"If the watchman sees the sword coming, and does not give a note on the horn, and the people have no word of the danger, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them; he will be taken away in his sin, but I will make the watchman responsible for his blood." Ezekiel 33:6 (BBE)
I have often mentioned a desire to belong to a Christian community that is bold in their faith enough to stand against the secular desire to silence people of the Christian faith. To stand without regret in a manner that reflects the boldness of God and the declaration of their right to worship. Not to do so in a way that is opposite of what the Bible declares us to be, but refusing to allow limitations to be unfairly imposed because they declare themselves to be evangelical born-again Christians.
It appears that I've found a Pastor who isn't afraid to declare that he struggles, is open and direct in his teachings, and will stand upon the call to lead the faithful in the battle to preach the Word of God, regardless of what others might do to stop him or the faithful he shepherds.
The current form of battle which Pastor Combs and his congregation at Faith Baptist are involved in differs depending on who you ask.
The congregation says that the Township of Waterford is persecuting the church in violation of their rights.
The Waterford Township Supervisor, Carl Solden, says that the issue isn't one of a First Amendment right to freely exercise religion but one simply of a noise complaint filed by one of the church's geographical neighbors, Timothy Carlson.
Carlson filed a lawsuit in February with the Oakland County Courts seeking a court order for the reduction of volume used in the worship service which features 'rock music' and other songs. "When you can hear the noise, inside a residence across the street with the doors and windows closed, it's too loud," said Carlson's lawyer, Andrew Paluda.
Pastor Jim Combs first contacted the Thomas More Law Center in late October 2007, after the first in a series of police raids.
Uniformed Waterford Police raided the church without any warrant and detained Campus Pastor Mark Kerr, performing an interrogation and unlawfully seizing his Driver's license. During a Wednesday night youth service, uniformed Township police, led by the Township prosecutor, burst into the Church’s sanctuary where the Church’s “Praise and Worship” band was warming up. The prosecutor ordered the officers to take the names and addresses of all the young people on stage so that they could be charged with “disorderly conduct. “ On a Sunday, Waterford Township police again raided Faith Baptist, this time during the Pastor Comb’s evening sermon, attempting to disrupt the service by ordering the "Praise and Worship" band members out to surrender their driver's licenses for personal information. An Assistant Pastor volunteered to bring the members to the police to prevent an uproar with the congregation and the police backed down. In another incident, the Township prosecutor was caught conducting personal surveillance on the Church from his parked car just days later.
The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed a federal lawsuit in March against the Waterford Township supervisor, prosecutor and two high ranking police officials because of the police incursions into the church and threats made by the Township prosecutor to continue each time music was heard coming from the church walls.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel for TMLC said, “Uniformed police officers entering a church during religious services and young church members being threatened with prosecution is something that happens in Communist China - not in America. “
Faith Baptist members have allegated police harassment in the forms of such raids are to silence their right to worship which violate their Free Exercise of religion, Free Speech and Freedom of Association rights under both the Michigan and the United States Constitutions . The actions of police have had a chilling effect on worship, the suit claims, which is seeking a cessation of the raiding tactics and monetary damages.
Thompson spoke of why Faith Baptist filed the counter lawsuit, “It is clear that Waterford Township authorities targeted Faith Baptist Church because of the type of religious music it uses in its services. Some of the individual police officers involved in the raids - apparently more sensitive to the constitutional protections surrounding religion than were their superiors - personally apologized afterwards.
Solden denies any harassment from the Township or the Police Department, saying "We're trying to get this resolved in a reasonable way."
Such 'reasonable' methods used by the Waterford Township sound more like European tactics involving silencing the Christian faith than tolerance for all Americans to pursue the religious worship they please. Or even the Chinese heavy handed persecution of the Christians within their borders, forcing many to live underground in "house" churches. Or even the historical persecution of the faithful in the annuals of European history. Yet, this isn't making alot of news in the liberal media outlets. One might say that it's because of a 'low news status' or maybe 'no new news.'
Why then, when the Al-Isah Islamic Center wanted to sound the muslim call to prayer in Hamtramck, a previously predominantly Catholic and Polish community, was there such an outcry against those who opposed it? The Center wanted to use loudspeakers to sound the call throughout the community and the media was quick to point out that the Christian churches in the area traditionally sounded bells that could be heard for miles. The Center was eventually given permission.
Waterford is not alone in its pursuit of congregations within their jurisdictions, with such legal battles happening on an alarming basis throughout the nation. In our 'own' backyard, there are many cities who are using the legal system in an effort to curb churches. The City of Southfield lost a case in 2007 against Lighthouse Community Church of God under the Religious Land Use and Institutions Persons Act, which prevents governments from zoning out houses of worship in their communities. Dan Dalton, a Royal Oak attorney who represented the church in the case said, " The cities have, for the past 200 years or so, said, 'We'll tell you where you can be because we don't want to lose tax base.' " Churches are non-taxed, either in tithing given or properties owned. It is not the churches, Dalton claim, that are wanting to be in court.
Faith Baptist Church, headed by Pastor Jim Combs, has a congregation of 10,000 members and conducts nondenominational, contemporary religious services on three different campuses. The police raids targeted the Waterford Township campus with 5,000 members. I attend his church centrally located between the two other campuses in Holly, Michigan named The River. I live next store to the College Street campus, which is a converted school building. The congregation is approximately 1,000 (by my observation) that meet in the Holly High School Auditorium every Sunday at 9:30 am.
In biblical times, a trumpet (hebrew word is "shofar") was sounded to warn people of impending danger, among other reasons. As the country moves towards a more liberal, universalistic religious attitude, the persecution and limiting of the Christian faith will only get worse as the world progresses towards the day of the Lord's Return.
We continue to deal with the effects of 'feminizing' men, killing our future generations in the womb, removing the reminders and heritage of our Christian faith upon the culture, and watering down the uncomfortable Truth that is evidenced in the Biblical scriptures.
We often look towards churches and Pastors like Jim Combs and the members of Faith Baptist as being poor Christians because they chose not to back down or apologize for their faith and stand upon the liberties of this country to pursue those rights to express their belief and joy in Jesus Christ. This country has moved further left as it continues to allow the dream of the founding fathers, who spilled their own blood and the blood of their families in an effort to allow themselves to be free to worship as they pleased, is being rewritten into a dream of liberal universalism of an subjective truth called "modern" Religion.
Though the country was not founded as a Christian nation, the faith and its tenents were used in the formation of the government and the laws by which it was once governed. The government is nothing like what it was originally formed to be; the judicial branch is making the laws, the legislative branch is a collection of self-perserving interests, and the executive branch is cut off from coordination of the two.
As we move closer and closer to an election of a President who no longer holds the heritage and value of the evangelical faith as paramount, who takes the oath to preserve, defend, and protect the original Constitution of the United States of America but rather opts for a more liberal and culturally shifting interpetation of the dream that once gave birth to a nation of hope, it will be the faithful who stand regardless of the persecution and devaluing of their beliefs upon the fields of spiritual battle and raise their swords and shields high.
The sword is swinging and the faithful are its target.
It is time to sound the shofar, to warn of the dangers that await this once-great nation as it heads into the darkness of humanism, universalism, and atheism. We have forgotten the face of our Father.
We have forgotten who's we are.
No longer is silent faith acceptable, if it ever was. It is time to preach the Good News, to show those we love and care for, as well as the stranger on the street, that salvation is available and soon, before we know it, the choice will no longer be accessible as our Lord returns.
The fields are ripe for harvest, yet the workers seem to be on a lunch break.
Pastor Combs and the congregation of Faith Baptist aren't the first and hopefully the new leadership of the Christian faith that is being developed today will not forget their charge; to preach the Gospel and to stand firm in their faith.
I think I've found my home for the season God has me here.
Resources:
http://journals.aol.com/kingbing1/FortiFi/entries/2008/04/02/churchs-music-leads-to-lawsuits-members-of-faith-baptist-church-in-waterford-michigan-says-townsh/4258
http://thomaslawcenter.com
Tuesday, September 30
Monday, September 29
Living naturally in an unnatural world.....
"As the rain and the snow come down from Heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my Word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:10-11
It was my intention this morning, in preparation to writing this blog, to highlight the preaching I was privy to at The River in Holly this Sunday past. But, in my email box was a comment by a person who wished to remain anomnyous, stating that my post on "Degrees of Separation....from God" was part of the 'ex-gay' movment and misleading by using Dr. Collins' comment concerning 'natural use'.
Funny, the post wasn't about homosexuality or the sin that it is, though that is one of the most controversial topics that I could've chosen as a talking point. It was how we, as people, create a mindset that makes whatever is our biggest difficulty 'okay', despite what the Bible says and what is 'natural'. I used Dr. Collins' comment to show that even 'natural' can be defined beyond what our desires may be, an absolute akin to the Biblical truth that cannot be change, even if the author didn't intend such when he made the comment.
If you want to see anonymous' references regarding Dr. Collins' statement that his comments are used out-of-context in the 'ex-gay' mantra, they are posted there.
Pastor Jim Combs' sermon this Sunday past was great, www.hisriver.net. It hit home with me that there is so much 'division' within the church body that unless you adopt a no-challenge attitude, you will be opposed and it becomes a matter of who can shout louder. You seldom hear a pastor admit to struggling against the flesh, yet we seem to be surprised (as brethren) when they fall.
For a pastor to admit to struggling means that they shouldn't be on the pulpit, and we judge them unfit for ministry when realistically there are none without sin and few are called specifically to ministry. This hits home with me because of my own call and the opposition to it from everyone but God it seems. As one of my Pastors said, "Remember, a minister's reputation is golden." Unless, apparently, you tell the truth....about your struggles, about your faults, and about your total reliance upon a merciful God. Those things will kill a minister in today's church.
Paul, in Pastor Combs' teaching, did the same thing throughout his ministry and the world erupted around him when he refused to back off the truth and admit to struggling against his 'unnatural' natural fleshly tendencies. In Acts 23:1-5, Paul is in a meeting with the Council, called the Sanhedrin, and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day."
This is the same Paul, who still dealt with the sins of the flesh, 'doing what I know not to do and not doing what I know to do', and being 'chief sinner' among the brethren. The same Paul who was a major force in seeking God in all things, rather than lay back and let someone else do the work. Paul, to whom I look forward to many a talk around the campfire.
Having a 'good conscience' is not something Paul mentions in passing, but consistently. "My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent." (1 Corinthians 4:4. "Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God." (2 Corinthians 1:12). He also refers to it in Romans 9:1, 1 Corinthians 24:1, and 2 Timothy 1:3.
What did Paul mean by that "good conscience?" Was it a matter of convincing himself that he was being honest in his ministry and content in the fact that such a feeling that he was within God's parameters for a faithful walk?
I think it was a matter of honesty. There is a point in your walk with God where you have to reach beyond the knowledge of your flesh and reach for God's wisdom. Where you speak the truth, and seek to subject yourself to that truth regardless of your failed, broken, and sinful flesh. Where you realize that you aren't good enough, will never in this life be good enough, and could never fully conquer the 'unnatural' design that comes from the Fall and you keep seeking God's hand, wisdom, and authority to get up again and fight the flesh again. Not only do you do that, but you open yourself up to others within the body to help you, to hold you accountable to God, and to support you in the struggle.
In a personal, intimate relationship...not of a sexual nature, but a real and honest one. Nothing hidden, but all brought into the light of God's love.
It wasn't Paul's holiness or sincerity that he fell back on to support 'his good conscience.' It was from God that Paul drew his support, to supply him with those things that were once naturally part of us but that had been lost from the Fall; honesty, sincerity, and holiness.
Paul knew that he was living unnaturally, in reference to the original design, and only God could bring him into a position where he lived naturally. Paul lived his life exposed, regardless of the blemish or the fault. He gave anything good, anything of value, to God's grace and intervention........God, alone, has the ability to empower us to higher, natural living.
And it should be the emulation of Paul, Peter, James, and the rest of the leaders that once trained under Christ that we should be pursuing as leaders, ministers, pastors, and envoys of the Most High God. Realizing that we are truly broken, sinful, and willfully disobedience in an 'unnatural' natural way, and submitting ourselves daily, hourly, and moment by passing moment to that drive that God places within us all to live by that pure, absolute, and natural way He intended us to live.
We cannot do anything on our own, much less save ourselves. And we cannot know God fully by our application of human characteristics or human attitudes. This is by God's design, where we rely on His mercy and grace rather than try and boast of our own 'triumphs' over sin and the evilness (i.e. opposition to God) that unnaturally exists in our fallen nature.
Rather, we should, as St. Jerome said, endeavor to know the Scriptures so that we can recognize God's words as He speaks to us today through the understanding of what He Himself said. God tells us that His word will not return void. It is up to us to recognize the song that our Lord and Savior sings through the meticulous and deliberate emersion in His provided word….unaltered and unchanged by our culture, our desires, and our humanity---all which are broken and sinful by nature.
God's word is unique to Him, and so we have a standard to hold anything else attributed to Him by......
In all good conscience, we must hold what we hear, read, and ourselves to God's standards and not our own. Man cannot define God, God has defined Himself as beyond our linear comprehension.
Through our own attempts, nothing is possible but sin and evil. Even the enemy can make our attempts to be good look 'good.'
Through God, all things good and holy, merciful and right, suddenly become possible for us broken humans to do; living up to an natural design in an unnatural world. Doing good against the odds.
I spend my prayer time praying that God will forgive what I have failed at, claim the glory for what I have done right in kingdom business, and give me the strength to continue to fight against my fleshly nature in pursuit of a natural design as decreed by my Creator.
Total reliance, total submission to a God worth so much more.
Just my thoughts………
It was my intention this morning, in preparation to writing this blog, to highlight the preaching I was privy to at The River in Holly this Sunday past. But, in my email box was a comment by a person who wished to remain anomnyous, stating that my post on "Degrees of Separation....from God" was part of the 'ex-gay' movment and misleading by using Dr. Collins' comment concerning 'natural use'.
Funny, the post wasn't about homosexuality or the sin that it is, though that is one of the most controversial topics that I could've chosen as a talking point. It was how we, as people, create a mindset that makes whatever is our biggest difficulty 'okay', despite what the Bible says and what is 'natural'. I used Dr. Collins' comment to show that even 'natural' can be defined beyond what our desires may be, an absolute akin to the Biblical truth that cannot be change, even if the author didn't intend such when he made the comment.
If you want to see anonymous' references regarding Dr. Collins' statement that his comments are used out-of-context in the 'ex-gay' mantra, they are posted there.
Pastor Jim Combs' sermon this Sunday past was great, www.hisriver.net. It hit home with me that there is so much 'division' within the church body that unless you adopt a no-challenge attitude, you will be opposed and it becomes a matter of who can shout louder. You seldom hear a pastor admit to struggling against the flesh, yet we seem to be surprised (as brethren) when they fall.
For a pastor to admit to struggling means that they shouldn't be on the pulpit, and we judge them unfit for ministry when realistically there are none without sin and few are called specifically to ministry. This hits home with me because of my own call and the opposition to it from everyone but God it seems. As one of my Pastors said, "Remember, a minister's reputation is golden." Unless, apparently, you tell the truth....about your struggles, about your faults, and about your total reliance upon a merciful God. Those things will kill a minister in today's church.
Paul, in Pastor Combs' teaching, did the same thing throughout his ministry and the world erupted around him when he refused to back off the truth and admit to struggling against his 'unnatural' natural fleshly tendencies. In Acts 23:1-5, Paul is in a meeting with the Council, called the Sanhedrin, and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day."
This is the same Paul, who still dealt with the sins of the flesh, 'doing what I know not to do and not doing what I know to do', and being 'chief sinner' among the brethren. The same Paul who was a major force in seeking God in all things, rather than lay back and let someone else do the work. Paul, to whom I look forward to many a talk around the campfire.
Having a 'good conscience' is not something Paul mentions in passing, but consistently. "My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent." (1 Corinthians 4:4. "Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God." (2 Corinthians 1:12). He also refers to it in Romans 9:1, 1 Corinthians 24:1, and 2 Timothy 1:3.
What did Paul mean by that "good conscience?" Was it a matter of convincing himself that he was being honest in his ministry and content in the fact that such a feeling that he was within God's parameters for a faithful walk?
I think it was a matter of honesty. There is a point in your walk with God where you have to reach beyond the knowledge of your flesh and reach for God's wisdom. Where you speak the truth, and seek to subject yourself to that truth regardless of your failed, broken, and sinful flesh. Where you realize that you aren't good enough, will never in this life be good enough, and could never fully conquer the 'unnatural' design that comes from the Fall and you keep seeking God's hand, wisdom, and authority to get up again and fight the flesh again. Not only do you do that, but you open yourself up to others within the body to help you, to hold you accountable to God, and to support you in the struggle.
In a personal, intimate relationship...not of a sexual nature, but a real and honest one. Nothing hidden, but all brought into the light of God's love.
