tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12130135157845132822024-03-13T23:05:52.121-04:00Still Waters: The WatermarkHow will you make your mark?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-61368254099147401492015-11-02T09:35:00.002-05:002015-11-02T10:18:35.307-05:00The Power of Words<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="text"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Power of Words</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Words can be powerful. Let's start by looking at God's Word and then see how that relates to our word. Let me begin with this statement and tear it down from there:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>"God’s Word <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">spoken in love</span> <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">and in accordance with God’s will</span> creates something from
nothing."</b> </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We know and can trust from Scripture that God is love. The Bible, God’s
Word, we call it, says that God is love. So, every word spoken by God comes
from a place of love. Why would we serve God if he were not love? So, if there is a God worth serving, we can agree that he is loving. So, we can assume that anything that is God's word is spoken in love.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And, every word spoken by God is according to his will.
As humans, we are imperfect, we lie, our words are not always in accordance
with our own will let alone with God’s will. You see that. But, that is not so
with God. God is not divided. God is one. God is not a liar. Everything that
God says we can assume is according to his will.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So for the sake of brevity, we can shorten this statement to:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>"God’s Word creates something from
nothing."</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></b>Now let me talk through what that "something" is. What is God creating? </div>
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<br /></div>
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We can read in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2 Tim 3:</b><span class="text"><sup>16 "</sup>All Scripture is
God-breathed [God’s Word] and is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">useful</b>
for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in <b>righteousness</b>,</span> <span class="text"><sup>17 </sup>so that the servant of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good <b>work</b>."</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">Useful - God's word is practical. It does something. It creates something. In this verse, it is described as creating righteousness.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">Righteousness - The purpose that this verse gives for creating righteousness is so that the servants of God will be able to do good works.</span></div>
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<span class="text"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="text">Good works - This is a new possibility that was created by God in his servants. Now, unlike before God spoke, they are able to do good.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">In Hebrews 4:12 we read that the Word of
God is alive and active. It has life. It is powerful. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Isaiah
55</b> puts it this way:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text"><sup>10 </sup>As the rain and the
snow</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">come
down from heaven,</span><br />
<span class="text">and do not return to it</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">without
watering the earth</span><br />
<span class="text">and making it bud and flourish,</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">so
that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup>11 </sup>so is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">my
word</b> that goes out from my mouth:</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">It will not return to me empty,</b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
<span class="text">but will accomplish what I desire</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and
achieve the purpose for which I sent it.</span></b><span class="text"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Like rain brings life, God’s word brings life. It creates
new life and new possibilities from nothing. It does. It always, 100% of the time, does. Without fail. Otherwise, it is not God's word. So, we can change the statement this way:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>“God’s Word creates new possibilities
from nothing.”</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Now, let's look at the word nothing. Where are those new possibilities coming from? </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="hang-2">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></b>We see this most clearly in the creation story of
Genesis 1 and John 1.</div>
<div class="hang-2">
<br /></div>
<div class="hang-2">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Genesis 1</b>
says, “<span class="text">In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.</span>
<span class="text"><sup>2 </sup>Now the earth was formless and empty,
darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering
over the waters.</span></div>
<div class="hang-2">
<span class="text"><sup>3 </sup>And God said, “Let there be
light,” and there was light.</span></div>
<div class="hang-2">
<br /></div>
<div class="hang-2">
<span class="text">He repeats this day after day, speaking this universe into existence. It would be amazing to think about him still speaking everything into existence now and now and now. </span></div>
<div class="hang-2">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John 1</b> describes the original creation this way, “<span class="text">In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.</span> <span class="text"><sup>2 </sup>He
was with God in the beginning.</span> <span class="text"><sup>3 </sup>Through
him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.</span>
<span class="text"><sup>4 </sup>In him was life, and that life was the light
of all mankind.</span> <span class="text"><sup>5 </sup>The light shines in
the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">The Word here is referring to Jesus Christ. (Check John 1:13 if that is a question for you.) So, everything that was created by God in the beginning was created through Christ. Life was in him and came from him. And, nothing was made apart from him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">So, now here is the final statement about what God's Word creates in this world:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></b><b>“God’s Word creates new possibilities through
Christ." </b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Now let's see what </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">we can say about the power of human words.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"></span></span><br />
We were each created. We were a new
possibility through Christ. "I am a new possibility created by God through Christ." Try repeating that sentence every day. It might change our lives to think that way. Wouldn't it?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Try repeating it now. Maybe even say it aloud. Try it on for size. Does it fit?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We are created in God’s image according to Genesis 1:27 and knit together by God himself according to Psalm 139:13-14.
