Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Bad Brain Chemistry III
This morning's post, Not Good...I'm Feeling Trapped is a prime example of my bad brain chemistry. I apologize for inflicting it on you. I should have kept it to myself along with a few other things.
I will try to be a bit smoother next time, if there is a next time. There are more important things going on than my wild hairs. I am sorry.
I will try to be a bit smoother next time, if there is a next time. There are more important things going on than my wild hairs. I am sorry.
Not Good...I'm Feeling Trapped
I am having the urge to flee the scene. I want to bug out. To escape. I have no clue where I would go or what I would do. I just want to leave.
I get like this when I have spent too much time in one place. I have been here since 2004. The longest that I have stayed anywhere in my adult life was 13 years. That was 3 years too long. I am feeling this morning like I have worn out my welcome here. I could change up a few things and stay here, but I do not think that would work. There are things that cannot be escaped.
I think I am pretty much stuck here for the foreseeable future. My mind will probably settle down here in a few hours and be all right, but right now, I just want to run away.
Frankly, I am feeling kind of awful. Maybe I just need an Egg McMuffin.
That may be the answer to all my life's issues. Egg McMuffin. A heart attack in a nice wrapper.
I am not sure why I get this way. I never feel secure anywhere. I could own a bomb shelter in the Rockies and still feel insecure.
I hate conflict and yet I seem to cause it everywhere I go. All I have to do is express an opinion or worse...be myself. Maybe that's the problem. I need to be someone other than who I am. How do I do that? This is what God has left me with. I try to do what I can with it, but sometimes I over reach. Maybe that is what's happening now.
I feel trapped.
The table is set. Do I sit down to eat or move on?
I get like this when I have spent too much time in one place. I have been here since 2004. The longest that I have stayed anywhere in my adult life was 13 years. That was 3 years too long. I am feeling this morning like I have worn out my welcome here. I could change up a few things and stay here, but I do not think that would work. There are things that cannot be escaped.
I think I am pretty much stuck here for the foreseeable future. My mind will probably settle down here in a few hours and be all right, but right now, I just want to run away.
Frankly, I am feeling kind of awful. Maybe I just need an Egg McMuffin.
That may be the answer to all my life's issues. Egg McMuffin. A heart attack in a nice wrapper.
I am not sure why I get this way. I never feel secure anywhere. I could own a bomb shelter in the Rockies and still feel insecure.
I hate conflict and yet I seem to cause it everywhere I go. All I have to do is express an opinion or worse...be myself. Maybe that's the problem. I need to be someone other than who I am. How do I do that? This is what God has left me with. I try to do what I can with it, but sometimes I over reach. Maybe that is what's happening now.
I feel trapped.
The table is set. Do I sit down to eat or move on?
Monday, November 2, 2015
A Heart Condition
In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, Jesus tells a story about a farmer planting a field. The condition of the soil has much to do with it's fertility. The hard packed path will not allow penetration of the seed. The rocky areas of the field have shallow soil where the seed will try to root, but it has no moisture or depth to nourish the seedling. Then there is that part of the field where the thorn and weed seed competes with the wheat seed. The weeds inevitably chokes out the wheat as it tries to grow. And finally there is the good soil that that is ready for planting, receptive to farming and will produce a bumper crop.
In the context of the parable, the field is the world, the seed is the good news and the condition of the different types of soil represent the hearts of the people of the world and their receptivity to the spread of the gospel - the coming of the Kingdom of God.
I was thinking about this parable in the context of the Church. Even though Jesus intended the field to represent the world, what if we applied this story to the Church, God's Kingdom on earth?
The heart conditions of the people in God's Church is very diverse. When we come into to it, we all start in one of these "soil" categories or maybe we even experience all of them. In time though, our "fields" get worked, get conditioned by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. The soil of our hearts becomes more verdant, more useful to His Kingdom. And because He is an excellent farmer, He is able to take even the poorest field and make it grow something useful.
When I think about this in the context of my personal life, I find I have been hardhearted and judgmental. I have been angry with God and with His people. My heart has also been choked with the weeds of personal life issues and career. Both of these worked to keep me from becoming the fertile field that I could have been. Now, here at the end I am figuring this all out. I'm thinking God may yet leave a fertile field behind that was once the desert of my life. His grace and His love has been poured out on me with a good stiff, draught of the Truth mixed in. My field is now the work of His hand. He has reclaimed me from my desolation. It makes me so happy, I just want to cry. This from a man that would not bust any emotion but anger 30 years ago! He has made me feel again. I have to say that while this kind of ticks me off, I do understand other people much better than I used to. At the same time it has left me vulnerable and a bit weaker. The discipline slips, but the grace and the love begin to flow.
What He has done for me is nothing short of a miracle from my point of view.
The sanctification process is much like the process of cleaning up a field for farming. The fact is that dirt is dirt. It's only what's mixed in with it that determines its fertility. Clean it up and it's ready to go. The concept of cleaning up dirt might seem foreign to city dwellers, but it can be done. I am proof of that.
So the next time you are at church and you meet somebody that seems kind of weird, well...maybe they are in the process of having their field cleaned. You might consider coming alongside them to help the Lord with that process. I have found that it goes much faster with help and thanks to all who do that for me.
I am still finding the occasional weed or hard clot, but at least I recognize them when I see them now.
How's your field?
In the context of the parable, the field is the world, the seed is the good news and the condition of the different types of soil represent the hearts of the people of the world and their receptivity to the spread of the gospel - the coming of the Kingdom of God.
I was thinking about this parable in the context of the Church. Even though Jesus intended the field to represent the world, what if we applied this story to the Church, God's Kingdom on earth?
The heart conditions of the people in God's Church is very diverse. When we come into to it, we all start in one of these "soil" categories or maybe we even experience all of them. In time though, our "fields" get worked, get conditioned by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. The soil of our hearts becomes more verdant, more useful to His Kingdom. And because He is an excellent farmer, He is able to take even the poorest field and make it grow something useful.
When I think about this in the context of my personal life, I find I have been hardhearted and judgmental. I have been angry with God and with His people. My heart has also been choked with the weeds of personal life issues and career. Both of these worked to keep me from becoming the fertile field that I could have been. Now, here at the end I am figuring this all out. I'm thinking God may yet leave a fertile field behind that was once the desert of my life. His grace and His love has been poured out on me with a good stiff, draught of the Truth mixed in. My field is now the work of His hand. He has reclaimed me from my desolation. It makes me so happy, I just want to cry. This from a man that would not bust any emotion but anger 30 years ago! He has made me feel again. I have to say that while this kind of ticks me off, I do understand other people much better than I used to. At the same time it has left me vulnerable and a bit weaker. The discipline slips, but the grace and the love begin to flow.
