Setbacks Nag; Success Whispers!

Transformation is a buzzword in our world today.  We are enchanted with it.  We see everything around us morphing.  Life requires change.  If you are not changing, you are dying. 

For those following Christ, this is welcomed and widely encouraged.   Romans 12:1-2 calls for “the renewing of the mind.”  Paul in Ephesians 4:22 told us to change our clothes—“put off the old and put on the new.”  “Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature.” Col. 3:5.  But in Galatians 3:3 he reminds us this is a work of the Spirit—not human effort.  “After beginning with the Spirit are you now trying to attain your goal (of spiritual maturity) by human effort?”  Going back to rules, disciplines, and following the law (or even the Ten Commandments) does not lead to freedom, rather it continues to provoke the flesh.

So, if transformation is important, how does transformation happen?  What is the means in which the Spirit does this? 

The way the Spirit transforms us is through our eyes and ears.  To our eyes he says, “Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of your faith.”   To our ears, he whispers in a “still small voice” calling us away from the bad to pursue the good.  This is the way transformation occurs.   And there is a bonus, our hearts do not condemn us when we look forward.  By looking at Christ, we don’t look backwards—to our setbacks and sins.  It is that obvious.

Ever had the experience of sinning?  Sure.  What did it do to you?  Did it make you want to sin more?  Sin is like that.  How do we overcome sin, temptation and the flesh?  We don’t look back.  We look forward.  Setbacks scream at us; righteousness whispers “look ahead.”  Sin nags; success in the Christian life speaks softly—‘this is the way, walk in it.”

If you haven’t noticed, one sinful experience has the effect of outweighing one positive act of righteousness.  A gallon of bad stuff weighs more than a gallon of good stuff.

Here is my theory about transformation.  You can do all the spiritual disciplines you want (it may not hurt) but if you want to live like a noble son or daughter of the most High God, then you have to keep looking ahead and not focus on what happened behind you. 

One sin has the power to defeat one positive act of righteousness.  In fact, one sin defeats two positive acts of righteousness.  It may take three positives to offset one negative. 

If you focus on your sin or setback, it paralyzes you.  Your soul is like a boat with a hole in it.  The bad gushes in and the good jumps ship.  Look at the good before the bad sinks you.  Plug holes. 

Here are a few words of wisdom.  Think more about the good.  Live with the good in front of you.  Thank more.  Live more.  Love more.  Cheer more.  Do good.  Don’t be defeated by the bad.  Eliminate the negative.  Throw out the bad and the good comes back. 

Focus on the goal.  You are falling behind if you don’t.  The good will whisper you to your goal.  Learn from your setbacks.  Freedom energizes, setbacks drain.

The pursuit of righteousness is fueled by acts of righteousness, not looking at our sins.  Pursue what is good.  Proverbs 21:21 “He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.”   1 Tim. 6:22 “But you man of God, flee from this (the bad in life) and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love and goodness.” Pursuing the good mean stop focusing on our setbacks and shortcomings.  These latter things only trap us in our past.  Listen to whispers!

Focusing on the goal,

Jim

Quiet Times Reflections: Fan the flame

Quiet Times Reflections: Fan the flame

This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.  For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.

2 Timothy 1:6-7, 14

Every fall my nephew has a huge bonfire and then bakes the most delicious pizzas in his outdoor oven.  The scent of wood burning pizza and the bonfire sticks to our clothes for days bringing with it the sweet remembrance of times spent with each other.  I thought of him when I read this verse.  The bonfire starts off with a strategically placed Tepee built with different size tree limbs and trunks.  Although powerful looking it serves no purpose until it is lit and nursed into a strong powerful heat source.  When the time is right, the spark is lit and the night sky becomes brilliant with the light from the fire.  The outside temperature can be in the teens and yet the closer we get to the fire the warmer the air around us becomes.

The spiritual gift God gave to Timothy, and likewise to each of us, started with a spark.  The wood for the bonfire had been instilled in Timothy as a youth by his godly mother and grandmother.  Now was the time Timothy would have to ‘fan into flames’ that spark through exercising the power of the Holy Spirit living within him.  Flames will not come when wood is wet and likewise our faith will not grow when saturated with fear and anxiety.  These do not come from the Holy Spirit but rather the enemy trying to keep the bonfire from existing.  

Timothy didn't know the exact outcome of the flames any more than we know the end of the dreams and visions God plants in our hearts.  We don’t need to know, we just need to fan those dreams and visions with the power of the Holy Spirit by renewing our minds daily with his word and his strength.  Our controlling and manipulation will always leave us with wet wood.  God’s word stands guard over that precious truth and he will bring it to pass in his timing.   He then becomes our source of power, love and self-discipline, and strength…never be extinguished. 

Rhythm: Part 1 - Heartbeat

There is a lot of discord in the world today.  Just look at the news.  If you're like me you don't even have to look that far.  You can just look at your own life.  I know mine is full of ups and downs that are primarily of my own making.

Mainly because I loose my rhythm.

Not that I am a musical person at all.  It takes all my effort to keep clapping at the right time.  But I'm talking about internally.  The thing that moves me as a person and as a disciple of Jesus.

My heartbeat.

