Cerulean Sanctum
Good post Dan, I will be sure to listen (or watch) a sermon today and bookmark the page
Read more at www.dedelen.com/cerulea…
worry and rumination
Remember teaching your child the same skill and taking your hand off the seat and the frustration that you felt when your child forgot to stay focused on the riding and not on the fact that you took your hand away?…or…
Watching your child learn how to walk, they start to walk toward you and then they realize what they are doing and you see the surprise on their little face and then this look of concentration appears when they start to question just what they are doing and they sit.
In learning both skills we falter when we look inward. We falter when we examine. All we needed to do in learning the skill was to just keep going. I am guilty of this over and over again. These posts are evidence of this. Rather than look outward, rather than look to Jesus as my sustenance, I return to gaze inward. I return to my vomit. I return to past hurts. I turn my gaze back toward my psyche and to my emotions. This is the sin that is so ingrained in my flesh.
When Peter is walking on the water toward Jesus he does just fine until that moment where, I believe, he looks inward at what he is doing and then he sinks. When I worry, when I ruminate, when I incessantly rehash old hurts, I fail to look to the cross and the finished work that Jesus there; instead I push my self to the forefront and feel my brokenness. I go where Satan wants me to go instead of where Jesus is beckoning to be. That concentration on self is the same old sin once again rearing its ugly head.
Oh but to be able to crucify the flesh! Oh, but to be able to finally and completely grasp the ability to walk without turning inward! Oh, to be able to unlearn what psychology, Dr. Phil, Oprah and our society have taught me to do! I pray that our churches stop heading in the direction of satisfying the needs of the flesh. To turn from the desire to focus on emotion and feeling and return once again to the sustaining and all sufficient power of Jesus Christ. If only I could do that too.
Don’t Strike the Rock Indeed!
Romans 14:13 says, “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.” Here Paul is continuing on in his dialogue that Christians should not judge one another. Unity in the body is important and Jesus himself said that “a Kingdom divided against itself cannot stand”. As believers in Jesus Christ we make up that Kingdom so we see that our divisions are damaging because we are focusing on our differences. If another believer holds to the basic tenants of the faith then whether you like it or not they are your brother or sister and you should receive them because Christ has received them.
When you make the mistake of standing in judgment of another believer just stop doing what causes division. As Paul said, “Let us not therefore judge one another any more.” Paul goes on to state that we are to stop being critical and condemning and we should be concerned with how our behavior influences them. That is the heart of Romans 14:13 “but judge this rather that no one put a stumbling block or occasion to fall in his brother’s way.” Ask yourself how your behavior may look to a weaker believer, a child or a sheep in your flock, for you shepherds. We can either be a positive influence or a negative influence but we are never neutral. God will judge how we have influenced others in our lives.
This is related to my earlier post in that since some people have more influence than others, and what may be in store for them will be a harsher judgment or could be a greater reward. Christians will also answer to God for the influence that they have on other Christians. How have you encouraged other believers in the faith? How have you possibly cast a stumbling block in the path of another believer? As a pastor and in relationship to Christ’s church one of the questions that will be answered at the judgment seat of Christ is: what is your influence in building up and strengthening the faith of those who are already believers? We are not followers of men, we are not followers of a system of theology, and we are not followers of a church pecking order, we are followers of Jesus Christ and all belong to that larger body. Why is it then that your behavior causes me to have to stop myself from striking the rock?
I have learned in my walk that there are two absolute necessities to staying rightly related to God. The first one is the desire and the intention of doing what is right, and the other is to ask God to forgive you when you fail to do what is right. Once we fail all prayer seems to have a ceiling and communication with God ceases. We know that things are not right and we must ask Jesus for forgiveness in order for things to be restored properly in our walk. Sometimes people wait a very long time after they have violated their conscience, to the time that they ask God to forgive them, to the time where they ask others to forgive them. But that reconciliation must take place or a stumbling block is cast and growth beyond that violation stunted or impossible. “If you purposely put before someone that which will cause them to violate their conscience, then you are not walking according to the principle of love. What you will do instead is described with a very strong word: “destroy”. What might you destroy? You might destroy someone’s faith or someone’s confidence. The word “destroy” comes from the same word as a word that is used in the book of Revelation for the devil, “Apollyon”, which means destroyer. If you participate properly in the work of God, then you will be involved in building up the faith of others. If not, be careful or you will participate in destroying their conscience or their faith.”
Rom. 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” For the Christian that is rightly related to God, we are not so much interested in exercising our freedom, but in doing what is right. Our hopes and our prayers and our desires are to do the right thing. Then we will have peace.
Rom. 14:18-19 says, “For he that in these things serves Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” Jesus said to Peter, “If you love me, feed my sheep.” If you are going to contribute to building up the lives of other believers, then according to Rom. 14:19 you must “follow after the things that make for peace” in regards to other believers.
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How I wrestle
When someone hurts me by misunderstanding either my intentions, or my heart state, and they react in such a way that I cannot comprehend, does it really matter at all except where it concerns others? I know that my father knows my heart more than I even do. If I ask Him He is always quick to show me the truth of my heart state. I am always seeking purity of heart and always seeking to unveil hidden and perhaps less than perfect intentions. I am always willing to be corrected. I beg for the type of brokenness that chastens and sanctifies. I know the wickedness that a heart can hold, that my heart can embrace. I fear the wickedness of hidden intentions. My desire is to be found a spotless bride when my Savior returns for me.