It wasn't Paul's holiness or sincerity that he fell back on to support 'his good conscience.' It was from God that Paul drew his support, to supply him with those things that were once naturally part of us but that had been lost from the Fall; honesty, sincerity, and holiness.
Paul knew that he was living unnaturally, in reference to the original design, and only God could bring him into a position where he lived naturally. Paul lived his life exposed, regardless of the blemish or the fault. He gave anything good, anything of value, to God's grace and intervention........God, alone, has the ability to empower us to higher, natural living.
And it should be the emulation of Paul, Peter, James, and the rest of the leaders that once trained under Christ that we should be pursuing as leaders, ministers, pastors, and envoys of the Most High God. Realizing that we are truly broken, sinful, and willfully disobedience in an 'unnatural' natural way, and submitting ourselves daily, hourly, and moment by passing moment to that drive that God places within us all to live by that pure, absolute, and natural way He intended us to live.
We cannot do anything on our own, much less save ourselves. And we cannot know God fully by our application of human characteristics or human attitudes. This is by God's design, where we rely on His mercy and grace rather than try and boast of our own 'triumphs' over sin and the evilness (i.e. opposition to God) that unnaturally exists in our fallen nature.
Rather, we should, as St. Jerome said, endeavor to know the Scriptures so that we can recognize God's words as He speaks to us today through the understanding of what He Himself said. God tells us that His word will not return void. It is up to us to recognize the song that our Lord and Savior sings through the meticulous and deliberate emersion in His provided word….unaltered and unchanged by our culture, our desires, and our humanity---all which are broken and sinful by nature.
God's word is unique to Him, and so we have a standard to hold anything else attributed to Him by......
In all good conscience, we must hold what we hear, read, and ourselves to God's standards and not our own. Man cannot define God, God has defined Himself as beyond our linear comprehension.
Through our own attempts, nothing is possible but sin and evil. Even the enemy can make our attempts to be good look 'good.'
Through God, all things good and holy, merciful and right, suddenly become possible for us broken humans to do; living up to an natural design in an unnatural world. Doing good against the odds.
I spend my prayer time praying that God will forgive what I have failed at, claim the glory for what I have done right in kingdom business, and give me the strength to continue to fight against my fleshly nature in pursuit of a natural design as decreed by my Creator.
Total reliance, total submission to a God worth so much more.
Just my thoughts………
Friday, September 26
A 'quiet' life pursued loudly.
"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands" 1 Thessalonians 4:11 NASB
Shawn McEvoy, Editor of Crosswalk.com, wrote a blog entitled "Ambition" yesterday, http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/mcevoy/11582196/, that spoke to my heart in regards to the pursuit of ministry and the purpose to which I write this blog of my own. I laughed at God, not just that one occassion, but in the pathway that He has given me to travel several times since whenever the topic of my ministrial call comes up.
Laughing because too many seem so shocked when I mention it, others shrug and continue on to other topics, and a selective few...who tend to come along in those moments when the twlight sets and my humanity is at its greatest, wrapped in the enticements of the Evil One's whispers of doubt and despair......who look at me with excitment and happiness to edify me and caution me to heed God's call because He has marked me in an obvious manner to His purpose of declaration.
Often times, when I was seeking God's wisdom before I ministered to the faithful saints at Meadowbrook Chapel, I would wind up furiously scribbing on napkins, scraps of paper, and even highlighting verses, dog-earing the pages minutes before I walked in, because God impressed upon my heart to speak of a topic or a verse that was totally alien to the 'prepared' sermon I had pages of notes about. This happened so much that I'd arrive an half hour earily unprepared to seek God's mind on the ministering at hand. He never failed to mention what He wanted me to speak of.
I started writing this blog because I felt that I did indeed have something to say, something to impart from my growing knowledge of Scripture and biblical truths....and yet, God has impressed Himself upon me here too...even in the political and ethical blogs I have written in regards to Obama's or McCain's presidential campaigns.
It never fails, when I want to personally write about something, it never works out right and most times, I'll never even post the thousands of blog topics I have struggled to write.
Yet, when it seems God has something to say, it flows like honey from my fingers upon the keyboard.
Most of you note that I have a 'tracker' on my blogspace, which points to locations on the world map where people have accessed the blog. It also keeps count of visits to the site, counting the address of the reader only once, regardless of how many times they access.
That is partly because of my unbelief, which Satan knows full well of, that I truly have something to say that God imparts upon me the authority to speak and teach in His name for the sake of His kingdom. Partly, because I try and figure out if the blog was well recieved, a hard thing to do but something I try anyway.
The highest 'readership' of a day was 21. The usual, 7, unless I didn't post for the day, which it drops down to 3 (me, and two other people). My own accessing counts for one, so at least I know that one person is reading it....even if it is myself.
When God spoke to me during Gene Appel's first conference speech as Lead Pastor of Willow Creek, Bill Hybel's church, and told me that He wanted me to serve Him in that capacity; I never saw or envisioned that I would be the 'famous' pastor of a mega-church, partly because of my own desire never to be part of such a haven of hidden lives as seems to be the lifeline of mega-churches and partly because I would never assume that God would be glorified in my personal pride.
I envisioned a church the size of that old Jehovah Witness hall on Milford road leading into Holly, and pictured preparing another to assume the mantle of the call when the congregation was big enough to need more space....breaking off a group to plant another church; one big enough to leave room for new members in the old group and firmly plant the new group in the new location. Nor did I think I'd lead the new congregation from afar, creating a 'manager' in essence at the new location, while retaining the mantle of leadership. I don't see where Christ did that in the first church and I don't see where I'd have the authority to make such a change. The purpose, I think, of a pastor is to shepherd the sheep in the fulfillment of the Gospel; tell others of Christ and to disciple them to lead lives personally devoted to Christ and reach out to others to disciple in the same.
There is evidence of this being the mode operandus of the first church, as Peter and the others decided upon Matthis taking Judas' place in the twelve. I envisioned my church being set upon that format; a pastor and twelve 'disciples' who would be eventual pastors of their own congregations, a cycle never ending and a cycle constantly in motion towards that end.
Of course, that may never come to pass in the life that I have left here. Through foolish judgments, false assumptions, or just plain undesireability in the eyes of man, I might spend my whole life seeking out God's purpose and never finding roots in which to watch it grow. Or God may smack around a few lunkheads to help them bring this to fruition.
Either way, it doesn't dismiss my willing submission to the call or my continuous movement towards a perfection that I know myself I will never attain truly and completely in this life, though I may be blessed enough to appear to come close. As I told my dear brother in Christ once; if I ever have the feeling that "I have arrived," is the moment I truly have superceded God's purpose for my own prideful ambition. I may never feel worthy to answer the call, but God has called and I have no other desire...even if I don't think I'm the man for the job....but to follow God's lead and trust He'll give me what I need to rely on Him totally in the Kingdom business........
That is my 'business', if you will, and something I am eager to do 'with the hands that God created and empowers with His mercy.'
It is my hope, my dream if you will, that I lead a life quietly in pursuit of God...though I trust God will make it as noisy as He wants it to be for the benefit of His plan of displaying His grace, mercy, and absolute love for those who don't declare Him God.
Whether you are called to be a 'stay-at-home mom' or a working CEO of a major corporation, the most powerful man in the entire 'free world' or the garbage collector clothed in shadows..never noticed or thought of in the grand scheme of things, each of us should serve our King as Paul calls the Thessalonians to.....quiet life worked with our hands.
For God's purpose, grace, and glorification.
Never our own.
Shawn McEvoy, Editor of Crosswalk.com, wrote a blog entitled "Ambition" yesterday, http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/mcevoy/11582196/, that spoke to my heart in regards to the pursuit of ministry and the purpose to which I write this blog of my own. I laughed at God, not just that one occassion, but in the pathway that He has given me to travel several times since whenever the topic of my ministrial call comes up.
Laughing because too many seem so shocked when I mention it, others shrug and continue on to other topics, and a selective few...who tend to come along in those moments when the twlight sets and my humanity is at its greatest, wrapped in the enticements of the Evil One's whispers of doubt and despair......who look at me with excitment and happiness to edify me and caution me to heed God's call because He has marked me in an obvious manner to His purpose of declaration.
Often times, when I was seeking God's wisdom before I ministered to the faithful saints at Meadowbrook Chapel, I would wind up furiously scribbing on napkins, scraps of paper, and even highlighting verses, dog-earing the pages minutes before I walked in, because God impressed upon my heart to speak of a topic or a verse that was totally alien to the 'prepared' sermon I had pages of notes about. This happened so much that I'd arrive an half hour earily unprepared to seek God's mind on the ministering at hand. He never failed to mention what He wanted me to speak of.
I started writing this blog because I felt that I did indeed have something to say, something to impart from my growing knowledge of Scripture and biblical truths....and yet, God has impressed Himself upon me here too...even in the political and ethical blogs I have written in regards to Obama's or McCain's presidential campaigns.
It never fails, when I want to personally write about something, it never works out right and most times, I'll never even post the thousands of blog topics I have struggled to write.
Yet, when it seems God has something to say, it flows like honey from my fingers upon the keyboard.
Most of you note that I have a 'tracker' on my blogspace, which points to locations on the world map where people have accessed the blog. It also keeps count of visits to the site, counting the address of the reader only once, regardless of how many times they access.
That is partly because of my unbelief, which Satan knows full well of, that I truly have something to say that God imparts upon me the authority to speak and teach in His name for the sake of His kingdom. Partly, because I try and figure out if the blog was well recieved, a hard thing to do but something I try anyway.
The highest 'readership' of a day was 21. The usual, 7, unless I didn't post for the day, which it drops down to 3 (me, and two other people). My own accessing counts for one, so at least I know that one person is reading it....even if it is myself.
When God spoke to me during Gene Appel's first conference speech as Lead Pastor of Willow Creek, Bill Hybel's church, and told me that He wanted me to serve Him in that capacity; I never saw or envisioned that I would be the 'famous' pastor of a mega-church, partly because of my own desire never to be part of such a haven of hidden lives as seems to be the lifeline of mega-churches and partly because I would never assume that God would be glorified in my personal pride.
I envisioned a church the size of that old Jehovah Witness hall on Milford road leading into Holly, and pictured preparing another to assume the mantle of the call when the congregation was big enough to need more space....breaking off a group to plant another church; one big enough to leave room for new members in the old group and firmly plant the new group in the new location. Nor did I think I'd lead the new congregation from afar, creating a 'manager' in essence at the new location, while retaining the mantle of leadership. I don't see where Christ did that in the first church and I don't see where I'd have the authority to make such a change. The purpose, I think, of a pastor is to shepherd the sheep in the fulfillment of the Gospel; tell others of Christ and to disciple them to lead lives personally devoted to Christ and reach out to others to disciple in the same.
There is evidence of this being the mode operandus of the first church, as Peter and the others decided upon Matthis taking Judas' place in the twelve. I envisioned my church being set upon that format; a pastor and twelve 'disciples' who would be eventual pastors of their own congregations, a cycle never ending and a cycle constantly in motion towards that end.
Of course, that may never come to pass in the life that I have left here. Through foolish judgments, false assumptions, or just plain undesireability in the eyes of man, I might spend my whole life seeking out God's purpose and never finding roots in which to watch it grow. Or God may smack around a few lunkheads to help them bring this to fruition.
Either way, it doesn't dismiss my willing submission to the call or my continuous movement towards a perfection that I know myself I will never attain truly and completely in this life, though I may be blessed enough to appear to come close. As I told my dear brother in Christ once; if I ever have the feeling that "I have arrived," is the moment I truly have superceded God's purpose for my own prideful ambition. I may never feel worthy to answer the call, but God has called and I have no other desire...even if I don't think I'm the man for the job....but to follow God's lead and trust He'll give me what I need to rely on Him totally in the Kingdom business........
That is my 'business', if you will, and something I am eager to do 'with the hands that God created and empowers with His mercy.'
It is my hope, my dream if you will, that I lead a life quietly in pursuit of God...though I trust God will make it as noisy as He wants it to be for the benefit of His plan of displaying His grace, mercy, and absolute love for those who don't declare Him God.
Whether you are called to be a 'stay-at-home mom' or a working CEO of a major corporation, the most powerful man in the entire 'free world' or the garbage collector clothed in shadows..never noticed or thought of in the grand scheme of things, each of us should serve our King as Paul calls the Thessalonians to.....quiet life worked with our hands.
For God's purpose, grace, and glorification.
Never our own.
Thursday, September 25
Wild at Heart, a study with John Eldredge.
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly....who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory or defeat." Teddy Roosevelt, taken from John Eldredge's Wild At Heart introduction.
Every man questions the feelings, desires, and drive within him that from birth seems to drive him counterculturally and disruptively against the flow and ebb of life on this planet. He doesn't want to engage at a personal level, although he still hungers within for that very thing. Too often men wrap themselves up in pursuits...sports, hunting, fishing, extreme adventures, to make up for this need that burns inside them to matter, to challenge the world and succeed. Many times, such pursuits either break the man physically, and seem to leave him emptier than before.
Men are told that they cannot lead as the Bible says, because that is sexist and degrading, as the 'requirement' of women to 'submit' to the authority of their husbands has been misaligned and misused. Too many men deny the desire to lead, to defend, to fight the battle because they are told that such is not the mark of a man.
They deny the manner in which they were born, outside the garden in chaos and destruction, and the purpose to which they were given, the defense and growth of the beauty and order within the Garden.
As a result, men fail to grow up, spiritually and mentally.
But, within the community of Christ and worldwide secularly, there is an awakening of this discord among men.
Last night was the first meeting of the Men's bible study group, which met at the campus (a converted school building) of The River, member of a group of three churches that are led by Pastor Jim Combs, jr., and my first introduction to a group of men led by Dan Baxter and Steve Forney. Rather than just study the Bible, the decision was made to study Wild At Heart; discovering the secret of a Man's soul by John Eldredge of the Ransomed Heart Ministries.
In this book, Eldredge takes the reader through the journey of recovering the masculine hearts of men, as designed and perfected in the image of a passionate God, who were meant to bring strength and wildness to the world. Other books by Eldredge on the topic of discovering the heart of God include Epic, Waking the Dead, The Journey of Desire, Captivating, and The Sacred Romance, all of which I'd highly recommend.
Eldredge is a step deeper in the pursuit of masculinity than Pastor Robert Lewis, founder of The Men's Fraternity program. Eldredge uses the same milestones under different names as Lewis, but seems to take the passion level a bit deeper. As with Lewis' program, it is a great way to entice wavering men into the pursuit of God's intent for our strength and wildness that seems to have been DNA'd from birth. As with Lewis' program, Eldredge's ministry can be used by those women who desire to know what makes their husbands and sons tick, and what the intent of God was when He created them. This is helpful for those women who wish to help their men pursuit their God-ordained purpose.
I have read Eldredge's books, gone through the first year of Robert Lewis' Men's Fraternity and read his book Raising a Modern Day Knight. I would recommend these valuable resources to anyone seeking to right the unchecked wounding of generations of men and bring about a movement against the downward tide of society that has corrupted God's design for centuries.
The journey, of course, doesn't stop there (as those of you who know me know). Matt Lobel's ministry that challenges men into relational living as godly men pursuing God is another step in the journey. His Out of the Wild website, an online fellowship of men from all over, has been a staple of support, counsel, and wisdom for me in the two years I've belonged. It's at www.outofthewild.ning.com.
Scott Engelman, Director of Awakened Hearts, takes men on a deeper quest still. Men Mentoring Men (M3) is a ministry that perfectly blends God's original intent of men, how the deviation from that has caused wounds to permeate the generations since Adam, and carries men through the journey to identify, heal, and correct the gaping wounds of a man's soul. Through such events as Men in the Woods and Rekindling the Heart, Scott and founder of Awakened Hearts Mark Jackson reconnect men with their silent and deadened hearts to reawaken what has lied dormant for far too long. Then they teach men and their wives how to recreate the marriage bond that often times lies weakened and potentially broken because of the wounding of men.
While Pastor Lewis speaks of "shaping the heart of men", Eldredge speaks to 'giving permission' for men to be what they were intended to be----beloved sons made in the image of God. Speaking to the deeper understanding of why men desire adventures, battles, and saving a beauty. He answers why women are unhappy with the men that society has created, who long to be that damsel who has the heart of the Knight, the protection of the Warrior, and the passion of the King.
Eldredge offers Wild At Heart as "a safari of the heart to recover a life of freedom, passion, and adventure."
"The core of a man's heart is undomesticated" Eldredge states in his first chapter, pointing to the 'natural' desire of a man to explore, to seek out new directions, and adventures told over and over in the life stories of men. This is in quest of his heart, to find those answers to "Who am I?", "What am I made of?" and "What am I destined for?"
To answer the question left in doubt by the silence of Adam, "Do I have what it takes?"
