anyone. I do not believe for a moment that He will look upon her with anything other than pure joy and delight. I do not believe that she will feel guilty, broken, unwelcome, failing, or ashamed when she stands in His presence, and to all those who plan to blame Her actions or lack thereof (whether historically or individually) as the reason they do not know Him are mistaken in their relationship. He will not shame Her, not will He entertain slander/accusation against Her. His declaration will be one of perfection, for He Himself is perfect and She is His. There will be no word brought against her, she will not be tried or even accused. Do not be mistaken.

Rapture

2009-03-23T23:35:00.002-04:00

Someday...
There will be a moment
When the ground that sees more grief
Than any other ground
Will take part in the singular
Most joyful moment of history
And that grief will be overwhelmed
By the moment
Forgotten forever

(Company over Location)

2009-03-23T23:35:00.001-04:00

Someday...
I'll be brave enough to go with You
To a place known for 'stones and death
And in that place, together, we'll play

Desert Rose

2009-03-23T23:34:00.000-04:00

As I walked through a land of sand and sand
By heat and dryness of all moments
Sometimes over dunes and hills
Others into valleys and deep, deep cliffs
When the dryness never ceased
And where the sun has never set
All at once I noticed at my weary feet
Something I dared not believe though I was there
A flower greeted my journeyed eyes
One such whose shape and color are irrelevant
I adored it there for several moments
Perhaps five minutes, perhaps five days
I thanked God for the display of beauty and life
Singular to this vast land of sand and sand
And then I walked on

Question

2009-02-15T02:18:00.001-05:00

Do we live up to the call of sanctification or do we live out of it? What's the difference? Also, do we "pursue" holiness by means of actions/choices (the emphasis being on the what of doing) or do we live in holiness by way of submission (the emphasis being on the Who of what's been done)? Again, what's the difference?

February 8, 2009: Is That All You've Got?

2009-02-09T13:24:00.003-05:00

Dear You,

I just don't understand.
Why you can't believe it.
Do you like the struggle?
Do you like the constant
up
and
down?

That's not what He intended,
But of course you know that...
You just think the ride is fun.
(Unnecessary though it is)
At least it's an adventure.

It gives you something to...
Complain about?
How is that so valuable?
"I struggled today..." (Yeah, but you didn't have to)
The struggle is what you live for anymore.

You win somedays...
(Go you)
You lose somedays...
(Awwwe, poor you. Better luck next time)
Who are you fighting anyway?
The air? (That's productive...)

I bet it's not who you think.
I bet... if you look closely.
You'll find it's Him.
What now?
I don't know either.

You like feeling like you can do it?
You like seeing how you can do
what no one else can?
That you've got the smarts?
And you've got the muscle? (All lies...)

Why?
That is my question...
If only you'd answer.
If only you'd admit your state!
Why can't I make you see? (Broken eyes...)

You've been hurt,
(Yep, we all have. Ever been crucified?)
But we've been healed,
And pain isn't our identity.
Joy is.

I want to give up.
Every day.
Every... single... day.
But I love you too much to.
(I can't not)

What's next?
I don't know.
I type a letter to no one,
Who is also everyone.
Wondering "why?"

I pray...
Tears... and... blood? (Yep...)
Here we go again.
Freedom is real.
But it costs everything.

Take it.
Leave it?
Go ahead.
(If you can indeed go.)
I dare you.

I've been wondering how to get in.
I can't.
So I'm calling you out.
You built those walls around yourself.
Why can't you tear them down?

You know you can't escape.
So you pretend you love it here?
That it's where you're meant to be? (More lies...)
I don't understand.
You're meant for open horizons.

Whenever you're ready.
I'm ready.
I love you too much.
I'm still learning,
But I know that much is true.

Goodnight, Beloved.
May these words aggravate.
May your flesh squirm.
May your might fail,
And may His voice prevail.

Love,
Me

Re: "Frame of Reference"

2009-01-30T00:08:00.001-05:00

I'm dealing with quite a few thoughts lately pertaining to the break of the male/female relationship model in the Church around us. I see the redemption of this relationship in only a few of my friends. Most of the people I know are operating from a broken stance in it, trying to figure out how to best operate within that brokenness rather than seek out how Christ would truly REDEEM and RESTORE it. I think a lot of it has to do with our frame of origin/reference for people. I'll tell you what God has just laid on my heart and hope it makes sense...

He wants me to think of those around me in terms of HIM, not me. This is what I mean... if my frame of reference shifts from one of "friend" to one of "brother/sister" that automatically takes a different understanding of the relationship. To be a friend means that we are dependent on the intentionality and effort of each other for that relationship to progress. Our friendship is based on me and you, on us. What happens when we regard our relationships from the reference of Christ? It's no longer about us. We have to recognize that before this person that we know was "our" friend, they were our brother/sister. We still bear in our minds the frame of reference of us... we see our part in this persons life and not the fact that CHRIST was there first. This is what I mean and how God has been challenging me to think... before I met this girl, Megan, she was my sister. We dated, that somehow brought to my mind the belief that she was "My girlfriend." We broke up. What is she now? My ex-girlfriend? No. That keeps the frame of reference for our relationship on me. She's my sister. She never stopped being my sister, she'll never stop being my sister without eliminating Jesus, the ULTIMATE, BLOOD CONNECTION that we share, from her life. Blood is more powerful and more binding than affection. ETERNAL BLOOD IS MORE CONNECTING THAN TEMPORAL BLOOD! It is more powerful a connection than intention. The people around me are my brothers and sister by their faith and DEATH and LIFE in the same Jesus that mine is in. To see them from any other standpoint or frame of reference is to shortsell our relationship, Christ's work in our lives, and thus keep me as the frame connection.

Might we learn to see those around us from the reference of Him and not us? Might I learn to see you in terms of HIM and not me? I pray so. Perhaps that is what it means to have our eyes made new, as a sister of mine is praying for right now. Perhaps that is what it means to see ourselves unified and connected by HIM foremost and everything else secondarily (DISTANTLY secondary)? I think it is and I think that when we allow that work to happen in our hearts we will begin to see the restoration of what we had before we ruined our relationships. Megan was never "my" girlfriend, she was always my sister and she still is. If I see her as "ex-anything relating to me" than I have subverted the work of Christ in our lives. Father, forgive me for seeing her in that way. For thinking of her in terms of me. Let me see all around me in terms of YOU.

My heart goes out to you right now. There are some that I know can't get over the brokenness of what once was. They long for a restoration of something, not realizing Christ wants to rewind the brokenness not to the point of your intentional connection, but to the point where the only thing that connects is HIM. Does that make sense? I've been rambling a bit and again, this is a bit disorganized and more just thinking through type than anything, but is this plausible? Practical? Can it be done without HIM? I hope not. I pray for the renewing of our minds and the restoration of our relationships. Let us have new eyes.

In Him,
Greg

Re: "D-Day"

2009-01-29T01:10:00.001-05:00

So... we know how to celebrate in our country. I don't know much about too many other cultures, but I know that the birthday is a big deal to us Americans. Basically we're saying, "Wahoo! I'm here and I've been here ________ years! Aren't you glad!" I've even heard some Christians speak of their "Spiritual Birthday" as if one day after their physical birthday, generally the day they got "saved," they were brought alive in spirit (while that's a false understanding of the human life, it's not the point here). There's been this recent kick I'm on in my own faith's walk and journey lately. It may seem a bit morbid, but then again, it's altogether necessary to look at. The concept and the truth that I've been really having my eyes opened to is the one of death. Scripture has a lot to say about it, and generally we feel like we know about death and the ideas behind it. Here's something interesting I was reminded of today though...

Romans 6:1-11 (NIV)

1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Do you see what this means! I feel that for far too long we have tried to declare sin and lies and the enemy's work in our lives dead to us. That's WRONG. WE MUST BE THE ONE'S WHO HAVE DIED IN CHRIST! What can be affected when we have died? Who can be accused? Who can be undermined? We died TO SIN, not the other way around. Let that be the truth of our lives.

We know what day we came alive... how about the day we died? My "B-Day" is October 9, 1987, but the day I consider far more important is my "D-day," June 17, 2008. That is the day I stopped trying to declare sin dead in my life, and instead declared myself dead to it. Does that make sense? How many of us have tried to live on as we always have, trying to declare sin dead somehow? It can't be done. We are they who die with CHRIST and are raised again then IN HIM to live AS HIS. He is not plagued by the sins of our corpses. That is why there is freedom in Him.

..............................................
Romans 5-10
Colossians
1 John
Galatians

Previous Thoughts

January 20, 2009: Wish You Were Here

2009-01-23T01:08:00.002-05:00

Dear You,

This is hard.
I see you, though you try to hide.
I feel the pain you keep inside.
I don't know why, other than He lets me sometimes.
You're scared.
I know why, more than that...
I know you don't have to be,
and that is probably the hardest thing of all.

I know of something you think you have,
Yet I can run while you stay right there...
Chained.
I can't bare it.
Why are we so afraid?
Why can't we trust?
Why can't we know?
My experiences are my own.
Yours are your own...
Yet mine are redeemed and I see His hand.
You see torment and anger...
You hide again.

My heart breaks for you in ways I never thought it could.
As I sit here and talk with it, I've never felt such a hurt...
Or a desire...
For your freedom...
For your healing.
Still you try to hide...
Behind smiles...
Behind dreams...
Behind pretend things...
Behind illusions...
Still.

I don't know what to do but pray...
And wait?
I know He is calling you too.
He's called us all.
Only you can silence the other sounds
And hear the still, small voice.
I want to for you...
God knows I do.
So badly.
But...
I can't.
Still you hide?
I don't understand.

You demand vulnerability.
Here we are...
Bare.
Broken.
Exposed.
Willing.
Suffering a love that is not our own...
Gladly willing to know Him better.
Yet you hide?
Or are you trapped?
Of course not...
That would mean
You have no control.

Could anything scare you more?
I doubt it.
And it is even that truth that keeps you
Blind.
How long?
I don't care.
I'm here
For you.
I see you...
You refuse to look back.
I still see you.
And I love you.

Do not be afraid.
Come out and
Be free.
You will know a pain of a
Different kind.
The LOVE kind.
Where hope is all you dare breathe in
and joy is not a fleeting moment.
Where words are flesh and
Surrender is release.
Don't hide anymore.

I'll wait as long as I can.
But I do hope you come soon.
I miss you.

Love,
Me

My Prayer

2009-01-23T01:08:00.001-05:00

Simply and beautifully honest. I still love his writing.

My Prayer
By Chris Rice

Fresh page, new pen
Where do I begin
Words fail, tears come
I need someone
To take the thoughts I almost think
And carry them to God for me

Deep breath, exhale
Breathe in deeper still
Long sigh, I’m still numb
Is there anyone
Who can find the things I’m barely feeling
And give them wings beyond my ceiling?

Right heart, wrong place
It’s too far to outer space
Sorry, I forgot, You’re right here
I cup my hands around Your ear
I feel You smile, You feel my breath
You listen while I whisper non-sense

Simple exchange
Your will, I’m changed
And now my prayer ends
Thank You, Amen.

Re: Tonight

2009-01-23T01:07:00.001-05:00

This may be dangerous... it's not nearly as thought out as I'm comfortable with... I don't have the words so more than anything right now this is simply "mind vomit" or something of that nature. I just need to think out loud and wonder if any of you eavesdroppers are willing to intrude beyond simply hearing...

What of beauty? What of the flesh? What of the Spirit?...... as I look around my life, I see a response to something of generations past. The ones who were plagued with anorexia... bulimia... eating disorders of every kind and a hopelessness rooted in lies regarding their image and their beauty... I fear our response as a Church has been no better, for as I look around me tonight, I saw just as much bondage and pain. I wonder... what beauty have we as a Spiritual people emphasized? Have we, instead of teaching a holiness and love and confidence in a Holy Spirit that indwells and empowers us and provides a beauty that is rooted in an unshakeable glory bestowed by a neverlying King, taught our daughters and sisters how to be confident in their flesh? I see it... I don't know what to do with it cause I'm not sure if it's real. I feel that we have, as a response or a reaction to the world around us and its push to be "beautiful" by changing who you are and taking on the appearances and styles of others, instead simply taught the opposite, that the beauty we are born with... that we have from the moment we look in the mirror... is indeed a real beauty and is precious... a reflection of the image of God... priceless... beautiful...

...

I'm sorry... but that still emphasizes the flesh, and I don't believe it is the intention either. I don't believe that we are, as a way of expressing beauty, simply supposed to be confident in our bodies... blah blah blah... I think there' something more. I feel it is imminently connected with the notion of having our minds renewed... where the flesh, as a transparent shell, is nothing but a reflection of that which resides within... not a opaque shell that attempts to hide what lies within. I feel that true beauty is a celebration of faith... a confidence in a relationship... an understanding of identity in HIM who defines beauty by His very nature... I see these things... I see the response of our churches, attempting to react and undo the hurts and pains and wounds of feeling worthless or ugly... but that's just it... it's a reaction... a response... it's not REDEMPTION, the true HEALING... the true FREEDOM of these things. It's not about undoing something as if it never happened... I feel like it's about submitting it to HIM and letting Him REDEEM it so that whether it happened or not, you know He loves you for coming to Him. Even so... where does this come from? From where is this bondage? I see an entire generation's female population plagued by the same wounds... the same hurts... the same pains... because they've had the same experiences.

They've been wounded... though not intentionally... by the very men they are told to call brothers.

They do not know what "brother" means any longer. They have no concept of a pure relationship with their own kind though a different gender... why? THEY NEED HEALING... and yet the men need FREEDOM.

I feel that the intense, extensive bondage and wounding that holds my sisters in this place is one that stems directly from the bondage I see in the lives of my brothers as well... I feel the connection is stronger than I've ever given it credit to be. I feel that if our sisters are to know HEALING it will be as a direct result of we as brothers proclaiming our need for FREEDOM... it will be as our sisters pray and desperately ask God to RESTORE and REDEEM their relationships with their brothers in leading them to freedom and as we as men let ourselves be HUMBLED to the point of declaring WE NEED IT and we want to see them healed, nor for our sakes as men who are afraid to be alone, but so that they may know the love of this Father and His plan to give them protecting, strong, righteous, leading brothers... not that we may better know them, but that we may all better know our Saviour... I feel that the very wounds of our sisters are directly tied to our sins... that in turn their distance and fierce guarding of lives and loves and dreams is a reaction to our pride and self-indulgence. WE MUST SEEK HUMILITY... I am tired of simply wishing for my sisters to know they are beautiful... I long for them to know why. I am not one who will be content with letting them be confident in their flesh... no, I long for the redemption of their WHOLE identities. In turn, I do not wish that the men around me would simply learn a pure way to love... but learn a holy way to live... that the love they might one day express would be born of redemption and holiness and not desire or self. I don't know where I'm going with this any more... simply that I see it and don't know what to do... I see you... I see them... there's so much going on. PORN, Fathers, brothers, women, men... so much of it seems to be a direct attack on the idea of FAMILY... on the notion of individuality as somehow God's intention (I don't think it is)... it's an attack that brings separation and animosity between the second most natural relationship in history... that which occurs between man and woman. What do we do with this attack? I have yet to understand... but I long to see it rebuked... I long to be unquestioned in my motivation for taking the trash out for my sister or asking if they'd like to have dinner sometime. I long to see them healed, so that they will know what it means to have a brother for a husband and son... so that we will know the Truth... and that it might set us free. I'm done ranting... perhaps someday this stuff will be more organized.. I don't know... my heart is heavy.

Re: Arithmetic

2009-01-14T20:00:00.001-05:00

"I am the way, the truth, and the life..."- John 14:6 (Jesus = Full Life)

I recently heard something that disturbed me. It seems that the world around me is looking for completion in religion and is being completely disappointed (What's disturbing about that? Stay tuned...). It thinks that completion and this notion of having a "fullness" or "full life" is what they are meant for and what religion is to them. Do I know where this came from? Well yes and no. I don't know the root of it all, but I can without a doubt recognize the deception of the expectation and in that then realize why so many people around the world are frustrated with their experiences of God or their faith or their religion in general. I will speak to Christianity here, and what I would like to know is the expectation. From what I gather, it seems that more often than not our expectation is that that Jesus will provide an abundant life and joy and completion and fullness on top of what we have already. As if our life were filled to a certain point and the only thing that can put us over the edge is Christ.

FALSE.

The life of Christ is not about fullness in yourself. It is not about being made complete with the understanding that you are holding parts of the puzzle already.

It is about EMPTYING.