Rather, the heartbeat of Jesus.  Does my heart beat for the same things as his?  Sometimes.  Hence, discord.  That can apply individually, and to the church at large.  Sometimes we focus on the wrong things.  How big or small something is.  How things or people are dressed.  The things that don't matter.  Before we get into all that, let's look at some heart facts:

-The heart is a muscle, a pump.  It moves blood throughout your body to give oxygen and nutrients to the millions of cells that make us...us.

-The heart never rests.  From the moment it starts beating until the moment you die, it never stops.

-Did you know that a heart "at rest" works twice as hard as leg muscles in someone who is sprinting.

-The average Human heart beat is 70 bpm and weights a little less than a pound

-A dog: 60-160 bpm

-A cat: 110-240 bpm

-A mouse: 500-600bpm

-An elephant: 30bpm weighs about 40-60 lbs

-A blue whale: 9 bpm and weighs half a ton, 1,000 lbs

Okay, what does that have to do with anything?  Well, I'm getting there.  Take a moment and feel your heart beat.  Put your hand on your chest and feel that muscle work.  Heartbeat.  It's the sound that lets us know we're still alive.  It slows down when we're calm, and races when we are afraid or excited.  But there is a different kind of heartbeat.  Not the actual muscle heartbeat, but the heartbeat of our spirit.  The driving force to how we act and respond to things.

Go read the account of Mary being told she will become the mother of Jesus.  Here's a link: Luke 1:26-38.

The thing I love about all this is Mary's response.  "May it be to me as you have said."  She believed.  She took the messenger of the Lord at his word and believed.  And she obeyed.  Then she goes to her cousins house.  And do you know what happened next?

She worships.  She sings this song glorifying God.  It gets pretty intense too.  It's not just this sweet little happy song.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things

but has sent the rich away empty.

What does your heartbeat sing?  Take some time over the next few days and be still.  Put your hand on your heart and listen.  Listen to what your soul wants to sing about God, about Jesus.  What he has done.  Let that heartbeat set a rhythm in your spirit.

        Love God.
                Love neighbors.
                        Act justly.
                                Love mercy.

grace, peace + hope
-Jesse

Every. Single. Day.

Can I be completely honest with you?

Yes?  Thanks.  Here goes...

I'm tired. Tired of the struggles of this life.  Primarily the one I fight with myself.  It's been a rough couple months internally.  I've been fighting the desires of my flesh, those needy selfish pointless things that result in nothing good.

I get angry with myself, and it just spirals and becomes a vicious circle.  Sound familiar to anyone?  I catch myself getting grumpier and more irritable.  Quickly I become very self-centered and avoid any challenge to that concept.  I stew.  And I close my ears.

And I don't listen for God to speak to me.  To remind me of things I know in my heart.

Then, like yesterday, there will be a break in the internal storm, and the light will shine through.  And humble me to my knees.  That break can take many forms.  A word from a friend, a song, a view of the mountains...and I hear what God has been constantly saying through the whole bit of self chaos.

"Get over yourself.  Love your God with all your heart.  And your neighbor.  Every.  Single.  Day."

Anyone else?  You get so caught up in daily life, yourself, your family, and you loose sight of God.  But he wants us to put him first every day.  Not Sunday.  Not Wednesday night, or when ever your group meets.  Not when you feel like it, not when you want to.

Every.  Single.  Day.

This is not me making things up.  This is straight from the mouth of Jesus.  Look up Luke 9.

Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

 This is something I'm saying as much to myself as I am anyone else.  Being a follower of Jesus, a student, a disciple of his, means to deny yourself daily.  This isn't meant to be some directive to punish yourself or anything like that.  It is, simply put, shifting the focus of your life from yourself to Jesus.

Easier said than done.  Trust me I know.  But this is me, and M28, encouraging you to do just that.  There is no secret.  No formula on how to do this.  All I can suggest is what has worked for me in the past, and what I'm implementing moving forward.  Spend time with Jesus.  Pray.  Read the Word.  Meditate on the scriptures.  Or find what draws you to him.

Another thing is do follow the commands he gave us.  Three huge ones are:
        1)  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and all your mind and with all your strength.
        2)  Love your neighbor as yourself.
        3)  Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

That pretty much takes care of everyone on the planet.  The last two are fairly easy to figure out.  But how do you show love to God?  I know I reference this scripture often on this blog, but it seems that important to be repeated.  Matthew 25:

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

and

The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

 This isn't stuff you need credentials for.  You don't even need a high school diploma for this stuff.  Feed the hungry.  Give drink to the thirsty.  Welcome strangers.  Clothe those without.  Care for the sick.  Visit those in prison.  There are people in need all around you.  Maybe on your block or in your apartment building.  Maybe it will take a bit of a drive.  But they are there.  Waiting.  Waiting for you.  Waiting for Jesus.

Every.  Single.  Day.

I say all these things because I need to hear them.  And because I want to challenge and encourage you as well.  You don't need dynamite or a backhoe to move mountains and tear down walls.  Try a smile.  Patience.  Kindness.  Put others before yourself.  Family.  Friends.  Strangers.  See what happens.