Eldredge points out, most men have found themselves not "sensitive enough, safe, manageable, and 'in touch' with their feminine side" and now are being told by the very culture that declared those things to be most desired in men that they aren't 'being men.' Such mettling in God's design by humanity has created a society in chaos, with a gender confusion that has altered the foundation of men and women alike. Men, who were told to be 'nice', have developed a phobia regarding masculinity; keeping promises, talking to their wives, raising their children, and being spiritual leaders. As Eldredge recounts the testimony of a fifty year old man in church, "I've pretty much tried for the last twenty years to be a good man as the church defines it.....dutiful and separated from my heart."
Eldredge uses Robert Bly's lamentation of this destruction and corruption of manhood in Bly's Iron John, "Some women want a passive man if they want a man at all, the church wants a tamed man---they are called priests, the university wants a domesticated man----they are called tenure-track people, the corporation wants a......sanitized, hairless, shallow man."
And we wonder why children are bringing guns to school, confused about their gender, and why a host of sexual deviations such as homosexuality, pornography, and child abuse run rampant in our culture today. Be careful of the monster you create, for as Frankenstein discovered, it will turn on you. This doesn't dismiss men's responsibilities nor places the burden solely upon the feminist movement; rather it is an understanding of 'where all the good men' have gone, forced out by a humanistic decision of what true sexuality in a man and a woman are.
Women have become jaded, lost, and torn too as their needs have been suborned by the same culture who declared that women had to be tough, efficient, and independent----never to subject themselves willingly to the 'leadership and authority' of a man. In making a human decision of the 'submission of a wife' instead of realizing the true intention of the God who spoke those words through His apostle Paul, we have created generations of women who long to feel beautiful, desired, and fought for.
Is it any wonder why marriages fail more often than succeed? Why sexual promiscuity is rampant and vernal diseases have reached epidemic totals? Why ten year olds are being taught humanistic sexuality in school and kindergarteners are given condoms?
We need to rediscover the process of growing wise, strong, and wild men to come along side their counterparts; nurturing, protective, and desired women. Not simply to reclaim 'our place' in the schemes of culture, but to halt the decay, the slide into the darkness that has come from the confusion and denial of God's design of man and woman.
"Every man needs to know he is powerful," Eldredge states. Made in the image of a God powerfully described by Walter Brueggemann as "wild, dangerous, unfettered, and free."
It is that challenge, to face the danger, that causes the destruction of cultural morals and spiritual guidance that has plagued our society for the last thirty plus years. When man denies that wildness in his heart, that question that needs danger to be answered, society loses one of its two mooring pins and is cast adrift.
And men become the very destruction that society claimed they once were, moving in destructive ways against the order and beauty which they are not meant to live in. They were created to move powerfully in the chaos and walk fearfully into the darkness to protect the beauty and order by reclaiming the darkness and chaos. It is the highest adventure that man can undertake.
Ramsey Clark, former United States attorney general under JFK and LBJ, and a leading peace and civil rights activist said "Don't ever seek to be the greatest. Seek, instead, to do great things. If you aspire to greatness, your greatness will die with you. But if you aspire to do great things, your legacy will live on. And the only way to do this is by being a servant. Lead by serving and you will do great things."
" In the way to eternal happiness, we must expect to be assaulted and sifted by Satan. If he cannot destroy, he will try to disgrace or distress us. Nothing more certainly forebodes a fall, in a professed follower of Christ, than self-confidence, with disregard to warnings, and contempt of danger," Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary on the following verse, "Unless we watch and pray always, we may be drawn in the course of the day into those sins which we were in the morning most resolved against. If believers were left to themselves, they would fall; but they are kept by the power of God, and the prayer of Christ."
"And when the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David. And David heard of it, and went out against them. And David enquired of God, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? and wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto him, Go up; for I will deliver them into thine hand." 1 Chron. 14:8, 10 (KJV)
Therein lays the adventure, the purpose and the proper movement in fear with power that are characteristic of the real, necessary, and recoverable masculinity.
Every man questions the feelings, desires, and drive within him that from birth seems to drive him counterculturally and disruptively against the flow and ebb of life on this planet. He doesn't want to engage at a personal level, although he still hungers within for that very thing. Too often men wrap themselves up in pursuits...sports, hunting, fishing, extreme adventures, to make up for this need that burns inside them to matter, to challenge the world and succeed. Many times, such pursuits either break the man physically, and seem to leave him emptier than before.
Men are told that they cannot lead as the Bible says, because that is sexist and degrading, as the 'requirement' of women to 'submit' to the authority of their husbands has been misaligned and misused. Too many men deny the desire to lead, to defend, to fight the battle because they are told that such is not the mark of a man.
They deny the manner in which they were born, outside the garden in chaos and destruction, and the purpose to which they were given, the defense and growth of the beauty and order within the Garden.
As a result, men fail to grow up, spiritually and mentally.
But, within the community of Christ and worldwide secularly, there is an awakening of this discord among men.
Last night was the first meeting of the Men's bible study group, which met at the campus (a converted school building) of The River, member of a group of three churches that are led by Pastor Jim Combs, jr., and my first introduction to a group of men led by Dan Baxter and Steve Forney. Rather than just study the Bible, the decision was made to study Wild At Heart; discovering the secret of a Man's soul by John Eldredge of the Ransomed Heart Ministries.
In this book, Eldredge takes the reader through the journey of recovering the masculine hearts of men, as designed and perfected in the image of a passionate God, who were meant to bring strength and wildness to the world. Other books by Eldredge on the topic of discovering the heart of God include Epic, Waking the Dead, The Journey of Desire, Captivating, and The Sacred Romance, all of which I'd highly recommend.
Eldredge is a step deeper in the pursuit of masculinity than Pastor Robert Lewis, founder of The Men's Fraternity program. Eldredge uses the same milestones under different names as Lewis, but seems to take the passion level a bit deeper. As with Lewis' program, it is a great way to entice wavering men into the pursuit of God's intent for our strength and wildness that seems to have been DNA'd from birth. As with Lewis' program, Eldredge's ministry can be used by those women who desire to know what makes their husbands and sons tick, and what the intent of God was when He created them. This is helpful for those women who wish to help their men pursuit their God-ordained purpose.
I have read Eldredge's books, gone through the first year of Robert Lewis' Men's Fraternity and read his book Raising a Modern Day Knight. I would recommend these valuable resources to anyone seeking to right the unchecked wounding of generations of men and bring about a movement against the downward tide of society that has corrupted God's design for centuries.
The journey, of course, doesn't stop there (as those of you who know me know). Matt Lobel's ministry that challenges men into relational living as godly men pursuing God is another step in the journey. His Out of the Wild website, an online fellowship of men from all over, has been a staple of support, counsel, and wisdom for me in the two years I've belonged. It's at www.outofthewild.ning.com.
Scott Engelman, Director of Awakened Hearts, takes men on a deeper quest still. Men Mentoring Men (M3) is a ministry that perfectly blends God's original intent of men, how the deviation from that has caused wounds to permeate the generations since Adam, and carries men through the journey to identify, heal, and correct the gaping wounds of a man's soul. Through such events as Men in the Woods and Rekindling the Heart, Scott and founder of Awakened Hearts Mark Jackson reconnect men with their silent and deadened hearts to reawaken what has lied dormant for far too long. Then they teach men and their wives how to recreate the marriage bond that often times lies weakened and potentially broken because of the wounding of men.
While Pastor Lewis speaks of "shaping the heart of men", Eldredge speaks to 'giving permission' for men to be what they were intended to be----beloved sons made in the image of God. Speaking to the deeper understanding of why men desire adventures, battles, and saving a beauty. He answers why women are unhappy with the men that society has created, who long to be that damsel who has the heart of the Knight, the protection of the Warrior, and the passion of the King.
Eldredge offers Wild At Heart as "a safari of the heart to recover a life of freedom, passion, and adventure."
"The core of a man's heart is undomesticated" Eldredge states in his first chapter, pointing to the 'natural' desire of a man to explore, to seek out new directions, and adventures told over and over in the life stories of men. This is in quest of his heart, to find those answers to "Who am I?", "What am I made of?" and "What am I destined for?"
To answer the question left in doubt by the silence of Adam, "Do I have what it takes?"
Eldredge points out, most men have found themselves not "sensitive enough, safe, manageable, and 'in touch' with their feminine side" and now are being told by the very culture that declared those things to be most desired in men that they aren't 'being men.' Such mettling in God's design by humanity has created a society in chaos, with a gender confusion that has altered the foundation of men and women alike. Men, who were told to be 'nice', have developed a phobia regarding masculinity; keeping promises, talking to their wives, raising their children, and being spiritual leaders. As Eldredge recounts the testimony of a fifty year old man in church, "I've pretty much tried for the last twenty years to be a good man as the church defines it.....dutiful and separated from my heart."
Eldredge uses Robert Bly's lamentation of this destruction and corruption of manhood in Bly's Iron John, "Some women want a passive man if they want a man at all, the church wants a tamed man---they are called priests, the university wants a domesticated man----they are called tenure-track people, the corporation wants a......sanitized, hairless, shallow man."
And we wonder why children are bringing guns to school, confused about their gender, and why a host of sexual deviations such as homosexuality, pornography, and child abuse run rampant in our culture today. Be careful of the monster you create, for as Frankenstein discovered, it will turn on you. This doesn't dismiss men's responsibilities nor places the burden solely upon the feminist movement; rather it is an understanding of 'where all the good men' have gone, forced out by a humanistic decision of what true sexuality in a man and a woman are.
Women have become jaded, lost, and torn too as their needs have been suborned by the same culture who declared that women had to be tough, efficient, and independent----never to subject themselves willingly to the 'leadership and authority' of a man. In making a human decision of the 'submission of a wife' instead of realizing the true intention of the God who spoke those words through His apostle Paul, we have created generations of women who long to feel beautiful, desired, and fought for.
Is it any wonder why marriages fail more often than succeed? Why sexual promiscuity is rampant and vernal diseases have reached epidemic totals? Why ten year olds are being taught humanistic sexuality in school and kindergarteners are given condoms?
We need to rediscover the process of growing wise, strong, and wild men to come along side their counterparts; nurturing, protective, and desired women. Not simply to reclaim 'our place' in the schemes of culture, but to halt the decay, the slide into the darkness that has come from the confusion and denial of God's design of man and woman.
"Every man needs to know he is powerful," Eldredge states. Made in the image of a God powerfully described by Walter Brueggemann as "wild, dangerous, unfettered, and free."
It is that challenge, to face the danger, that causes the destruction of cultural morals and spiritual guidance that has plagued our society for the last thirty plus years. When man denies that wildness in his heart, that question that needs danger to be answered, society loses one of its two mooring pins and is cast adrift.
And men become the very destruction that society claimed they once were, moving in destructive ways against the order and beauty which they are not meant to live in. They were created to move powerfully in the chaos and walk fearfully into the darkness to protect the beauty and order by reclaiming the darkness and chaos. It is the highest adventure that man can undertake.
Ramsey Clark, former United States attorney general under JFK and LBJ, and a leading peace and civil rights activist said "Don't ever seek to be the greatest. Seek, instead, to do great things. If you aspire to greatness, your greatness will die with you. But if you aspire to do great things, your legacy will live on. And the only way to do this is by being a servant. Lead by serving and you will do great things."
" In the way to eternal happiness, we must expect to be assaulted and sifted by Satan. If he cannot destroy, he will try to disgrace or distress us. Nothing more certainly forebodes a fall, in a professed follower of Christ, than self-confidence, with disregard to warnings, and contempt of danger," Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary on the following verse, "Unless we watch and pray always, we may be drawn in the course of the day into those sins which we were in the morning most resolved against. If believers were left to themselves, they would fall; but they are kept by the power of God, and the prayer of Christ."
"And when the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David. And David heard of it, and went out against them. And David enquired of God, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? and wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto him, Go up; for I will deliver them into thine hand." 1 Chron. 14:8, 10 (KJV)
Therein lays the adventure, the purpose and the proper movement in fear with power that are characteristic of the real, necessary, and recoverable masculinity.
Wednesday, September 24
Freedom of Speech, for Pastors too.
I have 'made no bones' about my opposition to the IRS ban on churches and their pastors making known to their congregations who they will personally endorse and why in regards to the Presidential Election, or any election for public office in the United States of America. I know, according to an August polling, that a majority of Americans feel that the church should stay out of politics, indeed that Christian values shouldn't be a factor on who is nominated into the offices of the governing body.
It is strange that we allow our pastors to teach their personal views on Scriptures, even false doctrines, from the pulpit, but won't allow them to speak their personal opinions of political candidates.
It is funny, though, how Barack Obama was allowed to utter a political speech during the United Church of Christ's convention in Hartford, Conn. last year and no one was bothered by it.
The Reverend Eric Williams, in conjunction with some 55 other religious leaders, oppose the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and it's recruitment of ministers within the religious community to endorse or oppose candidates for political office in sermons. Reverend Williams, pastor of the North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus Ohio, feels that "the rightful place of religious leaders and communities of faith in American life is not in electoral politics."
Don't vote your values, apparently. And don't hold those elected to lead this country according to their faith, either.
In endorsing or opposing candidates, even personally, from the pulpit can endanger the church's tax exempt status, although the UCC was not sanctioned under its own violation of the ruling. A ruling that was introduced by then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson to stop a religious movement from harming his own election chances.
"Christians should not be penalized for expressing their beliefs, and that includes pastors," said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.
Pastor Wiley Drake of the First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, California was the latest pastor to be brought under investigation by the IRS because he publically endorsed then-Republican hopeful Mike Huckabee on church letterhead and through his broadcasts on his radio program. Pastor Drake endorsed Huckabee as an individual and not as a representative of the church, which is his right under the protection of the First Amendment. The IRS cleared him of any violation in the charge brought by American United for Separation of Church and State.
But Reverend Williams feels that endorsing or opposing poltiical candidates unfairly imposes the pastor's views upon the congregation. In the compliant filed with the IRS against the ADF's action, Williams along with 55 other Christian and Jewish leaders said, ""As religious leaders, we have grave concerns about the ethical implications of soliciting and organizing churches to violate core principles of our society."
Therein lies the gist of the movement to remove this politically motivated rule, to allow Pastors of the faithful to remind their congregations to vote according to the values and core principles of their faith and highlight those candidates that they, as leaders of such, see as the ones who will promote those values.
President Johnson's legislation, written to protect the assurance of his own political motivations, has (as with all such legislation) morphed into a standing law that liberals have used for years to securely silence the moral teachers of this nation. Is it any wonder that a majority of Americans now feel that such teaching in the Christian community is wrong for the first time in over a decade?
With Barack Obama no longer a member of the UCC church that preached Black Liberation Theology, yet who has yet to stand in opposition to such teaching, and John McCain, who refuses to discuss his 'personal' faith, now more than ever before we need to have our 'nominated' (either by attendance or by election) religious leaders to sound in on who, if either, candidate they feel supports, will defend, and can promote such values that they preach from the pulpit each and every Sunday.
I have posted the ADF's petition to Pastors below regarding this issue.
Although I am not a pastor of a church and am on hiatus from chaplaining the Meadowbrook Chapel, I would sign this in a heartbeat. I would urge those in congregations to support their pastoral staff in their endorsement of this petition to restore "First Amendment rights" to those who lead us in our faith.
It is time for the body of Christ to stop living it's faith only inside the walls of the church on Sunday and represent its faith to the world in everything, at all times.
In Christ,
Jim Hutson
Senior Chaplain, (LOA)
Meadowbrook Chapel
ADF's petition statement:
Dear Pastor,
The upcoming election is the most critical in the history of our nation. The very future of our nation’s foundation is at stake. Every person will be affected. If the liberals win, then our foundation will no longer be based on the traditional Judeo-Christian morality. It will gradually but assuredly be based on an ever shifting, ever moving foundation.
In case you may think I’m a “the sky is falling” type of person, you should know: I am a graduate of Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, and Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. I am an ordained United Methodist minister and have been for 44 years. I founded AFA more than 30 years ago and see the upcoming election as the most critical ever. Yes, if the liberals win you will lose some of your religious freedom and free speech rights. You will not be allowed to say certain things about a particular group. Homosexual marriage will be approved.
I cannot overemphasize the importance the Nov. 4 election. That is why I hope you will sign the Pastor’s Pledge, and forward it to fellow pastors and encourage them to sign the Pastor’s Pledge.
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
I pledge to:
1. Encourage my members to register to vote.
2. Encourage my members to study the issues.
3. Encourage my members to vote.
It is strange that we allow our pastors to teach their personal views on Scriptures, even false doctrines, from the pulpit, but won't allow them to speak their personal opinions of political candidates.
It is funny, though, how Barack Obama was allowed to utter a political speech during the United Church of Christ's convention in Hartford, Conn. last year and no one was bothered by it.