What He has done for me is nothing short of a miracle from my point of view.
The sanctification process is much like the process of cleaning up a field for farming. The fact is that dirt is dirt. It's only what's mixed in with it that determines its fertility. Clean it up and it's ready to go. The concept of cleaning up dirt might seem foreign to city dwellers, but it can be done. I am proof of that.
So the next time you are at church and you meet somebody that seems kind of weird, well...maybe they are in the process of having their field cleaned. You might consider coming alongside them to help the Lord with that process. I have found that it goes much faster with help and thanks to all who do that for me.
I am still finding the occasional weed or hard clot, but at least I recognize them when I see them now.
How's your field?
Friday, October 30, 2015
Are We Understanding Him?
In Matthew 13, where we find the parable of the sower, Jesus quotes the prophet, Isaiah. The quote comes from Isaiah 6, but Jesus changes it up just a bit to fit what He is telling His disciples. As an aside, this is permissible when you are the Son of God. It should not be attempted by us mere mortals though. The results are seldom good.
Anyhow, paraphrasing Isaiah, Jesus says this.
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.
To understand the quote in it's proper context, some background might be necessary here. To this point in His ministry, Jesus had managed to create some powerful enemies among the elite religious leadership of the Jewish nation. They were not liking what He was putting down. If Jesus really was the Messiah, He was not the one they wanted. They had already begun plotting to entrap and kill Him.
This is why Jesus changes His sermon strategy. He begins to share His message to the people in parables - or stories which will reveal the truth about the things He wishes to say to His people. The stories are not complex from our 21st century point of view. We have the benefit of the years of study put in by scholars over the last 2000 years as well as the Holy Spirit to help us understand what Jesus meant in these stories.
The people of Jesus' time though, were having issues with His method. Even His disciples said He was speaking in riddles to some extent. Nevertheless, it had to be done this way to slow the plans of those that wished to execute Jesus. It was not yet time for the final events of Jesus' life to unfold and if He was only a story telling Messiah, then He was not as much of a threat to the religious establishment. And so, He speaks to the people and His disciples in parables.
Scroll up and look at the quote again. Jesus is talking about the willful ignorance of the people of His day and how, even though they see and hear the things He has done and said, they do not understand. They do not want to know the truth that Jesus is trying to share with them because it would require change and that change would upset everything. This is especially true for the religious leadership of the time. Jesus was upsetting the establishment apple cart in a way that would make it impossible to upright it. Power, money and authority were at stake. Business as usual in the Jewish state would have to change if they accepted His message.
Beyond all that, Jesus was making many people uncomfortable. He was telling people that they had to love God, but also love their enemies and their neighbor. That would mean associating with people that were...formerly unacceptable...to put it politely. It's one thing to overthrow the established order; quite another to make people uncomfortable. From the Jewish perspective of the time, that was just rude.
Jesus, through Isaiah, indicates that the reason for all this is the hardheartedness of the people. If they would just open up their hearts and minds to what He is saying and doing, they would experience His spiritual healing, but that was not to be the case.
As I thought about this, I found myself wondering if maybe we in evangelical churches in America have gotten a bit blind and deaf to the things Jesus wants us to be doing. We hear and see, but do we understand and perceive what our real mission is to be? Are we afraid to overthrow the established order, experience the discomfort and extend love to the people that presently hate us? We like to think we have the Truth. I think we do. What are we doing with it? Do we understand it?
We are supposed to be bringing the grace and truth of Jesus to the world. Can we do that when we have unacknowledged filters on who we associate with, who we let into our churches and what we are willing to do in terms of ministry in church? Are their groups that we will not minister to in the world because it is just too hard or scary or gross in our minds?
Christian, we need some review here. Go read one of the gospels and then tell me we are doing what Jesus expected if you can. Read, understand, perceive and listen to that still small voice of the Holy Spirit and see if you are not convicted. If you are convicted, then healing is not far off.
Am I off base here? What do you think? Mull it over friends.
Anyhow, paraphrasing Isaiah, Jesus says this.
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.
To understand the quote in it's proper context, some background might be necessary here. To this point in His ministry, Jesus had managed to create some powerful enemies among the elite religious leadership of the Jewish nation. They were not liking what He was putting down. If Jesus really was the Messiah, He was not the one they wanted. They had already begun plotting to entrap and kill Him.
This is why Jesus changes His sermon strategy. He begins to share His message to the people in parables - or stories which will reveal the truth about the things He wishes to say to His people. The stories are not complex from our 21st century point of view. We have the benefit of the years of study put in by scholars over the last 2000 years as well as the Holy Spirit to help us understand what Jesus meant in these stories.
The people of Jesus' time though, were having issues with His method. Even His disciples said He was speaking in riddles to some extent. Nevertheless, it had to be done this way to slow the plans of those that wished to execute Jesus. It was not yet time for the final events of Jesus' life to unfold and if He was only a story telling Messiah, then He was not as much of a threat to the religious establishment. And so, He speaks to the people and His disciples in parables.
Scroll up and look at the quote again. Jesus is talking about the willful ignorance of the people of His day and how, even though they see and hear the things He has done and said, they do not understand. They do not want to know the truth that Jesus is trying to share with them because it would require change and that change would upset everything. This is especially true for the religious leadership of the time. Jesus was upsetting the establishment apple cart in a way that would make it impossible to upright it. Power, money and authority were at stake. Business as usual in the Jewish state would have to change if they accepted His message.
Beyond all that, Jesus was making many people uncomfortable. He was telling people that they had to love God, but also love their enemies and their neighbor. That would mean associating with people that were...formerly unacceptable...to put it politely. It's one thing to overthrow the established order; quite another to make people uncomfortable. From the Jewish perspective of the time, that was just rude.
Jesus, through Isaiah, indicates that the reason for all this is the hardheartedness of the people. If they would just open up their hearts and minds to what He is saying and doing, they would experience His spiritual healing, but that was not to be the case.
As I thought about this, I found myself wondering if maybe we in evangelical churches in America have gotten a bit blind and deaf to the things Jesus wants us to be doing. We hear and see, but do we understand and perceive what our real mission is to be? Are we afraid to overthrow the established order, experience the discomfort and extend love to the people that presently hate us? We like to think we have the Truth. I think we do. What are we doing with it? Do we understand it?
We are supposed to be bringing the grace and truth of Jesus to the world. Can we do that when we have unacknowledged filters on who we associate with, who we let into our churches and what we are willing to do in terms of ministry in church? Are their groups that we will not minister to in the world because it is just too hard or scary or gross in our minds?
Christian, we need some review here. Go read one of the gospels and then tell me we are doing what Jesus expected if you can. Read, understand, perceive and listen to that still small voice of the Holy Spirit and see if you are not convicted. If you are convicted, then healing is not far off.