Do it today.  Do it now.

grace, peace & hope
-Jesse

You have to get rid of that "I"

Written by "Sam" - 10/25

I was having a one on one session with a Christian who I look up to.  I was explaining how I got discouraged because I was at a spiritual retreat up in the mountains, and I thought all of a sudden, I'm gonna feel some type of way and grow immensely in Christianity overnight - or feel the lightning bolts. 

This is not how this works. 

Change is a constant slow process (at least for me).  But I looked at how far I've come.  7 months ago I never picked up a Bible or wanted to.   I didn't put Christian songs on a CD, mention Jesus in prayer, usually I just prayed for God to get me out of this mess or for the light to turn green.

I have come along way in this time and I don't give myself enough credit.

He stopped me there and said, "You have to get rid of that 'I' and give all the credit to Jesus."

I replied in my mind, "Your telling me after 12 years of hurting people, being selfish, lying etc.  that now I'm finally doing good and I can't take any of the credit!"

-That is the end of his entry.  And I love it.

I know I've been in a similar place, at least as far as the taking credit part.  I love his honesty, and the wisdom of the one he was meeting with to call that out.  This is one example of what discipleship and living our lives with people that M28 is all about.

It's easy to replace what Jesus does in our lives with ourselves.  But we would never get close to him if he hadn't already come all the way to us.

grace, peace + hope
-Jesse

Fill 'er Up

In John 10, Jesus compares himself to the gate of a sheep pen, and to the shepherd.  He says that he is the only way to truly enter the pen and that the sheep will only follow their true shepherd.  In the middle of these comparisons he mentions that all others who came into the pen before him (not as sheep) were thieves and robbers.

He says the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  They didn't come into the pen through the gate (through Jesus.)  They are there to do harm.  Jesus says, "But I come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly...(or to the full.)

Um...yes please!

I'd like some life to the full.

Especially if Jesus is the one giving it.  He didn't come to take life away from us.  To tie us down with laborious rules and dogmas.

He makes many comparisons of who he is.  The Bread of Life, Fountain of Living Water, The Shepherd, The Gate, The Way, The Truth, The Life.  The Light of the World.  The Vine.


He is the bread that feeds us.

The water that quenches us.

The shepherd who cares for us.

The gate that protects us.

The way that guides us.

The truth that frees us.

The life that fills us.

The light that reveals us.

The vine that sustains us.


Yes.  I'll have some of that.  All of that.  He must increase, we must decrease.  Let Jesus fill your life, so that you may live abundantly...fully.  Because if He feeds us...we can feed others.  If he cares for us...we can care for others.  I think you can follow that train.

Let him do those things in you, so you don't have to worry about those things for yourself.  You can give it to others.  It is what he wants from us.  Love him with everything.  Love our neighbors.  Give out what he has filled you with.


grace, peace + hope
-Jesse

Rest Easy

In 1994 I was introduced to the "alternative-rock" of the band Audio Adrenaline.  A group of musicians that got together at Kentucky Christian University.  It was a life altering introduction for me, but that is not the story I'm here to tell today.

I had a copy of the cassette of their album "Don't Censor Me," (yes I said cassette,) and I played it constantly.  There was one song in particular that resonated with me.  It was not one of the loud, distorted, rock anthems.  It was one of the most mellow songs on the album, Rest Easy.

It was the first song I intentionally tried to remember the lyrics to.  I remember lying on the ramp of my brothers work trailer at lunch replaying the words over and over in my head.  The verses are from the perspective of a man who feels he has struggled his whole life. 

"One more mile 'til I lay rest
I have put myself through this rigid test
But the mile has never ended no distance has been gained
I do not see greatness I wanted to obtain

He is not complaining, but he's tired.  The choruses are from the view of God or Jesus.

"Rest easy
Have no fear
I love you perfectly
Love drives out fear
I'll take your burden
You take my grace
Rest easy
In my embrace"

This past week a friend posted this on facebook:

fear can't love

It immediately made me think of this song.  Especially, "love drives out fear."  I knew is was a scripture reference, but could not remember it so I looked it up.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1 John 4:18

Read the whole chapter.  Better yet the whole letter.

Something struck me though.  Love drives out fear.  Fear has to do with punishment.  Love drives out punishment.  The previous verses echo John 15 where Jesus implores the disciples to remain in him. 

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.."

What?!  Did you see that?  If we live our lives in love we are living our lives in God.  Remain in him, and he will remain in us...and we will be like him.  Because of love!

It's easy to point and say, "You're doing it wrong.  You should do it this way or that way."  Especially as a "Christian."  We all have our opinions on how to do things and what is right and wrong.  It's easy to point out perceived flaws in others.  I know I have.

"I am such a sinner I fear my evil ways
I fear my imperfection I fear my final days
I just want to take control and snap this rusty chain
Drop my heavy burden it seems to be in vain"

The key words for me there are, fear and I.  I want to take control  I want to snap the chains of sin.  I fear...I fear...I fear...

But perfect love drives out fear.

 The song wraps up with the man realizing that he cannot do the things he longs to do because he is trying to carry the burden.  He is trying to carry a weight that has already been carried.

The burden of sin has been delivered!

We have no need to pick it up.  Ever!  Jesus already did it.  It is done.  Do you try to deliver a letter that has already been received?  So we don't need to with this.  We do not need to fear punishment when we accept and return God's love!