The Reverend Eric Williams, in conjunction with some 55 other religious leaders, oppose the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and it's recruitment of ministers within the religious community to endorse or oppose candidates for political office in sermons. Reverend Williams, pastor of the North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus Ohio, feels that "the rightful place of religious leaders and communities of faith in American life is not in electoral politics."
Don't vote your values, apparently. And don't hold those elected to lead this country according to their faith, either.
In endorsing or opposing candidates, even personally, from the pulpit can endanger the church's tax exempt status, although the UCC was not sanctioned under its own violation of the ruling. A ruling that was introduced by then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson to stop a religious movement from harming his own election chances.
"Christians should not be penalized for expressing their beliefs, and that includes pastors," said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund.
Pastor Wiley Drake of the First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, California was the latest pastor to be brought under investigation by the IRS because he publically endorsed then-Republican hopeful Mike Huckabee on church letterhead and through his broadcasts on his radio program. Pastor Drake endorsed Huckabee as an individual and not as a representative of the church, which is his right under the protection of the First Amendment. The IRS cleared him of any violation in the charge brought by American United for Separation of Church and State.
But Reverend Williams feels that endorsing or opposing poltiical candidates unfairly imposes the pastor's views upon the congregation. In the compliant filed with the IRS against the ADF's action, Williams along with 55 other Christian and Jewish leaders said, ""As religious leaders, we have grave concerns about the ethical implications of soliciting and organizing churches to violate core principles of our society."
Therein lies the gist of the movement to remove this politically motivated rule, to allow Pastors of the faithful to remind their congregations to vote according to the values and core principles of their faith and highlight those candidates that they, as leaders of such, see as the ones who will promote those values.
President Johnson's legislation, written to protect the assurance of his own political motivations, has (as with all such legislation) morphed into a standing law that liberals have used for years to securely silence the moral teachers of this nation. Is it any wonder that a majority of Americans now feel that such teaching in the Christian community is wrong for the first time in over a decade?
With Barack Obama no longer a member of the UCC church that preached Black Liberation Theology, yet who has yet to stand in opposition to such teaching, and John McCain, who refuses to discuss his 'personal' faith, now more than ever before we need to have our 'nominated' (either by attendance or by election) religious leaders to sound in on who, if either, candidate they feel supports, will defend, and can promote such values that they preach from the pulpit each and every Sunday.
I have posted the ADF's petition to Pastors below regarding this issue.
Although I am not a pastor of a church and am on hiatus from chaplaining the Meadowbrook Chapel, I would sign this in a heartbeat. I would urge those in congregations to support their pastoral staff in their endorsement of this petition to restore "First Amendment rights" to those who lead us in our faith.
It is time for the body of Christ to stop living it's faith only inside the walls of the church on Sunday and represent its faith to the world in everything, at all times.
In Christ,
Jim Hutson
Senior Chaplain, (LOA)
Meadowbrook Chapel
ADF's petition statement:
Dear Pastor,
The upcoming election is the most critical in the history of our nation. The very future of our nation’s foundation is at stake. Every person will be affected. If the liberals win, then our foundation will no longer be based on the traditional Judeo-Christian morality. It will gradually but assuredly be based on an ever shifting, ever moving foundation.
In case you may think I’m a “the sky is falling” type of person, you should know: I am a graduate of Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, and Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. I am an ordained United Methodist minister and have been for 44 years. I founded AFA more than 30 years ago and see the upcoming election as the most critical ever. Yes, if the liberals win you will lose some of your religious freedom and free speech rights. You will not be allowed to say certain things about a particular group. Homosexual marriage will be approved.
I cannot overemphasize the importance the Nov. 4 election. That is why I hope you will sign the Pastor’s Pledge, and forward it to fellow pastors and encourage them to sign the Pastor’s Pledge.
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
I pledge to:
1. Encourage my members to register to vote.
2. Encourage my members to study the issues.
3. Encourage my members to vote.
And a few GODLY MEN will redeem......
"Help, O LORD. No godly person is left. Faithful people have vanished from among Adam's descendants! All people speak foolishly. They speak with flattering lips. They say one thing but mean another. May the LORD cut off every flattering lip and every bragging tongue that has said, "We will overcome with our tongues. With lips such as ours, who can be our master?" "Because oppressed people are robbed and needy people groan, I will now arise," says the LORD. "I will provide safety for those who long for it." The promises of the LORD are pure, like silver refined in a furnace and purified seven times. O LORD, you will protect them. You will keep each one safe from those people forever. Wicked people parade around when immorality increases among Adam's descendants." Psalms 12:1-8 (GWT)
Most theologians believe that David wrote this psalm during the reign of King Saul, when honesty and religious piety were in a decaying state in the government and country as a whole. David, in his typical fashion, also probably included his personal affronts suffered at the hands of treachous friends and the boldness of his sworn enemies. He mourns the loss of godly men, once abundant in the kingdom but now few in number, though whether through death or a falling away from the Truth he doesn't highlight.
"The only way to be manly," Dr. Larry Crabb states in The Silence of Adam, "is first to be godly."
In the wake of the emasulation of manhood by society through the promotion of 'feminism' and the destruction of the family, men throughout the world are seeking to right the wrongs visited by their own silence in the promotion of such humanistic declarations and find true masculinity. The problem for most is that they forget that first and foremost is a relationship with God, through which true masculinity is taught, understood, and emulated. The Creator of it all has the definitive answers men seek.
"Finding Christ," Crabb continues, "is a long, pride-crushing battle that leads through despair to the unmanageable joy of Spirit-fulness and then back again through darker despair to an even brighter joy."
In today's society, where the measure of 'bad times' is financial stresses, poor economic growth, and the abundance of war, we have been misled; as a nation, as a people, and as men. It isn't such that God declares is 'bad times', but rather the abundance of godless men who speak with mouths full of pride, profanity, viscious words, and ineffective utterances. Sin abounds without declaration of its existence, as men once again remain silence, unwilling to fulfill their role as warriors standing against darkness and chaos to protect the beauty and order that God created.
Men have allowed society to declare what is manly and forgotten the lessons taught by the One who created both man and woman. God will punish such men, and as a result, the evilness of society which has been allowed to run unchecked through the marrow of society's bones.
We truly live in 'bad times' as godless men and purposeful immorality has been allowed to run unchecked to the degree where openly sinful men are declared to be the 'best' among us and allowed to run for political office to affect, control, and minimize godly direction in this great nation.
These men, confusing with their utterance of 'religious tolerance' and 'religious authority' the Truthfulness of God, stand in the public square and declare, "With our tongues will we prevail against the cause of virtue; our lips are our own and we may say what we will; there is no one who can stop us or call us to an accounting!"
We, as a people, can be false; our flesh being the primary ruler of our emotions and reactions. Self-protection and preservation is paramount. But God is faithful and God has proven His trustworthiness where man cannot deliver such absolutes.
And it is those men, fast men as they have been called by in other times, who are faithful to God who will lead this nation into redemption and restoration to Godly blessing and truth. These godly men use their words as confirmation of their bond to God through the conscience decision and effort to being true to God for the sake of all mankind. It is these men, who value faithfulness to God above themselves and use their power to lead in service to those in their marriages, families, and communities, that will bring Truth to a world dying.
"Men of this generation must learn to count the cost of following Christ," Crabb states, "(The cost is easily calculated: everything we have)......resist[ing] the christian culture that values self-discovery and self-fulfillment above abandoning ourselves to God."
Such men value godliness and spiritual wisdom more than worldly degrees and toughened skills gain in the corporate world. They look to the absolute authority and Truth of God's word, silver refined to the purest degree as shown through the proof of its power and inpurviness of worldly influence. And it is the visible representation of consistency and agape love that will attract the lost and wayward of this world to seek these men out, as they shine with the light of the Heavenly Father in the darkness of troubling times.
To cause a people to seek not comfort in the manipulation of man of God's design but to search and value the mentoring of godly men and women who humbly refute their 'gentle discernment and spiritual wisdom' as not their own but something given by God to all His people, to lead them in spiritual pursuit of their Creator God. These men will create a culture shift; from worldly pursuit of personal godliness to a influencing life lived in pursuit of God-led involvement in social and moral leadership to lead through the emulation of a servant (Christ) that will radically alter how we live in marriages, families, and communities and give value to Godly pursuits instead of secular 'spirituality'.
These men have been, are, and will be forever forged in the fires of struggle, trials, temptations, and pay a price that few today are willing to pay; absolute and continous surrendering of everything to God. It is these men, and women of the same ilk, that will forever be the source of restoration and redemption in the world until Christ Himself returns.
Such men, even in society today, are valued as friends by Christian and non-Christian alike. The North American Indians have a more eloquent word for 'friend' than we do in English. In their language, the word for friend literally means, "the one who carries my sorrows on his back." Such are the service given by Godly men, real men by the original and perfect intent of God, who value service to the people above personal pursuits. Who seek God's wisdom and discernment and avoid their own.
Until such men, pursuing masculinity in themselves through the Creator who made them, stand and declare themselves willing, the men who seem so populous in the world today will continue to be exalted into places of authority, trust, and power and the laws that govern us will promote rather than prevent immorality and reward a sinful people according to self-serving pursuits. Until such is resisted by godly men and women, the wickedness of the world will control society's destination and those who deceive, debauch, and destroy others in unchecked, willful, and unafraid sin will continue to cause the moral and spiritual descent into darkness for this nation, society, and the world.
Wickedness abounds in the world today; in the halls of European countries and down to the very paths to the Executive Office of this once God-fearing nation. Under the continued protection and countenance of those in authority, such sinfulness and moral decay can only promote rather than abolish 'very bad times'.
Until these places of authority and trust are once again returned to those who seek to bring spiritual truth and justice, to shine the Light upon the highest hill, to a society enamoured with its sinful, self-serving pursuits, we have continued trouble ahead.
It is time for 'a few good men' to answer the call of their country and their God.
Will you be such a man?
Most theologians believe that David wrote this psalm during the reign of King Saul, when honesty and religious piety were in a decaying state in the government and country as a whole. David, in his typical fashion, also probably included his personal affronts suffered at the hands of treachous friends and the boldness of his sworn enemies. He mourns the loss of godly men, once abundant in the kingdom but now few in number, though whether through death or a falling away from the Truth he doesn't highlight.
"The only way to be manly," Dr. Larry Crabb states in The Silence of Adam, "is first to be godly."
In the wake of the emasulation of manhood by society through the promotion of 'feminism' and the destruction of the family, men throughout the world are seeking to right the wrongs visited by their own silence in the promotion of such humanistic declarations and find true masculinity. The problem for most is that they forget that first and foremost is a relationship with God, through which true masculinity is taught, understood, and emulated. The Creator of it all has the definitive answers men seek.
"Finding Christ," Crabb continues, "is a long, pride-crushing battle that leads through despair to the unmanageable joy of Spirit-fulness and then back again through darker despair to an even brighter joy."
In today's society, where the measure of 'bad times' is financial stresses, poor economic growth, and the abundance of war, we have been misled; as a nation, as a people, and as men. It isn't such that God declares is 'bad times', but rather the abundance of godless men who speak with mouths full of pride, profanity, viscious words, and ineffective utterances. Sin abounds without declaration of its existence, as men once again remain silence, unwilling to fulfill their role as warriors standing against darkness and chaos to protect the beauty and order that God created.
Men have allowed society to declare what is manly and forgotten the lessons taught by the One who created both man and woman. God will punish such men, and as a result, the evilness of society which has been allowed to run unchecked through the marrow of society's bones.
We truly live in 'bad times' as godless men and purposeful immorality has been allowed to run unchecked to the degree where openly sinful men are declared to be the 'best' among us and allowed to run for political office to affect, control, and minimize godly direction in this great nation.
These men, confusing with their utterance of 'religious tolerance' and 'religious authority' the Truthfulness of God, stand in the public square and declare, "With our tongues will we prevail against the cause of virtue; our lips are our own and we may say what we will; there is no one who can stop us or call us to an accounting!"
We, as a people, can be false; our flesh being the primary ruler of our emotions and reactions. Self-protection and preservation is paramount. But God is faithful and God has proven His trustworthiness where man cannot deliver such absolutes.
And it is those men, fast men as they have been called by in other times, who are faithful to God who will lead this nation into redemption and restoration to Godly blessing and truth. These godly men use their words as confirmation of their bond to God through the conscience decision and effort to being true to God for the sake of all mankind. It is these men, who value faithfulness to God above themselves and use their power to lead in service to those in their marriages, families, and communities, that will bring Truth to a world dying.
"Men of this generation must learn to count the cost of following Christ," Crabb states, "(The cost is easily calculated: everything we have)......resist[ing] the christian culture that values self-discovery and self-fulfillment above abandoning ourselves to God."
Such men value godliness and spiritual wisdom more than worldly degrees and toughened skills gain in the corporate world. They look to the absolute authority and Truth of God's word, silver refined to the purest degree as shown through the proof of its power and inpurviness of worldly influence. And it is the visible representation of consistency and agape love that will attract the lost and wayward of this world to seek these men out, as they shine with the light of the Heavenly Father in the darkness of troubling times.
To cause a people to seek not comfort in the manipulation of man of God's design but to search and value the mentoring of godly men and women who humbly refute their 'gentle discernment and spiritual wisdom' as not their own but something given by God to all His people, to lead them in spiritual pursuit of their Creator God. These men will create a culture shift; from worldly pursuit of personal godliness to a influencing life lived in pursuit of God-led involvement in social and moral leadership to lead through the emulation of a servant (Christ) that will radically alter how we live in marriages, families, and communities and give value to Godly pursuits instead of secular 'spirituality'.
These men have been, are, and will be forever forged in the fires of struggle, trials, temptations, and pay a price that few today are willing to pay; absolute and continous surrendering of everything to God. It is these men, and women of the same ilk, that will forever be the source of restoration and redemption in the world until Christ Himself returns.
Such men, even in society today, are valued as friends by Christian and non-Christian alike. The North American Indians have a more eloquent word for 'friend' than we do in English. In their language, the word for friend literally means, "the one who carries my sorrows on his back." Such are the service given by Godly men, real men by the original and perfect intent of God, who value service to the people above personal pursuits. Who seek God's wisdom and discernment and avoid their own.
Until such men, pursuing masculinity in themselves through the Creator who made them, stand and declare themselves willing, the men who seem so populous in the world today will continue to be exalted into places of authority, trust, and power and the laws that govern us will promote rather than prevent immorality and reward a sinful people according to self-serving pursuits. Until such is resisted by godly men and women, the wickedness of the world will control society's destination and those who deceive, debauch, and destroy others in unchecked, willful, and unafraid sin will continue to cause the moral and spiritual descent into darkness for this nation, society, and the world.
Wickedness abounds in the world today; in the halls of European countries and down to the very paths to the Executive Office of this once God-fearing nation. Under the continued protection and countenance of those in authority, such sinfulness and moral decay can only promote rather than abolish 'very bad times'.
Until these places of authority and trust are once again returned to those who seek to bring spiritual truth and justice, to shine the Light upon the highest hill, to a society enamoured with its sinful, self-serving pursuits, we have continued trouble ahead.
It is time for 'a few good men' to answer the call of their country and their God.
Will you be such a man?
Tuesday, September 23
Doing good....
"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Galatians 6:9-10 (NIV)
It seems that the longer the struggles go on; with getting the financials in order, the stressed relationship with my son and the distancing relationship with my daughter, and the woeful outlook to transferring to a job closer to my new home and community, the harder it gets to be 'cheerful' in the face of another day of long commutes, demands of others, and the various brush fires that seem to dominate anyone's day.
It is very easy to want to push all the 'good' stuff that I am involved in away; the Awakened Heart's ministry, the leadership training, church, devotions, and even writing in this blog. I have convinced myself, in these times that no one really reads them, or reads them and doesn't get anything from them (which are the true purpose of my desire to write). It doesn't matter, because the world continues to slide headlong into the moral corruptness that is the signature of the enemy, the Christian faith continues to water itself down (being more of the world than of Christ), and the dream of following God's purposed reason for my life seems so distant.
But I know God is present in this season and I know that to Him all allegiance I owe and have promised. If I can expect Him to fulfill His promises, then I must and desire to fulfill mine to Him. It is a result of living in the light of God's grace.
"If we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from every sin." 1 John 1:7 (NLT)
I am far from perfect, far from being the man that God designed, purposed, and expects me to be. Like a patient Father, of which I fail at being more often than I like, God keeps the vision of who and what I am in the fullness of this life in the center of His eye, shaping and molding me from who I currently am. I may feel unworthy, but I know that God sees me better than I see myself.
In my struggles, I don't want to try and 'store up' those things against a 'rainy day', but rather simply bring all things in my life into alignment to serving God's purpose. It would be nice, real nice, to have no worries about making the rent, paying my debts, and being able to drive a car that has less miles on it than my age when I buy it. It would be great to be totally healthy, without the chronic conditions I have or any illness I may yet experience. It would be wonderful to simply fill out the request chit and have my desires and wants fulfilled (from that 'by-the-door' parking slot to the 'right-thing-to-say' to my children in their needs).