Am I off base here? What do you think? Mull it over friends.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Thanks Lord
Yesterday at work was good. Lord, you gave me and everyone else at work a peaceful day. I hope Lord, that this will continue. Please make it so. Thanks so much for that and all the other things you do in a day for me and others. Dad seemed happy when I left today too. There's currently peace and contentment all 'round. Thanks and amen to all that Lord.
I know it will not always be this way at work or at home, but I will take whatever you give Lord with joy in my heart! Thanks again.
Now Lord, I would pray that you would prepare my mind and spirit for what is coming in the near future. You know what I am talking about. Some final sign of your approval would be good Lord. I am not demanding a sign in an evil way as the Pharisees did, but it is important to me to know that this is what you want. Also, as the time approaches, please prepare the others. They will need Your peace with this as well. Guide us all with Your Spirit to come to understanding, agreement and maybe some ideas of a plan to move forward. If these things are not your will Lord, then please help me to let the whole thing go and continue to function in my regular capacity for you. I am fond of saying there is a time and a place for everything. Maybe there is not such a thing for this matter in your Church. I will accept whatever outcome. Thanks so much Lord.
Lord, we have customers coming into to work today for a 'meet and greet'. I know it seems like a petty thing, but it's important that this goes well for the future of our local organization and the employees. I will not be there much longer, but the others will be. Please watch over us today. Thanks.
As always, please take care of my church. Guide the leadership and staff. Help them to see where you want us to go on our journey for you.
Please lift the countenance of my friend who is in Minnesota today. Help him to find what he is looking for and please do not let him fall out of the tree. And please do not let him forget to bring back the bacon.
Please bless my friend to the south. Give him wisdom regarding his future with You Lord. He is your good servant and he has helped many. I pray that in whatever way You direct him, he will continue as your servant in this powerful way.
Finally, I pray that you would open the minds and the hearts of your church around the world. There are many that still need to hear and come alongside you in relationship. Help us to answer that need Lord. If we can each do our part in our own back yards, in our own nations, the impact would be tremendous. Please invigorate us with Your Spirit to offer your love and grace wherever we go.
In Your Name I pray these things.
Amen
I know it will not always be this way at work or at home, but I will take whatever you give Lord with joy in my heart! Thanks again.
Now Lord, I would pray that you would prepare my mind and spirit for what is coming in the near future. You know what I am talking about. Some final sign of your approval would be good Lord. I am not demanding a sign in an evil way as the Pharisees did, but it is important to me to know that this is what you want. Also, as the time approaches, please prepare the others. They will need Your peace with this as well. Guide us all with Your Spirit to come to understanding, agreement and maybe some ideas of a plan to move forward. If these things are not your will Lord, then please help me to let the whole thing go and continue to function in my regular capacity for you. I am fond of saying there is a time and a place for everything. Maybe there is not such a thing for this matter in your Church. I will accept whatever outcome. Thanks so much Lord.
Lord, we have customers coming into to work today for a 'meet and greet'. I know it seems like a petty thing, but it's important that this goes well for the future of our local organization and the employees. I will not be there much longer, but the others will be. Please watch over us today. Thanks.
As always, please take care of my church. Guide the leadership and staff. Help them to see where you want us to go on our journey for you.
Please lift the countenance of my friend who is in Minnesota today. Help him to find what he is looking for and please do not let him fall out of the tree. And please do not let him forget to bring back the bacon.
Please bless my friend to the south. Give him wisdom regarding his future with You Lord. He is your good servant and he has helped many. I pray that in whatever way You direct him, he will continue as your servant in this powerful way.
Finally, I pray that you would open the minds and the hearts of your church around the world. There are many that still need to hear and come alongside you in relationship. Help us to answer that need Lord. If we can each do our part in our own back yards, in our own nations, the impact would be tremendous. Please invigorate us with Your Spirit to offer your love and grace wherever we go.
In Your Name I pray these things.
Amen
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
A Prayer
Lord, I feel kind of like David this morning; you know, when he wrote the 23rd Psalm. I'm going to work, but I feel like I am going to a table prepared for me in the presence of my enemies, I am so tired of the struggle at work. There is one in my office that tests me at every point. Lord, please bring her some peace; or maybe, find her another job. Lord, I have a concern that there may even be a demon involved. Only you would know this for sure, but I pray that if this is so, you would remove it so that she can find her peace and thence leave us all in peace. Help her to adjust whatever needs adjustment and to whatever extent is necessary, I will try to meet her work needs in a way that will help to make that possible. I see in her a kind of pain that I once experienced. I pray that you find a way to take that from her Lord. Thank You for this. It has been foremost on my mind. Help me also to love in ways appropriate to her needs.
Lord, I would pray for my church, for the staff and the leadership. Please guide us in paths of righteousness. Teach us how to minister to and love even the most unlovable. Enable us to show them who you are by the way we live.
Please take care of Dad today. Watch over him as you always do, keeping him from injury and clearing his mind as much as possible. Thanks for that.
Lord, thanks for close friends both here and away. They have shown me Your Face in terms of Your mercy and Your grace. I would be in a very bad place without them Lord. I will continue to thank you daily for putting them in my life at just the right time. I praise Your Name for them!
Thanks Lord for bringing me out of the land of my sojourn and back home. Thanks for letting me back into Your Church and helping me to find real faith and salvation; to know you truly as My Lord and My God. Thank You for making strength out of my weaknesses and for changing my strengths to vulnerabilities. I continue to 'enjoy' that process.
Finally, thanks Lord for your love, grace, forgiveness and compassion. Please continue to lead me in the paths of Your Truth while teaching me to pass on Your grace to others.
In Jesus' Name
Amen
Lord, I would pray for my church, for the staff and the leadership. Please guide us in paths of righteousness. Teach us how to minister to and love even the most unlovable. Enable us to show them who you are by the way we live.
Please take care of Dad today. Watch over him as you always do, keeping him from injury and clearing his mind as much as possible. Thanks for that.
Lord, thanks for close friends both here and away. They have shown me Your Face in terms of Your mercy and Your grace. I would be in a very bad place without them Lord. I will continue to thank you daily for putting them in my life at just the right time. I praise Your Name for them!
Thanks Lord for bringing me out of the land of my sojourn and back home. Thanks for letting me back into Your Church and helping me to find real faith and salvation; to know you truly as My Lord and My God. Thank You for making strength out of my weaknesses and for changing my strengths to vulnerabilities. I continue to 'enjoy' that process.
Finally, thanks Lord for your love, grace, forgiveness and compassion. Please continue to lead me in the paths of Your Truth while teaching me to pass on Your grace to others.