This being something I know to be true allows me, in reality, to discern people’s motives toward me. If I know that I have been mistreated or misunderstood and I know that my hearts intentions were pure at a given point in time, then I know that the fault of a matter does not lie in me, for that occasion. If that is the certainty that I must trust because it is a reality with a knowledge based on my Father’s goodness and ability to chasten and sanctify me through the power of the Holy Spirit, who I know I am open to and fully trusting in then I must also rely on that for the knowledge of my reality regarding others. That then tells me that either the other person that I am having a problem with must be the one who is not fully trusting in the Father or the guidance of the Holy Spirit in regards to the particular situation or there must be some other purpose that our Father must have in mind for a particular circumstance where we find ourselves at odds. I tend to think that we both cannot be right. I must resist asking myself continually “If one of us is wrong and I know that I am not the one in this particular case, then what is the possible outcome of this situation”. I beg to know the answer to “what would you have me do with this, Father?”
This is all particularly dogged when the situation involves someone in authority over those I know and love whether I am under that authority or not. The question of their true motive and intention becomes accordingly important as to cause me to run afoul of every possible nicety that would cause me less struggle. The very fact that any action could cause heartbreak within so many souls keeps me in cowardice. Or is it cowardice? Is it something that is akin to a martyrdom of a fractional degree? This very concept has been something that I have wrestled with my entire life. Is it cowardice to not reveal the misdealing of one in authority, whether it is in a child molester-child, patient-nurse, jailor-inmate, older sibling-younger sibling, pastor-church member relationship or is it self preservation? Or could it simply be that the one on the weaker side of the relationship just does not believe that they will have any credibility because of the very fact that they are weaker? Or could it be possible that there is a belief that the weaker ones are the only individuals that will be singled out for attack so bringing to light any possible conflict will have a self serving effect. Could it be, in this case that lack of action is akin to fractional martyrdom or is that the delusion of a mind not able to grasp the last possibility that I have not fully understood all of the issues at hand and because of this cannot act in any meaningful way. It remains a hope that the other individual involved in this particular unbalanced relationship will see the error of their ways and repent where true repentance is needed without my having to point to that error in any way that would cause a ripple effect in any other lives.
This all sounds like cowardice to not come forward in any momentous way that would allow others to see and judge for themselves what both sides of an issue are in order to make the prayerful determination on their own. What if bringing forward the points in conflict was to also bring in other people involved in a peripheral sort of way? Whereby bringing their involvement into the matter causes them to realize that they too are victims where they at one time did not see themselves as victims? Who is then responsible for the outcome especially if those making the determination cannot see the truth clearly enough to make a decision that is not tainted by self motivation or self preservation, or worse. It is possible, in that case, to further victimize oneself by allowing the input of those not led by the truth to further confuse the issue. To take part in such an event has to be seen by the original victim as being possibly worse than the original offense. What is the motivation there? Police yourselves then becomes the victims cry! So the key to resolution is to only allow those who are most assuredly open to the leading of the Holy Spirit into the facts of the quandary that is torturing this Christians soul.
I have personally come to the encounter that we all must face in our lives where black is white and white is black. I have been on the weaker side of these dual relationships far too many times to not see the truth as I have been led into that truth by my Father. I know my heart; I know my intentions because they have been thoroughly vetted by the Holy Spirit. I am not saying that I am perfect, quite the contrary. I have asked for and seen my faults in situations and I trust that as much as I can bear that all I need to see right now has been fully revealed to me by the Holy Spirit. How can we truly see ourselves as God sees us? Surely we would die.
I find myself in a situation where I still see a conflict that cannot and should not be ignored. Failure to resolve issues is not a healthy state for anyone and simply moving on cannot be a solution. Blessed are the peacemakers and I for one have always had a desire to live in peace with other believers. I am so shocked when I find that this is not the motivation of every believer and especially some in authority who seem to not want truth to come to light. I maintain that those in authority in situations that have not yet been resolved have not let themselves be fully chastened and the question remains as to when some issues will be resolved, or even if they will be resolved this side of heaven.
If we measure our leaders by any truthful standard and they fail to measure up to what we as individuals know to be truth then what is our responsibility to other weaker members in the dual relationship that may find out that they are also sufferers? Do we as believers have a responsibility to reveal anything or do we prayerfully wait for the Holy Spirit to reveal all in His supernatural way? The question as to my involvement in any chastening process is one that I wrestle with on occasion. Never act in the natural. I prefer to think myself a coward rather than cause a lapse that would lead to any heartache for others.
So bullies you are safe for now as I continue to pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit for surety of step that I need to move forward in confidence to resolve old issues. But beware that I need to hear something of an acknowledgement from you in order for me to be secure of your understanding of the issue at hand. And this is how I wrestle.
Dark Night of the Soul
Have you had a dark night of your soul? Mine lasted 3 long years. It sure feels wonderful to see the daylight again! Alleluiah.
Pastor Jon’s Blog
A story that has a lot of truth to it on so many levels. I like it and feel a bit convicted. It is funny that the man did not use the building materials from his old church to build his new one. Ah, but maybe that is where the wisdom lies.
Read more at pastorjon.typepad.com/
broken people
As a church, as people in any ministry that we may find ourselves endeavoring in, how are we to relate to those souls who are seemingly unfixable? The one’s whose behaviors or moods are so much a part of their character that there seems to never be growth or letting go of past hurts or sins against them. The one’s whose lives seem to be so painful that we feel like failures in that we just can’t seem to do enough for them to make an impact for God. The one’s who are so deep in physical, emotional or spiritual pain that we have run out of the right things to say and there just has been seemingly no response or impact up to this point for any lasting change.