Does that make sense? I think that too often we are looking for transformation and change as if something that we have is worth holding on to and the God we are looking for is the rest of the formula. As if:

work + family + knowledge + "love" + money + X + Jesus = Full Life

Sorry, that's wrong. He is the only piece. There is nothing else. There is no other thing that holds a place in a relationship with Him. We want to be filled, but we want the filling without the emptying that MUST take place before it. We want the completion, but we cannot bear risk recognizing our reduction for its sake. The world around us, and many believers that I personally know, want to be filled. Yet they want to be filled with Jesus as an additive, as something that comes along and adds to "life," not REPLACES it. We want the life of transformation and freedom, but rarely see that death is the only way to live it, because then:

work + family + knowledge + "love" + money + X + Jesus - work - family - knowledge - "love" - money - X = Full Life

Jesus + X ≠ Full Life

Jesus + NOTHING = Full Life

If we continue to market/approach Christ as an additive to life, as something that comes and flavors everything else and does not OVERPOWER and REPLACE it all, we will continue to see frustration, hypocrisy, bondage, carnality, deception, false expectation, and confusion within the lives of those testifying to knowing Him. Death precedes life and reduction precedes fulfillment. It is the paradox of His Kingdom, He came that we may have life more abundantly, but that life is not one that comes in addition to what we have already, it is one that entirely replaces it and declares something so radically different that we wonder how we ever called how we used to be "living." We wonder how we could ever had believed we knew what love was without first knowing freedom. I did not know love until I knew freedom. We wonder how we could ever have declared to have joy without first having truth. I did not know joy until I found truth. Most of us have lived shadows of what is intended for us. Most of those around us live poor, sunless, smeared reflections of what Christ has died that they may have, mistaking abundance for an affectionate relationship, wealth, power, physical health. etc.

This frustrates me and though it's not something I'm entirely good at communicating yet, I hope to be soon. We cannot go on promising a life of full life without first laying a foundation for emptying and dying. There is no other way. We are to die to ourselves and take up the life of One who knows no other way than holiness and truth and love. The life of Jesus was one of constant emptying that He may show us the fullness of God. We too must be emptied if we are to be filled. We too are to die if we are to live.

I had the frustration that I speak of. I know the expectation of "Jesus and." It's taught without intention. It's promoted without understanding. But it's still wrong. There is no "Jesus and," there is only Jesus, who is freedom, love, joy, and true life.

X + Jesus ≠ Life

X + Jesus - X = LIFE
................................................................................
Matthew 6
Romans 5-9
John 14-16
Colossians

Re: What the "F" !?!

2009-01-14T19:59:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago there was late night discussion in a second story apartment in St. Charles, Missouri. We spoke of good things and eventually wondered what had become of the unclassifiable person whose ministry many had seen for some time but whom all knew could not ever be reigned in or controlled by anything less than the Spirit of God. Through our discussion, a comical metaphor came about, and though it was meant for jest, it truly does accurately reveal what has happened all over our country. Through whatever motivation, the American concept of ministerial education has become something more along the lines of a factory/package sorting program than a anointing driven passion. We look for the needs and attempt to fill them by educating people and fitting them in to the gap. We recognize only a few types of normal ministry and leave the rest as something unique and special and probably eccentric. To reveal what I mean, this is the story.

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All around you are conveyor belts... they run this way and that, going in and out of tubes and tunnels to wherever the next stop along the line of ministry building is. Daily, thousands of packages come into the room and it is your job to sort them out and send them to their respective places of use and development. Each package is marked with a letter, something to distinguish it from the other uses it's counterparts may work within. You've been doing this for several years now and really seem to have it down pat. Coming your way is today's line...

A... this one seems to be the most typical. You have never seen the inside of the package, but know that tons of them come through every week. You assume they are used up pretty quickly and are usually in high demand for the lack of their stamina. Pastors of local small churches, you wonder. Seems to fit the dynamics of what you see in your building each week. You move it to the "A" belt and turn back to sort the rest...

D... Not quite as typical as the A liners, but still in pretty high demand. It's often striped or spotted, something fun and pizazzy marks the D's and you know children are in mind when these come to the line. Who knows what they originally were or what they've gone through, but man are they fun. Time to sort them out and keep it moving so you place the box on the "D" belt and move on...

C... oh ho! You don't see one of these every day! WOW! You've never actually seen one unleashed and you have no idea what it means to be a part of a C functioning ministry. They tend to come wrapped in armor, you know their work must be dangerous. Perhaps these are the foreign missionaries? Perhaps the underground leaders? You really don't know, all you know is that somehow they always seem to get banged up and bruised when you see them come through again.

B... what's to say? You don't know. The "almost there" mindset of these boxes distinguish them from the others. You know the time has been going for some while in their lives and that the numbers are through the roof for their ministerial success. People are always looking for a B to come turn their church into a mega plex and somehow they just don't seem to be moving like they used to. Oh well, down the B chute for it, you know someone's waiting on the other end.

E... Haha, you know exactly what this guy is all about. The passion and energy exude from the box and you know some youth groups somewhere will be pumped up for a few months while E gets a feel for how to connect and stay relevant. The E's come through pretty often in your experience, perhaps quantitatively more so than the A or D, but you've seen a lot of these E's before and know they're often in for re-education and growth experiences so that they remain hip.

The day continues on... A, B, E, D, B, A, A, A, E, B, D, E, B, A, B, A, E, E, E, E, D, F...

Hold up.
F?
What the... F?
Whats an F?
You haven't seen one of these in years and years... in fact, as you glance towards the "F" chute you know it's been at least five since anythings gone that way. The cobwebs and obsolete look forlorn and very discouraging. When was the last time you sent anything that way? Who knows...

F?

You're certain this has been outmoded. It has to have been, nothing can account for the lack of call. You wonder what should be done. You realize something must have gotten mixed up somewhere, and know exactly what to do.

F + _ = E

PERFECT! You know this is what should be done and send the mistagged package down it's chute and continue with your work, wondering just what the F really was in it's time.

C, D, E, E, E, E, A, A, A, A, B, B, D, D, A...
.....................................................................................

There are thousands of men and women around the world who have felt a special calling and anointing from God on their heads. They know they are not youth pastors, children's workers, senior pastors, associate pastors, worship leaders, or missionaries in any of the slightly traditional understandings of these roles. They are the F's. They are the few who will spend years living in broken down homes in the middle of wherever, inner city, anywhere. Where violence and drugs do not enrage them but break them and to hear of a mom leaving a dad because of abuse is not uncommon. Where the people they minister to could have been on the run for years and years and they may go home tonight and never see them again. The F population has been convinced that it's place is in the building, behind a desk, or on the other side of the world instead of on the street, in the car, next door. There are wives and husbands who know they married F's and then one day find themselves searching for that undeniable passion that risks it all, "F!? F!? Where are you? I know I married you? Where have you gone?!" There are youth pastors and senior pastors who will never feel the peace of obedience as long as they are convinced that the church building is their place of ministry. There are men and women who have been gifted to connect with the tossed aside, the broken, used, and the discarded but will never find them sitting across the desk from them in their office. What have we done in slowly outmoding such a gift? I know a few F's myself and I know that their hopes and dreams are to go... who knows where (often only they know of their dream)... but just to go, yet they feel to go means to put too much on the line (though I do not know where this lie has originated, I know that if anything impedes the call of God on a life, it does not reflect the will of the Father). I have seen a few F's released... one such would be Rich Mullins. Anyone who know what I mean by unusual or counter-norm now have an example. I see him as an F, but I would like to know when the other F's will be freed... when the F's will go and make disciples of those the rest will not touch and do so with a blessing and a faithful word that says "WE HAVE YOUR BACK! THOUGH YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE US, WE KNOW YOU MUST GO AND WE SEND YOU EAGERLY!"

I dream of a Church where the F's are sent and blessed on their way out. I dream of a Church where the F's remain as they were from life to death and husbands and wives do not wonder what has happened to the people they were so willing to go anywhere with.

Do you?

Then get the "F's" out of there!

If you are one...

GO.

Rich Mullins on Humanity

2009-01-14T12:08:00.002-05:00

This is the spoken intro to a song entitled Higher Education in the Book of Love and I am finding myself more and more thoughtful of it's truth. I do not know if it is originally Rich's or not, but at any rate, it's good.

Higher Education in the Book of Love: Into
(The Emphases are obviously mine)

What does it mean to be human?
I cannot help but suspect that at one time in the history of thinking that people believed that it meant that we were spiritual and that we could make choices and were capable of aspiring to higher ideals... like maybe loyalty or maybe faith... or maybe even love.
But now we are told by people who think they know, that we vary from amoeba only in the complexity of our makeup and not in what we essentially are. They would have us think as Dysart said that we are forever bound up in certain genetic reigns - that we are merely products of the way things are and not free - not free to be the people who make them that way. They would have us see ourselves as products so that we could believe that we were something to be made - something to be used and then something to be disposed of. Used in their wars - used for their gains and then set aside when we get in their way. Well, who are they? They are the few who sit at the top of the heap -dung heap though it is - and who say it is better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven. Well, I do not know that we can have a Heaven here on earth, but I am sure we need not have a Hell either. What does it mean to be human? I cannot help but believe that it means we are spiritual - that we are responsible and that we are free- that we are responsible to be free.
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From "Never Picture Perfect," Copyright 1989 - Edward Grant, Inc.
Source Page: http://www.kidbrothers.net/

Re: Holiness (III)

2009-01-11T00:53:00.000-05:00

So once again these conversations keep happening. I think yesterday's brought about the best clarity I've had yet on the difference between obedience to the law as means and obedience as fruit. We were discussing Isaiah 6, and really it kind of just happened...

Legalism is about using the law to get somewhere, to somehow become holy? Well the problem, as we all know, is that we CANNOT DO ENOUGH to become holy, as only God is perfect and holy. Indeed, in the recognition that only God is holy, we become more and more acutely aware of our weaknesses, shortcomings, and sin. We are exposed, completely made bear. Our only response can be "I AM UNDONE!" But what of the hereafter? What of that experience? What of the undoing... of the ruining... of the exposure where He burns away that which cannot be near Him. What next? MUST OUR LIVES NOT BE CHANGED FOREVER? I think so, and I think that is the where I have felt the greatest peace in this ongoing conversation between my heart and His. Legalism is about where I want to go and how I'm choosing to get there. Holiness, in the strictest sense of HIS covering us in His own, is about being near Him. Holiness is not about what we do, but how we be. Is this making sense? It made a lot more in our discussion yesterday, I was pretty pumped to have a conclusion. I've been in His presence before. I've felt that ruining, I've lived in that since then. I've been undone, should I redo what He has undone? Should I continue in my lawless ways after He has purified me to live as He lived? Absolutely not! I wondered if I was slipping into legalism in my enthusiasm for obedience, yet in this reflection I find peace in the fact that it's not because I want to be holy that I obey, nor because I feel the need to compensate my guilt, nor because I simply can obey that I do. More so, it's because I know that in Him I am holy can cannot move against His will if I desire His presence and blessing, that I am innocent by faith in His death and resurrection, and that when it all comes down to it, I just CAN'T NOT.

The freedom of His will is one that removes options, not increases them. That is so contrary to our American way of thinking about freedom. In my simple need to follow and be near, I have found a lack of rights, a lack of choices, a lack of what the world would call options, and yet in His kingdom these things translate into an abundant life of freedom. His freedom is not a freedom that increases options by any means, no, it is a freedom that removes them. It is a narrow way. It is a strict way, not for the sake of the road, but for the sake of His will. It's not the means, it's the fruit, and it's not about where we want to go (that is, to Him) it's about where we've been and still are (that is, with Him). Does that make sense? I hope so... I'm still kinda working it out. I know the semantics won't match up if you infer going towards heaven or anything like that, that's not what I'm referring to. I'm referring to the notion that we must be holy in order to come before Him, when such is impossible. We are made holy by Him and we walk in holiness after we have encountered Him (though I wager something about that could be confusing too). At any rate, for whoever has been trying to see the difference, I pray these ramblings might have brought some clarity. Press on...

Re: Holiness (II)

2009-01-05T14:06:00.000-05:00

So this question has been raised once or twice in the last few weeks, generally in response to my saying something about obedience to the law and authority and it's connection to holiness, many automatically infer legalism when we draw connections between obedience and holiness, but I think that comes from a misunderstanding. As simply as I can, here is what I see:

1. If you see obedience to the law as a means to holiness, you've been snared into legalism where everything hinges on what you do. Holiness becomes something you earn and therefore Christ's death is a mute issue.

2. If you see obedience to the law as a fruit of holiness, you've recognized the truth of the matter, where everything hinges on why you do what you do. Holiness is something you live out of and Christ's death is your source of freedom to actually live as God intended, therefore it means everything.

Expanded:
The law is not a means of holiness, but recognizing the holiness imparted upon you by your belief in the truth of Christ's love and sacrifice will compel obedience to proper authority/law.

Obedience is not means, obedience is part of the fruit.

Why do you obey?

I wrote this rather quickly, so I hope it makes sense...

Re: Eavesdropping (Ed. VII)

2008-12-30T11:28:00.000-05:00

Once again it's impossible to miss the themes of all these prayers. When these men seeking God prayed, they seem to have incredibly common aspects to them! This is of Hezekiah... how does it apply to our lives today in a spiritual way?

Isaiah 37:15-20

15 And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: 16 “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. 17 Bend down, O Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, O Lord, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God.

18 “It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. 19 And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands. 20 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O Lord, are God.”

Amen...

Re: Wisdom

2008-12-29T01:51:00.002-05:00

What is wisdom? What does wisdom pertain to? Have you ever thought about it? Where is scripture is wisdom accounted for? What is considered, "wise?" Who are the "wise" men, and what makes them so? I really don't know. I'm not here to shed any light on that issue either, more, I've been reconsidering the "wisdom" I once saw in a man of the New Testament: Gamaliel. He is considered a mentor to Paul and understood to be a pharisee and teacher of the law in Jerusalem. You can find references to him in the book of Acts, but the portion of scripture I am referring to is in chapter 5. You can read the backstory for yourself in detail if you want, but the context in a nutshell is this: Peter and some apostles were facing a Sanhedrin that intended to have them killed, Gamaliel presents a position of neutrality towards them, speaking these widely known words:

Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.

Pretty profound, eh? I've thought so for a long time, mainly because it's true! But as I am now one hearing these words from a different point of view, from some of my friends that is, I tend to see something a bit differently. Let me explain, the Lord has worked in my life over the past year or so in ways I have never imagined or expected. It seems that at every turn something changes about what I had planned, now I have no plans whatsoever (go figure). I'm fully convinced that our God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth for the purpose of declaring His glory through sacrificing His own life in place of all humanity. This act revoked His enemy, Lucifer's, authority in the lives of those who would put their trust and faith in Him for redemption and salvation. His death is a testimony to the Truth of the nature and love of God and brings freedom from the oppression of sin and death in a REAL and IMMEDIATE way to those who abandon their lives in exchange for His. My friends, His FREEDOM is a real one, a true one, a healing and complete one where this world no longer means anything but opportunity and the future is seen in light of eternity's hope. His intention is as plain as nature, all things reproduce after their own kind. The apples to apples, the bees to bees, the dust to dust, and the Spirit to spirit all reflect His intention. He gave a command in the garden, a physical understanding to physical beings of His origin, "Be fruitful and multiply." He presented this same command to the disciples, His own spiritual offspring in a spiritual context, "Go and make disciples." Both the Old and New Testaments are full of the language of FRUIT, and as I am beginning to see this more and more and more in the context of freedom, and as I share of the movement I have seen here and in other areas of this country, where disciples are made and the bound are freed for real, and as the invitation to be near this blessing is extended; I hear the words of Gamaliel returned to me, "That's really neat, but I don't think I'm ready for that kind of movement. I don't feel like that's where God is leading me. I don't know right now, I'd kinda like to watch and see how God does things with you guys first." and I cringe. You see, Gamaliel was a wise man, yet in His wisdom He missed the profound truth that was spoken to Him perhaps minutes earlier than His words were.

Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."

You see, Gamaliel's wisdom that brought neutrality kept him from falling under a curse or guilt for killing men who were innocent, but in the same way he missed out on the blessing of the Spirit and the glory of God that the men before him were testifying to. He had no valid reason to doubt, for they were witnesses to it all and plainly spoke to them the fruit of their obedience. Was this so wise? I suppose it depends on what you prioritize... in terms of human caution and safety, yes, it was wise. He did the safe thing and stayed back from a risky work of the Lord taking place all around his town. Yet in the terms of the Kingdom, where everything is upside down and safety has nothing to do with physical well-being, well, he was a fool now, wasn't he? The language of love is risk and obedience... love for God is no different. What is faith if it is not risky and what is wisdom if not placing the glory of God at the foremost place of our motivation? I do not know, but as I am met with people who wish to remain neutral in a battle for the soul and life of my own generation, I cannot help but think of Gamaliel and weep.

The freedom Christ died for you to have is a real one. The road is narrow, yet worth every heartache and right you will give up to travel it. His strength is real and immense, and His joy is in no way hidden. For you who choose to stand by and watch, no that you will miss the blessing of the obedient. For you who contemplate His call, know that obedience can only happen right now, you cannot obey tomorrow any more than you can yesterday, obedience is now. For you who walk the road in weariness and with a burden for His people, press on, my brothers and sister, press on in His strength and by His grace, you are of the chosen, called to His glory and bound together by His love, press on, press on, press on. For you who fear and tremble at the sight of the road, come, lay your burden down, it is not worth carrying, accept His freedom from the lies that have no place in your life and live anew.