In Jesus' Name
Amen
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
My Greatest Sins
It's confession time. I have eluded to these issues in the past and it's time for me to come clean, to repent and to put it behind me. It will be hard since I have practiced these sins all my life. They seem like a natural part of me, but they must die.
I am a proud, arrogant, judgmental and self righteous man. If you have ever had to suffer this from me, then I apologize right here and now. I have always been able to see and even point out these sins in others, but if I take a long, hard look in my spiritual mirror, there is a prideful man looking back at me.
If I have ever walked away from you when you tried to speak to me or engage me in conversation, I am deeply sorry. It has much to do with my own insecurities and nothing to do with you. If I have made you angry or hurt you because of my unwillingness to be a real friend, I would like to repent of that too.
I should not judge people and especially those I do not know or have not bothered to get to know. I should take the time to know them. And I should offer them and myself some grace. The ability to come alongside of people in empathy and love and maybe with some helpful advice has eluded me for too long. I have to learn how to do this. Many have extended me just such a privilege. It might be time for me to start returning the favor. I need to learn how to minister to the needs of others. I am good at sharing my knowledge base with them. I am not so good with sharing compassion and kindness and understanding with them.
I am able to love, but I do not do it or express it. I do have feelings and emotions, but I fear the relationships and where all that will take me and so I put on this facade that people seem to accept.
"Ya, he knows his stuff, but he seems to have walls." "He is a good teacher, but he never takes what he knows outside the classroom to practice."
This has to stop. I do not want to be like the Pharisees or the teachers of the law in Christ's time. I want to be like Jesus. I know we Christians say that all the time and never quite seem to live up to it, but I could at least do better than I am doing.
Self righteousness is seldom a good thing unless you are truly righteous, in which case you most certainly got that from God and not self. Whatever is good in me, what ever is pure and holy, came from my Lord. There is not much of it, but it is there. It's my prayer that He builds on that base and finishes my spiritual construction before I die. I hope we have some time to work things out. Only He would know that.
Lord, I love you. Please forgive me for being as I have been. Please use Your Spirit and the power of your Word in my life to change me. Help me to learn the empathy, love and grace that You and others show me on a daily basis. Please do not let me leave this world unfinished and please forgive me this grievous sin...In your Name I pray these things. Amen
________________________
Some day we will talk about my greatest temptation, my thorn in the flesh and how it has convicted me of what I was just writing about. That day is not today. I love you. Thanks for reading.
I am a proud, arrogant, judgmental and self righteous man. If you have ever had to suffer this from me, then I apologize right here and now. I have always been able to see and even point out these sins in others, but if I take a long, hard look in my spiritual mirror, there is a prideful man looking back at me.
If I have ever walked away from you when you tried to speak to me or engage me in conversation, I am deeply sorry. It has much to do with my own insecurities and nothing to do with you. If I have made you angry or hurt you because of my unwillingness to be a real friend, I would like to repent of that too.
I should not judge people and especially those I do not know or have not bothered to get to know. I should take the time to know them. And I should offer them and myself some grace. The ability to come alongside of people in empathy and love and maybe with some helpful advice has eluded me for too long. I have to learn how to do this. Many have extended me just such a privilege. It might be time for me to start returning the favor. I need to learn how to minister to the needs of others. I am good at sharing my knowledge base with them. I am not so good with sharing compassion and kindness and understanding with them.
I am able to love, but I do not do it or express it. I do have feelings and emotions, but I fear the relationships and where all that will take me and so I put on this facade that people seem to accept.
"Ya, he knows his stuff, but he seems to have walls." "He is a good teacher, but he never takes what he knows outside the classroom to practice."
This has to stop. I do not want to be like the Pharisees or the teachers of the law in Christ's time. I want to be like Jesus. I know we Christians say that all the time and never quite seem to live up to it, but I could at least do better than I am doing.
Self righteousness is seldom a good thing unless you are truly righteous, in which case you most certainly got that from God and not self. Whatever is good in me, what ever is pure and holy, came from my Lord. There is not much of it, but it is there. It's my prayer that He builds on that base and finishes my spiritual construction before I die. I hope we have some time to work things out. Only He would know that.
Lord, I love you. Please forgive me for being as I have been. Please use Your Spirit and the power of your Word in my life to change me. Help me to learn the empathy, love and grace that You and others show me on a daily basis. Please do not let me leave this world unfinished and please forgive me this grievous sin...In your Name I pray these things. Amen
________________________
Some day we will talk about my greatest temptation, my thorn in the flesh and how it has convicted me of what I was just writing about. That day is not today. I love you. Thanks for reading.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Are You Hyphenated?
In our politically correct age, the old designations we have for each other with regard to who we are just does not work. No one wants to be just an American. We are Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Native-Americans, African-Americans. Hispanic-Americans and the list goes on and on. The whole process can be kind of divisive, but past discrimination and mistreatments based on race and national origin have have yielded this crop of prideful hyphenations. We also now have gay-Americans, lesbian-Americans, differently enabled-Americans and what ever other denominator that you would like to apply. It would be nice if we could all just be Americans would it not....said the white boy from Iowa who is an Irish-American among other things!
Whatever happens in the country that we live, we do not want this sort of hyphenation to take place in the Church. And yet it does. It was a problem in Corinth in Paul's day and it is a problem in some precincts today within our churches. We have liberal Christians, conservative Christians, born again Christians, traditional Christians, gay Christians, recovering Christians and so on. And to add to the trouble we have Calvinists, Armineans, Catholics and Baptists, and something called Unitarians for which there is no absolute definition.
It is mass confusion. Our identity in Christ should be just that. We are to be Christians. We are to be disciples (small d). We are to be followers of Christ or even Christ seekers. Let us not denominate ourselves any further than that.
Do you love Jesus? Then die to all the labels and live for Him! Let Him be your label. Put on Christ and leave it at that. Do not pigeon hole yourself OK?
I love you. Go out there and love someone else today. Remember...grace and truth people. Live in the tension between the two. And no labels. Just stop it.
1 John 3:2
Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is
Whatever happens in the country that we live, we do not want this sort of hyphenation to take place in the Church. And yet it does. It was a problem in Corinth in Paul's day and it is a problem in some precincts today within our churches. We have liberal Christians, conservative Christians, born again Christians, traditional Christians, gay Christians, recovering Christians and so on. And to add to the trouble we have Calvinists, Armineans, Catholics and Baptists, and something called Unitarians for which there is no absolute definition.
It is mass confusion. Our identity in Christ should be just that. We are to be Christians. We are to be disciples (small d). We are to be followers of Christ or even Christ seekers. Let us not denominate ourselves any further than that.