Because were are human we sometimes tire of their melancholy faces and lives seemingly devoid of any happiness at all. We become frustrated because we have a sneaking suspicion that there must be some volitional sin in their lives and that they just have not grown in the Lord enough to lay that sin at cross and be done with it. Then there are the truly physically and mentally ill among us. There seems to be an entirely different set of methods we need in approaching them. Some of us have become so frustrated that we have tried to mix secular psychology with spirituality in dangerous ways and now the message of the cross has become even more confused. We fear that we are “enabling” them even though we really don’t understand the concept or the right words to use anyway. Deep down we know that psychology is not the right approach to the problem but we have thrown up our hands in frustration and we really want to be good shepherds, believers, friends, and/or loved ones.
Let’s face it; it is very true that our churches love winners! We don’t understand the second stringers or the above mentioned souls. We truly want everyone to be on the same page and we are suspicious when they are not. We know that a little leaven spoils the whole loaf so some second stringers even scare us a little. I suspect this is true in every fellowship. If you are of a denomination that believes that the gift of tongues is evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit then those that don’t speak in tongues are second stringers. If you are in a denomination that believes that God is all inclusive and the way is broad, then fundamental evangelicals are second stringers. If you are in a church that believes that the Bible is literal, and the way is quite narrow then the people that cannot be “fixed” become the second stringers because there must be sin in their lives. I think that Jesus looks at all of us as “second stringers” although His view has no sin in it like our’s does. We don’t seem to have that capability to have a pure view of other’s lives.
How do you view the people in your church who are mentally ill? The people who are so depressed that just getting out of bed in the morning is an effort. The believers who enter the doors on the Sundays that they can make it, with whose sad faces and tears just never seem to stop. Are we supposed to say the same things over and over again? We just don’t have the words to fix their troubles. Then there are the ones whose mental illness takes them away for a while and who act so differently, oddly, that we just cannot comprehend their behavior. They just don’t act like normal people. What do you do with a bipolar, psychotic, schizophrenic, neurotic or other, diagnosed believer? I know that they exist. I think that sometimes we pray that they become members of other churches. We tell ourselves that this isn’t out of any malice towards them but it is simply because we just don’t know how to help them and maybe someone else will. But that suspicion remains that since we are given a sound mind at conversion why aren’t they better?
We are given an emotionally sound mind at conversion. We are given a mind that will not lead us into sin but some mental illnesses are due to misfiring brain chemicals and those brain chemicals are leading to behaviors that are still not perfect. This train of thought leads us to the medication issue. Is it fine for believers to take medications to balance their brain chemicals? Most of us have decided that this is ok because the argument for treating other illnesses like cancer, diabetes and heart disease make treating unbalanced brain chemicals acceptable. Have we accepted this because this is a compelling argument or do we still harbor a prejudice toward people whose illnesses are brain based?
What if I told you that there have been studies that have demonstrated that taking SSRI’s have led people away from homosexual behavior and other sexual sins? What if I told you that treating people with SSRI’s has led them away from all sorts of addictions? Uh oh! Now we are running into a problem. If SSRI’s can lead people away from sinful activities do we raise them to the status of co-redeemers? Of course not! Not any more than cancer chemotherapy is viewed as the source of healing. It is a tool to be used because God gave man a brain. We have wisdom to be used to our benefit but God is still the source of our healing and wisdom.
How does this change our view of people who are caught up in sin? Is it truly all about attitude, about the heart and its wickedness? That is where I think the answer to these issues lies, in the depths of our hearts, in volitional sin. What man can rightly judge another’s heart?
If we entertain this thinking then we allow some very tricky questions to emerge. Is some “sin” biologically based and not volitional? Are some behaviors that are not volitional even sin or are they patterns of learned behavior that have developed because we live in a stressful and broken society and physical healing is needed? Not that we should make any allowances for behavior that is labeled as sin but that there is a more loving response necessary for believers and unbelievers alike. It has been proven, at least to my satisfaction, that inordinate amounts of stress in a person’s life can influence their brain chemicals in such a way that the structure of the brain is altered. Receptors and synapses are damaged, nerve endings rerouted, misfiring occurs, good chemicals not absorbed etc. The brain is most susceptible to damage in the womb, in childhood and in adolescence, before the age of accountability. When life is excessively stressful at those times then the effects can be profound. I am not talking about normal stressful life events or the exams and drivers license tests sort of stress but the kind that is in response to drugs, alcohol, or smoking taken by the mother while pregnant or excessive situational stress while she is pregnant, failed marriages, broken homes, parental suicide, child rape, etc. These sorts of things take their toll on the brain. The behavior that we see in adulthood in people that have had this amount of stress in their lives is what those SSRI medications are meant to correct. There may be sin also because patterns and habits are very difficult to unlearn. When a child or adolescent has a tremendous amount of stress, they learn patterns of behavior that help them to cope and then go beyond what they are dealing with. Sometimes those behaviors are considered quite odd to “normal” people.
I think that these are the broken people that Jesus met with. The people that Jesus had harsh words for were the ones with a desire to sin, who wallowed in self satisfaction, who served themselves first. The Pharisees and people that chose, advocated and promoted sin were not welcome to remain in His presence until they desired a change of heart. We must remember that He drove out demons and then accepted the person that remained. He accepted the broken people, He healed them, and told them to go and sin no more, but He was gentle with them. Are we misapplying labels to people? Are we not discerning correctly?
All this boils down to how we label someone’s behavior as sinful. There are definite sins in the Bible. There are lists of all sorts of wickedness and we are not to tolerate any sort of wickedness in ourselves because we are believers and followers of Jesus. We know the truth. At conversion we understand exactly what sin is because the Holy Spirit is there convicting our hearts though we still may have our ways of dealing with things that are imperfect and have yet to be broken and then rebuilt, but we are His.