Neutrality is not an option, nor is it wisdom. It is caution bred of fear, and fear by it's nature is not faith, therefore it cannot glorify God.

Let's go.
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Hebrews
1 John
James
Acts 5
Galatians

Re: Eavesdropping (Ed. VI)

2008-12-28T13:23:00.000-05:00

Once again the prophetic prayer centers around a return to obedience to the Lord as He has commanded and expects. Such a wonderful theme that continues from Ezra and into Daniel and Habakkuk is this call to a people who are either far away from where they belong physically (exile) or spiritually. At any rate, the covenant faithfulness aspect is called upon in the view and expressed perspective of obedience, that is, the people's end of that sacred agreement.

Nehemiah 1:5-11 (NLT)

5 Then I said,

“O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! 7 We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.
8 “Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. 9 But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’
10 “The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. 11 O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.”

Amen...

CompassionArt

2008-12-25T00:11:00.013-05:00

So I found this as I was looking up some random info about the band delirious?, as it's something the lead vocalist/songwriter, Martin Smith, will be devoting much of his time to after the band ends, and I think it's pretty amazing. Check it out!

Check out the homepage here, and the incredible vision here!

Re: Eavesdropping (Ed. V)

2008-12-22T23:26:00.000-05:00

What characterizes most of our societal understanding of prayers today? Generally the words, "me" and "I." Look at this prayer by King David. It comes just after the Lord has promised an everlasting covenant with him- that one of his line would always be in rule over Israel. It begins with a simple declaration, "WHO AM I..." and goes on to proclaim who the LORD is over and over and over again. Does this characterize my prayers? Yours? Do we continuously ask and ask and make prayer about ourselves rather than praise God for what He's already done! I challenge you to look at the proportion of times David talks about himself to the number h makes direct references to God and His works. It's stunning and quite convicting for sure, but wow is it freeing.

2 Samuel 7:18-29 (NLT)

18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed,

“Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 19 And now, Sovereign Lord, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign Lord?
20 “What more can I say to you? You know what your servant is really like, Sovereign Lord. 21 Because of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known to your servant.
22 “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you! 23 What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations and gods that stood in their way.[b] 24 You made Israel your very own people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God.
25 “And now, O Lord God, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. Confirm it as a promise that will last forever. 26 And may your name be honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is God over Israel!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.
27 “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, I have been bold enough to pray this prayer to you because you have revealed all this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you—a dynasty of kings!’ 28 For you are God, O Sovereign Lord. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to your servant. 29 Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever."

Amen!

Re: Beauty vs. Value

2008-12-21T21:39:00.001-05:00

It’s been said, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” and many have believed it. At a recent session of, “The Truth Project,” (a weekly group organized by Jamie Silveus based on the DVD “tour” series from Focus on the Family) we were presented with many views, scriptures, and lifestyle references suggesting the contrary, that beauty is not in the eye of the beholder. I tended to agree, as it’s easy to note the standards around us of good and evil, of things wholesome and things that are deceptive, of truth and lies, but I also was a bit uneasy. What then of the human capacity to love? What of our right to express preference and declare worthiness? We know good things as “beautiful,” and it really does make sense that beauty rests in the sight of God and depends His standard, but that I still know many who would disagree. I’m not trying to prove anything here, but I would like to make a suggestion, as, at first glance, most of us would agree that beauty is in the eye of the onlooker and would impulsively argue against the notion that it’s not.

As so often in our American culture (though perhaps this extends beyond just America) we like to use different words interchangeably. We have several implications behind the word, “love” and I think beauty itself has become synonymous with “value,” and unjustly so. I think beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, but value is. If you’re not following, perhaps a little illustration would help, bear with me…

…
A man carried an old watch in his pocket, he’d purchased it several years earlier for the sum total of $20.00, though lately he’d been given a new watch, making this one irrelevant to his life. He considered the watch beautiful, but just unnecessary to life anymore. He decided he’d take the watch into a pawn shop and see if he might gain some of his money back, deciding beforehand that $5.00 would be an acceptable parting total. When he showed the man behind the counter his item, the man responded quickly, “Two dollars.” Now as bartering goes in the art of pawning, the man new his part of the dance. “Eight dollars,” he said. This routine was repeated until finally the broker offered the man his intended five dollars. Pocketing the money, the man left the pawn shop content.

Now the pawn broker was a somewhat understanding man, but regarding the smaller items of his business he often neglected proper organizational skills. He saw beauty in the watch, knowing partially the time and effort put into making it. But in his forgetfulness he tossed the watch purchased for $5.00 behind his glass case and went back to his usual work. As days passed, his business went well and the watch was far from his mind. Then one day a customer came in, looking at best, unintentional. The customer poked around here and there, eyeing items on the wall and even inquiring once or twice. Finally he selected a small item and came to the counter to make his purchase. As the exchange was taking place, the customer looked down nonchalantly and noticed a beautiful pocket watch sitting on the shelf. His demeanor changed immediately and he set his previously intended item to the side, speaking directly to the owner, “I’ll give you two-hundred dollars for that watch.” The shop owner, somewhat bewildered, agreed, knowing the profit he was about to make in the transaction, and the customer walked out of the store with the watch.

The question of the watch's beauty has been answered, each person saw beauty in the watch and could not disregard its style or allurement. However, perhaps a more revealing question would be: what is the watch worth?
…

When it comes to beauty, we have a standard. It is goodness and truth as the life of Christ depict and uphold. Peter declares that beauty in the eyes of God has nothing to do with the outside, but pertains to the nature of the inward spirit of a person (1 Peter 3). What of value though? When it comes to value, honestly it seems to me that it’s entirely relative. The question becomes, “Well, what are you willing to pay?” I think we’ve intermixed these two concepts and we really shouldn’t. Right and wrong are not relative, beauty is not either, but value truly is.

(Tangent) The value of life has been declared by the highest authority. When the question is posed to you regarding the worth of your neighbor, of your coworker, of your boss, of your spouse, or any other person you’ve ever come in contact with you must keep in mind the ultimate price Jesus Christ was willing to pay for that life as well as yours- it was His own. He gave up His life for the freedom and healing and salvation of the world. Never forget that the value of human life is not relative, it is set. The question in that case, “What are you willing to pay,” but “What has been paid,” and the answer is that your life itself is worth the very death of God, as is your neighbor and fellow student. What would happen if we suddenly lived like that were true?

(Back on topic) Honestly, in thinking through this (which is my preferred way of understanding something troubling me) and writing it down (which tends to be where I am most able to continue learning) my mind has been eased a bit. I’m glad there’s a standard for beauty, for goodness, righteousness, and truth. That these things aren’t relative and open for argument and debate. I’m also glad for the relativity of value, that we are given the chance to pay for what we know holds worth in our lives. That we all have the same amount of time at any given moment (that is, right now) and that in spending it with each other we can truly show value. That in communicating we can reveal love and worth, respect and depth of relationship. I’m glad we have this ability, that we can know how to love one another and how to see that we are loved, what in your live would you give for? What would you suffer for? What would you wait for?

I’m not done processing this… in fact, I’m rarely finished thinking through anything. I’d love to hear your thoughts? Does this make sense? Do you disagree? Do you understand something for the first time? What do you think about beauty or value?

N.B.: "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church..." that is (to me) pray, suffer, bleed, wait, cherish, protect, call, lead, encourage, praise, uplift, help, and rejoice. What is she worth to you?

Two Kinds of Discipleship

2008-12-16T21:03:00.000-05:00

This is an excerpt from the Craig Carter’s book, Rethinking Christ and Culture: a post Christendom perspective (a response writing to Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture) which the Church History class has been reading this semester. The final chapter presents a comparison/contrast of several aspects of Christian lifestyle as understood from the point of Constantine as the proponent of Christendom and Jesus as the author of Christianity. This final comparison caught my interest and Carter’s presentation is, in my opinion, a very accurate depiction of perspectives within the American church today. What do you think?

Two Kinds of Discipleship

Finally, we need to consider that there are two different kinds of discipleship, depending on whether one follows Jesus or Constantine. To follow Constantine, the primary issue relates to being a good and loyal citizen of the state. To be a good Roman is to be a good Christian [or to be a good American is to be a good Christian, eh?]. One simply lives up to one’s birth.

But in order to be a good follower of Jesus Christ, one has to make a deliberate choice to acknowledge Jesus as Lord. To be a good Christian is to be something less than totally devoted to serving the state and obeying the political authorities, for one’s obedience to the state must always take a second place to one’s baptism [that is, one’s Rebirth], something that is possible only in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The kind of church we need is one that facilitates such discipleship and takes it up into its very heart, rather than rejecting it or marginalizing it, as the Constantinian church does. In the Constantinian, a devotion to Jesus Christ that leads to literal and serious discipleship is possible, but it is channeled in the so-called religious life, where it does not threaten the so-called secular life lived by most people. The life of discipleship is seen as heroic, worthy of admiration by all, but not possible for all. Those who call the entire church to the path of discipleship are rejected as fanatics and persecuted in Christendom.

Carter, Craig A.Rethinking Christ and Culture...Brazos Press, Grand Rapids: 2006, p. 211 [emphases mine]

Re: Eavesdropping (Ed. IV)

2008-12-14T23:53:00.001-05:00

EZRA! This prayer nearly made me cry and I'm not even joking. What humility and repentance this man is pouring out to God on behalf of His people... what do you see?

Ezra 9:6-15 (NLT)

6 I prayed,

“O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7 From the days of our ancestors until now, we have been steeped in sin. That is why we and our kings and our priests have been at the mercy of the pagan kings of the land. We have been killed, captured, robbed, and disgraced, just as we are today.

8 “But now we have been given a brief moment of grace, for the Lord our God has allowed a few of us to survive as a remnant. He has given us security in this holy place. Our God has brightened our eyes and granted us some relief from our slavery. 9 For we were slaves, but in his unfailing love our God did not abandon us in our slavery. Instead, he caused the kings of Persia to treat us favorably. He revived us so we could rebuild the Temple of our God and repair its ruins. He has given us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

10 “And now, O our God, what can we say after all of this? For once again we have abandoned your commands! 11 Your servants the prophets warned us when they said, ‘The land you are entering to possess is totally defiled by the detestable practices of the people living there. From one end to the other, the land is filled with corruption. 12 Don’t let your daughters marry their sons! Don’t take their daughters as wives for your sons. Don’t ever promote the peace and prosperity of those nations. If you follow these instructions, you will be strong and will enjoy the good things the land produces, and you will leave this prosperity to your children forever.’

13 “Now we are being punished because of our wickedness and our great guilt. But we have actually been punished far less than we deserve, for you, our God, have allowed some of us to survive as a remnant. 14 But even so, we are again breaking your commands and intermarrying with people who do these detestable things. Won’t your anger be enough to destroy us, so that even this little remnant no longer survives? 15 O Lord, God of Israel, you are just. We come before you in our guilt as nothing but an escaped remnant, though in such a condition none of us can stand in your presence.”

Amen.

...............................................

Re: Eavesdropping (Ed. III)

2008-12-12T16:23:00.001-05:00

The third installment of who knows how long a series on prayer. This is the prayer of Daniel, an Israelite in exile. His service to the Babylonian empire are famous and his God given ability to interpret dreams can be understood as nothing less than incredible. Do his words sound much like ours today? Do his words echo in your spirit? Do his thoughts and hopes and dreams connect and reverborate in your life at all? I hope so...

Daniel 9:1-19

1 In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom- 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed:
"O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.
"Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14 The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.

15 "Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."

Amen...

Re: Eavesdropping (Ed. II)

2008-12-09T15:14:00.001-05:00

So this is the second installment of a little reflection I'm undertaking on different prayers in scripture. Habakkuk was first and as it completely blew me away, I really want to see how other portions of scriptural prayers echo in my life. The passage below is from the dedication of the temple in the day of Solomon. We recently looked at it in my Old Testament class and there really is SO MUCH here. What do you see?

1 Kings 8:22-61

22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said:
"O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.

25 "Now LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, 'You shall never fail to have a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons are careful in all they do to walk before me as you have done.' 26 And now, O God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.

27 "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, 'My Name shall be there,' so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

31 "When a man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath and he comes and swears the oath before your altar in this temple, 32 then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on his own head what he has done. Declare the innocent not guilty, and so establish his innocence.

33 "When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and confess your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, 34 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers.

35 "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36 then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

37 "When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 38 and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel—each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple- 39 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), 40 so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.

41 "As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name- 42 for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

44 "When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the LORD toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, 45 then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

46 "When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near; 47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their conquerors and say, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly'; 48 and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; 49 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50 And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their conquerors to show them mercy; 51 for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.

52 "May your eyes be open to your servant's plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you. 53 For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, O Sovereign LORD, brought our fathers out of Egypt."

54 When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

56 "Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. 57 May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. 59 And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day's need, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other. 61 But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time."

WOW.

Amen... and AMEN again.

Re: Scar Tissue

2008-12-09T15:13:00.002-05:00

Why is it we so often settle for scar tissue instead of healing? I’m not speaking of physical wounds or abrasions here, I’m speaking of emotional and spiritual wounds that, at least in my own self reflection, I’d much rather be buried under dead tissue than healed properly. It’s easier learning to live with a scar than accept the thorough work of healing. The lies we have heard throughout our lives… why do we not let them die for real? Why is it after we are wounded we choose to let that tough, lifeless skin cover the gap and create scars instead of allowing God to truly heal again?

I think it’s because we know the risk of healed, living tissue being broken again and we’re afraid to risk that pain. We’d much rather have the scar to remind us how tender that area of our lives is and thus keep us from being hurt once more. The problem is, scars aren’t intended. You know? Healing is… I find it hard to believe that a God known as the great physician, capable of healing and redeeming any wound and situation would find His perfect remedy for wounds covering them with deadness. Moreover, the issue at hand is that for those of us who indeed have scars, who have dead skin covering a past pain. What does healing imply for us?

That area in our lives must be made vulnerable again.

That’s no fun… it really isn’t, yet so much of our redemption and our reconciliation, of our healing and our FREEDOM must come through allowing His HEALING to take place even in the old pains. That scar tissue must be removed and He must be allowed to heal and regenerate life in that area of our lives. Vulnerability sucks… it really does. I’m not good at it. In fact, much of my life can be characterized by protective measures taken to not be hurt again as I’m sure most of yours can as well. Vulnerability is our release of the right to control. It’s our letting go of the right to protect what is no longer ours. Part of the pain is in addressing our wounders… for some of us that instigator of pain is ourselves, others it is past friends, current parents, etc. I’m not speaking of going to them and showing them the wound; I am speaking of exposing our scars to our Lord and allowing Him to remove the deadness that keeps us in the same place (death does not grow, it is static- life however, is changing and progressive) and bring about new life in that place, of forgiving them and learning the truth of redemption, and of letting our rights go and trust Him to heal.

For many of us our wounds are at the core of our hearts. Whose job is it to guard this very important part of our being? I’m not speaking of the muscle- you know that. I’m speaking of the place we store treasures, dream dreams, hope for the impossible, keep faith, and truly love. We tritely declare, "Lord, you have my heart," and in our weakness and fear take it back over and over again. Many pains and scars are there and we are not walking in true life with them present. Our love cannot grow, our dreams cannot be longed for, etc. It is the Lord’s desire to guard our heart. It is our fear and unbelief that won’t allow Him. Many scars in my life reside in my heart, and now in this time of life I find Him wanting more and more to HEAL rather than just let me cope with old scars. Even yesterday something NEW came up and took me completely off guard... what then? When we're confronted with a scar and we realize we haven't healed as we hoped the truth was- do we yield? Do we SUBMIT? There are things I didn’t even realize were there, and now as He moves, some tissue is being ripped from its place to expose the wound He longs to restore. Will I let Him? Will you let Him for you too? If we truly desire freedom and truly trust His word in our lives, we really must. Though it may be the hardest thing we’ve faced yet.

I believe in a God of true healing… One who does not patch skin and wounds… One who does not glue the severed feelings… One who does not need to cover the pain, but has the power to redeem it and bring about life. One who intends His people love without strings and the reminders of wounds. One whose people are characterized by the celebration of true restoration. One whose people live in a healing altogether foreign and yet desperately desired to/by the lost around them.

He makes all things new.

Can it be this is true even for are scarred hearts? Can it be that this is true even for our hidden hurts? I believe it is. What do you think? What are the scars you long to keep protected? What callous does He intend to remove? Where is the vulnerability we are to learn? Where does the Body of Christ fit in with this healing process? Again, I’m not talking about burying anything, not about letting any deadness or ignorance bring numbness or capabilities to cope- I’m talking about HEALING… RESTORATION… and FREEDOM. I want it. Do you?

.......................
Philippians 4
John 17
Isaiah 61
1 John
John 8
Romans 5-9

Re: Eavesdropping (Ed. I)

2008-12-09T15:13:00.001-05:00

Well, kinda...