We might have other things to do that are heavy, but sin has been dealt with.  Period.  When things get heavy, we need lean on out love for God and each other.  When those times come, the body comes together and lifts as one.  Many hands make light work and all of that.  When we love each other, out of our love for God, we can rest easy.

Read over the chorus one more time, and really think of Jesus saying it to you...

Rest easy
Have no fear
I love you perfectly
And perfect love drives out fear
I'll take your burden
You take my grace
Rest easy
In my embrace...

grace, peace + hope

-Jesse

Bad Romance

No, I'm not advocating for Lady Gaga.  But that is what I've often found myself in regarding my walk with Jesus. 

Yeah, I just went there.

I've heard it said (and said it many times myself) that it's not about religion, it is about a relationship with Jesus.  And I believe that with all my heart.  It's easy to apply the concept of a dating romance to our relationship with Jesus.

It is super exciting at first.  All praise services and alter calls.  Tears and joy and excitement.  Then it progresses into the deeper stuff.  Worship CD's or playlists.  Dim lights, maybe candles.  Quite time set aside just for that special someone.

Eventually the newness wears off.  The excitement isn't there.  God just isn't moving in me the way he used to (cause it's never my fault!)  The special music just doesn't work anymore.  Gone are the candles and dim lights.  We really don't spend time together like we used to.  Reality sets in.

It's bad romance.

I mean think about it.  In a dating/marriage situation, if you only show your love in settings like that, settings geared to produce those emotions...what do you do the rest of the time?  Do you not love that person when you're not at the candle lit dinner for two?  Do you not desire to be around them when the excitement and newness wears off?

Of course not!  (Hopefully!)

I don't know about you, but that is often how my walk with Jesus goes.  I get all pumped and excited after some event (and I'm not criticizing events here!) but it fades.  Normal, every day life gets in the way.  I'm afraid to let Jesus see me with my make up off (allegorically speaking.)

No.  The real love stories are the ones that come from couples that are celebrating 60+ years of marriage.  I got to video tape a party for such a couple last Autumn.  It was incredible.  All the people that were friends because of these two people.  Even now, this very post exists because of them.  63 years of marriage.  I asked them what the secret was.  The husband looked at me and said without hesitation,

"You make your choice, and you stick to it."

While that might not sound romantic, his bride smiled and nodded.

Every day life is the biggest obstacle in any relationship.  It really is in our walk with Jesus, because not only do we have that, but we have an enemy who doesn't want us to progress in that relationship.  So he will do anything he can to distract us from even wanting to be with Jesus.  The best way to kill a relationship is to turn it into a boring routine.

But Jesus didn't asked to be romanced by us.  He doesn't want the mood music, special lighting, gifts and 'quiet times.'  Let me rephrase that, he doesn't just want the mood music etc. 

He wants it all.

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

-Jesus (Luke 10:27)

 Don't just give God bits and pieces of your heart, soul, strength and mind.  Love him with ALL of it!  Turn that bad romance into the love story of the ages!  Show your love in all things to all people.  Remember what Jesus says in Matthew 25:31-46 about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, bringing a drink to the thirsty, visiting those in prison...anything we do for the least of these, we do for him.

Give him everything you've got.

grace, peace + hope
-Jesse

Reflections on Resurrection

"But your iniquities have separated you from God.  For your hands are stained with blood, and your tongue mutters wicked things.  No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity.

We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.  Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.  He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him."

(selections from Isaiah 59)

 I took portions of scripture and fitted them together here.  I don't think I've changed the meaning of the overall passage.  Please, follow the link to Isaiah 59 or open your own Bible to read the whole thing.  I'm not discussing the finer points of the composition or the deep theological issues of this.  Just think of what today represents.

It's the Resurrection of Jesus.

I read the passage in Isaiah and I think of me.  Of us today.  That those descriptions fit us.  Our iniquities have separated us from God.  Our hands are stained with blood.  (maybe not literally, but remember what Jesus said about just being angry with a brother...)  Our tongues mutter wicked things.  We walk in deep shadows because we cannot find the light.  Truth is nowhere and anyone who rejects evil...is prey!

I'm tired of being that person.  I'm tired of being separated from God.

We do not have to be separated from him.  He already fixed everything.  "So his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him."

God made the way back through the darkness.  Back to the Truth.  We can come out from beneath our iniquities, our wicked tongues, and blood stained hands and be with Him in the light.

Jesus is that salvation worked out, the sustaining righteousness.

The coolest thing is that it is done.  We just have to embrace him.  To acknowledge who he is.  Then we live life changed, different, out of darkness.  We follow the lessons and commands he left for us.  We live life according to the salvation Jesus provided through his resurrection.

Enjoy the flowers and eggs and candy today, but remember there is so much more to it than that.  "Easter" is a holiday.  The Resurrection is a way of life.  Live it.

grace, peace + hope

-Jesse

Breaking the Habit

So, you're addicted to going to church too?

Let me tell you, there is hope, and you are not alone.

God gets angry with empty ritual and meaningless tradition.  Read Isaiah.  Read the stories of Jesus confronting the Pharisees.  They had replaced their faith in God with regulations.  The Ten Commandments were never about keeping the "rules"...they were about putting God first!  That is the first commandment!