And then there are people who are not believers yet, but whose behavior may very well be a learned and biological response to stress. They are just not brain healthy people. They may truly have been born “that way” but they do not yet understand that “that way” may be a response to intergenerational sin. They are not hearing that there is healing available to them too because we are not getting that message out to them. They are the still unrepentant sinners whom Jesus would have met with, talked to, loved, and after having met Him they would have repented and gone and sinned no more. We are failing as the ambassadors of His kingdom, His representatives to these types of broken people. These are not the people that He had harsh words for, they are who we were before conversion. Some are homosexuals, some are drug addicts, and some are very deeply affected people.
Then there are the people who are openly militant in their sinfulness. They espouse sin and try to lead others into their sin. I still think that they are in the same category that we were once in they are just more obvious in their heart states. Saul before his conversion would have fallen into this group.
And then there are people who seem to be possessed by demons, who have chosen to be on the other side. Jesus drove out their demons and some of us are gifted in this type of special ministry. The demon-possessed were not rejected by Him and I suspect that we are not to reject them either. We are not to accept their demons, quite the contrary, we are to slay and bind them through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are to reject no one, just reject their sin. We are not to embrace people’s imperfections, most times we are to simply ignore the imperfections and see people as works in progress.
We are in danger of losing the wisdom, discernment and gentleness available to us by the Holy Spirit that is necessary to truly love like the ambassadors and representatives of Jesus’ kingdom that we are as believers. We need to stop labeling people as their brain sin illness and see them as hurt and broken people that this perfectionist church culture and society has trouble tolerating. As always I remain open to correction and debate.
A General Statement
Some of us belong to fellowships, some are in between and searching for a
fellowship. In either case, we live in increasingly difficult times. Here is a
checklist that I found that may be helpful to some in being overcomers of
churches that abuse and in recognizing abuse before it occurs.
Apologetics Index – an exhaustive resource
The following checklist of cultic tendencies by Charles Lesser was published in
the October, 1991 Spiritual Counterfeits Project Newsletter. They are typical of
a number of aberrational cultic groups and churches on the scene today.
1. Is your pastor fully accountable to a board of elders, presbyters, etc?
2. Is loyalty to Jesus and to one’s own calling placed before loyalty to pastor and church?
3. Does your pastor encourage questions and suggestions? Is he approachable?
4. Does your pastor give equal attention to all kinds of people in his congregation?
5. Does your pastor readily admit his errors?
6. Does your pastor avoid boasting or hinting at a “special anointing”?
7. Is your pastor truly humble?
8. Are the sermons based on clear Biblical truths, not on “original revelations” or ax-grinding?
9. Does your church interact with other churches?
10. Does your church staff avoid secrecy?
11. Is power shared in your church (rather than preempted by a hierarchy)?
12. Does your church see itself as just one organ of the Body of Christ, and not the main one?
13. Is your church truly friendly?
14. Does your church emphasize ministry to people rather than church programs?
15. Are especially needy people cared for lovingly in your church?
16. Are church members encouraged and loved even when they leave?
17. Are relationships with former members encouraged or allowed?
18. Do the pastor and congregation avoid attacking and using as object lessons, former members or those who disagree?
19. Are families encouraged to stay together and spend time together?
20. Does your family worship Sunday service include children, at least for part of the service?
21. Are you encouraged in your own calling?
22. Are pleas for money rare and unemotional?
23. Are your children happy to attend church?
24. Are you happy to bring unsaved friends to your church?
25. Is there a diversity of classes, races, dress styles, ages, and occupations in your church?
26. Are people encouraged to hear from God for themselves?
27. Is there a single behavior standard for all people in the church?
28. Are all types of people considered welcome at your church?
29. Is the joy of the Lord present in your church?
30. Are you free from fear in your church?
31. Do you think more about God and Jesus than you do about your pastor and church?
32. Does your pastor include himself in any calls for repentance and forgiveness?
33. Are you clear that the pastors and elders never exaggerate or lie to make themselves look good?
34. Is your group encouraging of each other and free from gossip and rumoring?
35. Is there a humility of doctrine that points to the grace of God and His mercy for sinners?
36. Are you encouraged to serve in ministries or missions outside the local body?
37. Is there ever any pressure put upon members to give or lend money to leaders for their personal or business use (exclusive of church business or projects)?
from an article posted at: http://www.apologeticsindex.org/a04aa.html
Are group members encouraged to ask hard questions of any kind?
A cardinal rule of abusive systems is “Don’t ask questions, don’t make waves.”
A healthy pastor welcomes even tough questions. In an unhealthy church disagreement with the pastor is considered to be disloyalty and is tantamount to disobeying God.
People who repeatedly question the system are labelled “rebellious”, “unteachable”, or “disharmonious to the body of Christ”.
Persistent questioners may face sanctions of some kind such as being publicly ridiculed, shunned, shamed, humiliated, or disfellowshiped.
More resources:
http://www.believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=681
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/abuse-ch.html
http://www.excult.org/cultc.html
You just don’t get it do you?