Basically, I read Habakkuk earlier today and found myself completely awed by the final chapter, which also happens to be Habakkuk's prayer. Any time I read a prayer in the Bible I feel like I'm eavesdropping on a personal conversation and wonder if these things were really intended to be read. Then again, I read them through and am usually so blown away that I can't help but be thankful that such thoughts and words towards God have been recorded for me to learn and grow from. At any rate, check this out:

Habakkuk 3- New International Version

1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth .
2 LORD, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD.
Renew them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
Selah
His glory covered the heavens
and his praise filled the earth.
4 His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.
5 Plague went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.
6 He stood, and shook the earth;
he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled
and the age-old hills collapsed.
His ways are eternal.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
the dwellings of Midian in anguish.
8 Were you angry with the rivers, O LORD ?
Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea
when you rode with your horses
and your victorious chariots?
9 You uncovered your bow,
you called for many arrows.
Selah
You split the earth with rivers;
10 the mountains saw you and writhed.
Torrents of water swept by;
the deep roared
and lifted its waves on high.
11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens
at the glint of your flying arrows,
at the lightning of your flashing spear.
12 In wrath you strode through the earth
and in anger you threshed the nations.
13 You came out to deliver your people,
to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot.
Selah
14 With his own spear you pierced his head
when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour
the wretched who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses,
churning the great waters.
16 I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

I don't know about you but... amen and AMEN again.

December 4, 2008: Because I Love You

2008-12-04T22:17:00.001-05:00

Dear You,

Why? Why do you look at this with such eyes? I fear your misunderstanding and yet don’t see how I can help clarify anything. I’ve got to confess I’m tired of being misunderstood in everything whether word, deed, thought, prayer, or look. I’m tired of being undermined. I’m tired of being refused a defense, of having no trial, of not even being aware of the charges. Could you listen for yourself for a minute? I have no defense as He must defend all this, yet I ask- won’t you at least listen to Him? I’m so confused, you are eager yet fearful at the exact same moment, (that circumstance does not confuse me as I am in it as well), what confuses me is why you choose to listen to the fear rather than trust Him to reveal the motivation behind your eagerness, perhaps even show you the shadow behind your fear and bring upon you even more eagerness once you know there’s no true resistance?

I pray for your faith. I pray for your unbelief. I pray for your pain. I pray for your fear. I pray for your wounds… there is so much healing I long to see in your life. Perhaps you will learn to trust again, yet the means is itself the end. I don’t know the how; I wish I could show you a plan. I can’t. You just… go. Reject the lie that you go alone, for you do not. Nevertheless, the how is in going, there’s no other way. It takes risk, don’t think it won’t. That’s what trust is. That’s the nature of faith itself. That is real action. Until you go it’s really just words. Action proceeds from belief- can’t you see that? I fear you believe lies that will not allow you to trust, moreover, they lock you in fear and taint every word I have to say as if it’s somehow said with a harsh tone or with uncompassionate eyes. The worst is that I cannot combat those lies in any other way than this: I really do love you and really wish you’d come. There is nothing but tenderness in this voice, for there is nothing but love I have for you and nothing but blessing I wish for your life.

This has held you so long. I don’t know the root. I don’t know the origin. Who spoke to you these lies? I see the fruit of it. I see the fear. Why can’t you see it’s a distortion? Why won’t you find out for yourself instead of ignoring it all, throwing the whole thing out, and trying to run away? This is our nature in bondage to fear- we act in extreme caution and declare it discernment. It isn’t. We guard our hearts without right and call that healthy protection. It isn’t. We avoid real conversation in the name of wisdom. It isn’t. We want to be ready on our terms and I’m sorry, but in real freedom we don’t have that option anymore. I just don’t understand. You push and pull at the same time. Why? You cry for help, yet in my response I meet eyes that ask, “Why are you here?” All I can dare respond is, “Because I love you.” You know something? It’s true, and it’s not that I choose to, or that I want to, or that I should, but that I just can’t not. Hear this- if this fear does not kill you, it will certainly prohibit you from truly feeling the joy you long for. I guarantee it, and it’s not out of frustration that I speak. It is out of the sincerest desire for you to know exactly the joy that God desires for you in freedom and honest, pure love… because I love you too.

Love,
Me

Re: Chiastic Nonsense

2008-11-30T00:52:00.005-05:00

I'd thought
It would be better
If I just leave
Because I wanted to stop
watching and
praying and
waiting
for your
waiting
and praying
and watching
But He won't let me stop
So I won't leave
It wouldn't be better
I now know

WV: Proof

2008-11-29T13:55:00.001-05:00

"Show me."
"Prove it."
"Let me see."
"Oh yeah? Do it."
"Put your money where your mouth is."

Yeah... about that. I mean, regarding your hope and dreams for assurance, right qualifications, evidence, security in your decision, or proof. I have good news...
I have none.

The end... almost.

"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.
"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'

"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty. Malachi 3:6-11

Let it be known: I am not here for exegesis, contextual argument, or any other discussion. I am here to point out a principle. That's all.

Obedience comes BEFORE the blessing.

The Lord says, "Test me in this... ." How is "this?" Look prior to His statement- "how" is in obeying His word. IE- by BRINGING the WHOLE tithe back. Do not suppose that the test is not by any rule we hold against Him. It is not by any proof we hold out for in assurance that He will indeed act. There is no standard by which we ask God to move, as if we can even ask for assurance. That is not love (John 15). That is not faith (Hebrews 11). You have HIS word. Is that no longer good enough? The beginning of the passage is a declaration, "I the LORD do not change." Belief before blessing... that's the truth. Belief cannot be separated from obedience. Get used to it. God is not an American businessman, He's not out to win you with a guarantee, stop treating Him like one. What? You think there should be some sort of demonstration of good faith from Him? Okay...

"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

He has made His move again and again and again. Is it not enough for you? I'm not speaking to anyone other than the church here... this is not about the faith of the world. This is about the faith of the Church. Get over yourselves! You who claim belief in "Jehovah Jireh" yet cower when your bank account declines. You who say, "I want God to write my love story," yet reject His leading and hold your stipulations on His anointed. You who say, "My life is in You, Lord," but fight to maintain control of your family and social life. You who declare the eternal riches found in godliness while investing in gold. Yes... the Church. Can you point out one place where the blessing was given before obedience was shown? Hebrews 11 makes no such claim, these faithful people had NOTHING to go on except the word of the LORD (BTW- if you want to know if there's any power behind His word, see Genesis 1 or any Gospel ). Scripture says they even died before they saw the promise fulfilled. Are we so special to be given any different opportunity? I think not.

It's time to get over yourselves and go. Stop looking for proof and evidence that will simply put your faith back in yourself. Stop asking for assurance when He's given His word. Stop asking for the blessing before you're willing to move.

I haven't had a good rant in awhile... but in all honesty, this one's been a long time in coming. The American church is not a negotiator between any commercial parties. God is not diplomatic... He's not even democratic (Yes, that means that even if the whole body were to decide they wanted proof before moving, He would not be obliged to give it). His reputation is firmly established. His word is altogether true. He has never failed. Stop acting like that's a possibility and GO.

There's still no proof. There's still no security in your initial move. There's no assurance that your bank account will remain stable or that you'll even get out alive. None of that has changed. Isn't that good news?

The end.

November 26, 2008: My Apologies

2008-11-26T23:40:00.000-05:00

Dear You,

It's so hard to watch you struggle. I know you see the way things are going, but why you resist still and hold back in this fear I do not know. Love will cast out fear... when will you trust me on this? Honestly, the time has come for me to be silent, you watch... I wait. He is moving and the time to go is near, will you come along? I see resistance in your eyes, I know it's not the way you'd prefer. In all honesty, it's not the way I'd prefer either. It'd be so much easier to simply sit down somewhere and share with you everything He's told me... I'm certain you'd feel confident in this move afterward, but such would not be to the benefit of your faith. We are all called to obey, we are all given that chance to step out in total abandonment of what we hoped for and simply know He will work it all for His glory. I do not know when, but I see you struggle and don't think for a moment it's not giving my heart an indescribable ache. It does. There is a blessing waiting for you in this freedom that you have never known or expected, but it cannot be spoken of or mapped out before your move. I know it's hard... it has been for all of us. I know it's scary... this is only the beginning. I know it's unnerving and entirely too inconvenient... whose priorities do you live for, anyway?

It is one thing to take the chains off, and quite another to leave the prison. You've come so far, you're at the doorway as we speak. Why not simply RUN through? You cannot lead others to a freedom you have not embraced. He will not let me come in for you and my mouth has been closed from calling your name. Listen for His word.... there will be no other voice worth hearing and no other word as powerful. Listen for His word and then obey. I've seen you close your eyes... did that make the voice go away? I've seen you cover your ears... did that ease His whisper in your heart? I've seen you run to the safer place... did that escape the tremble in your spirit? I know it did not, for I have been in all those places as well. I will continue praying for you, I simply can't stop. The time is getting shorter... but that has never been untrue. I suppose you can drag it out till the last second, but I know the pain that will be and I implore you, don't take it that far. Don't test His patience to that extreme... simply trust the word and direction you know you don't want to go but must because it is His and let's go. In all of this, I'm either insane or right on. Be assured this word and way is not my own; I'd much rather have things some other way as well, but as they are of His plans I cannot contradict/oppose them. At this time, you are watching... I am waiting... all I can say to you is, "Do not be afraid. He is good." I cannot pray for your strength to continue resisting, indeed I must pray you would be found weak before His call. I pray you would hear clearly and distinctly, by name and even face to face. I cannot pray for anything else than His will be done. Will you taste freedom yet? I believe it, the question is how long will you hold on to something destined to fall? It's entirely up to you. Either way, I love you and will wait either for your complete retreat or your approach. It is all I can do at this point. Listen for Him.

Love,
Me

Re: Holiness

2008-11-24T18:39:00.002-05:00

There is no holy thing. There are no holy people. There is no holy action. There is no holy word. There is no holy faith. There is no holy hope. There is no holy tradition. There is no holy model. There is no holy order. There is no holy calling. There is no holy statement. There is no holy music. There is no holy love. There is no holy movement. There is no holy history. There is no holy future.

Right?

Holiness is not a self supporting concept. It does not sustain itself and cannot originate itself within something, it is granted and imparted. There is only a holy God, and all things may participate in HIS holiness by His invitation only. Holiness by definition must rely on a relationship to the nature of holiness, to a holy One, a standard which nothing is more holy, but is itself the bestower of holiness. If there is a holy word, it is holy only in its relation to the holy God. If there are holy people, they are so only as they are found in the holy God. If there are holy actions, they are so only by being taken through Him. There is no holiness outside of Him, and there is nothing unholy within Him.

We have been given that invitation to take part in His holiness. If this is true, no longer should we regard ourselves, as those found in Him, as things unholy in identity- if we are in Him, we are therefore holy by His holiness. Rather, we ought strive to act and speak through Him and thereby act and speak in holiness, not as if our nature or intention brought about the holiness of that action or word, but as it is simply in being acted or spoken from and by Him. Faith is holy only as it is put in Him who is holy, there is no hope that is holy for the sake of simply being committed or well intended, but there is a hope that is holy because it is hoping in the One who is holy. There can be nothing holy outside of Him who is holiness. There is no self originated holiness and no holiness that can be attained through works or straining in goodness, but only holiness as far as it is related to the holy One. In this, there is no holy people, no holy action, no holy word, no holy tradition, no holy calling, no holy love, no holy anything without a relationship to the very identity of holiness, that is our Lord. If we are to chase holiness, it can only be in the sense that we pursue Christ and hope to be found in Him. To chase holiness without accepting Christ is self consumed and impossible at best while at worst simply devilish. If we are a holy people, it is only because we serve a holy God and by His grace He has covered us in His holiness. Let us NEVER forget that.

I get the sense more and more lately that some things are protected without due as "holy" things. Our concept and tradition of church, for example... a personal "calling," to ministry for another example. This or that style or form of music and worship, or perhaps the teaching from one student of the Word instead of another. In reality these things are not holy unless they are directly related to the author and identity of holiness! If GOD has not established it as so, can we dare demand He declare what our hands have formed, "holy?" If we are doing things in His name, yet without His blessing, I think we're kidding ourselves in expecting that. Just because we put His name on it does not mean He has. Holiness is of the Lord, consecration is to the Lord, sanctification is by the Lord, and none of it is of us. We submit, we follow, we comply, we move, we act, we speak, we hope, we believe- but all these things only as long as they are in Him. Perhaps we out to look at what we defend in the name of holiness and ask how related they are to the author of holiness? Perhaps we ought look at what we're really protecting, is it our preferences... our dreams... our words... our convenience... our stability... our good... or is it His Word and His kingdom? If it is the former, beware the nature of your opposition, you may find yourself fighting against He who seeks purity and holiness for all as they are consumed by His love and found in Him. If it is the latter, why spend your time defending what is His? His nature and holiness declare He will indeed protect what is His, it is not our obligation nor calling to defend Him. It is our obligation and calling to obey and pursue the holy One and declare the glory of His life in us.

Re: Jesus Questions

2008-11-19T12:56:00.001-05:00

1) Why did Jesus not ask His disciples to contribute to a building fund?
2) Why didn’t Jesus ask His disciples to go into the towns and gather bring people back to Him so He could minister to them?
3) Why didn’t Jesus have “a place to lay His head?”
4) Why didn’t Jesus let Peter kill the guard?
5) Why didn’t Jesus attract people by appealing to their flesh?
6) Why didn’t Jesus allow options?
7) Why didn’t Jesus simply make laws that demanded people follow Him?
8) Why didn’t Jesus set up programs for the crowds to better understand what He was trying to say?
9) Why didn’t Jesus ask for money?
10) Why did Jesus tell the disciples to give the crowds something to eat?
11) Why did Jesus send the man who wanted to follow away (Luke 8)?
Why did Jesus have to die?
12) Why did Jesus curse the tree (Mark 11)?
13) Why did Jesus demand everything?
14) Why did Jesus speak more of freedom than salvation?
15) Why did Jesus seemingly make it so hard to follow Him?
16) Why did Jesus let Lazarus die?
17) Why did Jesus tell the blind man not to return to his town (Mark 2)?
18) Why did Jesus submit to the political authorities of His day, but not the spiritual ones?
19) Why did Jesus tell the rich man to give everything he had to the poor instead of the temple?
20) Why did Jesus say, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these…?”
21) Did Jesus ever define truth?
22) Did Jesus ever declare a standard for those who would be His disciples to live by?
23) Did Jesus ever define His ministry?
24) Did Jesus ever define His mission?
25) Did Jesus ever contradict scripture?
26) Did Jesus ever trick anyone?
27) Did Jesus ever lie?
28) Did Jesus ever make a distinction between disciples and followers?

Re: Heroes

2008-11-06T13:25:00.001-05:00

L'Adonai (To the Lord),
Is this the, "Once more" You've been waiting for?
Is this the top before the drop of our final tour?
Can we see the bottom from where we've been?
Can we see the sky's not that far from the floor?

"Once more," until we know You're truly there.
"Once more," before we're breathing Your air.
"Once more," with the acts and heroics of men.
"Once more," to reveal just HOW You really care.

So much time You've given to make up our mind.
How long before we realize we're still so blind?
That Old Man walks in every door we leave open.
We no longer look for the life of a peculiar kind.

L'Dodo (To His Beloved),
When all has shaken down, nothing keeps its place,
No hero holds their own, and no one can save face-
Perhaps that time will present a cleaner lens to see,
The change we all desire, comes only through His grace.

Perhaps you might have figured out He is not over you.
The paid price has never changed- He cannot be through.
Will you once more turn to men and let His anger burn?
Or will you finally turn to Him and heroes not pursue?

Are you ready to be let down again- reaping what you sow?
The curiosity of infatuation is not what true lovers know.
Agendas and the hope of "us" will less and less be true.
You'll wake up in the empty bed- where did your hero go?

Written and waiting in silence is the truth of His own Word.
This Word of silence He will soon turn into a righteous sword.
Heroes take their stand, but will never hold their ground.
"One to fall and two will follow," let all know, "He is the Lord."

"The hill is steep," you say, "We will surely reach new height!"
"Work with us harder, better, longer- we will need your might!"
Heroes work you in the wrong direction, how can you not see?
Perhaps because in all his wisdom- he's forgotten to use a light?

Once more with the heroes- once more with their charades.
Once more for the mighty men- once more for their parades.
Once more before it all falls down and everything is gone.
"Once more and then the end," no man's splendors arrayed.

Where are they who in their heart place Him upon the throne?
Where is the people those life He gave to make His very own?
Where are those with severed ties and openly broken lives?
Where are those who surely proclaim, "He is the Lord ALONE?"

Re: The Devil's Folly

2008-10-13T21:19:00.001-04:00

I've never written any narrative style before, so bear with me. All I get are images and scenes and am told to put to words that which I see- so here goes!

............................
He stormed around the room in confidence and a sense of victory. He knew this one was his. He had an airtight case, completely waterproof- there was no escape for the vermin he’d take down today. This was his field, his game, his mantra- there was no one sneakier and more deceitful in getting the information he needed to put these foul creatures away and reveal how there was no one better than he.