"You shall have no other gods before me."

(PS - I'm not advocating not following the 10 Commandments...just change the perspective of why we follow them.)

It is so easy to replace knowing God with knowing about God.  And that is a danger of just "going to church." A person can go to church their whole life and never know God.  They can know plenty about him.  They could even quote scripture like nobody's business.  The Pharisees were pretty good at that stuff too.  Then you get someone like the centurion with the sick servant.  This guy is a Roman soldier.  But he sees and recognizes the authority in Jesus.  Did Jesus turn him away because he was not a devout follower of the law?  No.  Look at what Jesus said, (it is really mind blowing if you think about it.)

I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.

You know the craziest part about this?  The guy didn't even come himself.  He sent people to Jesus.  And when Jesus was coming to heal the guys sick servant...more friends come and tell Jesus that the centurion didn't feel worthy enough to have Jesus come under his roof.

Man that is hitting home to me right now.  Really hard.

How often have I walked into "church" thinking I belong.  That this was my place.  That is the attitude of an addict.  I have the right to be here.  Who are you to tell me different?

Church is not a place to go.  It is people to be with.  It is the body, the whole body, of Jesus.

The body won't grow if it sits around.  Well, it might get fat, but it won't grow.  It won't become healthy and strong.  The Church isn't supposed to be sedentary.  Jesus told his disciples to, "Go."  But they didn't.  Not at first.  Then difficulty struck, and they scattered...and so did the Word.

My friends, it is high time we get out of our pews, couches, folding chairs, or whatever you sit on in your regular gatherings.  A farmer can't harvest a crop if he just sits in his barn and doesn't plant the seeds.  Neither can we prepare the harvest for Jesus if we just sit in our storehouses. 

Break the habit.  Church is good.  Christ is better.  Show Jesus to the world around you.  Don't hide your love for him behind the stained glass windows of a church or the fish bumper sticker on your car.  Let's stop just going to church and let us be the Church.

See you out there.

grace, peace + hope

-Jesse

Breastfeeding - Part 2

The Sunday Morning Worship Service

-or-
How to Breastfeeding at the Teat of the Double-breasted Suit
Part 2

The Fancy Sunday Morning Spectacular.  Light show.  Fog machines.  Pretty singers in matching outfits, except that one guy who never quite gets the memo.  Or maybe it's simpler.  Choir and a song leader.  Then you sit down for 30-45 minutes while someone looks out at you from a pulpit and tells you what the Bible is saying to you.  Because clearly you can't figure it out on your own.  And maybe in the early days you can't.

Now imagine you've been going to church your whole life, or that you've been going for at least several years.  Does this story change?  Sure.  A little.  Maybe you are reading your Bible a few times a week, or even every day.  Perhaps you're even doing one of those nifty reading plans to read the whole Bible in a year.

You arrive at your pew/seat/whatever Sunday morning and wait to "get fed."  The pastor gets up, opens up his suit coat and begins to nurse you.  Usually in clever repetitive letters or phrases.  On average at least 3 points.  There are well timed and placed jokes.  Well, sometimes well placed.  And you sit there and lap it up.  You've become the four year old running up to mommy asking for some milk.

It's weird.

It's immature.  My friends, if you know who Jesus is, I mean really know who he is, not just the stories about him.  You're ready for solid food.  And it's available to you.  Pastors are wonderful people, at least most of the ones I have known are.  They are genuine God loving folk who want to serve God with all their heart.  The word pastor comes from the Latin word for shepherd.  Jesus told  Peter to feed his sheep.  He told him to be a "pastor."  Something tells me this is not what he had in mind.  Imagine with me one last time today...

You see a shepherd.  For me it's one of those Bible picture ones.  White guy with a blondish beard, in some sort of blue dress with stripes on it.  He gets down on his knees amongst his sheep and picks up grass.  He starts to chew it.  Then he spits it into the mouth of the first sheep on his left.  Again and again he picks up the grass and chews it for his sheep.

Again...it's weird.


So why do we do it?

Yes I strongly believe Christians should have teaching and instruction.  I do not believe the only way is by coming back to the trough every week and getting your fill. 

The Word the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

(Hebrews 4:12)

When was the last time your soul and spirit were divided by the Word of God?  When was the last time your thoughts and attitudes were judged by the Word?

It's time we grow up church.  We can not keep waiting for pastors and church leaders to tell us how we are to live for Jesus.  Jesus had plenty to say on it himself.  It's right there in the last third of your Bible.  The books titled Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Jesus has a lot to say for himself.  If you don't get it, ask someone.  Maybe they will know, maybe not.  So read it again together.  Keep reading and seeking God.  He'll tell you what it means.  That is how you eat the "meat" and give up the "milk."  Get up, work for your food.  Don't wait for the breastfeeding!


grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Breastfeeding - Part 1

The Sunday Morning Worship Service

-or-
How to Stop Breastfeeding at the Teat of the Double-breasted Suit
Part 1

Alright people.  I've been writing my posts with a mixed audience in mind.  Not anymore.  Hey you, Johnny and Susie Pew-Warmer, I'm talking to you.  (And myself.)

The gloves are off.