On the coldest night of the year thus far, wouldn’t it have been the perfect opportunity to invite those few protesters that showed up to come into the “event” without any cost. I am confident that Jesus would have invited them and the police in to hear the message. If your intentions were just to edify the body of Christ, why would you choose this venue? In my opinion, it was obvious that your desire was to stir up something other than a sharing of the Gospel? We also did not see many churches joining in your celebration. I guess that evidence of where we all differ. It isn’t that your event was so much hateful but it was embarassing to me that ambassadors of Christ would act this way,
Because we are ambassadors in this world hopefully our behavior reflects that position. We are aliens. We are to turn the other cheek when struck. Yes, there is sin in this world. We choose the Bible as our guide to life. It is our living word. The word has permeated our soul because it is the word of God our Father. That does not mean that everyone feels the same about the word and as the church age comes to a close, fewer and fewer people will embrace the word. Jesus Christ is our Savior and he is our leader and brother but He is not everyone’s leader or brother. Yes, it is our desire that everyone sees the truth but not everyone will. Yes, we need to stand up and shine the light of truth and be beacons to a lost world.
No, the event wasn’t hateful and I truly never thought hate was your motive, but it seemed worldy. And yes, there will be different styles in shining that beacon, but…
I question a good many actions by this pastor of late. I listened to his radio show recently. This particular day Carl Beane was his guest. I truly love Carl he is my brother in Christ, but I was embarrassed for him. Wiping a body part on a poster of a sports figure? Come on guys how is that Christ-like? I just cannot picture Jesus acting like this, so crude. And, how could you state so confidently that you know what Wayne Gretsky knew regarding his wife’s gambling? Just asking but how is what you said not slanderous? What can possibly be going through your mind? And you wonder Tom why I question how you are acting in other matters? You have chosen to speak out about Pat Robertson, a brother in Christ and you called him a fool, you condemn the Catholic Church. Sure there is error but there are also brothers and sisters in that church, the emergent church are branded as heretics – and there is error here too but there are some weaker believers who cannot see the error, and then you attempt to silence any criticism that is directed towards you from me? Who am I, no one but a former member with an ax to grind? No, I don’t I am just concerned for friends who still remain.
You have wondered why people misunderstand how you deal with others and why they call you hateful? Yes, I have questions about your actions as a pastor and a brother in Christ. Yes, I will continue to remove the mote from my own eye before I even attempt to remove any splinters from yours but your actions speak for themselves. There is nothing private here, nothing hidden, and no hidden agenda.
We are all sinners who must first look inside ourselves and work on our own sins. Many people want to change their world or engage their world when few speak of first changing their own world.
“Judgment is the forbidden objectivation of the other person which destroys single-minded love. I am not forbidden to have my own thoughts about the other person, to realize his shortcomings, but only to the extent that it offers to me an occasion for forgiveness and unconditional love, as Jesus proves to me.
Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are. If when we judged others our real motive was to destroy evil, we should look for evil where it is certain to be found, and that is in our own heart.”
Moving On because now I really want to…so, see ya later!
P.S. by the way-the way you are dogging the mayor is how I feel about you! I want to know why you refuse to answer the questions that we have had about why you have failed to do what you should have done. Ironic huh? I too, would have more respect for you if you told the elders all about what you failed to do and your job is even more important than a mayors! Certainly we have a right to know why you chose to ignore how we felt about your actions. This is not unChristlike to ask why by your very own words on WVNE.
a familiar cloud
My focus needs to be prayer today. I have the “another shoe is going to drop” cloud over me and this is my call to prayer. Please pray for revival within the hearts of all Christians seems to be my focus of prayer. “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown”. Hold on to what you have and being an overcomer suggests that we can be led astray. Since the church of Laodicea is the next church in the order of the seven letters to the churches in the book of Revelation, this suggests to me that we can become that church. Laodicea is told “So be earnest and repent”. Repent of being a lukewarm “rich” church. Philadelphia was a small church, it had little strength, and it received no condemnation. Laodicea a “rich” church that was wretched, poor, blind, and naked. Jesus Christ was standing outside the door of this church and knocking asking to be let in to one of His churches that was operating in His name but He was not inside. Watch for the fruit!
The state of blessing to overcomers means we start out as Christians but we need to be cognizant of our heart state always since the letters apply to our churches, our hearts, as well as the time of the church age we are in.
The lost art of saying “I’m Sorry”.
How wrong is that line? Can you imagine not ever saying “I’m sorry”? Yet, so many people have no idea how disarming a heartfelt “I’m sorry” can be. When someone is really angry and I mean really fuming at someone and the other person says those two words (heartfelt only applies) it is like a punch. The person that is angry stops takes a deep breath and looks totally bewildered for a split second or even two or three. They don’t know what to say next. I am not talking about the Dale Carnegie “I’m sorry you feel that way” apologies but the real apologies that come from that place of conviction in your heart. I cannot remember the last time that I heard an apology like that even from a Christian.
I can say that I have given out apologies like that-the heartfelt ones. This is because I mess up much more than I should and I have learned early on that there is no cost to say those words just a wonderful release. Expiatory behavior is the aftermath of a heartfelt “sorry”. Sometimes we try to atone for what we have done to hurt others other times sometimes it is just too late but there is always time for the I’m sorry. Case in point; we live in a rough neighborhood. It doesn’t appear rough but it really is. The houses are close together and familiarity really can sometimes breed contempt. It is a wave at the neighbors with the windows rolled up place. We home schooled our kids and never did the trick or treat thing so we were branded as the “crazies”. Some of that was well deserved and gratefully embraced. The label “crazy” doesn’t bother me anymore because I have had it taped to my back for years. Sometimes my dander gets up when people mess with my kids. We call it the mother bear response. Watch out!
We called the police about a drug deal and called when the man down the street attempted to bribe a young man with alcohol for sex. Some things cannot be ignored. I didn’t call when the neighbor tried to run me over. What I did instead surprised me. We never have extra money but last Christmas I had a little bit to spare. I sent the neighbors a gift basket with a short note. I received the nicest note in return but also the young mother said that she was shocked that we would send them a basket.