As Matthew Henry says, "It is the folly of most men, to mind and pursue that which is for the body and for time only, more than that for the soul and eternity."
"But God said to him, You fool! This very night they [the messengers of God] will demand your soul of you; and all the things that you have prepared, whose will they be?" Luke 12:20 (AMP)
Happiness and comfort that relies upon this world's ability to fulfill them is so temporary as to be worthless in the pursuit of it to a wise man. Short term gain, long term loss…..such thinking shows the foolishness of such a worldly person with "has no grateful regard to the providence of God, nor any right thought of the uncertainty of human affairs, the worth of his soul, or the importance of eternity." (Matthew Henry CC)
God has His plan, often contrary to our own desires and goals (which are often carnal in nature), and He makes full use of our subjection of free will to His. We can only listen for His call and follow in His path, for we are linear in nature and cannot see the future.
"DO NOT boast of [yourself and] tomorrow, for you know not what a day may bring forth." Proverbs 27:1 (AMP)
I think I'll trust in God to work out His plan for me and keep doing what He teaches in His Scripture to be 'of His own heartfelt desires'………..
It seems that the longer the struggles go on; with getting the financials in order, the stressed relationship with my son and the distancing relationship with my daughter, and the woeful outlook to transferring to a job closer to my new home and community, the harder it gets to be 'cheerful' in the face of another day of long commutes, demands of others, and the various brush fires that seem to dominate anyone's day.
It is very easy to want to push all the 'good' stuff that I am involved in away; the Awakened Heart's ministry, the leadership training, church, devotions, and even writing in this blog. I have convinced myself, in these times that no one really reads them, or reads them and doesn't get anything from them (which are the true purpose of my desire to write). It doesn't matter, because the world continues to slide headlong into the moral corruptness that is the signature of the enemy, the Christian faith continues to water itself down (being more of the world than of Christ), and the dream of following God's purposed reason for my life seems so distant.
But I know God is present in this season and I know that to Him all allegiance I owe and have promised. If I can expect Him to fulfill His promises, then I must and desire to fulfill mine to Him. It is a result of living in the light of God's grace.
"If we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from every sin." 1 John 1:7 (NLT)
I am far from perfect, far from being the man that God designed, purposed, and expects me to be. Like a patient Father, of which I fail at being more often than I like, God keeps the vision of who and what I am in the fullness of this life in the center of His eye, shaping and molding me from who I currently am. I may feel unworthy, but I know that God sees me better than I see myself.
In my struggles, I don't want to try and 'store up' those things against a 'rainy day', but rather simply bring all things in my life into alignment to serving God's purpose. It would be nice, real nice, to have no worries about making the rent, paying my debts, and being able to drive a car that has less miles on it than my age when I buy it. It would be great to be totally healthy, without the chronic conditions I have or any illness I may yet experience. It would be wonderful to simply fill out the request chit and have my desires and wants fulfilled (from that 'by-the-door' parking slot to the 'right-thing-to-say' to my children in their needs).
As Matthew Henry says, "It is the folly of most men, to mind and pursue that which is for the body and for time only, more than that for the soul and eternity."
"But God said to him, You fool! This very night they [the messengers of God] will demand your soul of you; and all the things that you have prepared, whose will they be?" Luke 12:20 (AMP)
Happiness and comfort that relies upon this world's ability to fulfill them is so temporary as to be worthless in the pursuit of it to a wise man. Short term gain, long term loss…..such thinking shows the foolishness of such a worldly person with "has no grateful regard to the providence of God, nor any right thought of the uncertainty of human affairs, the worth of his soul, or the importance of eternity." (Matthew Henry CC)
God has His plan, often contrary to our own desires and goals (which are often carnal in nature), and He makes full use of our subjection of free will to His. We can only listen for His call and follow in His path, for we are linear in nature and cannot see the future.
"DO NOT boast of [yourself and] tomorrow, for you know not what a day may bring forth." Proverbs 27:1 (AMP)
I think I'll trust in God to work out His plan for me and keep doing what He teaches in His Scripture to be 'of His own heartfelt desires'………..
Monday, September 22
God is paramount.
"You have said terrible things about me," says the LORD. "But you ask, 'What have we said about you?' You have said, 'It's useless to serve God. What's the use of doing what he says or of trying to show the LORD Almighty that we are sorry for what we have done? As we see it, proud people are the ones who are happy. Evil people not only prosper, but they test God's patience with their evil deeds and get away with it.' “Then the people who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD listened and heard what they said. In his presence, there was written down in a book a record of those who feared the LORD and respected him. "They will be my people," says the LORD Almighty. "On the day when I act, they will be my very own. I will be merciful to them as parents are merciful to the children who serve them. Once again my people will see the difference between what happens to the righteous and to the wicked, to the person who serves me and the one who does not."
(Mal 3:13-18 GNB)
Much like the rich man who asked Jesus if he could follow Him, we have often times looked to the surroundings that make up our physical world and base our opinion of God’s love upon them. The better times, full of financial stability and good health, show us that God loves us as He speaks of in the Scriptures.
But, when our world is fraught with trials, anguish, and pain……well, God mustn’t love us too much or we haven’t kept His desire paramount in our hearts which is why we suffer; cancer, financial ruin, discontent children. We often wonder why, in the midst of all the pain of relationships that never prosper, struggles that never seem to end, when the time will come for the Lord to deliver us from them. Yet in prosperous times, when the world seems to be going our way, we never look to the future hope that rests within the timing of our God. We never refuse the blessings when they are abundant, but don’t hesitate when they seem to be lacking.
We don’t want to give up anything to follow our God. And, many walk away, shaking their heads at the foolishness of their faith and seeking another way to fulfill the hunger, the thirst, and the yearning that burns in their hearts.
We don’t seem to understand; regardless of the situations in our world…abundance or want, riches or pauper….everyone is going to a future place. One of Heaven or One of Hell. We don’t like to hear those things mentioned in our churches, preached in our small gatherings, or even thought of times of prosperity. The world is a painful place, and it is the rich man’s lot to disavow such in the comfort of his fires, the luxury of his palaces, and the envy of his neighbor.
Then the struggle of following Christ becomes less important; a church service missed here, a Wednesday night gathering ignored there. Morning devotions become shorter, prayers brevet of fervor and supplication. We smile at those who are struggling and shake our heads at their ‘bad luck’. Maybe, we recommend, a bit more prayer, a bit more service, or a bit more living like Christ would solve the problem. After all, we ask not and receive not because of the lack of asking.
We fool ourselves into believing we are happy, after all….God has answered our every need. A nice home, good car, excellent job, and a healthy family. What more could we ask for? And, so we cling to those things and defend those things in the presence of that which would take them away from us, either circumstances, financial stress, or time on our knees in communication with our Heavenly Father. We start tailoring our ‘subjected’ will to things that will protect what we have gained.
Leaving the greatest prize unthought-of, undesired, and a hazy image in the back of our minds.
Even we, claimed children of the Most High God, need His mercy and forgiveness on that day when He storms across the skies of this world to deliver the final judgment upon a wayward and disappointing people. Some will cry out, “We served You” and Christ will spit them from His mouth like foul water, for they served for the instant things of temporary importance on the face of this world and never answered the call to serve God.
Some will cry out, “We followed You” and meet the same fate, because the ‘god’ they chased after was a god of their own design, desire, and making. Not the true God. Not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who sent His only begot Son to the world to save those who would recognize their need to be saved.
The yoke is light, the burden eased under the service to our Lord. Yet we complicate things by creating a ‘requirement’ for such service. We create, in our opinion, what is best and how is easiest to serve God. We deceive ourselves because our hearts are corrupt by the sin of Adam and the continued desire to be a god. In control, in charge.
But it is simple; Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. Nothing less will do.
Answer the call, count what is lost gain for the Kingdom, and shout your adoration to the one who has, will, and can deliver the hope that lies within His power to give….or take away.
It matters not what we gain or lose in this world; riches, family, possessions, or the multitude of things that we comfort ourselves with in the midst of the day.
God may want us healthy, whole, and happy……I believe that such was the original intention of our creation…..He may want us to be content, needs fulfilled and wants but a breath away from being so.
Or, He may call us to be poor, to struggle for food and substance, life-threatening illnesses, and to greet each day with worry and fright…..so that we will turn to Him and trust in His decreed hope.
One thing I know for sure; He wants us to be consumed by our love for Him.
Both our presidential candidates say they are for change; for a better world, for a prosperous economy, and for a peace that defies national boundaries.
None call for the change of revival; a return to God. Yet, this is the leadership we would have guide this nation in its darkest hours; children killing children, a people defying God’s design, a world seeking to deny God by creating one of their own making. What change is good without hope?
At the end of the world, when the things of this temporary existence; governments, countries, and lifestyles, are brought to an end by the Creator of it all, there will be a great and final testimony:
Those who were wise, serving the Lord at His pleasure and design trusting Him to return, will be swept up into the arms of the Creator to who they served in love.
And those who were foolish and haughty, serving the Lord of their design according to their own pleasures, and mocked His eventual return, being rejected by the True Lord and Savior.
Which group will you stand in?
It is time to serve the one you love and serve him with the passion to which each of us has grafted into our beings.
Be careful who you chose; for those that are false will crumple under the hoof of His horse to be burned by His furious gaze.
I greet each day with a desperate cry that the Lord would chose this day to come. I spend my day seeking to catch that one last moment, opportunity, or chance to serve as God has called me to serve, in case He does. And I go to sleep at night praying for forgiveness of my transgressions, missed chances, or blown assignments…….and for His return before the morning light.
“I miss Him so much, and want to be with Him so much but I can’t.”
A person I was meant to know, meant to be with, and meant to love……
A hunger that will never be fulfilled at the abundant feasts of this world, a thirst never quenched by the deep waters of earth, nor a soul-breaking yearning that will never be satisfied………..
Until He comes again.
(Mal 3:13-18 GNB)
Much like the rich man who asked Jesus if he could follow Him, we have often times looked to the surroundings that make up our physical world and base our opinion of God’s love upon them. The better times, full of financial stability and good health, show us that God loves us as He speaks of in the Scriptures.
But, when our world is fraught with trials, anguish, and pain……well, God mustn’t love us too much or we haven’t kept His desire paramount in our hearts which is why we suffer; cancer, financial ruin, discontent children. We often wonder why, in the midst of all the pain of relationships that never prosper, struggles that never seem to end, when the time will come for the Lord to deliver us from them. Yet in prosperous times, when the world seems to be going our way, we never look to the future hope that rests within the timing of our God. We never refuse the blessings when they are abundant, but don’t hesitate when they seem to be lacking.
We don’t want to give up anything to follow our God. And, many walk away, shaking their heads at the foolishness of their faith and seeking another way to fulfill the hunger, the thirst, and the yearning that burns in their hearts.
We don’t seem to understand; regardless of the situations in our world…abundance or want, riches or pauper….everyone is going to a future place. One of Heaven or One of Hell. We don’t like to hear those things mentioned in our churches, preached in our small gatherings, or even thought of times of prosperity. The world is a painful place, and it is the rich man’s lot to disavow such in the comfort of his fires, the luxury of his palaces, and the envy of his neighbor.
Then the struggle of following Christ becomes less important; a church service missed here, a Wednesday night gathering ignored there. Morning devotions become shorter, prayers brevet of fervor and supplication. We smile at those who are struggling and shake our heads at their ‘bad luck’. Maybe, we recommend, a bit more prayer, a bit more service, or a bit more living like Christ would solve the problem. After all, we ask not and receive not because of the lack of asking.
We fool ourselves into believing we are happy, after all….God has answered our every need. A nice home, good car, excellent job, and a healthy family. What more could we ask for? And, so we cling to those things and defend those things in the presence of that which would take them away from us, either circumstances, financial stress, or time on our knees in communication with our Heavenly Father. We start tailoring our ‘subjected’ will to things that will protect what we have gained.
Leaving the greatest prize unthought-of, undesired, and a hazy image in the back of our minds.
Even we, claimed children of the Most High God, need His mercy and forgiveness on that day when He storms across the skies of this world to deliver the final judgment upon a wayward and disappointing people. Some will cry out, “We served You” and Christ will spit them from His mouth like foul water, for they served for the instant things of temporary importance on the face of this world and never answered the call to serve God.
Some will cry out, “We followed You” and meet the same fate, because the ‘god’ they chased after was a god of their own design, desire, and making. Not the true God. Not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who sent His only begot Son to the world to save those who would recognize their need to be saved.
The yoke is light, the burden eased under the service to our Lord. Yet we complicate things by creating a ‘requirement’ for such service. We create, in our opinion, what is best and how is easiest to serve God. We deceive ourselves because our hearts are corrupt by the sin of Adam and the continued desire to be a god. In control, in charge.
But it is simple; Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. Nothing less will do.
Answer the call, count what is lost gain for the Kingdom, and shout your adoration to the one who has, will, and can deliver the hope that lies within His power to give….or take away.
It matters not what we gain or lose in this world; riches, family, possessions, or the multitude of things that we comfort ourselves with in the midst of the day.
God may want us healthy, whole, and happy……I believe that such was the original intention of our creation…..He may want us to be content, needs fulfilled and wants but a breath away from being so.
Or, He may call us to be poor, to struggle for food and substance, life-threatening illnesses, and to greet each day with worry and fright…..so that we will turn to Him and trust in His decreed hope.
One thing I know for sure; He wants us to be consumed by our love for Him.
Both our presidential candidates say they are for change; for a better world, for a prosperous economy, and for a peace that defies national boundaries.
None call for the change of revival; a return to God. Yet, this is the leadership we would have guide this nation in its darkest hours; children killing children, a people defying God’s design, a world seeking to deny God by creating one of their own making. What change is good without hope?
At the end of the world, when the things of this temporary existence; governments, countries, and lifestyles, are brought to an end by the Creator of it all, there will be a great and final testimony:
Those who were wise, serving the Lord at His pleasure and design trusting Him to return, will be swept up into the arms of the Creator to who they served in love.
And those who were foolish and haughty, serving the Lord of their design according to their own pleasures, and mocked His eventual return, being rejected by the True Lord and Savior.
Which group will you stand in?
It is time to serve the one you love and serve him with the passion to which each of us has grafted into our beings.
Be careful who you chose; for those that are false will crumple under the hoof of His horse to be burned by His furious gaze.
I greet each day with a desperate cry that the Lord would chose this day to come. I spend my day seeking to catch that one last moment, opportunity, or chance to serve as God has called me to serve, in case He does. And I go to sleep at night praying for forgiveness of my transgressions, missed chances, or blown assignments…….and for His return before the morning light.
“I miss Him so much, and want to be with Him so much but I can’t.”
A person I was meant to know, meant to be with, and meant to love……
A hunger that will never be fulfilled at the abundant feasts of this world, a thirst never quenched by the deep waters of earth, nor a soul-breaking yearning that will never be satisfied………..
Until He comes again.
Thursday, September 18
Degrees of separation...from God
"So let him who seems to himself to be safe go in fear of a fall." 1 Corinthians 10:12 (BBE)
There are many in the Christian community today who feel that they've gotten the gist of the mystery down pat, that they are saved and that's is all that is important in the grand scheme of things. Even I, with the issues that I struggle with, fight that temptation to 'justify' my continued struggling by 'at least I'm saved.'
Too often I have found that the 'pleasures' in life, those things that give me instant gratification that I pursued in the past and struggle against revisiting even today, are too often far from the life that God wants me to live and that Christ Himself opposed during His ministry on earth.
That doesn't change the fact that they are sinful (many of them), and it doesn't change the fact that I struggle against the tendency to re-taste the forbidden fruit of sinful gratification of worldly pleasures. Paul warns that we should guard against pleasing ourselves because that is how Satan gets his hooks into us, causing us to fall. Carnal desires (those of the flesh) gain momentum and power as we indulge in them, eventually taking command of our lives.
In the end, we justify ourselves before the commands and decrees of God, making ourselves not responsible for continued struggles or failures to resist sinful desires. We explain away our failure to stand on our humanity and blaming God for making us that way. After all, who are we to say that God didn’t intend on us to be this broken and sinful? Illogical as it sounds, that is all 'self-justification' is…..denying God's authority and holiness.
Nothing written in the Bible is written to be something examined and then either rejected, justified, or rewritten to our taste. God said it, I believe it, and that settles it no longer is a creed for Christians to follow. Declaring ourselves law giver based on a cultural understanding of issues and behaviors, because Jesus didn't say something 'definitative' in the New Testament, have left us a people vacant of God's full blessings and void of His grace, for to receive grace means you have to believe in the authority of the giver and the intent of the giver to deliver such grace.
We rob ourselves by believing in ourselves. That is the distortion the Church is bringing within the body of Christ in regards to a host of 'social' and 'domestic' issues. We can invoke a chant prayer, declare the blessings and promises given, and make no stand in regards to issues that would break us away from the very culture we're called to reach. "Hate the sin, love the sinner" has become to mean, "Don't mention the truth, it's too hateful and mean."