For the better part of the last 2,000 years Christianity has enjoyed a type of celebrity.  A few hundred years after Jesus set our forerunners (the disciples) out to make more disciples, baptize, and obey his commands...the faith of Christianity is made legal and embraced throughout the Roman world.  Before this it was tolerated at best in some places and culled in others.  Suddenly those who were spreading the Good News of the Kingdom in secret are allowed to speak openly.  Jesus is now safe.

Soon the religion of Christianity comes to power.  Homes, catacombs and other hiding places are abandoned for the public forums and official buildings.  Leaders emerge.  Learned men who studied and knew more than the rest.  A gap began to form between the brothers and sisters and those who led the way to Jesus.  We know this as clergy and laity.  (I'm really simplifying the history here, look this stuff up it's out there.  I recommend Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola and George Barna.  But there is a lot out there, go find it.  After this blog if you don't mind.)

Laity below, clergy above.  Sometimes literally.  Think about the last Sunday morning worship service you went to.  I know there is a lot of variety out there, but the average "church" in the United States has some form of platform or stage for the leadership to lead from.  Okay, maybe I'm being harsh on the format of public speaking arenas, I mean "sanctuaries."  Think about it though.  There is a psychology in speaking to people above their level.  Look at old Gothic style churches too.  The lines in those buildings were designed to draw your eye upward.

"Hey, didn't I say something about breastfeeding?"

Okay, so there is a gap between clergy and laity.  Somehow this led to the idea that the clergy had a closer walk with God.  After all they are the ones teaching the congregations week after week right?  They are the ones feeding the sheep. Surely they are special in God's eyes.

Really? 

What does this have to do with my ridiculous title?  I'll tell you what.  It's time for us to grow up.  It's natural for babies to breastfeed right?  But there comes a time when they stop.  If they get too old it just gets weird.  Why is it any different for us as followers of Jesus?

Look what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3

"Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it."

As a baby you get fed milk directly by mom.  Then you are spoon fed somewhat more solid food until you can feed yourself.  You grow up and you get a job and earn money to buy, cook, and feed yourself.  Depending on your tastes, more complicated meals than milk or pureed carrots.  Simple concept right?


Think about that progression of eating with how you learn about Jesus at a "church."

As a baby you are fed directly nourishing food.  Whether you start in "Kids Church," or a "Beginners, class.  You're told the basic ideas of the Bible.  Generally you get a simplified version of the story with a digestible memory verse that sums up the story.

As you grow you get into more complex foods.  The stories you learned earlier take on a broader focus, or deeper meaning.  David isn't just the kid who killed the giant, he's the guy who coveted someone's wife, but is still a man after God's own heart.  It's a bit harder to chew but you get there.  As you grow more you might make a snack of a devotion time on your own, but the real Biblical meal is what happens on Sunday morning.

to be concluded tomorrow...

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Awaiting Further Instructions

As mentioned quite a few posts back I'm a fan of Lost.  I've been re-watching the series from the beginning with a friend who has never seen it.  Last night we got close to the end of Season 2.  I wont spoil it for those who have not seen it, but there is a small scene I would like to describe.

Two characters on a journey to find the meaning of something.  (I know this is the premise for many episodes but bear with me.)  Eko (a former Nigerian drug runner turned priest) and Locke (a former paralyzed box salesman turned great white hunter) trek through the jungle at the prompting of a dream Eko had.  As night closes in Eko tells John they are to make camp and await further instructions.

Have you ever felt like that?

I mean with your walk with God?  You're following him then you feel like you have to stop and figure out what is really going on.  What is the next step.  I know I've been there.  The problem was/is that many times we wait for further instructions and we never get them.  Or we don't want to hear them.  Or we were not supposed to stop to begin with.

Jesus told us a lot of things.  There were a lot of instructions and cues on how to live life.  Most of them were open ended.  Love one another.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind.  Pick up your cross and follow me.  Love your enemies.  Remain in my Love.

Do it now...and continue to do it.

Read through the Gospels.  Look at the things Jesus told his disciples (an in turn us) to do.  Most of them are not a one and done thing.  He doesn't say "Get baptized."  He tells us to go baptize.  Not get a theological education but to go teach what Jesus taught.

Go.  Do.

The more we live our lives in connection with Jesus the more we hear his voice.  We can hear the audibles he calls out to us.  (I'm not saying literal audible instructions here) but the more we know Him, the more we know His voice.  The more we hear his voice, the more we can do through His power.

If you feel God leading you somewhere you don't need to wait for someone to tell you it's ok.  That's not permission to act blindly and recklessly.  What I'm saying is God speaks to us individually and corporately.  Don't wait to hear what God is telling you to do from someone else.  Pastor's and leaders are great.  But they are not substitutes for God.  There is a serious problem if your relationship with God is solely based on what a preacher tells you it is on a Sunday morning.

Hopefully none of your other relationships work that way.  Just imagine.  You're married.  You never see your spouse or hear from them.  The only way you communicate is by hearing what someone heard them say.  They can hear you all the time.  But you base your understanding of who they are by what someone else tells you.

Yeah.  That doesn't sound good to me either.

When I get married I want to be able to talk with my wife.  Hear what she is saying to me directly with my own ears.  I don't want to hear she loves me through my relatives or people she's known longer than me.  I mean I'll gladly accept that, but it's not enough.  I want to hear her say it.