“What are your charges?” asks the Judge, seated high as ever bearing the indestructible understanding of perfect justice and holding a wrath more dreadful than any could dare imagine. He could play with that justice bent this time- he knew it would be the downfall of these things the Judge Himself had confessed a love for. Why He loved them it the accuser did not know, what he knew was that the sense of perfect justice carried by the Judge would certainly be the end of that love- He could not go against His nature.

“I bring against this man the most heinous acts imaginable, sir,” he responded, “There is nothing this man is innocent of- as you will see from the record kept since his birth.”

Indeed it seemed true. Here was the evidence, the proof needed to seal the weak man’s doom. Adultery, slander, malice, rage, hatred, anger, pride, disobedience of every kind was strewn around the room with perfect recollection by this accuser as if he’d been there himself.

“There is nothing which he may claim innocence of,” he chimed with a smirk, “By your law he is unpardonable. There is no hope for him! He is putrid and filthy! The stench of evil is on his breath! I know you see the evidence is more than satisfactory for a verdict of ‘guilty.’”

As the Judge looks on at the accuser, knowing full well all things were possible, a new question comes from his lips, “Where is the defendant now?”

“The defendant?” the accuser wonders aloud, “He is still down there now pretending to be something new and something different! I’ve seen him with my own eyes. He wants to change his identity, but we know the truth- you have the evidence before your very eyes! That man is guilty and you know it!”

The Judge stands with a smile, “Call the defendant in.”

Silence.

All is still once again.

Silence still.

Why?

What has happened.

No one enters.

There is nothing spoken in lieu of such an odd circumstance.

The accuser looks around with a look of wonder… the Judge looks to the door with a look of understanding; He’s seen this before.

The silence breaks- a messenger arrives.
He carries an envelope and delivers it to the defense gathered on behalf of an absent man.

“What nonsense is this!” cries the accuser, “There is no man alive allowed to dismiss himself from his own trial! It is time to face justice!”

The judge calmly accepts the envelope from the defense and opens it.
He reads to Himself.

The accuser awaits the fruit of his labor, how long had he been snaring and trapping this man? Too long it seemed, now it was time to claim his prize and send another of these ignorant and weak fools to their true death by his hand. He would claim his glory yet…

The Judge stands abruptly and declares, “What I hold in my hand is a Death Certificate in the name of the accused. There is no doubt that there indeed once lived a man by the name accused. His life and deeds are most well known among his own family and indeed there he claimed no identity of innocence. However, the truth of the matter is that the accused has been dead for a number of years and no longer bears judgment under his own name. The proof of justice lies in this document, signed by his own hand with the truest knowledge that he would live a new life, a life neither of his own making nor standard. He has traded his very life for the life of righteousness and faith. His life is hidden in Jesus, whom you well know as too already died. There is therefore no condemnation or accusation for the dead and redeemed! Their life is of no concern to you, oh accuser, at this time, the man you bring these charges against is already dead. All charges are hereby dismissed- to be destroyed for all time, for justice declares that there can be no accusation brought against a dead man!”

He addresses the accuser finally, “It would do you well to bring charges against one legally chargeable, Lucifer, these things are foolish and laughable at best- who ever heard of accusing or even condemning a dead man?”

…………………………..
Romans 6-9
Colossians
Galatians 2

October 8: Hold On

2008-10-09T13:48:00.000-04:00

Dear you,

Sometimes I can’t believe we’ve come this far… you are so close. I can see it coming, but I’m afraid at what it’s going to be like for you. I pray for the ease of it all… I don’t want it to hurt, but I just know it’s going to. I want to hold your hand through it- but that is what He is for. I miss you and really it’s coming on soon. It’s going to be messy- I just know it.

He won’t give up easily… that’s why, no matter what he keeps lying and deceiving and telling you all the crap that still isn’t true no matter how many times he says it. Do you realize that? He could speak a lie to you one million times and that still wouldn’t make it true- don’t let him use that trick on you, please. So many are rallying for this fight for you… so many that I can hardly believe my eyes. My heart is blessed at the sight of an army on the rise… rallying to set you free. Dad is behind this one. His hand is all over it- if you don’t believe me, just look at who He’s sending.

We’re nothing special, not charismatic or popular, more often we’re unnoticed and very quiet, introspective and self-condemning. We know we’re nothing on our own and we’re out only for His glory. We’ve got nothing to offer but what has been given to us. We’re nothing attractive or inspiring, but we love you as He does and that’s why He’s given us the weapons and the message. So we’re coming because He called us. That’s who He’s sending. That’s His army. We are His people. We look just like Him. We’re going to fight, pray, bleed, scream, weep, love, and preach just like Him and perhaps one day we’ll die like Him too. We do this to glorify Him and bring you freedom.

The time is coming on and it’s coming fast. It’s closer than ever and you know it. How do you know it? Because the lies are coming on harder and harder and harder. The chains are being thrown on in greater strength- he’s tightening his grip, isn’t he? Doesn’t that tell you something?

He’s scared. He knows we’re coming and he can’t harm the already dead.

Look for us on the horizon, brother.
Listen for talk of our approach, sister.
The banner has already been raised and our weapons already forged.
We march soon.
Do not give up.
You are loved.
By me.
By us.
My Him.
It’s true.
No matter what he says- it’s true.

Hold on.

Love,
Me

Re: Belief

2008-10-02T13:19:00.001-04:00

To the Redeemed,

I find that truth is indeed powerful and amazing and I’m finally beginning to believe God when He says things. The problem that He has revealed to me though, is this- I have to believe everything He says, not just what I agree with already. Isn’t that difficult?

I feel like I can believe God very readily when He claims a truth about Himself. It’s easy, natural even, to read scripture and simply say, “Absolutely God! YOU ARE GOOD!” or, “DEFINITELY GOD! YOU ARE JUST! I LOVE YOU!” I believe Him when He claims truth about Him.

The issue is that I don’t believe Him when He claims truth about me. When He tells me what is true of me. As sinner, I argued that I was clean. Now as one redeemed, I argue that I am unclean! How confounded are the ways of the human mind and how convincing the lies of the Devil! WE MUST BELIEVE GOD!

Do not read this with the wrong perspective- there has been a redemptive work in my life that has really changed what is true of me. The conviction of God is a revelation of truth, but the empowering of God is just as much the same revelation. Conviction brings repentance which brings redemption that demands consecration which paves the way for empowerment- all are based on the same Truth of Jesus.

Scripture tells us of our own natures everywhere! Of the nature we have prior to being renewed by His blood and life and of the nature we have after that reality is new as well. Do we let ourselves be defined by who we USED to be? Disagreeing with God in the ideas and claims that He has made regarding what we are like now? Obviously repentance, redemption, and consecration are necessary to come from the truth that tears down what does not belong to the truth that builds up what does. But how often have we let our growth or walk stop after who we used to be has been put to death? There is a resurrection that must take place! That resurrection is a new person, the life of Christ in us and it brings with it new truth claims for God to make about us! He says to His people that we have authority, that there is a baptism of His Holy Spirit to be encountered, and that we are light, salt, aliens, strangers, and warriors. Do I believe Him when He makes truth claims about me, or just about Him? Do I know myself better than He does? I think not.

This has been hitting me pretty hard and I want to know- how are we living? We believe what God says about Himself… but there is no One who knows us better than He does. He knows what He’s talking about when He makes claims about us. I have to believe those too… and the hardest part is that fact that belief requires action. So not only must I believe what He has told me about Himself and about me, but I must live that truth.

Does this makes any sense to anyone else?

..........
Romans 6-8
1 John 5
Galatians 3-5

The Son of God was revealed to...

2008-09-29T10:12:00.003-04:00

"You are a king then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
-John 18:37

He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.
-1 John 3:8 (emphasis mine)

Seems pretty cut and dry, doesn't it? Jesus says He came to testify to the truth. John testifies that He came to destroy the devil's work, which according to John 8, is lies. What then are we preaching to a lost and dying world? More often then not, they don't understand Jesus' or your faith because they don't understand why He came anyway!

1. If He came simply to carry our burdens, guilt, and shame and nothing else then He's still carrying them and is a burdened, guilty, shamed God. Yes, that is the implications, He did take upon Himself those things, but something had to be done with them if He were to declare victory!

2. Eternal life is the benefit of His work, but I don't think it was the work itself.

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
-Romans 6:22

Re: Reconciliation

2008-09-29T10:09:00.001-04:00

So I this has been weighing me down for some time because more and more I see this word, "reconciliation" being thrown around and I get the feeling we're letting the world define it and give us our mission rather than letting Jesus declare it and send us with it.
Here goes...

Dear you,
Your passion for reconciliation is good, but you have missed the point. Our Lord did not come to reconcile the world to itself. He did not come to bring peace between the gentiles and Jews, create political stability for Palestine and Israel, harmony between sexual orientations, union to Republicans and Democrats, familiarity for races, neutrality to genders, equality for the rich and poor, or agreement between any other differing ideals! Our Lord Jesus Christ did NOT die on a cross so the world would have peace with itself as if all sin were now abolished (by Him, not through Him) and the enemy no longer has rights to create havoc. The ministry of reconciliation that Jesus came to demonstrate is NOT the reconciliation of the world to itself. Indeed it is entirely the opposite.

• Rom 5:10-11: For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
• Rom 11:15: For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?
• 2 Cor 5:18: All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…
• 2 Cor 5:19: that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
• 2 Cor 5:20: Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
• Col 1:20-22: …and through Him God was pleased to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His Cross. And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, as as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him…

The concept and nature of this word does connote the idea of some restoration taking place or the exchange of some substance for something else and I think that the Theological implications are greater still. First, I think that the implication made is that a prerequisite for reconciliation is a fall. In order for something to be reconciled, a prior, somehow greater connection between the two things must have been lost. The implications are this, that we were at one time in right relation with God, but through our own choices, we broke the connection between us, offending God, and losing the original greatness of our bond. In order to regain that relationship, reconcile it, that is, payment, or an exchange of some kind must be made. Knowing that the result of sin (that is, the offense of God) is death, the only possible payment for sin (wages, that is) is death itself; therefore, restitution to God is made only in death. However, considering that all humanity has chosen this offense, and that it is impossible for that which is impure to purify itself, it is therefore impossible from humanity’s standpoint to reconcile itself to God. But if the pure were to die, fulfilling the just price of the offense, reconciliation might be had through the pure. That is what happened, the Pure, God himself, chose to reconcile us to Himself by paying the price Himself. The debt was not cancelled as if it never happened- it was paid in full by the indebted! The exchange of His life for each of ours is what defines the reconciliation of humanity back to right relationship with God. In this light reconciliation is in fact, payment, replacement, exchange, and substitution- all combined to identify the act of restoration carried out for debtors to God by God to God (not a redundancy, read it carefully).

The goal of Christ is the reconciliation of the world TO HIMSELF, all things come FROM THIS POINT FIRST, for it only THROUGH HIM that all things are made new. It is not the agreement of holiness and sin, it is the removal of sin to reveal what is holy! It is IN HIM that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, etc.- why are we attempting to reconcile that which cannot be reconciled without the work of Christ taking place first? There can be no reconcilation of the Church and the world outside of Jesus, and even then it is no longer the world, but an expansion and addition to the Church! To have friendship with the world is to be the enemy of God- have we forgotten this? Neither the Jew and Greek nor the Church and the world will be or can be reconciled without FIRST being made new in Jesus, for it is at that point that national origins, political preferences, personal rights and ideals SUBMIT THEMSELVES TO HIS WILL and are thus CONFORMED to the likeness of the SAME IMAGE- Jesus Christ. It is when we seek conforming to the same standard that unity is created, but for the saved, the Church, our standard is Jesus Christ Alone, Who is our Head and Author, can we then submit to the standard of the world which we have been alienated from and estranged to?

I cannot help but let this go from here. As more and more throw this word around as if somehow it is our mission to reconcile others to others I will continue to cringe, for the reconciliation of Christ can only be done as we bring others to HIM and NOT to each other. Reconciliation is not about tolerance and false unity, the bringing together of light and darkness as if that were possible anyway. Rather, it is about being recreated in the same image as the ONLY reconciler, Jesus Christ, Who has paid our debt by His death on a cursed piece of wood. It is about the rebirth of our life, the renewal of our relationships, the restoration of our purpose, and the reduction of what is not of Him. Let us press on in the ministry of reconciliation as it is intended, not by what the world would rather it be.

In Him,
Me

Re: Declaration

2008-09-29T10:08:00.002-04:00

So...

Today's chapel really has me thinking. I'm generally not one for legacies as motivation for doing anything, honestly, what you think of me makes no difference one way or the other. I try not to care what people have said about me in any way, I do not find it my prerogative to defend myself anymore; the Lord has promised such to His own. However, regarding this, "Life Sentence," I feel impressed on my heart and soul a mission. A statement I desire to accurately sum up the whole of my life. I here declare it my goal and intention in the hope of being held accountable to the Spirit's prompting by you and the Word. In the publishing of this, I cannot hide or nor deny it, but I feel it being branded on in my chest even as I type. I wrestled with many callings and purposes... but this one thing the LORD has burned into me and I cannot escape it. I want to leave this place and have it readily said of me:

"Greg believed God."

I care not for anything else save the notion that I remained faithful to the Word of my Lord. Is this shallow? Perhaps... it is indeed not lofty or noble or influential or powerful... I just want to believe and have that belief define everything I do and every part of who I am- that in my belief I may declare His glory and reveal the truth of Who He is. Belief cannot be separated from action and obedience... it's all the same, to love Him, believe Him, and obey Him are all the same... but oh my God, help my unbelief! I pray humbly and scared... help my unbelief! I just want to believe Him.

In Him,
Greg

Re: One Liners

2008-09-29T10:08:00.001-04:00

So... I was reading through the books regarding Israel and Judah's history. Those books that tell of wars and mighty men and righteousness and God's provision, protection, sovereignty, and glory- I have come to love them. Anyway, I came across this ONE VERSE. I realized that this is beautiful story and it's all just one verse; it blew me away. I don't remember the last time I heard a sermon or discussion or anything of that nature devoted to it, thought it's entirely worthy! Anyway, I'm going to share it with you because it's pretty self-explanatory and amazing:

2 Kings 13:21

Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.

Dang.
I pray to see this happen in our times!

Re: Essentials of Community

2008-09-29T10:07:00.000-04:00

So... today I was impressed with the knowledge that there is something greatly lacking in my life. Something that is so fulfilling and coveted in life that as it has been without immediate access for some time now many have nearly died of starvation. Honestly, to hear of its return and the response of the general public around me would make me think this thing were absolutely essential to life as we know it! Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I'll give you a hint- it's not Jesus or His Word. It's television...

*Gasp!*

Honestly, I can't believe how many people today I either talked with personally or understood through secondary means of communication (IE- Facebook statuses, friends of friends, class banter, etc.) had planned their evening around their television program airing tonight. Indeed my life must be empty, for I know not the joy of "The Office," or of any other television production. I suppose I should apologize to my friends whose enthusiasm I cannot share and whose conversations I will not be able to take part for the next week as reflections of so and so's new role/greatest line of the night create unity where nothing else can.

Okay... all cynicism aside. Is this really the case? Do we define our community and our lives by a television show? I asked five people if they were willing to do differing things this evening and the response of all five was, "I can't, the Office premier is on," in one aspect or another. Maybe this is coming down a little hard on something that seems so trivial in your minds, but I guess I'm more than just a little offended. Perhaps I see something that's not there, but that thing terrifies me nonetheless. What has happened to the Word of God? What has happened to His work in our lives?! Why is it that we need television to give us topics of conversation/ways to fill our time? What thing is this entering our mind? Is it TRUTH? Is it good, noble, pure, or lovely? When was the last time we talked about JESUS and everything that He did? I don't get it, perhaps I'm simply fanatical and obsessed with my Lord and what He's done... I don't hear talk of healing in television, I don't hear talks of miracles and extraordinary events and the fact that they can't be explained beyond saying, "GOD IS SO GOOD," as I watch most shows, in fact, as I watch ANY shows. I don't see anything other than what is common, and the common is precisely what we have been called to recognize and keep in an appropriate place!

What am I getting at? You tell me. I doubt I'll get a response to this, probably I'll just get more dirty looks. But I'd REALLY LOVE TO KNOW what you call your priorities and more than that I'd love to know if your actions reflect what you say!

Action reflects belief.
........................
Philippians 4
2 Timothy 2-3
Titus
Colossians
1 Peter
Ezekiel 44
Isaiah 6
Galatians 5
Ephesians 4

Re: Love and Temples

2008-09-22T13:26:00.001-04:00

The following is an excerpt from George MacDonald's sermon, "The Consuming Fire," and I do believe it speaks plainly into the necessity of consecration and purity in our lives.