We look at the political choices of the election and decide that we've got to accept 'the devil we know' instead of declaring the unacceptability of any candidate that doesn't recognize and vocalize God's authority, regardless of the 'political fallout'.
We don't become fearful of a degree of separation between the latest 'teaching' and God's truth. It is okay to be saved, without any evidence of such salvation…just so long as you said the prayer and meant it. It is okay to accept some moral decay, so long as you stand on the big ones. It is okay for those who oppose Christianity to continue to gain ground, because we don't want to be intolerant.
As a nation and a people, we have continued to allow the separation to slowly creep into our cultural and social arenas until we look around now and find ourselves no where near the location we should be on the map....the years of allowing a 'degree' of separation has become thousands of miles off course and we don't know how we got here. The Church, in its effort to be 'culturally sensitive', has become the worst enemy in the battle between God and Satan for the souls of the lost. Pastors abound that thousands flock to because they are accepting of a multitude of what was once considered sin....and now is labeled "unclear" in the biblical text. "We just want to get them in the door and let God work on 'em."
We just want to save you, the Church seems to have declared, and everything else doesn't matter.
It is easier to justify sinful behavior or action than to declare yourself weak, unable to fight, and look to the Heavenly Father, author and authority of the Law, to bring you to the point of freedom.
A point that may never be reached, in this life.
So, why continue to struggle? Why not give in to the temptation, indulge in the sin, and merely be comfortable in knowing that, 'hey, you've said the prayer, got saved. You worked at renouncing your sinfulness and gave it a good shot', and have realized in the end that there is no big deal to not have a pile of 'treasure' when you get to Heaven and even the smallest shanty in the most remote part of the Kingdom Christ will usher in upon His return isn't so bad.
What if Christ, the nail poised to pierce His hand, suddenly declared "I was just KIDDING! Nah, I'm not the Messiah...just a prophet. Hey, this is gone far enough!!?" He had several times, having inflicted upon His too human body intense pain and agony, to reject the things God had sent Him to declare, emulate, and stand for. Yet, Christ continued to the point of death to realize our salvation. That, despite spending the night prior in the Garden crying for the cup to pass Him by. He believed in God's Word, God's purpose, and God's mission to the point of death.
Should we expect nothing less than that as we struggle against our sinful natures? Denying our pleasures and instant satisfactions to the 'point of death'.
Why is the Church not teaching endurance, strength from the true source, and leaning on God's own teaching rather than coming up with 'flashy' and 'tolerant' ways to present a message that hasn't changed from God's perspective for thousands of years? The only changing has been mankind's reception of it.
Take for example the hot topic of homosexuality, brought to painful focus by Ray Boltz's declaration of commitment to "the way God made me;" a homosexual man.
Boltz, the songwriter/singer who sold about 4.5 million records before retiring a few years ago, songs like "Thank You," (GMA Song of the Year 1990), "Watch the Lamb," "The Anchor Holds," and "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb," has rocked the Christian music world and those who have listened to his music by surrendering to his homosexual struggle, giving in to this sin because the struggle was "too long."
“I’d denied it ever since I was a kid," Boltz, 55, told the gay magazine, The Washington Blade. "I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, ‘I’m still gay. I know I am.’ And I just got to the place where I couldn’t take it anymore … when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, ‘Just end this.’”
“If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself.” Boltz concludes, faced with the 'end' of his struggle with homosexuality. Boltz gave in to his own opinion, not God's.
The Homosexual advocates within the 'Christian' faith say that there aren't any New Testament scriptures declaring the homosexual lifestyle as wrong, and the Old Testament's scriptures were for the cultural homosexuality of the time, not today's modern form of this 'alternative' lifestyle. We misunderstand the scripture in Leviticus,
"You shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22; c.f 20:13).
The Old Testament condemns "sodomites," which were male temple prostitutes in several verses throughout the books of Kings 1 and 2. (I Kings 14:24; 15:12; 22:46; II Kings 23:7).
Then, of course, we have the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed because of their sexual perversions, though not only that, as evidenced in the seventh chapter of Jude.
Those who promote 'tolerance' of homosexuals in the Church as 'sinless' would have you believe that the love between two men or two women is as equal and acceptable in God's eyes as the biblical foundation of love between a man and a woman, in the context of marriage.
Yet, what if this particular struggle is one that is given to some to bear. What would be a biblical representation of such?
Ron Belgau, a Christian homosexual man, says he has chosen to remain celibate because "...it is love, not understanding, which God most desires from us. To place our hopes in Him even when we do not understand His ways is a mark of great faith, and even greater love."
God didn't create homosexuality, and science has proven it. Dr. Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome Project, stated in March 2007 that: "Homosexuality is not hardwired. There is no gay gene. We mapped the human genome. We now know there is no genetic cause for homosexuality."
Several other studies show that the homosexual 'tendency' comes from an 'unnatural' cause. God seems even state through His created order an admonishment against homosexuality, through Nature;
"What makes a certain act "natural" has everything to do with whether it in fact involves using a capacity in a way consistent with its natural function or purpose," Edward Feser wrote in his article "Natural Ends and Natural Law", "and nothing necessarily to do with whether or not someone has, for whatever reason, a strong desire to use it that way or some other way."
The Christian's security against sin is to mistrust our own opinion of what constitutes sin, and trying to 'justify' our behavior against God's decrees, commandments, and ordinances. When we decide that we want to go against what we know, biblically and through 'natural' logic, we stand against God and God will let us pursue our heart's desire. God doesn't promise to keep us from falling if our eyes are upon ourselves and not Him.
"Because of this God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion" (Romans 1:26-27, NIV).
But if God is our heart's desire, we can struggle 'well'. He gives us representations of those who are burden with the same struggles, yet continue to bear up under them; some to break through and achieve victory and others to struggle until they graduate to the Kingdom reward. The difference between a child of faith and those 'closet' sinners is what happens in the midst of their struggle; either they drop continuously to their knees in prayer, fighting against the sinful nature with supplication to God, or they accept the curse of their sinful ways.
"He will make a way to escape; he will deliver either from the trial itself, or at least the mischief of it. We have full encouragement to flee from sin, and to be faithful to God. We cannot fall by temptation, if we cleave fast to him." (Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary)
It is not just homosexuality that this is true about, it is each and every sin that we face and struggle against; all sin is equal in the eyes of God. I utilized the sin of homosexuality in this blog because of the recent events revolving around Boltz and his decision to immerse himself in a sinful lifestyle. I cannot speak of Boltz's struggle, because I have never had such trials to face. But, even in my own struggles I've had to face that decision to stand on my own two feet or drop to my knees in prayerful anguish, wishing the cup to pass from my lips but knowing God is God regardless of what I have to face.
As we are reminded in Matthew;
"How can you think of saying, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye." Matthew 7:4-5 (NLT)
Boltz, like so many Christian leaders today, have fallen into a justification of "how God made me" instead of facing the fact that God calls us to higher standards, not subject to our daily struggles no matter how long they last.
How we stand in those on-going struggles show us and the world who's we are.
Do you 'praise Him in the storm' or ignore His commandments in the darkness?
God loves all of us, desiring that 'none should perish but all have eternal life.' But He will let us have the desires of our hearts, regardless of what He wishes.
That is God.
Who will you listen to? God, through His Word, His examples, and His servants or the Devil, who knows our failings all too well, that whispers "God loves you and made you this way"?
I want someone on my side that is, in His weakness, stronger than I am at my strongest. Who's counsel is born of Creation and perfection, not my own interpretation of it.
And there is only one who fits that bill:
God
Resources:
http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=25189&forum=48
http://onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=250538
http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/27825849.html
http://www.apostolic.net/biblicalstudies/homosexualuc.htm
http://rightreason.ektopos.com/archives/001518.html#more;
There are many in the Christian community today who feel that they've gotten the gist of the mystery down pat, that they are saved and that's is all that is important in the grand scheme of things. Even I, with the issues that I struggle with, fight that temptation to 'justify' my continued struggling by 'at least I'm saved.'
Too often I have found that the 'pleasures' in life, those things that give me instant gratification that I pursued in the past and struggle against revisiting even today, are too often far from the life that God wants me to live and that Christ Himself opposed during His ministry on earth.
That doesn't change the fact that they are sinful (many of them), and it doesn't change the fact that I struggle against the tendency to re-taste the forbidden fruit of sinful gratification of worldly pleasures. Paul warns that we should guard against pleasing ourselves because that is how Satan gets his hooks into us, causing us to fall. Carnal desires (those of the flesh) gain momentum and power as we indulge in them, eventually taking command of our lives.
In the end, we justify ourselves before the commands and decrees of God, making ourselves not responsible for continued struggles or failures to resist sinful desires. We explain away our failure to stand on our humanity and blaming God for making us that way. After all, who are we to say that God didn’t intend on us to be this broken and sinful? Illogical as it sounds, that is all 'self-justification' is…..denying God's authority and holiness.
Nothing written in the Bible is written to be something examined and then either rejected, justified, or rewritten to our taste. God said it, I believe it, and that settles it no longer is a creed for Christians to follow. Declaring ourselves law giver based on a cultural understanding of issues and behaviors, because Jesus didn't say something 'definitative' in the New Testament, have left us a people vacant of God's full blessings and void of His grace, for to receive grace means you have to believe in the authority of the giver and the intent of the giver to deliver such grace.
We rob ourselves by believing in ourselves. That is the distortion the Church is bringing within the body of Christ in regards to a host of 'social' and 'domestic' issues. We can invoke a chant prayer, declare the blessings and promises given, and make no stand in regards to issues that would break us away from the very culture we're called to reach. "Hate the sin, love the sinner" has become to mean, "Don't mention the truth, it's too hateful and mean."
We look at the political choices of the election and decide that we've got to accept 'the devil we know' instead of declaring the unacceptability of any candidate that doesn't recognize and vocalize God's authority, regardless of the 'political fallout'.
We don't become fearful of a degree of separation between the latest 'teaching' and God's truth. It is okay to be saved, without any evidence of such salvation…just so long as you said the prayer and meant it. It is okay to accept some moral decay, so long as you stand on the big ones. It is okay for those who oppose Christianity to continue to gain ground, because we don't want to be intolerant.
As a nation and a people, we have continued to allow the separation to slowly creep into our cultural and social arenas until we look around now and find ourselves no where near the location we should be on the map....the years of allowing a 'degree' of separation has become thousands of miles off course and we don't know how we got here. The Church, in its effort to be 'culturally sensitive', has become the worst enemy in the battle between God and Satan for the souls of the lost. Pastors abound that thousands flock to because they are accepting of a multitude of what was once considered sin....and now is labeled "unclear" in the biblical text. "We just want to get them in the door and let God work on 'em."
We just want to save you, the Church seems to have declared, and everything else doesn't matter.
It is easier to justify sinful behavior or action than to declare yourself weak, unable to fight, and look to the Heavenly Father, author and authority of the Law, to bring you to the point of freedom.
A point that may never be reached, in this life.
So, why continue to struggle? Why not give in to the temptation, indulge in the sin, and merely be comfortable in knowing that, 'hey, you've said the prayer, got saved. You worked at renouncing your sinfulness and gave it a good shot', and have realized in the end that there is no big deal to not have a pile of 'treasure' when you get to Heaven and even the smallest shanty in the most remote part of the Kingdom Christ will usher in upon His return isn't so bad.
What if Christ, the nail poised to pierce His hand, suddenly declared "I was just KIDDING! Nah, I'm not the Messiah...just a prophet. Hey, this is gone far enough!!?" He had several times, having inflicted upon His too human body intense pain and agony, to reject the things God had sent Him to declare, emulate, and stand for. Yet, Christ continued to the point of death to realize our salvation. That, despite spending the night prior in the Garden crying for the cup to pass Him by. He believed in God's Word, God's purpose, and God's mission to the point of death.
Should we expect nothing less than that as we struggle against our sinful natures? Denying our pleasures and instant satisfactions to the 'point of death'.
Why is the Church not teaching endurance, strength from the true source, and leaning on God's own teaching rather than coming up with 'flashy' and 'tolerant' ways to present a message that hasn't changed from God's perspective for thousands of years? The only changing has been mankind's reception of it.
Take for example the hot topic of homosexuality, brought to painful focus by Ray Boltz's declaration of commitment to "the way God made me;" a homosexual man.
Boltz, the songwriter/singer who sold about 4.5 million records before retiring a few years ago, songs like "Thank You," (GMA Song of the Year 1990), "Watch the Lamb," "The Anchor Holds," and "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb," has rocked the Christian music world and those who have listened to his music by surrendering to his homosexual struggle, giving in to this sin because the struggle was "too long."
“I’d denied it ever since I was a kid," Boltz, 55, told the gay magazine, The Washington Blade. "I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, ‘I’m still gay. I know I am.’ And I just got to the place where I couldn’t take it anymore … when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, ‘Just end this.’”
“If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself.” Boltz concludes, faced with the 'end' of his struggle with homosexuality. Boltz gave in to his own opinion, not God's.
The Homosexual advocates within the 'Christian' faith say that there aren't any New Testament scriptures declaring the homosexual lifestyle as wrong, and the Old Testament's scriptures were for the cultural homosexuality of the time, not today's modern form of this 'alternative' lifestyle. We misunderstand the scripture in Leviticus,
"You shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22; c.f 20:13).
The Old Testament condemns "sodomites," which were male temple prostitutes in several verses throughout the books of Kings 1 and 2. (I Kings 14:24; 15:12; 22:46; II Kings 23:7).
Then, of course, we have the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed because of their sexual perversions, though not only that, as evidenced in the seventh chapter of Jude.
Those who promote 'tolerance' of homosexuals in the Church as 'sinless' would have you believe that the love between two men or two women is as equal and acceptable in God's eyes as the biblical foundation of love between a man and a woman, in the context of marriage.
Yet, what if this particular struggle is one that is given to some to bear. What would be a biblical representation of such?
Ron Belgau, a Christian homosexual man, says he has chosen to remain celibate because "...it is love, not understanding, which God most desires from us. To place our hopes in Him even when we do not understand His ways is a mark of great faith, and even greater love."
God didn't create homosexuality, and science has proven it. Dr. Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome Project, stated in March 2007 that: "Homosexuality is not hardwired. There is no gay gene. We mapped the human genome. We now know there is no genetic cause for homosexuality."
Several other studies show that the homosexual 'tendency' comes from an 'unnatural' cause. God seems even state through His created order an admonishment against homosexuality, through Nature;
"What makes a certain act "natural" has everything to do with whether it in fact involves using a capacity in a way consistent with its natural function or purpose," Edward Feser wrote in his article "Natural Ends and Natural Law", "and nothing necessarily to do with whether or not someone has, for whatever reason, a strong desire to use it that way or some other way."
The Christian's security against sin is to mistrust our own opinion of what constitutes sin, and trying to 'justify' our behavior against God's decrees, commandments, and ordinances. When we decide that we want to go against what we know, biblically and through 'natural' logic, we stand against God and God will let us pursue our heart's desire. God doesn't promise to keep us from falling if our eyes are upon ourselves and not Him.
"Because of this God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion" (Romans 1:26-27, NIV).
But if God is our heart's desire, we can struggle 'well'. He gives us representations of those who are burden with the same struggles, yet continue to bear up under them; some to break through and achieve victory and others to struggle until they graduate to the Kingdom reward. The difference between a child of faith and those 'closet' sinners is what happens in the midst of their struggle; either they drop continuously to their knees in prayer, fighting against the sinful nature with supplication to God, or they accept the curse of their sinful ways.
"He will make a way to escape; he will deliver either from the trial itself, or at least the mischief of it. We have full encouragement to flee from sin, and to be faithful to God. We cannot fall by temptation, if we cleave fast to him." (Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary)
It is not just homosexuality that this is true about, it is each and every sin that we face and struggle against; all sin is equal in the eyes of God. I utilized the sin of homosexuality in this blog because of the recent events revolving around Boltz and his decision to immerse himself in a sinful lifestyle. I cannot speak of Boltz's struggle, because I have never had such trials to face. But, even in my own struggles I've had to face that decision to stand on my own two feet or drop to my knees in prayerful anguish, wishing the cup to pass from my lips but knowing God is God regardless of what I have to face.
As we are reminded in Matthew;
"How can you think of saying, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye." Matthew 7:4-5 (NLT)
Boltz, like so many Christian leaders today, have fallen into a justification of "how God made me" instead of facing the fact that God calls us to higher standards, not subject to our daily struggles no matter how long they last.
How we stand in those on-going struggles show us and the world who's we are.
Do you 'praise Him in the storm' or ignore His commandments in the darkness?
God loves all of us, desiring that 'none should perish but all have eternal life.' But He will let us have the desires of our hearts, regardless of what He wishes.
That is God.