God is the same way.  He is right next to us.  He can hear us.  He knows what is going on in our life.  We just have to open up and listen for him.  Learn his voice.  Learn to discern what he is telling us over what is just our own mind.  We do that through reading the scriptures and getting to know his voice.  Then we will know his voice when he gives us instructions.

Now don't get me wrong, pastors are incredible people.  The ones I've had the blessing of knowing.  I'm not trying to diminish what they do.  But I think it's time the Church woke up.  And listened to the voice of God himself and respond to him.

Jesus did tell the disciples to wait for further instructions at one point.  And I know there are times he tells us that too.  But remember that he gave us a lot of things that we can continuously do without waiting for instructions.

Feed the hungry.
Clothe the naked.
Care for the sick.
Visit the prisoner.
Love your neighbor.
Love your enemy.
Love God.
Take up your cross.
Follow Me.
Go.
Baptize.
Make disciples.
Teach.
Remember Me.

These are not items on a check list.  They are primary directives.  Stop waiting for further instructions and start on the ones we already have.

grace, peace & hope
-Bear

Abound

There is an oft quoted verse in Philippians that goes something like this:

"that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion,"

 I have heard this used many times in various ways.  Usually to encourage someone who is going through a transition or difficult time.  That God is doing something good through your life, and He will see you through to the end.

While I believe that sentiment is true, there is more to this than just that.

Let's look at the larger context, Philippians 1 verses 3-11: (emphasis mine)

I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.  God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

 What Paul is really saying that God will carry to completion is that their love will abound in knowledge and insight so they can discern what is best to be pure and blameless, filled with the fruit of righteousness...that comes through Jesus.

That comes through Jesus Christ.

That sounds a lot like something Jesus said.

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

 So let's look at that again.  Paul is not just saying that every good work will be continued on til the day of Christ Jesus.  He wants their love to abound.  What does that even mean?  Abound is a verb that means:

to occur or exist in great quantities or numbers, to be filled; teem

Love to be filled with knowledge and insight.  Knowledgeable and insightful love that can discern what is best and be pure and blameless.  Love filled with the fruit of righteousness.  A fruit that comes through Jesus.

 "Remain in me."

 The fruit of righteousness comes through Jesus.  By remaining in him.  To abound with Jesus.  To be filled with, to teem with Jesus.  To occur or exist in great quantities of Jesus.

That is what Paul is praying for.  That is the good work that will be carried on until the day of Christ.  That those who are partner to the good news of Jesus will be filled with Jesus.  And to be filled with Jesus bears fruit of righteousness.  That fruit will fall into the lives of people around us by the way we live our lives.

If we live our lives teeming with Jesus, we can't help but share him with others.  When the storms of life come, and we face trials the wind will show our "fruit" to those in our lives.  When we are shaken by disease the fruit of hope and joy that comes from Jesus will drop.  When we are attacked by enemies with words or threats, the fruit of kindness and forgiveness will fall.  When we are blighted with hate and anger and fear, it is the fruit of patience, peace and love that shows.

All that comes from Jesus.  And we don't show that fruit if we don't remain in him.  To use the old expression, The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.  Let our tree be Jesus.  We are the branches.  Let his fruit fall from us.  Let his lessons and teachings and love be ripe in our lives.  Let his love and mercy and forgiveness abound within us.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Out of Steam?

Sometimes is feels like we get all excited about something for a short period of time and then fizzle out.  Like this whole revolution thing.  Let me assure you, that as far as I am concerned this is just getting started.  I know there are many of you out there who share this idea.

Where are you?

Let us hear from you.  This is not about me.  This is not the Bear Show.  I'm blogging and writing because I have the time and this comes relatively easy to me.  Your story should be heard as well.  Tell us what you are doing.  Not as bragging, but a way to share what God is doing in you.  How he is transforming your life, and how that could be effecting others.

The Church is a community.  A body of believers.  Let's build that body up any way we can.  Some of you may be in other parts of Pennsylvania, or the other side of the country.  Some may even be on the other side of an ocean or two.  We can have community through the web.


Let us encourage one another!

For me today, I will say this.  Temptations.  They jump out at me all the time.  Some are new.  Some are old.  Habits, addictions, attitudes.  Things I thought I had walked away from.  I'd be lying if I said it was getting easier to turn them away.  To not give into them.  And they come everyday.  To buy more stuff that I don't really need.  To go to that website.  To get angry and lash out, or say hurtful things.

It's not easy to refuse them.  But the more I get to know Jesus.  The more time I spend learning the Father's voice.  The easier it is to run to him.  To cling to his words, the Word, and in doing so not give in to the temptations.  It is him who protects.  He is the Shield of Faith that puts out the fiery arrows of the enemy!

Please hear what I'm saying there.  It's not about me.  This is about God's work.  What he does in us when we draw closer to him.  And I for one have a very long way to go.  But his promises are true.  He is good.  He did give us the Comforter to help us and guide us.

When we run out of steam, it's because we're trying to fight sin with our own strength.  And that is like trying to out run a speeding train.  It's impossible.  But with God, all things are possible.  He is our strength.  Our deliverer.  Philippians 4 (12-14)

I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.