Nothing is inexorable but love. Love which will yield to prayer is imperfect and poor.... For love loves unto purity. Love has ever in view the absolute loveliness of that which it beholds. Where loveliness is incomplete, and love cannot love its fill of loving, it spends itself to make more lovely, that it may love more; it strives for perfection, even that itself may be perfected-not in itself, but in the object. As it was love that first created humanity, so even human love, in proportion to its divinity, will go on creating the beautiful for its own outpouring. There is nothing eternal but that which loves and can be loved, and love is ever climbing towards the consummation when such shall be the universe, imperishable, divine.

Therefore all that is not beautiful in the beloved, all that comes between and is not of love's kind, must be destroyed.

And our God is a consuming fire.

If this be hard to understand, it is as the simple, absolute truth is hard to understand. It may be centuries of ages before a man comes to see a truth-ages of strife, of effort, of aspiration. But when once he does see it, it is so plain that he wonders he could have lived without seeing it. That he did not understand it sooner was simply and only that he did not see it. To see a truth, to know what it is, to understand it, and to love it, are all one. There is many a motion towards it, many a misery for want of it, many a cry of the conscience against the neglect of it, many a dim longing for it as an unknown need before at length the eyes come awake, and the darkness of the dreamful night yields to the light of the sun of truth. But once beheld it is for ever. To see one divine fact is to stand face to face with essential eternal life.

For this vision of truth God has been working for ages of ages. For this simple condition, this apex of life, upon which a man wonders like a child that he cannot make other men see as he sees, the whole labour of God's science, history, poetry-from the time when the earth gathered itself into a lonely drop of fire from the red rim of the driving sun-wheel to the time when Alexander John Scott worshipped him from its face-was evolving truth upon truth in lovely vision, in torturing law, never lying, never repenting; and for this will the patience of God labour while there is yet a human soul whose eyes have not been opened, whose child-heart has not yet been born in him. For this one condition of humanity, this simple beholding, has all the outthinking of God flowed in forms innumerable and changeful from the foundation of the world; and for this, too, has the divine destruction been going forth; that his life might be our life, that in us, too, might dwell that same consuming fire which is essential love.

Let us look at the utterance of the apostle which is crowned with this lovely terror: "Our God is a consuming fire."

"Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire."-We have received a kingdom that cannot be moved-whose nature is immovable: let us have grace to serve the Consuming Fire, our God, with divine fear; not with the fear that cringes and craves, but with the bowing down of all thoughts, all delights, all loves before him who is the life of them all, and will have them all pure. The kingdom he has given us cannot be moved, because it has nothing weak in it: it is of the eternal world, the world of being, of truth. We, therefore, must worship him with a fear pure as the kingdom is unshakeable. He will shake heaven and earth, that only the unshakeable may remain, (verse 27): he is a consuming fire, that only that which cannot be consumed may stand forth eternal. It is the nature of God, so terribly pure that it destroys all that is not pure as fire, which demands like purity in our worship. He will have purity. It is not that the fire will burn us if we do not worship thus; but that the fire will burn us until we worship thus; yea, will go on burning within us after all that is foreign to it has yielded to its force, no longer with pain and consuming, but as the highest consciousness of life, the presence of God. When evil, which alone is consumable, shall have passed away in his fire from the dwellers in the immovable kingdom, the nature of man shall look the nature of God in the face, and his fear shall then be pure; for an eternal, that is a holy fear, must spring from a knowledge of the nature, not from a sense of the power. But that which cannot be consumed must be one within itself, a simple existence; therefore in such a soul the fear towards God will be one with the homeliest love. Yea, the fear of God will cause a man to flee, not from him, but from himself; not from him, but to him, the Father of himself, in terror lest he should do Him wrong or his neighbour wrong. And the first words which follow for the setting forth of that grace whereby we may serve God acceptably are these-"Let brotherly love continue." To love our brother is to worship the Consuming Fire.

Often we idealize the love of God as something filled with compassion and tolerance, gentleness and meekness- we love the love of God as it is Jesus picking up children and responding to the thief on the cross next to His own. What of the nature of His love that loves to purity? What of the love that drove men from His Father's house? What of the love that called the pharisees white-washed tombs? Do we desire that nature of His love in our own lives? We have been called to be holy as He is holy. To not be taken captive or succumbing once more to a yoke of slavery once having been set free. We love referring to our lives as God's new temple- the place His Spirit dwells and resides, filling us with His joyous presence and overwhelming love. Have we yielded to the love that will ransack our very lives and drive out all that cannot be in His presence? Do we ask Him to love us in that way? To receive the love that makes it possible for us to be near Him is to ask for and seek out a love that is far more umcomfortable and irritating than the love that we picture so often, yet that is HIS love- can we deny Him His nature? God is love... but God is not tolerant of sin. The definition of grace is not the ability to live in sin, but the idea that we are alive at all. To ask and accept the love of God is to submit to His purification... to allow/invite His removing of all that is not of Him. It is a consecrating love... a purifying love... a sanctifying love... but no doubt a terrifying one at times! Let us press on in His love, all of it, the nature of it wholly, not partially- for the same love that drove Him to purify a temple built with human hands, that which falls away in its temporality, must drive Him to purify that which is built of His blood and Holy Spirit. Are we submitting to that work? Are we counting the cost? Are we asking for the purification that hurts and burns away what cannot be near Him?

We ought to be.

"For our God IS a consuming fire," not that He MIGHT be... He IS. What has He left to consume and what keeps us from offering it to Him RIGHT NOW?

Ref:
Matthew 21
Mark 11
Luke 19
John 2
1 Corinthians 3
2 Timothy 2
Titus
Hebrews 12
James 4
1 Peter 1-2

A Word

2008-09-09T15:57:00.000-04:00

Four weeks… two weeks it has been since this all started and it’s still there. I’ve been going about my business for four weeks and this word lingers in my mind, surprising me in my prayers, haunting me in worship, and it demands that I prepare.

“FLOOD.”

Do you know it?

I feel as if we’ve somehow in speaking “Christianese” with it we’ve tamed it… but I’d like to remind us that it’s not meant to be a comforting word! It is not a slow movement of water gently rolling over the hills, reminding us of butterflies and pretty fish… it is the definition of devastation in the unstoppable total form and I cannot escape this word that has come at me from all sides. A storm is coming… rains, quakes, flashes of light and electricity in the air… the Holy Spirit has a work to do and nothing is going to stand in His way. I don’t know if we stop to think of the words we sing and pray so often… “flood this land,” “rain down,” “pour out your Spirit,” etc… do we realize that we are asking God to devastate and RUIN these lives? I see two accounts of “flood” in Scripture (Genesis 6, Luke 6). I’m not about to get into an exegetical argument of any kind, I simply have one observation to make- the things that floods destroyed in each of these accounts are the things that were not of God. Are we ready to pray that prayer? “Lord, destroy in my life every thing that is not of You”- because ready or not, that’s what we’ve been asking for, and I believe the Lord has heard! Do we realize that in asking God to bring us closer to Him we are asking Him to purge us of everything that CANNOT be in His holy presence (not that He chooses what is bad and what is good and there are excused things and pardoned refuse, but that by HIS NATURE it CANNOT exist near Him)? We have uttered some dangerous prayers in these past days, will be bless God when He works them or will we stand and question His cleansing work?

Floods bring messes… mud, silt, river waste, all that nasty stuff we’ve dumped into it for so long- all of it comes rushing right up into plain sight when that water rises…

Do you follow?

This is going to be messy, yet with the flood comes such a new opportunity. Spiritually speaking, all that remains is what has been anchored in something solid- the foundation that cannot be anything else (1 Corinthians 3:11), Jesus Christ. So I suppose this small note is meant as both an encouragement and a warning- let us continue to pray for the flood, but let us also expect and not despise the WORK of the flood- the cleansing and the removal of what cannot stand up to the movement of the Spirit/the presence of God. Let us look solely to the author and perfecter of our faith and seek His face only, yes, a flood is coming, and no boat is going to save us- this time we learn how to walk on water.

What think you? Are you ready?

Curious

2008-09-03T11:40:00.003-04:00

I recently posed a question regarding the possibility of living a pure/sinless life after coming to salvation through Christ. I now open that same discussion to this blog- do you think it is possible to live in Christ without sinning? Why or why not? I know you're out there...

Verse 4

2008-08-30T02:25:00.004-04:00

Something God gave earlier tonight- to say the least it shook me.

Generation with new hope,
Go to war with truth in hand.
By the King who's called your name,
You are/Set them free from sin and shame!

(To) Shout to the North and the South!
(And) Sing to the East and the West!
(That) Jesus is Savior of all,
(He's) Lord of Heaven and Earth!

The Lowdown

2008-08-30T02:11:00.003-04:00

The proportion of lies to Truth in the world: ∞/1, haha.

However, there is no amount of lies that can in their number or combined strength overpower the Truth and there is no amount of darkness that can snuff out the tiniest speck of light! This is not new, in fact, it’s becoming somewhat of an anthem in my life. What God showed me today is this- that though there is an infinite amount of lies possible for us to fall into, there are (in my understanding at this time) three roots that all of those lies come out of. Three things the devil lies about most often and that all other lies come out of:

1. Who he (the devil) is.
2. Who God is.
3. Who we (humanity) are.

Each of these lies are a direct attack on identity and compromise the way the other two parties are seen/understood. If Satan can deceive us to the point that we do not know who he is, that is, accept his masquerade as an angel of light or a being capable of speaking truth- then we do not know who we are warring against. Here are some truths about Satan:

1. He is NOT omniscient.
2. He is NOT omnipresent.
3. He is NOT omnipotent.
4. His authority is limited to the subjection of will, therefore his most effective weapon is deceit.
5. He has no glory outside being a creature (a glory he has rejected).

These lies that he attempts to make us believe are the lies that give him what he wants most- the place/glory of God. They are not true, the devil does not know all things, cannot be in all places, and does not possess unlimited authority. I think you can see how believing these lies would increase his bondage on our lives. I think you can see how accepting his false identity would be giving him much more credit than he deserves!

If Satan can deceive us to the point that we do not know who God is, that is, mask the identiy of God from our understanding/relationship, then we are at a loss of where truth comes from/what light is in any way. Many people do not want anything to do with God and are choosing not to pursue Him because they have an false understanding of what they would find in Him. GOD IS NOT A LEMON. GOD IS GOOD. HE IS ALL GOOD. There is nothing about Him that we should not want to pursue with everything we have and there is nothing about who He is that will drive us away from Him as see know Him in Truth. Some truths about God:

1. GOD is good.
2. GOD is light and there is no darkness in Him- pure.
3. GOD is just.
4. GOD is love.
5. GOD is perfect/lacks nothing.
6. GOD is necessary (He is not dependent on anything, but all things depend on Him).
7. GOD is True.

The lies that Satan comes against us with often are those that will confuse God’s identity with the his. If you hear someone say, “I can’t follow God because He is a harsh taskmaster who has no grace,” or “God seems to be all about death and killing those that don’t agree with Him,” then you’re hearing a description about the devil masquerading as God. The truth is, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…” (John 10:10). This is to me the very definition of blasphemy- when something that is not God is given His title and rejected on that basis alone. That is the work of the devil. How will you recognize lies about God if you don’t know Him? Get to know Him! Also within this issue is the one regarding the truth found in scripture. For as God has chosen to reveal Himself through word, if the devil can taint/distort the word itself as a source of truth, he can control the Truth you receive from It. Yes? So also in this question of God's identity is that referring to what role/authority does the Word of God have in your life? Is it authoritative and absolute, something that you must conform to instead of it conforming to anything else? I believe that if you can't trust scripture as holy/pure then your understanding of God cannot be accurate. What do you think? Can scripture be relative? Do we have a right to pick/choose what applies to us and what does not? Is the Bible literature that can be analyzed and broken down scientifically, or is it alive and spiritual in nature?

Finally, if Satan can deceive us to the point that we do not understand who we are, he can remove the very thought/drive to find God. I think that as the devil comes against us as humans, his lies will often focus on distorting our value- whether increasing or decreasing it. If he can decrease us, we fall into despair and depression; if he can increase us, we fall into pride and arrogance (that is, the belief that we can oppose God with success, an attitude that reflects his nature, not ours). Some truths about us:

1. We are created in God’s image (that is, as a reflection of who He is and possessing innate characteristics from Him) and given life by His will, and this cannot be denied or reversed.
2. We are created to be with Him/live in His holy presence.
3. We are created to declare His glory through obedience/love for Him.

There are no “accidents” when it comes to people. All have value and all reflect Him. In life that image that we bear can either be sharpened in chasing down the perfect representation of Himself, Jesus Christ, or distorted by chasing anything else. We are clearly created to need purpose, but that purpose is not a mystery- it is evident. It is evident and it is GOOD, for our purpose is found in Him. However, we cannot accept lies about ourselves and still see God as He is. There is only one way to find out who we truly are- and that is by getting to Know Him. We are copies, unique, yet still reproductions. If you want to know yourself- know your Maker as if you want to better appreciate a Rembrandt copy, look at the original!

I believe we are often closer to God than we realize, for He has given us passions that reflect His own. I recently was able to encourage a friend, simply by discovering that a passion of His was justice- “Congratulations!” I said, “Justice is a passion of God’s as well, in pursuing justice you are near God’s heart.” Do we realize this about ourselves? That the passions and desires He gives us are reflections of Him and meant to draw us closer to Him? We should, in recognizing this we will know better how to defeat lies in our and our friends lives and we will know better how to encourage in truth.

What do you think? What passions has God instilled in your life- those things that calls you nearer to Himself? What are your friends? Do they realize those things are God's DNA in them? Calling them to Him? Do they see Him as He is or through a tainted filter?

August 23: I Dare You

2008-08-23T23:36:00.004-04:00

Dear you,

I love you. I don’t think you realize it because when we do get a chance to talk you don’t recognize the language… you want to talk about things that don’t matter anymore, about who I used to me, about where we used to live, about those experiences and how grand they were- you want to live in the past and I can’t help but live for right now with hope of a grander tomorrow. Do you see it? Those things we did, those accomplishments we had- how successful we were at being somebodys- they don’t matter at all. How I wish you quit living for mirages, quit chasing shadows as if you’ll catch something incredible. There is nothing more real than truth, than looking around in the midst of daylight. You are so trapped… you have so many questions… I’ve heard them, indeed, I’ve asked them. Have you found the answers? Has Lucky satisfied you with some bullsquat story about how you can’t know for sure? As if he knows anything at all! Did you tell him our plans? If you did or did not, he knows them- that’s why he’s holding on to you so tightly, he knows you are his last chance. His days are numbered. Tell him that, please. Tell him we’re on our way! I DARE YOU! I DARE YOU TO TELL HIM STRAIGHT TO HIS FACE!

And I dare you to ask him if he loves you.

I dare you. I dare you right now, ask him if he loves you! Ask him if he can actually protect you! Ask him if he knows the meaning of love! Ask him if he could possibly know what it means to suffer for the sake of someone else! Ask him if he knows the feeling of giving someone a choice, of not forcing or coercing or manipulating! Ask him if he could bear to let you choose! Ask him if he has ever felt passion for anything other than himself! ASK HIM WHERE HIS GLORY WENT! Ask him if he can see purity! ASK HIM WHAT PURITY IS! Ask him if he can show grace! Ask him to let you go! Ask him then to release your chains! Ask him if he knows freedom! Ask if you are free! ASK IF HE WOULD DIE FOR YOU! ASK IF HE WOULD SACRIFICE FOR YOU! Ask him then to take your pain- not HIDE IT under something else, not numb it with some drug or some new fad or some new shirt or a new toy, but TAKE IT AWAY AND DESTROY IT! ASK HIM IF HE LOVES YOU!!!! I DARE YOU!! Ask him if he knows the meaning of PATIENCE- the idea of long suffering.

Ask him… and know that whatever comes from his swolen lips IS a LIE. When has he EVER told the truth? He NEVER did when I was around- I know he NEVER has. He can’t. He doesn’t know how. All he knows is his desire, his pride, his fall, his former self, and his future!! Ask him what he sees! I’ll tell you- all he sees when he looks in a mirror is who he can’t stand to be (a creation, something less glorious than intended, something less true than originally) and all he sees when he looks at you is who you are made in the image of! So he distorts/contorts you into a reflection of him, instead of a refection of your CREATOR Who looked on you and said, “It is good,” when you were naked, bald, bleeding, slimy, and barely alive. He said in that moment, “They are good and they are mine!” Why do you think Lucky makes you dissatisfied with yourself? Because he can’t stand the sight of you! He can’t stand the idea of your reflection becoming clearer and more like the Original. He hates your image because he hates who made you. I dare you to ask him if he loves you without all the stuff. I dare you to ask if he knows what love is.

I love you and right now I’m ticked off. There is truth here. There is real TRUTH, no deception, no lies, no figuring out what is best- Jesus IS. There is freedom here- REAL freedom, the kind that can’t be taken away. There are answers and you can SEE them. It’s yours, but you’ve got to make the choice to leave Lucky behind; he can’t come. Everything he’s given you must stay. All you bring is what you were born with. No bargaining, give up what you feel is worth protecting (it’s not), and accept what cannot be taken away- that which only become more real and true and joyous every single moment.