After that all mean-spirited stuff stopped from them toward us. No more trash in the yard. No more one finger salutes and they haven’t tried to run me over again. What heart change in them stopped it all? What heart change in me stopped their perception of me? I admit to having some very un-Christ-like thoughts at times. I felt as though I was being buffeted by the enemy so I viewed them as the enemy. All this changed because my heart changed. My heart, not theirs at first but mine. My heart was at fault because I am in the body and my heart was poisoned by venom. Afterwards I no longer dreaded encounters with my neighbors. We were all shocked by our friendliness toward each other. We smiled at each other and shared this one common blessing from above. I actually was able to pray for them with renewed vigor. What does this all say about me? Not much. My prayers toward my “enemies” prior to this were not that heartfelt. I thought they were. In fact I probably thought I was a good person for praying for “those people”. They were prayers of obedience and were more like. Well, I know I have to pray for my enemies so here goes, blah, blah, blah. That is not where our hearts should be. That is not where my heart should be.
All this made me wonder how we were actually seen in our neighborhood. How have I been engaging our neighbors? I pray for them and I wave to them but how do they want what I have when they really do not know my heart? Yes, people can be very difficult but how would Jesus live in this neighborhood or in this world that we have made? This has been a tough question for me because some of what goes on is so abhorrent.
I really have no answers just that one observation from something that I believe the Holy Spirit laid on my heart and in that one specific instance I obeyed. It is exciting to see what else is in store in this tiny seedling of a relationship. I always thought it would be a punch to the face where I would have to turn the other cheek but I was wrong. I am wrong a lot. When I examine my own heart I am not very pleased with what I see for in all of this I have learned that when I am looking at others critically it is time to look inward. Heaping coals of love on others, sometimes by saying “I’m sorry” is how I want them to treat me so sometimes that is just how I should be engaging my world.
Woe to me part II
When I stumbled, or as Pastor Jon’s blog points out, Grace III-The Why- chapters 1, 2, 3, and even 4 of the poem, was I going to listen to anyone? Nope. When we are in that state do we really think that we are wrong? Nope. We have rationalized our actions even to ourselves to the point of blindness. There might be a hint of doubt, unless we have totally quenched the Holy Spirit or we are still non-believers. I had not fallen into a very deep hole, praise be to God, but there was no spiritual manna that I desired. I am not saying this out of any malice but out of an attempt at growth for myself, how to avoid this in the future. I had spiritual anorexia. I did not desire the word (I knew it would condemn my heart and I felt emotionally too weak to be condemned-wrong!). I did not desire to be around other brothers and sisters in Christ. I was spiritually bereft. If I was this way how much more so is it for others?
How should this Christian show others the love of God in Christ Jesus when they are in a similar state to the one I was in? I do not want to water down the message of the effects of sin on our culture and in our world. But what others hear from me can sound like hate, moral prig(gishness) and the potential for anything but love. Yes they have a hardness of heart that only the Holy Spirit can soften and I am told that the world will hate me and persecute me but I think that that hatred is from the enemy and the enemy uses people as weapons to buffet us but not everyone is on a mission from the enemy.
When I volley back with love then I have disarmed the attack. We are told to turn the other cheek and to not whip out a sword as Peter did in the garden at Jesus’ arrest. We see that Jesus is under arrest and He heals the soldier because Peter acted rashly and hatefully. Why are we shown this? How does that translate into how I am to engage the fallen world? Do I use my Bible as sword to lop off the ears of those in sin or do I act in a more restrained manner and heap the coals of love upon others while not compromising the truth? The Bible is my guide and has yet to become theirs, and that I think is the key. I hope and pray that I always choose coals of love and that I live in the truth as it has been revealed to me. I hope to always remember that I am a work in progress and revelation and growth comes in stages for all of us. I have not yet lived up to the verse 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 and I hope that I will some day for:
If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a tinkling symbol. And if I have prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And if I dole out all my goods, and if I deliver my body that I may boast
but have not love, nothing I am profited. Love is long suffering, love is kind, it is not jealous, love does not boast, it is not inflated. It is not discourteous, it is not selfish, it is not irritable, it does not enumerate the evil. It does not rejoice over the wrong, but rejoices in the truth. It covers all things, it has faith for all things, it hopes in all things, it endures in all things. Love never falls in ruins; but whether prophecies, they will be abolished; or tongues, they will cease; or knowledge, it will be superseded. For we know in part and we prophecy in part. But when the perfect comes, the imperfect will be superseded.
When I was an infant, I spoke as an infant, I reckoned as an infant; when I became [an adult], I abolished the things of the infant. For now we see through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know as also I was fully known. But now remains faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Woe to me!
“Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” Jeremiah 8:22
The daughter of my people, some could say is the church. Some would apply “the daughter” to themselves or their children. I believe that this can be applied to all of us but more specifically I believe that God is pointing to the bride of Jesus, His church. God has described His Zion as “full of wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores.” The church of this age is the same. This is so subtle and we are left open to the false teachings that will trip us up. We do not want to see ourselves as the church of Laodicea and most of us will say, “Not me, I belong to the church of…”
Sin has invaded us like only the venom from a bite of a serpent can. Head to toe. First, we have been blinded to the truth, Secondly; we have become confused about the truth. And thirdly, we have become alienated from God and His truth and cannot see the lies because His truth we can only see through Him. We are lukewarm and in danger of being spewed out of His mouth. We do not understand what true love is anymore. We cannot point the finger of blame at others; we have to search our own hearts deeply and thoroughly.
“Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17)?
The church of Laodicea spiritually felt there were in “need of nothing” (Revelation 3:17)
“For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6).
Like the Laodiceans I had a superficial view of the sin in my life. The Laodiceans minimized the effect of sin, or the need to identify it and expunge it to maintain spiritual well being. One little decision to not trust in His strength and to seek strength in something of the world brought on an avalanche of sin in my life. “Oh, the humanity of it all”, literally! I do not wish to glorify the sins and my story very well could sound like a soap opera but that is truly not my intent. We all live lives that can sound like soap operas at times. It is the subtle sins that blind us. We go along believing that we are fine. We cannot even see that we have been bitten by the serpent.
In my case, I have learned the ways of psychology. Not because I studied the science but because I was a patient of the science from the time I was very young. I must say that I am still not totally aware of the indoctrination that has taken place and that programming needs to be purged. This is a science of lies, good intentions of people who care, but lies nevertheless and a false love. The science of psychology has permeated the church. We have been infiltrated by the enemy. Some of our most respected leaders teach psychology to the church. We are taught that you cannot love others until you love yourself first. That is not where true love comes from; true love is a gift from our God. Love your neighbor as yourself tells can only happen through a relationship that is in Him. We are told that self-esteem is very important. To be truly honest we must admit that our self-perception may be nauseatingly extravagant. We are cautioned not to think more highly of ourselves than we should.
“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3).
We must attempt not to be “high-minded” or “wise in our own conceits” (Romans 11:20; 12:16).
Who really can perceive the impressions that others have of us? When we can see ourselves as others see us then we will be humbled. We should be thankful that we cannot truly see how God sees us without our Advocate because we will be utterly ashamed. The key is that we should not look inside ourselves for our understanding of our “self-esteem” our value is in Him and Him alone and that is where our esteem is.
The science of psychology and its prophets would have us believe that there is a biological basis for sin, that our very genes dictate our behavior. We know from the Bible that God would not cast a stumbling block before us. He does not want us to sin and He will not lead us into sin. In fact, he provides a way out of our sin through His son Jesus and anyone who believes in Him can find healing and a way out from that sin. The science of psychology tells you to embrace your anger, express it; you are entitled to it because you have been hurt and abused. You have been victimized, “oh poor you”. They will not provide you with the only true healing that is available to all. It is free to all.
The abuser of Carlie Brucia has listed all of the reasons why he fell into utter despair and depravity. He has stated that he is the victim of failed surgery, drug addiction; his wife kicked him out, depression, rejection, failed business, and suicidal impulses. These factors, he felt, led him to kidnap and kill Carlie. Joseph Smith seems to take responsibility and he seems to be humiliated for what he has done. We know though that as long as there is an excuse there is no true humility or repentance. We have no excuse for the evils we commit other than our failure to act on the truth.
For Joseph Smith, and anyone else caught up in any amount of sin, the problem was/is that he was living a life apart from our Creator. If he had seen the truth that he needed to die to himself and his own desires and his own “self” interests and impulses, the avalanche of his problems would have stopped. Joseph Smith will be put to death. Society will be protected from his potential to impact anyone for evil or good forever. It is right to protect society and our lust for vengeance will be satisfied but what else will be gained? Certainly no one wants to see themselves in the actions of this man. We are this man; we are all capable of that type of sin, given the set of circumstances that will push us to that point or that one moment in time where we turn our back on the truth. We are susceptible of stumbling over that first misstep. Once the serpent bites us and his venom takes over we are all capable of falling very far. What disturbs me when I listen to people who victimize others they describe this slippery slope into ever greater sin. They all describe a subtle point on their path where they veered off and they are shocked, when caught, that the road led them to these awful crimes. There but for the grace of God goes all of us. This is true for everyone from the most heinous sinner to the most Godly among us, we are all the same. That subtle decision to listen to our own ways will trip us up every time. This man, Joseph Smith, is a victim in the sense that we are all victims of the lies that the enemy would lull us into believing. Homosexuals believe that they are entitled to live in sin. Adulter’s think they are entitled to commit adultery, smokers-its their right, blasphemers-not a problem, cheaters, tax evaders, and the list goes on. How about Christians who place themselves above the masses, who think themselves better than the sinful hordes, are we immune to sin? How about Christians that find it necessary to call people on their blatant sin or think that they can demonstrate to anyone how they should live by shouting them down with Scripture? The way we wield a sword can be sinful. We walk a fine line every day. If we are not in constant prayer, praying without ceasing, we should be very, very careful.
We need to understand that when someone is found in sin we can point them to the cross. There is a point of brokenness, of teachableness, unfortunately that sometimes occurs at the end of a personal decline (or the end of a societies decline). Hopefully, we can discern a spiritual state before that first stumble, with maturity that may come. Jesus related to sinners in the world so that He could meet them when they were teachable, when they were caught up in sin. We are not all-knowing so it is difficult for us, apart from the discernment that the Holy Spirit provides, for us to know when someone is teachable. There seems to be a point where they are searching for the whys of what happened. Too often, there are no Christians around at that point in time. Even when they are our own we tend to shoot the wounded. If we have made ourselves unavailable to this “work” of love then the gift of discernment that is necessary is not poured out on His people. We have forgotten that God is love and that is the “work” we should be about. We are so afraid of those in sin because they ruin the reputation of our church, our family, or us as individuals because we have been told that we are known by the company we keep, we can’t defile ourselves. We are afraid that we might be somehow influenced by their sin that we may be caught up in it. We are afraid! If we remain afraid to walk in the spirit then we are rendered useless in engaging our world. That is not from God!