Do you love Jesus? Then die to all the labels and live for Him! Let Him be your label. Put on Christ and leave it at that. Do not pigeon hole yourself OK?
I love you. Go out there and love someone else today. Remember...grace and truth people. Live in the tension between the two. And no labels. Just stop it.
1 John 3:2
Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Messy Grace: A Final Review
I have finished Caleb Kaltenbach's book, "Messy Grace". I need to read it a couple more times. He is unflinching in his devotion to God's truth, but he is also unflinching in his grace, kindness and love for people that are suffering from sin's temptations and entanglements. His emphasis in the book is on the LGBT community both inside and outside the Church and how to deal with it on Christ's terms - grace and truth.
I know that some of you are thinking, "there are 'mo's inside the Church?" Yes brethren there are homosexuals in the church, in our Bible colleges, campus ministries and on and on and on. Deal with it. God loves everybody, even the self righteous. I'm sure you will get into heaven too. (;^)
Caleb's perspective is unique among pastors. Both of his parents are gay/lesbian. He grew up in the gay community. His mother took him to gay pride parades when he was a child. He witnessed first hand how Christians would mistreat LGBT people. He saw the outright hate and judgement. This caused him to empathize with and love gay people from an early age and despise Christians for their hateful attitudes.
Later, in his teen years, he set out to disprove the Bible since it seemed to be the source of all the "Christian" hate. He started going to an evangelical church. He joined a youth group, but all of his efforts were turned against him. He had fallen in with a loving bunch and God used them to bring Caleb to a knowledge of the truth and Caleb came to accept that and much more. He became a Christian and later a pastor.
My favorite part of the book was when he had to "come out" to his gay parents as Christian. The irony of it is just incredible. It made me think of all those TV shows, movies and books from the 70's where a character comes out as gay to friends and family. The reactions were completely the same for Caleb, but the issue was completely different. It was funny and sad all at once. But everything eventually worked itself out. If you read the book, and I do recommend that you do so, you will see what I am talking about.
The overriding message of the book is that we have to live in the tension that exists between grace and truth as Jesus did - with everyone. He defines that tension as love. We must maintain the biblical standard as regards sin, but we must also love and embrace sinners when they come seeking Jesus. We all started there. We should be able to understand it. We do it for adulterers, pornophiles, drug abusers, fornicators, liars, gossips, haters and even murderers and the self righteous. Why can we not do it for LGBT folks?
Good question.
Caleb says we can do this. I agree with him. I think this can be done with some education or maybe re-education and some real life examples of people that love Jesus, enjoy a successful Christian life, but also deal with same sex attraction. If you are thinking they are not there, "not in my church", well Christian, buckle your seat belt and put your tray in the upright and locked position and prepare to learn otherwise! Our plane is full of all kinds of people just waiting for God to fully integrate them into His Church. LGBT folks are just a few of those passengers. Let's move them out of coach to first class and love them like everybody else....OK?
Read the book. You will see what he's talking about. The practice of messy grace will give you what might seem like a messy church, but it will be an open an honest one. No more facades of perfection that look like well groomed cemeteries. Broken people alive and growing in Christ onward to full maturity. There's a concept.
Easy to talk about; maybe hard to do. What do you think? Can we love that much? Maybe not now, but we can learn to love like that. So I am told. Ya, it's an issue for me too and it really comes from a strange place which someday I may explain to you. That day is not today dear reader, suffice it to say that sometimes loving yourself is hard too.
Get the book. Share its biblical message with others in your church. The field is ripe for the harvest but the workers are few (and it seems like no one wants to go to this field).
I know that some of you are thinking, "there are 'mo's inside the Church?" Yes brethren there are homosexuals in the church, in our Bible colleges, campus ministries and on and on and on. Deal with it. God loves everybody, even the self righteous. I'm sure you will get into heaven too. (;^)
Caleb's perspective is unique among pastors. Both of his parents are gay/lesbian. He grew up in the gay community. His mother took him to gay pride parades when he was a child. He witnessed first hand how Christians would mistreat LGBT people. He saw the outright hate and judgement. This caused him to empathize with and love gay people from an early age and despise Christians for their hateful attitudes.
Later, in his teen years, he set out to disprove the Bible since it seemed to be the source of all the "Christian" hate. He started going to an evangelical church. He joined a youth group, but all of his efforts were turned against him. He had fallen in with a loving bunch and God used them to bring Caleb to a knowledge of the truth and Caleb came to accept that and much more. He became a Christian and later a pastor.
My favorite part of the book was when he had to "come out" to his gay parents as Christian. The irony of it is just incredible. It made me think of all those TV shows, movies and books from the 70's where a character comes out as gay to friends and family. The reactions were completely the same for Caleb, but the issue was completely different. It was funny and sad all at once. But everything eventually worked itself out. If you read the book, and I do recommend that you do so, you will see what I am talking about.
The overriding message of the book is that we have to live in the tension that exists between grace and truth as Jesus did - with everyone. He defines that tension as love. We must maintain the biblical standard as regards sin, but we must also love and embrace sinners when they come seeking Jesus. We all started there. We should be able to understand it. We do it for adulterers, pornophiles, drug abusers, fornicators, liars, gossips, haters and even murderers and the self righteous. Why can we not do it for LGBT folks?
Good question.
Caleb says we can do this. I agree with him. I think this can be done with some education or maybe re-education and some real life examples of people that love Jesus, enjoy a successful Christian life, but also deal with same sex attraction. If you are thinking they are not there, "not in my church", well Christian, buckle your seat belt and put your tray in the upright and locked position and prepare to learn otherwise! Our plane is full of all kinds of people just waiting for God to fully integrate them into His Church. LGBT folks are just a few of those passengers. Let's move them out of coach to first class and love them like everybody else....OK?
Read the book. You will see what he's talking about. The practice of messy grace will give you what might seem like a messy church, but it will be an open an honest one. No more facades of perfection that look like well groomed cemeteries. Broken people alive and growing in Christ onward to full maturity. There's a concept.
Easy to talk about; maybe hard to do. What do you think? Can we love that much? Maybe not now, but we can learn to love like that. So I am told. Ya, it's an issue for me too and it really comes from a strange place which someday I may explain to you. That day is not today dear reader, suffice it to say that sometimes loving yourself is hard too.
Get the book. Share its biblical message with others in your church. The field is ripe for the harvest but the workers are few (and it seems like no one wants to go to this field).
Thursday, October 22, 2015
What Do You Want?
We live in a strange world; one where you can get just about anything you want if you have the desire and the means and the energy to follow through. This was not so true in ancient times. Getting a leg up on the competition was not easy. There were "glass ceilings" for just about everyone at every level of society except those at the very top. It was, most of the time, very hard to get what you wanted, at least in the material sense.