Remember to ask him the questions… don’t accept some kind of flippant shrug or side-step distraction, don’t let him buy you off with some new toy or temporary desire. ASK. I know what he’ll say already, but perhaps you’ve never thought to ask him why you’re even there. Go ahead, he has nothing to hide, right? Ask. I dare you. I love you more than I can say right now. I love you more than I thought, really… a lot more than I thought. And the kicker is that Jesus loves you so much more than that… He’s put in my heart this passion to see you free and with Him, to see your eyes light up when you understand who you were born to be. He’s put it there and daily He adds to it. You are there and I am here. I want you to be here. So I pray. I will still pray. And one by one, as you come… I’ll rejoice. Someday we’ll rejoice together… till then, know that we press on. All of us, as our love for HIM drives us to love you, we press on. We can’t be stopped because He can’t be stopped. He has chosen us and is calling you. Let’s go.

Love,
Me

A Generation's Path

2008-08-21T18:59:00.008-04:00

So my discipler, Twan, has recently discovered this band called "Wild Sweet Orange," and even though I'm typically not a fan of indie/new era rock they've certainly captured my ear. The questions asked in each song remind me of the ones coming from the mouths of each of my friends and thus and macrocosmically my whole generation. As I listen to them, I hear nothing more than the demand for hope and answers... to see for real what they've been told to believe, and I think this video illustrates that very well.

Any more it seems like my generation believes that they are on their own in regards to learning what it means to follow Christ. I say that because the generation before us has simply NOT done so. The telltale attributes of the world were present in many of my generations homes as we grew up (divorce rates, obsession with possession, abuse both of substance and of relationships), from this I see a belief forming that expects, "Walk out your faith yourself, kid, don't expect me to hold your hand and show you how." Is this true? Do any of you see that in our culture or in our churches? Do we expect the next generation to teach themselves to fly and thus force them to jump off cliffs in an attempt to reach the sky? Do we allow the enemy to laugh and point at the "baby Christian who can't fly?" Do we allow the enemy to trick our newborns into believing they're not flightworthy creatures- as if they're something created to stay on the ground (as he has been cursed to!). We shouldn't, this is the very reason discipleship is so valuable and necessary. When transformation happens in your life, it is necessary to take and see transformation occur in others' lives. My generation, those who haven't grown up in the church anyway, is about to give up. They've searched for God in everything and found out everything He's not. The last words of this song reveal this:

"If you want me,

Please come and find me.

Cause I'll be running,

You know I'll be running."

We are coming! The army that God is raising will not be one that allows cliff-jumping as an option in learning to fly. They will walk with each one, seeing the Holy Spirit develop their wings and showing them the next step, teaching and training in righteousness so that there is no room for laughter from the enemy.

RE: Tasks

2008-08-19T15:19:00.002-04:00

Learning can be a hard and exhausting thing to do… not because God makes it difficult, but because fighting against the lesson is just so tiring… He isn’t about to give up, I can’t go any further until this is done, so we either sit and wait in my stubborness or we move… (God is real good as staring contests, I don’t encourage them at all). It’s so strange to me… obedience is so “basic,” yet is continuously the hardest part about following. Belief=action, right? Obedience=love… these are the basic foundations of following, yet they are the most daily and still the hardest. I found myself unwilling to obey in an area I perceive as “small,” as if there is a hierarchy of tasks in God’s eyes. Disobedience is disobedience, period. To paraphrase the book of James, “You break one (command), you break them all.” I’d have no problem walking up to a stranger and praying with them, asking a friend to have a seat, or calling my brother out on disobeying his parents… these come naturally in a prophetic sense. “What was Jonah’s problem?” I wonder, “I don’t think I’d have such an issue with proclaiming repentance to Nineveh.” I didn’t have a problem when God said, “Go,” or when He said, “Stay,” at different times in the past. What instead was my heart unwilling to do? Make a phone call. Yes, make a lousy phone call. Why? Because I didn’t know why I needed to, as if God was obligated to tell me why He was making me do something. Indeed, the “littlest” thing, yet disobedience is disobedience and I found myself miserable for not doing it.

There is no hierarchy of tasks; nothing that is okay to be stubborn about. There is no such thing as a “request” from God as if it’s an option- you either do it or you sin. How many times we see such simple commands as optional- that somehow not doing them will be okay with Him. That’s false. You’d think that after walking into terrifying situations of obedience and watching God do ridiculous things such commands as making a phone call would be easy, but God knows our weaknesses and it’s not because He wants to toy with us that He touches them, but because He wants to see that area of life strengthened to His glory. He’s doing something. I don’t know what it is. I may someday find out. What I know is obedience=love… disobedience=sin… still and always.

Time to go.

Re: Identity

2008-08-13T14:55:00.002-04:00

“The trouble with living sacrifices is that we tend to crawl off the altar.”
-Many friends

How often in my life have I done so… too many times to count. More so than this, how many times have I, having crawled off said altar, asked God to replace the flesh He’d just consumed? I look back and even look on, knowing that taking a step of submission to His will and declaring myself dead in my flesh and alive only to Him as He has so called and delivered me means having no rights at all. I look back on so many times when I put myself on that altar and asked God to do with me whatever He wanted, how often I was offended at what He chose to remove first, saying “No, God, not that! That is pleasing to You! I know that can stay…” As if I can tell God what pleases Him and what does not. That isn’t laying down any rights or expectations though… How many times have I checked the wound of what He’d just burned off and felt the sting and the pain of something long gone and asked Him to replace it with something similar! At those times I recognized those things as a part of me- yet now I know that was a lie. Those things were never a part of who I am, they were additions… mutations… even tumors, yet now as I see them through His eyes I see they were indeed chains. Chains I had so willingly grafted into my skin and let become a part of me, foreign though they were, I’d let them have control over different areas of a life intended for God’s use and purposes. Those are the first areas God moved and cleansed with fire and somehow I felt it necessary to ask Him to replace them? Then, when He wouldn’t- how often did I take it upon myself to find something to fill in that new gap? Somehow I felt incomplete without those things- I believed I needed them to be me- that was a lie. As God removes those additions/chains, we’re taken aback and shocked at our newfound mobility, the enemy tries to make us think such freedom is unholy and outside of God’s will when in fact it is captivity through such deception, the truest work of the devil, that is unholy! How the devil does work- such lies… such mockery of what God intended, and so often with our permission.

God is truth. In Him there is no falsehood. He does not deceive and He does not make mistakes. By in His infinite love He has placed within our capacity the ability to make for ourselves an identity or give up all rights and let Him make us what He wants and wills- the right to choose, the ability of free will. To choose the former means we rule our own lives- become “self-made” men and women. We take pride in who we’ve made ourselves to be and look back on our lives thinking, “I’ve done alright for myself.” That former option takes all in stride and adjusts as needed… the charisma and power, the beauty and success, the failure and the punishment- all are seen as part of the game of life; their identity is no surprise to them because it is they who formed it. However, to choose the latter means to lay down all expectations and desires, to forfeit all rights and options. They place themselves by faith in the hand of God declaring His will sovereign in their life and His ways pure and just. They don’t get a say in the design scheme or the logistical anythings regarding what that will look like- we merely know the model, Jesus Christ. When you turn your life over to God, you ought to know instantly what He is going to fashion you after- His Son. He is going to transform you from a son or daughter of Adam into a son or daughter of God. His glory is declared as we submit to being conformed to the image of perfect holiness, righteousness, blamelessness and purity. If you don’t like who Jesus was or what He did- you aren’t going to be a big fan of God’s will for you life. But as I’m discovering more and more by His grace, as I am amazed more and more by who my God is and who my Savior is- I can’t help but desire with everything in me to be more like Him, the hard part is that desiring to be more like Him means giving up more of who I think I should be.

I think I should be accepted- yet Jesus was rejected. I think I should be funny and easy to get a long with- yet Jesus often offended people at the core of who they were. I think I should be tolerant or someone won’t think I love them- yet Jesus’ love called us to a higher standard of living and demanded we let go of what was not declaring His glory. So many of the things I think I should be I find appealing to the world- yet the world HATED Jesus and killed Him. In the last two months I feel like I've lost more friends than made them... it seems like my life is becoming smaller instead of larger. Does that reflect the life of Jesus? I guess now I'm back to that altar… I can’t ask Him to replace anything He’s taken away… I know He’s forging someone I never knew was there and that I will be overjoyed at what He has done, yet I know that to look like Him and chase His presence is to become marked for suffering and pain and heartache and burdens and tears and storms and grief and distance and loneliness and death- can I turn away as He has already endured all such things before me? No. He is the pioneer of our faith, the One who for the sake of His glory and the Father’s will ought of His perfect love endured all things. Can I expect to be exempt from His experiences? No, the only expectation I have is that He will continue to be faithful and He will fulfill His promises for HE IS GOOD. I think more fire needs to fall- it’s probably going to hurt a lot for my flesh, yet for this spirit, as I see more and more of who HE is… the truest idea of who I am in Him is finally coming through. Praise God.

The Vision and the Vow

2008-08-08T15:59:00.004-04:00

August 7- You must come out soon!

2008-08-07T23:08:00.000-04:00

Dear you,

That shirt does not become you. Who told you that it did? They lied. Don’t you see it’s covered in stains and all dirty? I know you think it’s the newest trend- can’t you see you’re filthy? What happened? There is something so much better! Honestly, I’ve been trying to tell you, why don’t you believe me? You can let go of him. You can leave and never return, not for any reason. You can walk away.

I know he has you convinced that he’ll have a hold on you forever- but can’t you see that that’s not possible? He holds you with chains and accusations, both of which Jesus can destroy once and for all… He won’t just hold the chains high so you can walk around with semi-freedoml he destroyed them! Lucky won’t own you anymore! Why do you still believe him as if he can tell the truth anyway? He can’t. It’s against his nature and the very way he works. He can’t tell the truth- it’s impossible. So why are you still listening to what he has to say?

That shirt is ugly, those chains have been destroyed and yet you believe they’re still there. Why? Don’t you see that nothing can hold what is not there? Jesus died and rose again- follow Him into that death and be raised up free from the curses of the enemy! Don’t you see that what does not exist cannot touch you unless you believe it can, and even then what touches you is not reality, but a mirage… it is so hard to watch you live this way. It’s so hard to see you live in a lie. It’s so hard to watch you run away from shadows and cling to mirages… how have you become so convinced if not because you’ve shut the light out? When you’ve closed all the windows- shadows are everywhere. Let the light in and the truth will destroy the shadows, you will see what really is there and what is not. I promise you- but you must step into the light.

I promised you that we’re coming, but honestly, we can’t come any further than the door you’ve locked us out by. We’ll scream forever and ever through this door if you’ll let us. We’ll pound and bang and yell and plead for you to come out- but you must open the door. Please, please, please do. Don’t wait any longer, don’t let him hurt you anymore. Don’t be afraid anymore. Don’t live like this anymore. You don’t have to. I know you’re afraid that if you come out then you’ll be killed for what you’ve done and how you’ve lived- that’s a lie too! We love you and Jesus already died in your place; you have no reason to fear. He loves that much- but even He can’t come in after you, He already did that once and He sabotaged those chains you’re holding on to so that they’d break as soon as you tell them to in His name. He’s right here with us calling you out. He screams louder than we do most times. He’s ready to embrace you, but you must come out. You must let the truth set you free. You must let HIM set you free.

I have no choice but to share this with you. I don't want to scare you, I just want you to know how dire this is getting. Jesus said that He came to destroy the works of his enemy, the devil. The house you live in is a work of the devil. It is a trap and prison keeping you in bondage by lies and deceit. He built it around your life and you let him. We all did, we all had prisons to escape. The point is that You must get out of there! Jesus' glory is about to set it on fire and you need to come out NOW, don't waste any time- don't let lucky convince you it won't happen. I see the torches on their way. Don't let lucky lie to you and tell you it won't burn- it's made of wood and thorns for crying out loud! It'll all burn down and I can't bear the thought of you being trapped inside by your own will! COME OUT PLEASE!

Love,

Quick Thought

2008-08-07T23:06:00.002-04:00

God 'aced' me with this yesterday- I'll pass it on.

It is extremely difficult to have an understanding of or an expectation for the HOLY when you've filled your life with common things.

-Ezekiel 44, 2 Timothy 2:14-26, and 1 Corinthians 3

Dang.

Thoughts Regarding Glory

2008-08-07T23:02:00.001-04:00

The glory of God cannot be added to or taken away from. The light is constant, burning all that is not holy, neither corruptible nor incomplete. It can either be recognized or ignored (though even ignorance is a recognition), though only ignored for a time and then it cannot be escaped; it is the same as ever- for our Lord is perfect from age to age. We cannot give Him glory or take glory from Him- it is our duty and purpose to declare it!

So know comes the question if God’s glory can be denied? NO- not by any creature, for even in the creature’s existence is there found the mystery of origin, and within mystery there is awe for the sake of the unknown. Can who is known declare the unknown/unknowable invalid? OF COURSE NOT! In the recognition of the unknown is found the wonder at depth and the fear of the what is not understood- in mysterious awe and curious fear is then the glory recognized. However, it has still ALWAYS been there, neither being taken away from nor added to, simply being only worshipped by those in hope of glory themselves or feared by the those seeking the glory of a different weight. Feared because the glory of God consumes all that is not of Him. Still, that fear declares HIS GLORY.

Learning

2008-08-05T21:10:00.001-04:00

I recently had several conversations with friends regarding passions. We like to think of our passions as things that God has blessed us with a desire to pursue, that I agree with. Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish the difference between the passions of our flesh and the passions of HIS heart- but that is not the object of this note. I think the real question about passions is regarding the action we take in pursuit. It seems to me that the word, “passion” has become very split in its meanings. The world describes passion as one thing, God as another. I think a base understanding comes down to the notion of desire and what it is that we feel we cannot live without. That thing that spurs us or calls us forward. These we regard as passions. I believe the distinction is here- a worldy passion (verb) often times, at least in my life, is recognized in one’s recklessness in the pursuit of the desired- those possessing a passion of the world do anything to obtain the object of their affectation and desire. Recklessness often leads to rebellion or hastiness, impatience even- no duh, haha. This is not of God! A passion of God is recognized, at least in scripture, in one’s patient endurance on allowing God’s timing to bring about the desired (as long as the desire is of Him, if it is not then you’ll find yourself in rebellion anyway!)- that passion is marked with an understanding that suffering will ensue if this thing is to be pursued. Jesus illustrated that passion many times through His life. The time that comes to mind is as He said, “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem... how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings…(Luke 13:34)” Suffering produces patience. Patience is rooted in a word meaning, “longsuffering” the opposite of the worldly passion and a definition of love (1 Corinthians 13). Indeed, a passionate love is one that suffers for the desired.

On a personal note... I have a few desires in my life. The one I hope to be the most obvious is the desire for the presence of my Lord- seeing His fullness and glory! The ones He has placed on my heart is the desire to see my generation raised up in freedom and in power to storm the gates of hell and advance the Kingdom of God with force while setting other captives free in Truth, that they may make disciples that make disciples that make disciples, etc. Another is to remain unmentioned, yet I know it is of Him. Indeed as I look at these desires and how they begun passions in my life- I know I have not begun to suffer enough to rejoice with the blessing of their arrival. On one hand the revelation of this truth frustrates me at being so impatient so often, on the other hand it drives me forward to chase my Lord even more! Lord God, teach me suffering! Teach me patience and endurance and a love that demands I wait and suffer more for the fulfillment of what You have placed on my heart to seek. My generation calls out and wanders endlessly… they roam in hopelessness and curiosity… begging for redemption and to see the fullness of Your glory. Have Your way in my life and teach me to love with a suffering passion as You suffered to see us, Your people, brought into Your presence as well.

Warrior's Psalm

2008-08-04T23:29:00.004-04:00

I scream, but no breath escapes my lips,
No noise shatters this silence,
No truth penetrates the darkness.

I lift my hands in battle, but no weapon is found,
No sword to cut my enemies down,
No shield to defend me from their onslaught.

My mouth is open wide- my heart cries out for war!
No soldiers run to aid this cause,
No archers rain down wrath today.

My heart is frail within my chest, yet warring on,
No strength to go with but Yours alone,
No hope for victory but in Your right arm.

I scream, but no sound falls from my lungs,
No words that any dare to hear,
No revelation brings any new fear.

I whisper, but no one wonders what was spoken,
No curiosity calls to the knowledgeable,
No mystery excites the learned men.

Oh God, You have given me a spirit for war,
No glory declared but Yours alone,
No captive remaining when all is done.

Oh God, in You is found all power and strength,
No name above Your glorious Son’s,
No war You have not already won.

I scream, to God on high Who hears this cry,
No word desired but Your, “Well done,”
No action considered but to press on.

Life

2008-07-25T01:19:00.003-04:00

I’ve decided to be a little more personal with this blog now, don’t worry, the prophetic ranting will never cease, but I feel a compelling to simply write about life tonight.