Who will you listen to? God, through His Word, His examples, and His servants or the Devil, who knows our failings all too well, that whispers "God loves you and made you this way"?
I want someone on my side that is, in His weakness, stronger than I am at my strongest. Who's counsel is born of Creation and perfection, not my own interpretation of it.
And there is only one who fits that bill:
God
Resources:
http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=25189&forum=48
http://onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=250538
http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/27825849.html
http://www.apostolic.net/biblicalstudies/homosexualuc.htm
http://rightreason.ektopos.com/archives/001518.html#more;
Wednesday, September 17
Faith belongs in political action
"In those days Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes." Judges 17:6 (NLT)
The attitude of the religious Americans is much like those of the Israelites......'while the cat's away, the mice will play' mentality of tolerance at the cost of moral authority and absolute Truth. We cannot know what God is thinking, because we interpret and decipher by our experiences and wisdom, so truly no one can know what God is..... and therefore our beliefs cannot be used in the arena of public opinion or even politics.
So many of Senator Barack Obama's supporters have brushed aside concerns that he was once a member of a church that preached Black Liberation Theology....many Americans don't know what that theology is....and was once 'taught' under Reverend Wright, a bambastic and viral preacher. They would point to the fact that Obama no longer is a member of the church, only to hide the fact that he has once never distanced himself from the BLT movement, where God is for blacks and against whites or the black race will kill him (God, that is). He has denounced the Reverend's words, but never the Reverend's teachings. The young Senator, both in terms of physical age and time in government, is very 'tolerant' of a free-for-all, universal religion....and for separation of church and state, except for his 'faith-based intentives.'
Senator McCain's camp would have you believe that faith is a personal thing, not to be dug into beyond the simple acknowledgment of having some. His running mate, Sarah Palin, would have you nominate the Republican ticket based on anything other than her moral and religious views; which she doesn't hide, because she is running for public office, not a pastoral one.
Nothing contributes more to the support of morality and 'due administration' of freedom than the support and implimentation of religion...under God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Evidenced by Israel's behavior in the Old Testament and America's behavior in the modern age, when we are without moral leadership (i.e. Kings) to keep good order and disipline among all people, God is forsaken, his appointed leadership in the community neglected, and everything declines, much like today where children are carrying guns to school, the Christian faith is distorted and weak, and the structure of society, the family, has been decimated by the sinful and medically perils of lifestyles and behaviors that historically have ruined many a nation. Magistracy (government) and ministry need each other.
Good government, ran on mercy and spiritual principles, give the governed hope; through prayers, intercession, and giving thanks to the ultimate ruler. Good administration leads to a thankful people, who will in times of outward loss and struggle, bend their knees in prayer. Bad, immoral administration leads to a hopeless people, who have nothing in times of struggle but the curses their own 'right' has brought on them.
According to a 2007 the Pew Forum and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press poll, the majority of Americans (69%) feel that it is important for a president to have strong religious beliefs even though the majority (63%) feel that churches should not endorse candidates. Only 28% feel that churches should state which candidate is favorable for the position of public office.
Social issues don't dominate the landscape for this election, even though a majority of Americans oppose homosexual marriages (55%) and 38% stating that such issues will affect their voting decisions. Overwhelmingly, 78% of Americans have focused on the domestic issues of the economy, health care, and the environment as their litmus test for who should be the highest and most powerful citizen in the nation.
"The question of religion and politics is not the same as the question of church and state." Kenneth Cauthen, the John Price Crozer Griffith emeritus Professor of Theology at the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester New York states in his article "Church and State, Religion and Politics." "Religious beliefs have moral and social implications, and it is appropriate for people of faith to express these through their activities as citizens in the political order."
Both candidates have the view that universal, emprical, and liberal policies of the United States Of America are what is best for this country. Each have a view of what is 'right' for this country and its former glory as a nation 'under God'.
Neither will run the government according to biblical principles and spiritual morality, their faith not having an effect on the decisions that will affect 83% of the American population that claims Christianity as their religion.
There is no longer a question of whether this country will continue its decline in morality, ethical behavior, and economy blessings.
The only question, with the nomination of the Democratic or Republican candidates, is how long will it take to reach the bottom?
If you don't stand up the rock of spiritual authority and moral 'right', nominating a candidate as you (and I) have in the past by the litmus test "which one is the 'better,'" we will continue to be responsible for the lackluster, unexperienced, and spiritually corrupt candidates that the major parties give us as 'the best of the best.'
With one candidate being compared to Christ, "a community activist", and the other party's vice-president being referenced as a governor, "like Pontius Pilate," is it any wonder we stand in the moral decay and decadence of the ungoverned?
After all, we THE PEOPLE, have accepted the choices given for years.
Vote your faith this election, not your opinion of 'who is better.'
http://pewforum.org/surveys/campaign08/
The attitude of the religious Americans is much like those of the Israelites......'while the cat's away, the mice will play' mentality of tolerance at the cost of moral authority and absolute Truth. We cannot know what God is thinking, because we interpret and decipher by our experiences and wisdom, so truly no one can know what God is..... and therefore our beliefs cannot be used in the arena of public opinion or even politics.
So many of Senator Barack Obama's supporters have brushed aside concerns that he was once a member of a church that preached Black Liberation Theology....many Americans don't know what that theology is....and was once 'taught' under Reverend Wright, a bambastic and viral preacher. They would point to the fact that Obama no longer is a member of the church, only to hide the fact that he has once never distanced himself from the BLT movement, where God is for blacks and against whites or the black race will kill him (God, that is). He has denounced the Reverend's words, but never the Reverend's teachings. The young Senator, both in terms of physical age and time in government, is very 'tolerant' of a free-for-all, universal religion....and for separation of church and state, except for his 'faith-based intentives.'
Senator McCain's camp would have you believe that faith is a personal thing, not to be dug into beyond the simple acknowledgment of having some. His running mate, Sarah Palin, would have you nominate the Republican ticket based on anything other than her moral and religious views; which she doesn't hide, because she is running for public office, not a pastoral one.
Nothing contributes more to the support of morality and 'due administration' of freedom than the support and implimentation of religion...under God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Evidenced by Israel's behavior in the Old Testament and America's behavior in the modern age, when we are without moral leadership (i.e. Kings) to keep good order and disipline among all people, God is forsaken, his appointed leadership in the community neglected, and everything declines, much like today where children are carrying guns to school, the Christian faith is distorted and weak, and the structure of society, the family, has been decimated by the sinful and medically perils of lifestyles and behaviors that historically have ruined many a nation. Magistracy (government) and ministry need each other.
Good government, ran on mercy and spiritual principles, give the governed hope; through prayers, intercession, and giving thanks to the ultimate ruler. Good administration leads to a thankful people, who will in times of outward loss and struggle, bend their knees in prayer. Bad, immoral administration leads to a hopeless people, who have nothing in times of struggle but the curses their own 'right' has brought on them.
According to a 2007 the Pew Forum and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press poll, the majority of Americans (69%) feel that it is important for a president to have strong religious beliefs even though the majority (63%) feel that churches should not endorse candidates. Only 28% feel that churches should state which candidate is favorable for the position of public office.
Social issues don't dominate the landscape for this election, even though a majority of Americans oppose homosexual marriages (55%) and 38% stating that such issues will affect their voting decisions. Overwhelmingly, 78% of Americans have focused on the domestic issues of the economy, health care, and the environment as their litmus test for who should be the highest and most powerful citizen in the nation.
"The question of religion and politics is not the same as the question of church and state." Kenneth Cauthen, the John Price Crozer Griffith emeritus Professor of Theology at the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester New York states in his article "Church and State, Religion and Politics." "Religious beliefs have moral and social implications, and it is appropriate for people of faith to express these through their activities as citizens in the political order."
Both candidates have the view that universal, emprical, and liberal policies of the United States Of America are what is best for this country. Each have a view of what is 'right' for this country and its former glory as a nation 'under God'.
Neither will run the government according to biblical principles and spiritual morality, their faith not having an effect on the decisions that will affect 83% of the American population that claims Christianity as their religion.
There is no longer a question of whether this country will continue its decline in morality, ethical behavior, and economy blessings.
The only question, with the nomination of the Democratic or Republican candidates, is how long will it take to reach the bottom?
If you don't stand up the rock of spiritual authority and moral 'right', nominating a candidate as you (and I) have in the past by the litmus test "which one is the 'better,'" we will continue to be responsible for the lackluster, unexperienced, and spiritually corrupt candidates that the major parties give us as 'the best of the best.'
With one candidate being compared to Christ, "a community activist", and the other party's vice-president being referenced as a governor, "like Pontius Pilate," is it any wonder we stand in the moral decay and decadence of the ungoverned?
After all, we THE PEOPLE, have accepted the choices given for years.
Vote your faith this election, not your opinion of 'who is better.'
http://pewforum.org/surveys/campaign08/
Tuesday, September 16
God is being made in our image.....
"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." 2 Timothy 4:2-5
They say that I am sometimes inflexible, to the point of separating myself from the very people that God wants to reach, because I am not one who appreciates, condones, or edifies the church doctrine of "revelevancy to the culture" type of preaching. When man decides what God is saying, rather than seeking God's wisdom that stands above and beyond man's interpretation, we find ourselves recreating God in our image. This leads to the hard questions of "Why?" and "Good and Evil; which does God do?" and "God is love, but He punishes the wicked."
In today's world, we have defined God by human characteristics and action. This so that we can feel unburdened by the sheer separation that lies between us and God, due to our own sins and the failure we face as we struggle to be the men and women that God intended and designed us to be. We figure if we can make God human, then we won't face judgment and God would give us the 'freedom' to make our own morality and ethics. This is what is preached and why churches are the size of thousands (called mega), because we all want to feel good about our relationship with God......without accountability, without fuss. The smaller, intimate churches of old are dying--- if not already dead --- because that would call into the spotlight the folly of our making of God in our image. Truth would destroy the fantasy of the Mega-God.
"God is not a man, that He should lie. He is not a human, that He should change His mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through?" Numbers 23:19 (NLT)
God is beyond man's complete understanding and therefore is immeasurably unknowable, in our linear mindset. What He said, stands. What He did, remains in silent testimony to the will and the power of this Almighty God. His message hasn't changed in thousands of years, only the way and the amount of truth that the Church decided to deliver to a culture that doesn't want absolutes, but watered and leave alone gospels. That is why true bible-teaching, accountable churches are slowly dying in the landscape of the American consumerism culture.....if you don't preach what I want to hear, I'll leave and find some place else that does.
An up and coming church, once finding that 'elusive' formula that dances with the Truth and appeals to the masses, will refuse to hear any descension from anyone else; branding them intolerant, haughty, and demon-possessed. As one preacher told the congregation, "You bible theologists and teachers who don't agree with Henry Wright's theology (God wants us never to be sick), think that you are God's gift to the church and you can just leave."
Just because the fulfillment of this scripture is seemingly coming true, it doesn't not relinquish me from the calling to speak what I believe is truth. In all situations, circumstances, and communities.
Even the saved can stray.....
They say that I am sometimes inflexible, to the point of separating myself from the very people that God wants to reach, because I am not one who appreciates, condones, or edifies the church doctrine of "revelevancy to the culture" type of preaching. When man decides what God is saying, rather than seeking God's wisdom that stands above and beyond man's interpretation, we find ourselves recreating God in our image. This leads to the hard questions of "Why?" and "Good and Evil; which does God do?" and "God is love, but He punishes the wicked."
In today's world, we have defined God by human characteristics and action. This so that we can feel unburdened by the sheer separation that lies between us and God, due to our own sins and the failure we face as we struggle to be the men and women that God intended and designed us to be. We figure if we can make God human, then we won't face judgment and God would give us the 'freedom' to make our own morality and ethics. This is what is preached and why churches are the size of thousands (called mega), because we all want to feel good about our relationship with God......without accountability, without fuss. The smaller, intimate churches of old are dying--- if not already dead --- because that would call into the spotlight the folly of our making of God in our image. Truth would destroy the fantasy of the Mega-God.
"God is not a man, that He should lie. He is not a human, that He should change His mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through?" Numbers 23:19 (NLT)
God is beyond man's complete understanding and therefore is immeasurably unknowable, in our linear mindset. What He said, stands. What He did, remains in silent testimony to the will and the power of this Almighty God. His message hasn't changed in thousands of years, only the way and the amount of truth that the Church decided to deliver to a culture that doesn't want absolutes, but watered and leave alone gospels. That is why true bible-teaching, accountable churches are slowly dying in the landscape of the American consumerism culture.....if you don't preach what I want to hear, I'll leave and find some place else that does.
An up and coming church, once finding that 'elusive' formula that dances with the Truth and appeals to the masses, will refuse to hear any descension from anyone else; branding them intolerant, haughty, and demon-possessed. As one preacher told the congregation, "You bible theologists and teachers who don't agree with Henry Wright's theology (God wants us never to be sick), think that you are God's gift to the church and you can just leave."
Just because the fulfillment of this scripture is seemingly coming true, it doesn't not relinquish me from the calling to speak what I believe is truth. In all situations, circumstances, and communities.
Even the saved can stray.....
Monday, September 15
A birthday.....
Forty one years ago, in a little suburban hospital on Grand River Boulevard on the Farmington side, in the great state of Michigan, in the United States of America; a male child, the third of Sharon Lee Nitchie and Ronald Lawrence Hutson, was born. A story began that September day so long ago........
The story is still in process, still being written as you read this. The year that child was born was the year of the infamous Detroit City Riots, which erupted in one neighborhood and caused damage to almost half the city. Eleven years past the age when that child believed the life he led would end. Five years since that child found that the ache in his soul wasn't going to be filled by anyone other than Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God (Three-in-One), and a call was placed in his heart to serve God in ministry. Three years since the call led that child into a chapel as Senior Chaplain. Two years since that child finally started the stunted process of becoming a man.
When I entered the world, like most babies, I was disrupted…..the warmth and cocoon-like comfort of my mother's womb was violently and unavoidably disrupted as I entered a world of pain, discomfort, new sensations, and need. Most of the physical needs were met, but so many of the spiritual, mental, and psychological ones were partially met or not at all.
Much of my childhood is a slideshow of snapshots; a bee sting in my eye socket at the bus stop on Wormer that made me look like the elephant man and showed me I was allergic to bees. split green pea soup in a metal container on a stove; being given a bowl and shoved outside. Falling off the kitchen table and cutting my tongue; which led to the diagnosis of Epilepsy with Petite Mal seizures. Being forced to wear a diaper as punishment for 'having accidents' and having a picture taken to be displayed for family and friends. Crying myself to sleep on the front lawn of the house on Wormer because I had watched my father drive away from a broken marriage and home, thinking it was my fault because I was my father's son and due to my failure to measure up caused him to forsake the whole family.
Being left at the supermarket at the end of the street with a tert phone call to my father to come get us. Meeting a woman, all of five foot and a few inches, who I would call Mom for my entire life and who I considered to be a giant among giants. A new concept of a God, who...by following His commandments, you could be worthy of blessings and eventually a spot in Heaven, some mystical place in the clouds.
Military Academy, on the basis of the recommendation of the psychologist at Hawthorne Center, who felt that the child was the 'black sheep' of the family and was capable of living outside the confines of the community where he lived for a few years. First Holy Child in Monroe, Michigan and then LeMans Academy outside of Rolling Prairie, Indiana.
A bicycle for my birthday, a failed paper route, another divorce and the breaking of the 'family four' when my older brother stood his ground and refused to move in with my father and his new girlfriend. My departure at 16, after a failed attempt at 15, and the history I lived for a few weeks with my birth mother.
A life lived trying to prove my father right when he said, "You'll never amount to more than a trash collector and that's if they take pity on you to give you the job."
A life that came to blessings as a heavenly Father I rejected as too harsh and distant rescued me time and time again from those events that should've killed me, as I hoped for so long.
A life that came to a moment in time when a gift was given as my earthly father said, "I was never disappointed in you" a week before he died from a massive heart attack.
A life spent trying to make things work under my own abilities and failing; sometimes through design (my own) and most of the time because my own strength and abilities weren't enough for the situations I led myself into.
A life that came to a moment in time when my son was born, and the frantic promises of a father who was overwhelmed (he was thirty-three weeks, right at the edge of sustainable life the docs said). A promise made by a father who felt he wasn't capable of being a dad, much less a father.
A life that ended on a February Sunday, the 14th, when the child heard the call of his Father, "Don't you think its time to come home?" and was redeemed, restored, and immediately put into training for the purpose to which it had been designed and assigned.
A life that was told in a story with a bunch of other men in the Canadian 'wilderness' because one man stood in that place with him and called him to deeper life in the Savior we both claimed.
A life that was affirmed and attested by those men who saw a strength designed by the Creator's own hand and a leadership ability shaped by the journey taken.
A life that realized that living as a man of God requires God, for movement in fear is impossible without a strength that comes from the Creator's hand.