In Jesus' time, in the Roman world, there were many people searching for the things they wanted. Among the Jews, there were people searching for the Messiah and signs of His arrival. It's in that setting, at the beginning of the gospel of John, Jn 1:35-39, that Jesus has the following conversation.
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
That is always the question of the day isn't it? What do you want?
For me, the answer has always been hope and peace. Jesus has been the only one that has been able to help me with my goals. It has not always been so. In the days when I did not know him well, we had disagreements. We still experience conflict from time to time and it usually comes down to my lack of faith and trust. Sometimes I lack the willingness to do the things He wants me to do because I am scared or I lack information or I do not fully trust the people in whose hands He has placed me. People get banged up in this life, even within the Church, and trust is the first thing that goes out the window.
I am naturally skeptical. I am always looking for ulterior motives and hidden agendas. I wonder why that is? Maybe that's because I have seen so much of that in my life. You never see what's really driving people until a plan comes to fruition.
My thought is that I need to give up the skepticism about people. If I get burned, so be it. It's not like that never happened to Jesus now is it? Jesus loved despite the fact that He knew He would be betrayed and His own people would kill Him.
I guess what I am getting at is that if I give up the skepticism and distrust, let the chips fall where they may and become vulnerable to whatever happens, then maybe I will find what I want. I have the hope. I just need the peace. I did not find the hope in others - not my peers in the world or even in the church. I found my hope in Jesus. I will also have to find my peace there.
Hope and peace does not come from other people. The only source of those things is the Messiah! If there was one thing that He could count on, it was the fickle nature of His people. Why should I expect it to be any different for me? And further to the point, what about my own fickle nature? How many times have I not been what others were looking for - or what Jesus wants me to be?
Ghog needs to get over his bad self and start living in the tension that he talked about yesterday - the tension between grace and truth.
I hope I'm ready to do that. I'm kind of old to start with, but we will see how it goes.
Onward into the fog.
In Jesus' time, in the Roman world, there were many people searching for the things they wanted. Among the Jews, there were people searching for the Messiah and signs of His arrival. It's in that setting, at the beginning of the gospel of John, Jn 1:35-39, that Jesus has the following conversation.
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
That is always the question of the day isn't it? What do you want?
For me, the answer has always been hope and peace. Jesus has been the only one that has been able to help me with my goals. It has not always been so. In the days when I did not know him well, we had disagreements. We still experience conflict from time to time and it usually comes down to my lack of faith and trust. Sometimes I lack the willingness to do the things He wants me to do because I am scared or I lack information or I do not fully trust the people in whose hands He has placed me. People get banged up in this life, even within the Church, and trust is the first thing that goes out the window.
I am naturally skeptical. I am always looking for ulterior motives and hidden agendas. I wonder why that is? Maybe that's because I have seen so much of that in my life. You never see what's really driving people until a plan comes to fruition.
My thought is that I need to give up the skepticism about people. If I get burned, so be it. It's not like that never happened to Jesus now is it? Jesus loved despite the fact that He knew He would be betrayed and His own people would kill Him.
I guess what I am getting at is that if I give up the skepticism and distrust, let the chips fall where they may and become vulnerable to whatever happens, then maybe I will find what I want. I have the hope. I just need the peace. I did not find the hope in others - not my peers in the world or even in the church. I found my hope in Jesus. I will also have to find my peace there.
Hope and peace does not come from other people. The only source of those things is the Messiah! If there was one thing that He could count on, it was the fickle nature of His people. Why should I expect it to be any different for me? And further to the point, what about my own fickle nature? How many times have I not been what others were looking for - or what Jesus wants me to be?
Ghog needs to get over his bad self and start living in the tension that he talked about yesterday - the tension between grace and truth.
I hope I'm ready to do that. I'm kind of old to start with, but we will see how it goes.
Onward into the fog.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Grace and Truth
I started Caleb Kaltenbach's book, Messy Grace, on my Kindle last night. I have to say that I am already impressed with it. It is set up so that you can use it as a lesson book. It's got questions at the end of each chapter. I am already thinking about ways I would teach it. I don't suppose that will ever happen in my present environment, but I am definitely going where God takes me with this.Things are changing in my life right now. I am in a "who knows what's going to happen" mode. We will see. This is not what I am writing about today.
In the book, Caleb talks about grace and truth and how John points out that Jesus was both of these things. John 1:14 and 17:
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
So what does that mean? It means that Jesus came with a message of forgiveness and a call to the righteousness of God. Friends, that is a big deal. That is all over the board. That is full spectrum. It covers everything about the character of God. It's not what you would call an oxymoron. These are not opposites in the real sense, but it is the reality of the situation. As Christians we long to be like Jesus, but we are a broken, bent race and so we need the grace.
Often we set high standards for ourselves. We do not always achieve them and worse, we expect others to live by our standards (that may actually be higher than God's). We err on the side of truth and we become defensive and even hateful when others fail to live up to our standards, both in the church and in the world. The other extreme here would be living in grace all the time. Anything goes. God will forgive. If He wants me to change or stop a behavior, He will have to do it.
Both of these are examples of how not to live the Christian life. Caleb, in his book, says that we have to live in the "tension" between grace and truth, because that is what Jesus did. This is why He was the personification of grace and truth. Caleb names that tension. He says that tension is love, and I think he is exactly right. It is possible to live in grace and truth as Jesus did as long as we love. Love makes forgiveness happen and it pushes people toward God's righteousness when it is applied correctly.
A scriptural example of this is found in John 8; the story of the woman caught in adultery. There is much going on in that story, but the bit about grace and truth comes at the very end. After Jesus has defeated the attempt of the religious leaders to entrap Him, He says to the woman in John 8:10, 11,
“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Do you see it there? He forgives her and He advises her to leave her life of sin. Grace and truth administered in love.
This is where the Church needs to be. We can no longer afford to be the world's morality police. That was never our job anyway. Instead, we need to be bringing each other grace and truth in our church communities and showing it outwardly to the world with love.
As Caleb would say, we need to live in that tension between grace and truth and that tension is love.
Let me leave you with another question. Do you think that woman ever sinned again? I kind of think she did. Grace and truth in love people. Let's do it!
In the book, Caleb talks about grace and truth and how John points out that Jesus was both of these things. John 1:14 and 17:
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
So what does that mean? It means that Jesus came with a message of forgiveness and a call to the righteousness of God. Friends, that is a big deal. That is all over the board. That is full spectrum. It covers everything about the character of God. It's not what you would call an oxymoron. These are not opposites in the real sense, but it is the reality of the situation. As Christians we long to be like Jesus, but we are a broken, bent race and so we need the grace.