So…

Last night was my farewell with Gamaliel’s Counsel… I am amazed and incredibly thankful that God has poured out His Spirit on them the way He has. I don’t know if I could have expected or imagined a group of my generation more godly or Spirit-led. A blessing was prayed over me and I am fully confident that God heard the prayer of that righteous man; there will be mighty work done through him. That group was my battalion this whole summer. The war we went into together was something none of us expected and yet God was preparing us all for individually. I cannot express with words how overwhelmed with joy I am at seeing their openness to the Holy Spirit and their love for one another- they are the firstfruits of my generation, the foundation and beginning of what God is doing with us here in America. I miss you.

I left Missouri and arrived home today. It seems as if my time spent in Missouri was far too short, yet I am very excited for the work God has in store for me here. Prairie Camp comes before everything else and I have been praying that at least one of my guys finds himself wrecked for the Holy Spirit by the end of the week (or the first day, to accurately reveal the prophetic impatience in my soul); you’re welcome to join me in praying for that as well! I don’t know what comes after that; God hasn’t allowed me to see anything concerning a job or school or the weeks between camp and anything else. It’s the time of limbo for a apostle I suppose, that time of knowing there’s something around the corner but you’re not quite sure what it is… you just have to wait until you’re there and then eventually look backwards shaking your head at God in amazement because you know He knew what it was the whole time.

In my seven hour car ride I discovered that every single (prophetic absolution) O.C. Supertones song corresponds to at least one distinct moment in my life. I recalled how “Grounded” was a battle cry in my life throughout my teenage years and how “Return of the Revolution” demanded I stand firm when faced with compromise and gave me a vision for my life. I reflected on the song “I Will Follow,” from the “Revenge…” album for quite awhile. This is the chorus:

And it was a sacrifice…
But there are those who give their lives.

Lord, I'll follow, if I have to leave all that I know
Where You go, I'll go, and I know that I don't go alone
Even if it's only me that goes
Even if it's only me that goes
Even if it's only me that goes
I will follow.

It blows me away to think that a few years ago I believed I understood that song and was ready to live out the proclamation, to say the least it has such a different meaning now! I know it is all that we have and can do, but there is something different about expecting to be ridiculed and tossed aside rather than saying you’re ready if indeed it does happen. I know that God is up to something in this Northern Indiana area. I believe there are a few of my generation who are ready for it and I pray God will direct me to them before it comes and things get shaken up.

My heart is still burdened for my generation. I call it a painful love because that is truly what it is. I was reading an older writing and discovered that this burden has been here for a long time; I simply didn’t know what it was at the time- the enemy had been trying to convince me that I couldn’t stand my generation in all of its darkness. My prophetic sister shared a life-changing observation with me and noted that it was not a loathing I feel towards it, but a true love. I feel as if God has given me a small notion of what He felt when dying for the world even when He knew many would reject Him, such a burden that cannot be shaken for anything- ice cream doesn’t even make it go away! My message cannot change; I have no right to change it… indeed I have no rights at all. I am a slave to His work. I know the status of sonship and I embrace it wholeheartedly, but even the Son could do nothing but the work of the Father, indeed I want to do nothing but the work of my Savior. Let us each press on.

-greg

July 20: I still hope

2008-07-25T00:41:00.000-04:00

Dear you,

Sometimes I wonder where you are. I know you should be here by now, but when I look around, you’re not. Perhaps my hopes and expectations are unreasonable, but I don’t think so- Dad said you’d be back. You’ve found what it is you believed you were looking for, but I don’t believe that’s all there is to it. I know you long for more. He’s been calling you your whole life; I don’t know how you’ve managed to ignore Him. He just tried to call again a bit ago- I was here watching- you didn’t answer. What is it you’re waiting for? For what are you holding out? That is honestly the most perplexing thing about all this- what holds you back? I know you’re in bondage, yet you can still move or at least answer the call… can’t you? Maybe I’ve forgotten what’s it’s like over there… maybe I’ve forgotten who I used to be… I don’t think so. I think I’ve simply healed of that past, of those times with you in that place. I don’t care about that life anymore; freedom is far too precious to give up for one moment. Don’t you get homesick at all? I know that if you came back for just a moment you’d never leave- why don’t you? “The cost is too great,” you say, “I have to leave my friends and my life,” yeah, you know that will never change. I’m not sorry about it, either, even that price is a steal compared to what it cost Dad to bring us back! Did Lucky convince you that isn’t worth it? That no true love would ever demand so much? HE’S LYING.

Sometimes I wonder if you’re coming home at all. I know my hope is not unfounded; He’ll never stop calling so I know it’s on your end that the breakage has occurred. What keeps you back? Don’t be afraid, really, there’s nothing to fear at all. That fear is an enemy keeping you where you do not belong. The people you find your identity in- they’re fooling you. The lover you find your happiness in- he’s tricking you too. You know I heard him call you filthy things and lie about you; telling all his friends what he does to you and how you’re wrapped around his finger. Why don’t you believe me when I say he’s not at all what he seems? Sometimes I wonder how long it will be before it’s too late. He’s such a liar and I can’t stand to hear him say those things about you! I know we’ve got some time left, yet even that is fading so quickly. I heard you had some fun the other day- he took you out and showed you off to the others. Does that make it worth it? That he prized you for a day before reminding you of your worth in his eyes? You’re not even married to him- what keeps you there?

Dad keeps teaching me new things, showing me bigger pictures, and helping me understand what He intended- that that plan isn’t over and hasn’t failed; it’s not done and there is hope. He hasn’t given up; neither will I. I know you’ll be here eventually, that time seems so far away. There are gifts sitting in the room you left, every day a new treasure is added to the pile; it’ll take a long time for you to get through them all, but we’ll have time then. Right now I just miss you… again… a lot. Right now I’m getting ready to come and get you. I’m not fully prepared yet, but it’s the mission I must pursue. I’m getting weapons and others; we’re coming. I wonder where you are and how long it will be before you come home. You know where to find me because you know where I go to look for you. I’ll not stop believing you will be free someday. I’ll not stop believing you will be home someday.

Love,
Me

Doing VS Being

2008-07-20T03:48:00.003-04:00

Recently I’ve had the opportunity to walk with a few good friends through some identity crises. In each case their life has seemed so much different than what it used to be and it’s confusing to them. Who are they now? They know for sure where they've come from and who they used to be; now Jesus is here and they're not sure if they're the same... who are they now? In each case it has more to do with their undoing themselves and letting God do His own work than anything else. Each case has more to do with being who God created them to be than doing what God created them to do. We are all created to do the same thing- DECLARE GOD’S GLORY, yet we somehow believe that we will all do this through different and unique actions. I disagree; I think it has more to do with declaring His glory in simply being. Jesus did not tell us that we are to shine the light of the world- that would be doing something; He told us that we are the light of the world. He didn’t tell us to spread salt on the earth- that would be doing something also; He told us we are the salt of the earth. He did not reveal Himself to Moses by saying “I do what I do,” He revealed Himself to Moses by declaring, “I AM THAT I AM.”

When we are who God created us to be, without the masks and the distortions, without the lies that hold us back in bondage and shape our actions and perspectives- we can’t help but “do” what will declare God’s glory- it is at the core of who we are! It runs out of our life and we can’t stop it! It is understandable that my friends were so confused at what God was doing to them; He is transforming their lives to the point that their lives and lifestyles has nothing to do with what they do or have done and everything to do with who Christ is in them! They were expecting God to give them something new to do- actually He was reforming who they will now BE- that His, the likeness of HIMSELF. That is transformation from dirt to spirit! That is being REBORN. That is what happens when we die to ourselves and let Christ live! When the husband is who God made him to be, declaring God’s glory is not about intentionally, actively making a choice to love his wife in a godly way- declaring God’s glory is done in the fact that he can’t NOT love his wife in a godly manner- HE MUST, it is part of the Holy Spirit indwelling him and living the life of Christ through him! Declaring God’s glory is about being filled with His Holy Spirit and thus living as Jesus would live and continuing HIS Kingdom here while loving in the way that compels us to obey all that He has commanded!

We miss the point when we ask the question “what would Jesus do?”(emphasis mine) His life wasn’t about displaying reproducible acts and manufacturing world change through robots or systematic, strategic actions- that’s religion- anyone can do that. It was about declaring the glory of God in every moment of life itself no matter what the circumstance and situation- that cannot be done without the Holy Spirit. Maybe we ought to ask “who would Jesus be?” That question will first of all demand that we revolutionize our lifestyles to the point of perplexity and fear of insanity for us in the lives of those in our life (Jesus' family, anyone?) and secondly convict us to the point that we must throw our hands up in frustration and DIE. That is the point- we must die. Living the life of Jesus cannot be done by our strength; we’ve already displayed that, look around. Living the life of Jesus can only be done by dying to ourselves and asking Him to declare His glory by living in us. It is by the Holy Spirit guiding and instructing every thought and action. It is about becoming a slave to righteousness and knowing that you are not your own. These things are the acts of God in our lives declaring His glory through the creation He gave His own image. It is about being, not doing. It is about who you are and not what you do. It is not about seeking forgiveness and then moving on without declaring yourself dead to that sin (rather than declaring that sin dead to you). Before you can be reborn- you must die.

We spend our lives looking for the next thing we need to do, all the while we ought be searching God’s will out and giving Him the right to do what He wants in us. This can only come through declaring ourselves dead to the flesh (rather than declaring the flesh dead to us- there’s a difference). It is only when we renounce and give up every right we ounce thought we had that we can truly find the purpose and identity we long for, because it has nothing to do with our lives and everything to do with Him living through us (Galatians 2:20). Have you declared yourself dead or do you still hold to expectations and “rights” of what your life is supposed to look like? The Holy Spirit is not about to destroy you to prove to you that you can’t hold on to anything. Look at your own life- if it looks anything like my own, you’ll see that you’re heading toward destruction of some sort anyway; we don’t need God’s help to see our lives wrecked, but we need His life to see them fulfilled. This is about the voluntary act, the submission of will and life itself to a Holy God that has intended a holy life for you to declare His glory through. It is not about struggling with sin while hoping for rapture. It is about running the earth declaring God’s glory before it’s too late.

Just like my friends; it is seems as if the church is in an identity crisis as well. It doesn’t know if it should be passive or active, political or disconnected, powerful or meek, set apart or involved. What question is it asking? Are we seeking out “what would Jesus do?” or are we seeking out His life itself. Has it declared itself dead? Has the church of America decided it has no rights? It doesn’t seem so, at least not when we’re fighting so hard to be to be seen on every television network and in every school as if we have a right to be heard. We fight to be relevant and fresh. What are we even saying? Does this declare God’s glory? Honestly, what are we even saying? There are no words worth hearing but those that come through the Holy Spirit’s whisper and leading. Is the church struggling to stay alive in itself? To remain above the water and decide it isn’t going down without a fight? Maybe that’s the point- we’ve believed for so long in our right to live that we’ve forgotten that we live to die. Not until the church of America (and our whole generation with it) decides and understands that its sole purpose is to declare the glory of God and dies to itself in order to live only as Jesus lives in it will it be what it is purposed to be and thus do what it was meant to do.

We’re spending too much time trying to figure out what to do. Who is it we were meant to be? Can you answer that question? If I asked, “Who are you?” how would you respond? Would you tell me what you do? Or would you tell me who you are?

Well, who are you?

Letters From War

2008-07-15T15:17:00.002-04:00

To my generation:

Dear you,

We have cowered in fear of the darkness around us for too long. We have misunderstood our role and our calling for too long. We have seen the enemy work in our lives and the lives of those we love all around us. Some of us are captive, others are free, some of us are wandering, others are lost, some of us are frightened, others are simply misplaced, a few of us are in the war, but we are few and calling you out. It is time to rally and fight. It is not our time to sit and pretend the Sabbath has arrived; it has not. It is not time to make believe everything is okay or escape into some fantasy world where you’re not who you truly are. The draft is inescapable. You have been born, you exist, and therefore you are in this war. The question is- are you active or passive. Passivity is useless, it simply means that you’re lying down on the battlefield and getting the life beat out of you, wondering where it’s coming from and why the enemy is picking on you (don’t be surprised, the intentionally lame are some of his favorite targets!), to those active I must ask, “For whom do you fight?” To fight for yourself is useless; you have not even been set free! To fight for the earth is meaningless; it is cursed and destined to be replaced. To fight for the church is to miss the point; her Rescuer is on His way and you will not take His place. To fight for the King is your place- to take your stand advancing (not defending) His kingdom is your birth-purpose. Own it and come. There is nothing else to live for; nothing else to die for.

Love,
me

………………………………………………………………………………………...................................
To the wandering of my generation:

Dear you,

We are not fighting for ourselves, neither for our world; we are purposed to fight for our Redeemer King and Savior. There is no one else worth the calling or the price, He has rescued us from the slavery we once lived in and has done it so that we may remain free from it always. The calling is clear- your life, right now. The most painful idea and scariest time is the cost of joining- death to self, there is no other way. Recently I have seen the enemy and his tactics, they are fierce and they are divisive- still we must go, have no fear. We have no other choice. Our God has blessed us with spiritual weapons and understanding so that we do not enter this war blind and powerless. However, if you choose to fight with the weapons the world has given you- you will fall and fail. This is not a joke and it is not a scare, this war is raging around us and the best thing you can do is discover your purpose within it. You are being called to freedom so you can go and set others free. Free from pain, free from sin, free from worry and bondage that keeps them from entering this war and seeing the glory of their Maker. Bring them with you, train them in the Spirit; let’s go.

Love,
me

………………………………………………………………………………………….............................
To the hiding of my generation:

Dear you,

Come out of your caves of self-introspection and pointless pursuit of meaningless things. Come out of the places you hide in hoping the oppressor will not find you. Come out of the low areas. Come off of the mountain. You cannot escape; the war will come upon you soon. There is no way to hide. Come out and fight; come out and take your stand. Give up the obsessions you have been pleased to spend your time pursuing- take up your armor and your weapons. Come to the valley and take your place. The place you reside is not your home, it is where you have decided to escape, but beware- the enemy is coming for you soon, and where you are is not under the Lord’s protection. Withdrawing from the battle does not equal amnesty- it equals desertion.
Come out and come on.

Love,
me

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To the threshed of my generation:

Dear you,

I know that the Lord has produced fruit in your life, however, as long as you lie in the barn and attempt to scatter seed- you are not in the battle and your seed benefits no one. Come to the field. Come to the place where the ground has been tilled and we are ready for your work. You have been blessed to be taken in to the shelter, but your time there has expired and it is now time for you to join the fight. The rain is on the way, but we have no seed! You have been beaten and prepared- for what you did not know- now you must come and see for yourself what was happening around your place of protection. It is a lie that your place is in the barn with the other wheat- that time has not yet come. The truth is that your place is out here in the battle, using what training you have received to set other captives free indeed. Come and be put to use, you have died to yourself already- you simply haven’t left the threshing floor. It’s time to see the outside. Come.

Love,
me

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To the captives of my generation:

Dear you,

I still love and miss you and I’ve decided something… I don’t care if you don’t like it or what it means ultimately, I just know that I must do this.

I’m coming to get you. I’m coming and I’m bringing the army.

I’m tired of hearing of the beatings. I’m tired of hearing of the abuse and the pain in your life and how you think it’s all there is. That’s a lie. It’s false, there’s so much more. This is war now; I know what it means and I am ready. I’m bringing everyone you know, we’re coming to get you and we won’t stop till you either tell us to back off or you’re safe and free. Lucky takes captives to make them his own; they’re useless in this war as long as you’ve locked away in sand castles. You are the treasure we are out to pay everything for. You are the pearl we will take back from the earth. I can’t wait any longer for you to respond to my letters (you probably can’t anyway), it’s simply time to come get you. Your strong Deliverer is coming; we ride with Him too. Help is on the way.

Love,
us

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To the enemy of generations:

Dear you,

Your tactics are futile and your lies pathetic. You desire the glory you once had but you cannot know it ever again. You removed yourself from the glory of heaven long ago, no matter how you desire it back- it cannot be done. Your ways are known, therefore defensible and discernable. We come knowing your plans and your territory’s- they will be His soon enough. Look to the North, the South, the East, and the West- your demise is coming soon. This generation is one of impatience for your destruction. Though you have enslaved it in many areas, you will not hold your ground when this army comes. You hold many of those whom we love in your prisons- we will have them among us before you are aware they are gone. You hold many of those whom we love in high places- your authority will be removed and your destiny revealed once again. You will be chained and thrown into that dreadful place- the one made just for you. The free will set others free by the authority of the Name above all names- Jesus Christ. We come covered in His blood and reflecting His light. We come covered in His grace and filled with His truth. We come prepared to die; indeed dead already; there is no hope for you. We come with a battle cry of “Holy, Holy, Holy!” and firmly established on the Rock of ages! We come protected by a Shield you cannot see, one you cannot move or break. Shake as you know your fate! Your lies are old and undone. Your roar muffled in the ears of the holy. You have been defeated already- it is time for the routing. Do you remember the day of Calvary? It is our day of redemption- your day of destruction. Long live the King!

Your enemy,
The Redeemed