It doesn't matter if we have everything we need in life, or nothing.  Jesus is who we need more than anything.  And a supportive body of believers doesn't hurt either.  Paul says he knows how to survive, to carry on, but he encourages the Philippians for helping in his difficulty.

So, today, if God is doing something in/through you.  Share it.  With a humble heart to encourage us.  If you are struggling, or going through a difficulty, Share it.  At the very least (which isn't the least at all) we can pray for each other.

Have a day, be a blessing to those around you.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Light the Fuse

Control.  It's an illusion that none of us can seem to separate from reality.  Parents think they have control over their children.  Governments assume they have control over their people.  Religions think they have control over what ever it is they think they have control over.

Ok, so maybe by strict definition they do.  But control can be resisted, removed, rescinded, refuted, reneged, you get the idea.

This is not me supporting anarchy.  I am not anti-control.  Depending on where the reigns of that control rest.  I don't want to get too deep or off course and delve into the semantics and politics of all of that.  What this post and revolution are primarily concerned with is how we conduct ourselves no matter what "control," is over us.

As far as I am concerned, there is only one ultimate source of control.  One authority that will take all our decisions and actions into account.  The choices we make yesterday, today, and tomorrow will be laid out before us some day.  How we handled those choices in regards to that sovereign authority will be our undoing or remaking.

Let me make this perfectly clear.

There is one God.  His name is "I Am."  He sent his only son Jesus to redeem the whole world from death.  He speaks to us, now, today, through his Spirit.  Here and here alone rests the final authority for all life.  For me, that is irrefutable fact.  It is upon that authority that I rest all of what I believe, say and do.

If you are starting to wonder what any of that has to do with this revolution.  I've been alluding to, well here is where they meet.

Those who claim to follow Jesus (I would be among them) as a whole, have been lulled into a crippling illusion that going to a building on Sunday in nice clothing, singing a few songs, putting money in an offering, and spending about an hour and a half together, is what he imagined the Church would be.
 

I will not apologize for thinking we have bastardized his dream.

The Church is not a building.  It is not a program or a pulpit.  The Church does not succeed or fail because of a board of directors or a philandering pastor.  It does not rest in the man made authority of pointy hats, white collars, or tailored suits.

The Church is people.  The guy in the corner of the coffee shop.  The woman across from you on the train.  You.  Me.  The Church succeeds because Jesus is it's authority.  It will grow in the soil full of the best crap.  The Church doesn't fail because Jesus doesn't fail.  (What fails is us, or our expectations.)  It's authority rests in the safest place.  The nail scarred hands of the Messiah.

The Church is so much more than we mortals have restricted it to be.

The revolution is to become the Church Jesus wanted us to be.  To feed the hungry.  Quench the throats of the thirsty.  Make the stranger a guest.  Clothe the naked.  Care for the sick.  Visit the prisoner.  To look after orphans and windows.  To remember his teachings, and make disciples.To love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

It starts inside each of us.

Get on your knees.  Cry out to God.  Ask him to strike the match, and light the fuse.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Uninvited

Have you ever planned a party or event just to have no one you invited show up?

Yes?  Good then I'm not alone in that department.  If your answer is 'no,' well, keep reading anyway.

Jesus gave his disciples a parable that featured this concept.  It was an allegorical story painting a picture of the kingdom of heaven.  I want to point out that the phrase kingdom of heaven is lowercase here, so it's not a physical place we can go to.  It's more like a state of being.  A way of life.

In Matthew 22 Jesus tells this great story about a king throwing a wedding banquet for his son.  He sends out invitations and prepares the event.  When the time came he sent his servants to gather those who had been invited.  They refused to come.

So the king sent more servants.  They were to let the invitees know that all was prepared, the food was ready and all that was needed was their arrival.  The still refused to come and mistreated and killed the servants.  (They really didn't want to go!)

Then the king says to his other servants, "Those who were invited did not deserve to come, go out into the streets and invite anyone you find there."  So they went and brought anyone they found to the wedding banquet, good and bad, and filled the banquet hall.

Now the story goes on (follow the link above to read all of it) but I will stop there for now.

I know this parable is not directly tied to discipleship but it has a principle we can apply to that concept.  When we want to disciple, we might want to reach out to those we know, those we would invite to a party.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  We should reach out to those we know.  But they refuse to come, time after time, stop spending time trying to get them to come and move on.

Invite those you don't know.  Reach out.  Be bold.  I know that it's easy to say that sitting behind a computer screen, but it's not impossible.  To go with Jesus' parable, if you're the servant getting sent to invite someone to the banquet, you know it's going to be a good time right?  Of course.  So why not tell others about it?

The challenge is determining how to invite those you don't know.  How to approach them and share with them what you know to be good.  There are many ways to do so.  Check out M28's website for more info and ways to do this.

And for those who refuse the invitation, remember this, we are not the king.  We don't have the final say.  So don't give up on them in your behavior.  Keep praying for them.  Keep showing them love and kindness.  But you don't have to keep 'barking up the same tree,' for lack of a better expression.

Reach out to the uninvited.  You may be surprised what doors God opens up in their life, and your own.

Grace, peace and hope
-Jersey