Often we set high standards for ourselves. We do not always achieve them and worse, we expect others to live by our standards (that may actually be higher than God's). We err on the side of truth and we become defensive and even hateful when others fail to live up to our standards, both in the church and in the world. The other extreme here would be living in grace all the time. Anything goes. God will forgive. If He wants me to change or stop a behavior, He will have to do it.
Both of these are examples of how not to live the Christian life. Caleb, in his book, says that we have to live in the "tension" between grace and truth, because that is what Jesus did. This is why He was the personification of grace and truth. Caleb names that tension. He says that tension is love, and I think he is exactly right. It is possible to live in grace and truth as Jesus did as long as we love. Love makes forgiveness happen and it pushes people toward God's righteousness when it is applied correctly.
A scriptural example of this is found in John 8; the story of the woman caught in adultery. There is much going on in that story, but the bit about grace and truth comes at the very end. After Jesus has defeated the attempt of the religious leaders to entrap Him, He says to the woman in John 8:10, 11,
“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Do you see it there? He forgives her and He advises her to leave her life of sin. Grace and truth administered in love.
This is where the Church needs to be. We can no longer afford to be the world's morality police. That was never our job anyway. Instead, we need to be bringing each other grace and truth in our church communities and showing it outwardly to the world with love.
As Caleb would say, we need to live in that tension between grace and truth and that tension is love.
Let me leave you with another question. Do you think that woman ever sinned again? I kind of think she did. Grace and truth in love people. Let's do it!
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
March 31, 2017
I just came from an hour long visit with my investment counselor. I am pleased to announce that I will be retiring in March of 2017 at the age of 59 1/2.
It's amazing how something like that can change your out look on life. This is my first glimpse of life without air freight.
Free at last, Free at last. No more wandering in the desert wilderness. I will enter the promised land!
This must be what happy feels like...Wow! I should have tried it sooner!
It's amazing how something like that can change your out look on life. This is my first glimpse of life without air freight.
Free at last, Free at last. No more wandering in the desert wilderness. I will enter the promised land!
This must be what happy feels like...Wow! I should have tried it sooner!
I'm Just a Tad Cranky
I remember when there were no mobile (cell) phones. Those were good times. You had one unit that was hard wired to the wall in your house. If you were home, you answered it and it was always a real person that cared about you. There were no robocalls from politicians, storm window salesmen or mortgage vendors. But alas, the good old days are gone. Now we can be reached anywhere, any time for any reason or for no reason because we always have a phone with us. It is really annoying.
There needs to be a code of conduct. If you are driving, you must use an ear piece or be able to take calls from the radio unit in your vehicle. This morning as I was pulling out of Caribou Coffee in Pleasant Hill and a woman in her van was pulling in; the back seat was filled with yuppy larvae, and she had her phone pressed between her shoulder and ear. She was unable to turn the steering wheel quickly enough to negotiate the turn and not hit me, so she came to a complete stop to get her wheels turned, cranking with one arm. She was almost rear ended by the person behind her and she almost hit me and it was all because she had to be on the phone.
Age has been good to me. It has made me much more patient. I did not give her the universal love sign. I did not stop, get out of my truck and tell her how stupid she was. I did not smack the livin' $h!T out of her. I did not respond at all. The day will come when she will not be so fortunate. She will either be involved in an accident or someone will get out of their vehicle and share their mindset with her. I hope they are not armed. She needs to think about her kids and stop talking to her sister about how horrible her husband is.
We need phone discipline people. Whatever it is can wait until you are stopped. There is nothing that pressing!
OK. I'm, done with that now. Thanks for reading!
There needs to be a code of conduct. If you are driving, you must use an ear piece or be able to take calls from the radio unit in your vehicle. This morning as I was pulling out of Caribou Coffee in Pleasant Hill and a woman in her van was pulling in; the back seat was filled with yuppy larvae, and she had her phone pressed between her shoulder and ear. She was unable to turn the steering wheel quickly enough to negotiate the turn and not hit me, so she came to a complete stop to get her wheels turned, cranking with one arm. She was almost rear ended by the person behind her and she almost hit me and it was all because she had to be on the phone.
Age has been good to me. It has made me much more patient. I did not give her the universal love sign. I did not stop, get out of my truck and tell her how stupid she was. I did not smack the livin' $h!T out of her. I did not respond at all. The day will come when she will not be so fortunate. She will either be involved in an accident or someone will get out of their vehicle and share their mindset with her. I hope they are not armed. She needs to think about her kids and stop talking to her sister about how horrible her husband is.
We need phone discipline people. Whatever it is can wait until you are stopped. There is nothing that pressing!
OK. I'm, done with that now. Thanks for reading!
Monday, October 19, 2015
Carey Nieuwhof Interveiws Caleb Kaltenbach
Caleb Kaltenbach is lead pastor at Discovery Church in Simi Valley, California. He is also a graduate of Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Mo. The thing most interesting about Caleb though is that both his parents are gay. The story of his life is an interesting one. He grew up marching in gay pride parades and, as a teenager, he joined a church to disprove the Bible. That's when his life changed. He became a Christian and later a pastor. Still later in his life, both his parents, both noted Christian haters, became followers of Jesus.
In this podcast, Carey Nieuwhof interviews Caleb. Caleb tells his story in brief, but interesting fashion. Caleb also has a new book out (which I should receive in my Kindle tomorrow) on the 20th called, "Messy Grace: How a Pastor with Gay Parents Learned to Love Others Without Sacrificing Conviction".
Follow this link to the interview.
http://careynieuwhof.com/2015/04/episode33/
The interview can help you decide whether to buy the book.
In this podcast, Carey Nieuwhof interviews Caleb. Caleb tells his story in brief, but interesting fashion. Caleb also has a new book out (which I should receive in my Kindle tomorrow) on the 20th called, "Messy Grace: How a Pastor with Gay Parents Learned to Love Others Without Sacrificing Conviction".
Follow this link to the interview.
http://careynieuwhof.com/2015/04/episode33/
The interview can help you decide whether to buy the book.
Accepting The Gift
Yesterday in my second class at church, we were talking about our identity in Christ and particularly about how secure we feel in our relationship with Him. This is a big deal if you are in the faith; if you call yourself a Christian. There were a couple of people in the class and I have met many Christians outside of the classroom setting, that seem to lack the necessary security for their spiritual growth. This fear of status loss and security in the Kingdom is the single biggest thing that holds our churches back from becoming what Christ intended.
The thing I have heard most often is that, "some of the things I have done in my life are so bad, I don't know if God can forgive me".
Christian, if you are thinking this, the problem is not God forgiving you! It's you forgiving you. God did everything possible to make you His. What does John 1:12, 13 say?
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
You are his child. If He did not love you, if you were not significant, He would never have given up His first born Son to die for your sins.