A life that began movement despite the realistic fear of losing all that was grasped, because the child becoming a man realized that to hold what is dear requires releasing it into the Father's hands from whence all of it came.
Now, at forty-one years into this journey that God has set my feet upon...always journeying with me even when I refused to look in His direction and listen to His voice calling me away from the mistakes, choices, and poor judgments made by my own choice....I stand and look back upon the journey so far, without anguish or apology (for those that were needed were given) and see the shaping of my Father and my father's hands.
I have realized forgiveness because I have learned to give forgiveness; even if it wasn't received. I have forgiven my father for what went wrong and what he was responsible for because my Heavenly Father has forgiven me my wrongs, my sinful denials of His design. I can celebrate the great things that my father passed on to me and mourn the things that weren't as great that were a result of wounds he himself carried.
I can feel the love unspoken and see the gems of my childhood; the dog my father brought home because the kids so desperately wanted one, the time at the dining room table when he showed me the 38 he carried for his job and the wisdom he imparted about handguns. My grandmother, now passed, who would always ask if I was Ron on the phone because I sound and look like my father. My father sitting in the stands at the parade grounds at the Great Lakes Recruit Training Center, where he himself went for basic, and celebrating his son's 'graduation' from training recruit to sailor in the greatest navy ever known.
Those things, I want to pass on to my son and a daughter; a blessing from a grandfather unfortunately they never knew.
And, as I had started life so long ago now, as a disrupted baby boy....I carry on with being a disrupted man.......moving in fear and trusting by faith in my Heavenly Father when He made the claim;
"You are My Beloved Son."
Even though I still fail, still fall short, and struggle against the sinful old nature that once 'defined' who I was.....
Where I once sorrowed over struggles, I rejoice because God is glorified either in His movement within them, or my honoring Him in the midst of them.
Where I once struggled with my own strength, I realize in my weakness God moves with His strength.
Where once I prayed that God would let me end this life I was forced to live, I pray that God will give me more time to pursue Him through the struggles, chaos, and disruption so that I may be His light, His vision, and His warrior for the sake of those men battered by life, bruised by heartache, and living a life cocooned in a false sense of safety.
To answer the 'silence of Adam' with a heartfelt, spirit-driven yell of a warrior in God's Army;
Calling all men to battle.........
for their wives,
for their children,
for their communities,
and FOR THEIR GOD.
Warriors who will stand with the beauty and order of God's created at their backs and face the chaos and darkness with swords at the ready and shields interlocked with other men.........
and tell the fallen one, Lucifer, that he shall NOT pass.
Laughing with the joy that comes from knowing the peace of their Heavenly Father, and living the purpose to which men were designed, as they face a chaotic and broken world.
The story is still in process, still being written as you read this. The year that child was born was the year of the infamous Detroit City Riots, which erupted in one neighborhood and caused damage to almost half the city. Eleven years past the age when that child believed the life he led would end. Five years since that child found that the ache in his soul wasn't going to be filled by anyone other than Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God (Three-in-One), and a call was placed in his heart to serve God in ministry. Three years since the call led that child into a chapel as Senior Chaplain. Two years since that child finally started the stunted process of becoming a man.
When I entered the world, like most babies, I was disrupted…..the warmth and cocoon-like comfort of my mother's womb was violently and unavoidably disrupted as I entered a world of pain, discomfort, new sensations, and need. Most of the physical needs were met, but so many of the spiritual, mental, and psychological ones were partially met or not at all.
Much of my childhood is a slideshow of snapshots; a bee sting in my eye socket at the bus stop on Wormer that made me look like the elephant man and showed me I was allergic to bees. split green pea soup in a metal container on a stove; being given a bowl and shoved outside. Falling off the kitchen table and cutting my tongue; which led to the diagnosis of Epilepsy with Petite Mal seizures. Being forced to wear a diaper as punishment for 'having accidents' and having a picture taken to be displayed for family and friends. Crying myself to sleep on the front lawn of the house on Wormer because I had watched my father drive away from a broken marriage and home, thinking it was my fault because I was my father's son and due to my failure to measure up caused him to forsake the whole family.
Being left at the supermarket at the end of the street with a tert phone call to my father to come get us. Meeting a woman, all of five foot and a few inches, who I would call Mom for my entire life and who I considered to be a giant among giants. A new concept of a God, who...by following His commandments, you could be worthy of blessings and eventually a spot in Heaven, some mystical place in the clouds.
Military Academy, on the basis of the recommendation of the psychologist at Hawthorne Center, who felt that the child was the 'black sheep' of the family and was capable of living outside the confines of the community where he lived for a few years. First Holy Child in Monroe, Michigan and then LeMans Academy outside of Rolling Prairie, Indiana.
A bicycle for my birthday, a failed paper route, another divorce and the breaking of the 'family four' when my older brother stood his ground and refused to move in with my father and his new girlfriend. My departure at 16, after a failed attempt at 15, and the history I lived for a few weeks with my birth mother.
A life lived trying to prove my father right when he said, "You'll never amount to more than a trash collector and that's if they take pity on you to give you the job."
A life that came to blessings as a heavenly Father I rejected as too harsh and distant rescued me time and time again from those events that should've killed me, as I hoped for so long.
A life that came to a moment in time when a gift was given as my earthly father said, "I was never disappointed in you" a week before he died from a massive heart attack.
A life spent trying to make things work under my own abilities and failing; sometimes through design (my own) and most of the time because my own strength and abilities weren't enough for the situations I led myself into.
A life that came to a moment in time when my son was born, and the frantic promises of a father who was overwhelmed (he was thirty-three weeks, right at the edge of sustainable life the docs said). A promise made by a father who felt he wasn't capable of being a dad, much less a father.
A life that ended on a February Sunday, the 14th, when the child heard the call of his Father, "Don't you think its time to come home?" and was redeemed, restored, and immediately put into training for the purpose to which it had been designed and assigned.
A life that was told in a story with a bunch of other men in the Canadian 'wilderness' because one man stood in that place with him and called him to deeper life in the Savior we both claimed.
A life that was affirmed and attested by those men who saw a strength designed by the Creator's own hand and a leadership ability shaped by the journey taken.
A life that realized that living as a man of God requires God, for movement in fear is impossible without a strength that comes from the Creator's hand.
A life that began movement despite the realistic fear of losing all that was grasped, because the child becoming a man realized that to hold what is dear requires releasing it into the Father's hands from whence all of it came.
Now, at forty-one years into this journey that God has set my feet upon...always journeying with me even when I refused to look in His direction and listen to His voice calling me away from the mistakes, choices, and poor judgments made by my own choice....I stand and look back upon the journey so far, without anguish or apology (for those that were needed were given) and see the shaping of my Father and my father's hands.
I have realized forgiveness because I have learned to give forgiveness; even if it wasn't received. I have forgiven my father for what went wrong and what he was responsible for because my Heavenly Father has forgiven me my wrongs, my sinful denials of His design. I can celebrate the great things that my father passed on to me and mourn the things that weren't as great that were a result of wounds he himself carried.
I can feel the love unspoken and see the gems of my childhood; the dog my father brought home because the kids so desperately wanted one, the time at the dining room table when he showed me the 38 he carried for his job and the wisdom he imparted about handguns. My grandmother, now passed, who would always ask if I was Ron on the phone because I sound and look like my father. My father sitting in the stands at the parade grounds at the Great Lakes Recruit Training Center, where he himself went for basic, and celebrating his son's 'graduation' from training recruit to sailor in the greatest navy ever known.
Those things, I want to pass on to my son and a daughter; a blessing from a grandfather unfortunately they never knew.
And, as I had started life so long ago now, as a disrupted baby boy....I carry on with being a disrupted man.......moving in fear and trusting by faith in my Heavenly Father when He made the claim;
"You are My Beloved Son."
Even though I still fail, still fall short, and struggle against the sinful old nature that once 'defined' who I was.....
Where I once sorrowed over struggles, I rejoice because God is glorified either in His movement within them, or my honoring Him in the midst of them.
Where I once struggled with my own strength, I realize in my weakness God moves with His strength.
Where once I prayed that God would let me end this life I was forced to live, I pray that God will give me more time to pursue Him through the struggles, chaos, and disruption so that I may be His light, His vision, and His warrior for the sake of those men battered by life, bruised by heartache, and living a life cocooned in a false sense of safety.
To answer the 'silence of Adam' with a heartfelt, spirit-driven yell of a warrior in God's Army;
Calling all men to battle.........
for their wives,
for their children,
for their communities,
and FOR THEIR GOD.
Warriors who will stand with the beauty and order of God's created at their backs and face the chaos and darkness with swords at the ready and shields interlocked with other men.........
and tell the fallen one, Lucifer, that he shall NOT pass.
Laughing with the joy that comes from knowing the peace of their Heavenly Father, and living the purpose to which men were designed, as they face a chaotic and broken world.
Thursday, September 11
Reflections....
"Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them: [He whose gift is] prophecy, [let him prophesy] according to the proportion of his faith; [He whose gift is] practical service, let him give himself to serving; he who teaches, to his teaching; He who exhorts (encourages), to his exhortation; he who contributes, let him do it in simplicity and liberality; he who gives aid and superintends, with zeal and singleness of mind; he who does acts of mercy, with genuine cheerfulness and joyful eagerness. [Let your] love be sincere (a real thing); hate what is evil [loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from wickedness], but hold fast to that which is good. Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family], giving precedence and showing honor to one another.
Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord. Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of God's people [sharing in the necessities of the saints]; pursue the practice of hospitality. Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you]; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others' joy], and weep with those who weep [sharing others' grief]." Romans 12:6-15 (AMP)
Since September 11, 2001....as I sat in a call center for cell phone information service and answered call after call of worried parents wanting to contact the administration at their children's schools and four planes took the lives of fellow Americans who began their day in the usual way that they did...I have been reflective of what my life means, where it is going, and would---in the final moments of my last breath---it have meaning.
It wasn't until three years later that I found the source of that meaning, and a scant few months later in the same year that He proposed His proposterous idea of what my service to Him would mean. Two churches, one chapel, and a new community later....I wonder if the next corner I turn will lead me into that call to ministry, or be another slammed door by those who feel that they know what God can do, even in the life of a redeemed sinner as myself.
"Not only has God given us natural abilities, He also equips every believer with spiritual gifts for the purpose of ministry. God doesn’t use the unwilling—He won’t force us to serve Him. His part is to equip us and empower and prepare us for service. Our part is to be faithful and available and aware of opportunities to use our gifts," writes Cindy Hess Kasper, Associate Editor for Our Journey at RBC Ministries and author of Today's "Daily Bread Devotion."
Four years, almost a month from now, God has been rooting around the cellar of my soul and tossing things into the scrap pile....widening the place for His word and His design to dwell in. A church left, another separated from, and a community that I had been a part of for five years in the rearview mirror of my car as my newly-divided family headed in the directions that were set for them. Me and my son in a community vastly smaller and more tight-knit than the one we left and my daughter to spend a season with her birth mother. A chapel left behind for this time, my sabbatical becoming a hiatus of indeterminal length. Change; not asked for or even wanted, but still led by God's call.........
I pass by the abandoned Jehovah Kingdom Hall on my longer drive to work each day, both ways. I still can see in my mind's eye the growth of a congregation of bible-believing and following people of the family.
With each step taken towards a God that I cannot fully define, but fully trust.
But this season seems different. As if that purpose to which God called me so long ago is right around the corner, so close I no longer have to envision what it would look like, but the shadowy outlines are becoming more and more defined as I stride closer to that corner.....
Relationships yet to be fully realized, others to be fully let go of. Hurdles to jump and some to knock down to walk over. Opinions to acknowledge and some to ignore.
I will follow in my Father's footsteps until I cannot follow anymore. I know that at that moment in time, He will pick me up and carry me home telling me that I have served Him well.
Like those souls who were taken from this earthly plane seven years ago at the hands of enemies of the United States of America AND of God, I started my day out like every other day.
I gave thanks to God for the blessings known, the blessing unknown, and those I've yet to encounter. For His love, His strength, and His purpose; imparted to me fresh each day. For His Son, who died so many centuries ago, for this soon-to-be forty one year old; that I might live.
And, I trust in the final moments of my life, as we saw so clearly in the accounts of countless others on that September day seven years ago, will find myself in the service of my Lord and Savior......until my dying breath.
Stop for a moment today and examine those Americans who aspire to the highest positions in the land. Would we want any of the four candidates to be on that plane that went down in the Pennslyvania countryside? Would they stand against the hopeless odds and face those who threatened our country? Or would they cower in the back?
Is your life in service to God lived in the same manner? Do you stand, regardless of the odds and declare yourself His---purposed by Him----and surrendered to His mission? Or do you cower in the back of the church, hoping to be passed by?
On a September day seven years ago, several Americans stood their ground and didn't count the cost. They call to us today; remember, honor, and never forget what being an American means. They call us to remember what being a child of God means.
Will we dishonor them?
Will we dishonor God?
I began this morning with a new request; one that I should have been praying for all these years.
God, give me the pride of a patriot, the wisdom of a Elder, and the mercy of Christ in my service to You today. That I may use my life spent for Your cause.
Truth. Honor. Service.
Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord. Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of God's people [sharing in the necessities of the saints]; pursue the practice of hospitality. Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you]; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others' joy], and weep with those who weep [sharing others' grief]." Romans 12:6-15 (AMP)
Since September 11, 2001....as I sat in a call center for cell phone information service and answered call after call of worried parents wanting to contact the administration at their children's schools and four planes took the lives of fellow Americans who began their day in the usual way that they did...I have been reflective of what my life means, where it is going, and would---in the final moments of my last breath---it have meaning.
It wasn't until three years later that I found the source of that meaning, and a scant few months later in the same year that He proposed His proposterous idea of what my service to Him would mean. Two churches, one chapel, and a new community later....I wonder if the next corner I turn will lead me into that call to ministry, or be another slammed door by those who feel that they know what God can do, even in the life of a redeemed sinner as myself.
"Not only has God given us natural abilities, He also equips every believer with spiritual gifts for the purpose of ministry. God doesn’t use the unwilling—He won’t force us to serve Him. His part is to equip us and empower and prepare us for service. Our part is to be faithful and available and aware of opportunities to use our gifts," writes Cindy Hess Kasper, Associate Editor for Our Journey at RBC Ministries and author of Today's "Daily Bread Devotion."
Four years, almost a month from now, God has been rooting around the cellar of my soul and tossing things into the scrap pile....widening the place for His word and His design to dwell in. A church left, another separated from, and a community that I had been a part of for five years in the rearview mirror of my car as my newly-divided family headed in the directions that were set for them. Me and my son in a community vastly smaller and more tight-knit than the one we left and my daughter to spend a season with her birth mother. A chapel left behind for this time, my sabbatical becoming a hiatus of indeterminal length. Change; not asked for or even wanted, but still led by God's call.........
I pass by the abandoned Jehovah Kingdom Hall on my longer drive to work each day, both ways. I still can see in my mind's eye the growth of a congregation of bible-believing and following people of the family.
With each step taken towards a God that I cannot fully define, but fully trust.
But this season seems different. As if that purpose to which God called me so long ago is right around the corner, so close I no longer have to envision what it would look like, but the shadowy outlines are becoming more and more defined as I stride closer to that corner.....
Relationships yet to be fully realized, others to be fully let go of. Hurdles to jump and some to knock down to walk over. Opinions to acknowledge and some to ignore.
I will follow in my Father's footsteps until I cannot follow anymore. I know that at that moment in time, He will pick me up and carry me home telling me that I have served Him well.
Like those souls who were taken from this earthly plane seven years ago at the hands of enemies of the United States of America AND of God, I started my day out like every other day.
I gave thanks to God for the blessings known, the blessing unknown, and those I've yet to encounter. For His love, His strength, and His purpose; imparted to me fresh each day. For His Son, who died so many centuries ago, for this soon-to-be forty one year old; that I might live.
And, I trust in the final moments of my life, as we saw so clearly in the accounts of countless others on that September day seven years ago, will find myself in the service of my Lord and Savior......until my dying breath.
Stop for a moment today and examine those Americans who aspire to the highest positions in the land. Would we want any of the four candidates to be on that plane that went down in the Pennslyvania countryside? Would they stand against the hopeless odds and face those who threatened our country? Or would they cower in the back?
Is your life in service to God lived in the same manner? Do you stand, regardless of the odds and declare yourself His---purposed by Him----and surrendered to His mission? Or do you cower in the back of the church, hoping to be passed by?
On a September day seven years ago, several Americans stood their ground and didn't count the cost. They call to us today; remember, honor, and never forget what being an American means. They call us to remember what being a child of God means.
Will we dishonor them?
Will we dishonor God?
I began this morning with a new request; one that I should have been praying for all these years.
God, give me the pride of a patriot, the wisdom of a Elder, and the mercy of Christ in my service to You today. That I may use my life spent for Your cause.
Truth. Honor. Service.
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