So the question is how are we to engage a world that is increasingly sliding down a slippery slope? We are being told that if we engage in hate speech then we will be silenced completely. If we are walking in the Spirit we will not engage in hate speech. God, through the Holy Spirit, will provide the words that we need when we need them and we must trust that as long as we know that the impact of our “self” has been examined. We must not be afraid even if our lives are taken from us. I say all this from the comfort of my own home. I have no ministry where I reach the lost. I do not visit the sick and imprisoned. My “self” dictates that I am not capable of helping anyone. It is true, I am not, but He is.
Our “balm in Gilead”, our physician is none other than Jesus Christ. He is the source of our healing. Anything that ails us or our society that can be attributed to our sinful state can be healed by Him. Faith can move mountains. Since everything that is wrong in this world can be attributed to the original fall then I challenge myself to attempt to figure out what cannot be healed by our wonderful, merciful, glorious, physician. What ill in society or person cannot be healed when we are in a teachable moment? The gift of discernment and wisdom will be necessary, but most of all the gift of love.
So again, I must remove the mote from my own eye. Because I humbly submit to you that I fail in this every single day. I remain humbly correctable.
Take the mote our of your eye
but that hurts!
I alternate between anger and frustration toward others and then the same toward myself for picking up, over and over, what I have already laid at the cross. It is like a scene from a movie. Jesus is sitting there in this beautiful place. I approach His throne and I have my head down. Not in shame but I have a purpose in my posture. I am approaching Him with an ATTITUDE!
I know you are thinking right about now. Wow, how dare you! I tell you though that I am approaching Him this way because I haven’t really become aware of my attitude. The attitude comes from a, seemingly, righteous indignation. Watch out there Christian. MMM, MMM, mmm. We walk a very fine line with righteous indignation.
So there I am walking with my head down. I am grumbling about some hurts. Big hurts yes. Someone has hurt me. Lots of people have hurt me in some very big ways. Grumble, grumble. I know that I have to lay these hurts at His feet. I do. Then I pick them up again. I lay ‘em down. Over and over and over again and again.
I guess I could go on like this forever. I am slowly starting to realize something though. In a way I am comfortable in these current hurts. Hurt has been a way of life ever since I was a little girl. The shell of those old hurts still remains but they do not come to mind anymore unless I deliberately bring them up in a non-sinful way for some purpose. That is the difference between what has been laid down forever and what has not been given over to our Lord Jesus completely. Dealt with correctly the experience remains but the hurt is gone and the enemy is not able to throw it in your face anymore. If we have not laid it at His feet completely it ends up back in our minds again. We lay it down and the enemy gives it back and we take it from him over and over.
This is how we break the cycle.
Go back to the scene-I am standing before Jesus holding onto my hurt that keeps showing up again. I am hanging my head low because I cannot approach Him. I am ashamed. I am prideful. I am arrogant. I am angry. I am indignant, I am boastful. I am, I am, I am. Then I look up and look into His face.
I see His scars. I remember how His brothers would not pray for Him in His hour of need, choosing sleep instead. How Judas betrayed Him. I see how they ripped off His beard. Imagine having a beard ripped off! How He was mocked and beaten and spit on. A crown of thorns was pressed into His head. His friend denied Him as He was being beaten. And then after enduring all of that He had to carry His cross up to the top of the hill in front of a crowd of mockers. He had to endure. He had to suffer the agony of His death. Feel it! Look at it! Imagine it! Because that is all we will ever have to do, imagine it and ponder it. He was nailed to a cross, no broken bones to hasten the inevitable, nothing to ease His pain. And He was without sin for His entire life. He did nothing, ever, to deserve what He endured so that I could have the absolute privilege of laying my tiny, little, petty hurts at His feet. And then He allows me to walk away unscathed, forgiven, white as snow. And I know He did this for me. How dare I hold onto any hurt? How dare I compare my valleys to anything he endured so He could ask for mercy for me, my advocate before God?
All that is left in me is the tears from seeing who I can allow myself to become. How I can hurt others with my words and my anger.
That is all “self”, this is all pride. So now I am allowed to finally move on. Praise Jesus! This is how the enemy is bound here on earth and in my heart. This is where the victory resides, totally in Jesus and in Him alone.
When Forgiveness Seems Impossible
ANGER
Forgiveness
Technorati : church, forgiveness
Uh Oh!
It is amazing how being totally broken can be such an uplifting experience. I am just coming out of the worst three years of my life and now I am praying for more brokenness. I must be absolutely bonkers! It’s just that as God peels away these layers of my self that are not what He wants me to be I hunger to be free of more my “self” that does not bring glory to our Father.
So my prayer is for more brokenness, more lessons, more shaking of my self, so that I can become more of what my Father wants me to be so that I can share with others as the Holy Spirit leads.
I do have one caveat about the book. It annoyed me that the narrator never mentioned that we need to live biblically. There was a hint of that when some of the characters were in sin but the point isn’t necessarily as obvious as some of the other points. There is freedom in Christ but that freedom will only be there when we are not knowingly sinning. When we are knowingly sinning in some way we are not being obedient to God. When we do that, at least from my experience, it seems as though our prayers are not going anywhere. If we are knowingly in sin we have already chosen to put our selves before God and He will honor that. He will let us live by ourselves for a time until we realize that we cannot live by our own wits.
So You Don’t Want to go to Church Anymore
Now this is truly an amazing story and just what I needed.
It isn’t what you think. You will be very surprised.
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