Further to the point, Paul explains it this way in Romans 5:1-11:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Friends, there is no reason for you not to be secure in your salvation. You are forgiven; freely justified before God by the blood of Christ. You have no cause to fear. What you need to work on is forgiving yourself. And if God has forgiven you, what does that say about your standards? You are not God! Accept yourself as you are. He does. Your past is covered. The future is bright and full of possibilities. You are His. He will save you. If there are changes that need to be made, He will take care of it. Sanctification takes a lifetime.
If you are still doubting your status as God's child and whether He forgives you, consider this. When you refuse to forgive yourself and accept His free gift of forgiveness and salvation, what are you doing? Is it possible that you are saying to Him, "Your sacrifice was not sufficient to cover my crimes against God"?
Do not bar the door to His grace. Accept His gifts and ask for more. He loves you so much! Let me close with Paul's words in Colossians 3:15-17.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Let it go Christian. Love yourself and then get out there and love everyone else! Go and grow and enrich the lives of the people around you so that when they see you, they will see Jesus.
The thing I have heard most often is that, "some of the things I have done in my life are so bad, I don't know if God can forgive me".
Christian, if you are thinking this, the problem is not God forgiving you! It's you forgiving you. God did everything possible to make you His. What does John 1:12, 13 say?
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
You are his child. If He did not love you, if you were not significant, He would never have given up His first born Son to die for your sins.
Further to the point, Paul explains it this way in Romans 5:1-11:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Friends, there is no reason for you not to be secure in your salvation. You are forgiven; freely justified before God by the blood of Christ. You have no cause to fear. What you need to work on is forgiving yourself. And if God has forgiven you, what does that say about your standards? You are not God! Accept yourself as you are. He does. Your past is covered. The future is bright and full of possibilities. You are His. He will save you. If there are changes that need to be made, He will take care of it. Sanctification takes a lifetime.
If you are still doubting your status as God's child and whether He forgives you, consider this. When you refuse to forgive yourself and accept His free gift of forgiveness and salvation, what are you doing? Is it possible that you are saying to Him, "Your sacrifice was not sufficient to cover my crimes against God"?
Do not bar the door to His grace. Accept His gifts and ask for more. He loves you so much! Let me close with Paul's words in Colossians 3:15-17.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Let it go Christian. Love yourself and then get out there and love everyone else! Go and grow and enrich the lives of the people around you so that when they see you, they will see Jesus.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
A Foul Mood, Work and Way Too Much Attitude
I need to talk about this some more.
This morning when I woke up, I was in a foul mood. I cannot even begin to speculate what caused it. Maybe I just did not sleep well and I was tired, but I was most definitely depressed. I really did want to cry. I have felt that way many times in the past, but usually I notice it building up. I have never just woken up out of a sound sleep and felt that bad. It felt just like someone close to me had died. I felt irreparable loss. Or maybe like someone had told me I would never walk again. I suppose I could have been coming off a bad dream that I did not remember.
It was probably just bad brain chemistry caused by something I ate. I've been eating a lot of rainbow sherbet lately...stop laughing...maybe that was it. Whatever.
Church seems to have fixed it, or maybe the Holy Spirit. He does me some favors sometimes that I actually notice. I say that because most of His work is behind the scenes in my life. I don't notice it until I look back. I appreciate that Lord. Thanks.
I should probably go to bed now. I have to go back to work tomorrow. I am dreading it. Cooped up in a cube farm with two 50 something, menopausal women that hate each other, one 70 year old black woman that will not retire and a gay guy we got from Newark. He's OK. Good worker. I'm not complaining. If he wasn't there, I would never get any vacation and he's the only one in the office that seems to be really happy all the time. Kind of puts the gay back into Gay if you know what I mean. Truth is, he's probably the only one in the office getting any....did I say that? Sorry.
My boss is in St Louis. He hears about our office drama, but he has no clue what it's like to be trapped there day in and day out in that box among the cubes. I swear there are undeclared contests to see who can be last to answer the phone. It really pisses me off.
The best days I have at work is when I am the only one there. I always know everything that is going on with everything. There is no failure to share important information. No one drops the ball. The phone gets answered on the 2nd ring every time and no one argues with my decisions.
It's heaven.
I used to work in our office in the eastern part of the state. It was a two person operation. I would share 30 minutes every day with the other employee and we worked together to get everything done. That office is now down to one person and it still operates perfectly because we carry some of there load in our office.
I like working alone. I suppose if the others read this, I will get to do that sooner than I care to.
Whatever...I'm saying that a lot lately.
Maybe I will wake up with something relevant to write about tomorrow.
This morning when I woke up, I was in a foul mood. I cannot even begin to speculate what caused it. Maybe I just did not sleep well and I was tired, but I was most definitely depressed. I really did want to cry. I have felt that way many times in the past, but usually I notice it building up. I have never just woken up out of a sound sleep and felt that bad. It felt just like someone close to me had died. I felt irreparable loss. Or maybe like someone had told me I would never walk again. I suppose I could have been coming off a bad dream that I did not remember.
It was probably just bad brain chemistry caused by something I ate. I've been eating a lot of rainbow sherbet lately...stop laughing...maybe that was it. Whatever.
Church seems to have fixed it, or maybe the Holy Spirit. He does me some favors sometimes that I actually notice. I say that because most of His work is behind the scenes in my life. I don't notice it until I look back. I appreciate that Lord. Thanks.
I should probably go to bed now. I have to go back to work tomorrow. I am dreading it. Cooped up in a cube farm with two 50 something, menopausal women that hate each other, one 70 year old black woman that will not retire and a gay guy we got from Newark. He's OK. Good worker. I'm not complaining. If he wasn't there, I would never get any vacation and he's the only one in the office that seems to be really happy all the time. Kind of puts the gay back into Gay if you know what I mean. Truth is, he's probably the only one in the office getting any....did I say that? Sorry.
My boss is in St Louis. He hears about our office drama, but he has no clue what it's like to be trapped there day in and day out in that box among the cubes. I swear there are undeclared contests to see who can be last to answer the phone. It really pisses me off.
The best days I have at work is when I am the only one there. I always know everything that is going on with everything. There is no failure to share important information. No one drops the ball. The phone gets answered on the 2nd ring every time and no one argues with my decisions.
It's heaven.
I used to work in our office in the eastern part of the state. It was a two person operation. I would share 30 minutes every day with the other employee and we worked together to get everything done. That office is now down to one person and it still operates perfectly because we carry some of there load in our office.
I like working alone. I suppose if the others read this, I will get to do that sooner than I care to.
Whatever...I'm saying that a lot lately.
Maybe I will wake up with something relevant to write about tomorrow.
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