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Creator
created human beings in the image of the Creator to be like the creator in
creating.</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Our likeness to the creator is not perfect or complete. "We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23). But, we were created like Him, in His image, to be creative with our words. And, I don't mean using descriptive vocabulary.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We can create new possibilities through Christ when we speak in love and in accordance with God's will.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">1 John 5:</span></b><sup><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">14 </span></sup><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is the confidence we have in
approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.</span><span class="text 1John-5-15" id="en-NIV-30640"><sup class="versenum">15 </sup>And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This amazing idea is echoed in many verses in the Bible. (Matthew 7:7; Mark 11:22-24; John 14:13-14, 15:7, 16, 16:23-24; Philippians 4:6-7; James 4:3)</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So, our words can have power, if they are spoken in love and
in accordance with God’s will. If in essence they are God’s words. God can speak through us. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Or, through Christ, we can speak God's words. And, when we do, God creates new possibilities for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
(The flip side is also true and this shouldn't be overlooked. There are many exhortations in the Bible to beware false teachers and false prophets whose words have the power to destroy instead of create. Our words
can also potentially have destructive power which we see and feel everyday. Almost every fight has been begun with words and has escalated with words.)</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Notice I said, they have the potential to create, not that they
always do. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God’s word has power and
always accomplishes what He desires, and it achieves the purpose for which He said it.</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Our words are not guaranteed to create because our words
are not always spoken in love and aligned with God’s will. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text"><b>How do we align our words with God's word so that we can create new possibilities</b></span><span class="text"><b><span class="text"><b> through Christ</b></span> for ourselves and others?</b> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
In Matt 7:15, false prophets are equated to ferocious wolves in
sheep’s clothing.
<br />
God is not condemning wolves. He is condemning deception and ferociousness.<br />
<br />
We are all inauthentic. We all lie, to each other and most often to
ourselves. But, these wolves lie about being wolves. They lie about being
inauthentic. They pretend that they are open books when in reality they are
hiding. They are hypocrites.<br />
<br />
Our integrity is crucial to speaking words that have the power to create new possibilities. Integrity comes from a commitment to being authentic. But, since we are all
inauthentic, it is a commitment to being authentic about being inauthentic. That
is integrity.<br />
<br />
That’s God's condemnation of false prophets. They have
no integrity.<br />
<br />
And, whether you are a prophet or not, recognize that “God’s Word creates
new possibilities through Christ.”<br />
<br />
<b>You have the power to create new possibilities through Christ as you speak God’s
word in love and in accordance with God's will.</b><br />
<br />
At first, our words take on power when we declare with our mouth "Jesus is Lord." Remember the righteousness that God was creating in us through His word as described in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. When we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth "Jesus is Lord," we are forgiven of our sins and are saved, making us righteous not because we do good things, but because Christ's righteousness is imparted to us. Here's how Paul described it. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rom 10:<span class="text"><sup>6</sup></span></b><span class="text"><sup> </sup>But the righteousness that is by faith says: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">... SKIP ahead to verse 8 </b>“The word is near you; it
is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that
we proclaim:</span> <span class="text"><sup>9 </sup>If you declare with your
mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the
dead, you will be saved.</span> <span class="text"><sup>10 </sup>For it is
with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth
that you profess your faith and are saved.</span> <span class="text"><sup>11 </sup>As
Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”</span><span class="text"></span> <span class="text"><sup>12 </sup>For there is no difference between Jew and
Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,</span>
<span class="text"><sup>13 </sup>for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord will be saved.”</span><br />
<br />
<span class="text">[And, like in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, it is so we can be thoroughly equipped to do good works. And, the first good work is to speak to others so they, too, can experience the power of God's word. Paul continues...] </span><br />
<br />
<span class="text"><sup>14 </sup>How, then, can they call on the one they
have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not
heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?</span> <span class="text"><sup>15 </sup>And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?
As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”</span><br />
<br />
<span class="text">If you want to see the power of God manifest in your life, speak God's word to create new possibilities through Christ. First, in ourselves, as we declare "Jesus is Lord" and then, in others, as we declare "Jesus is Lord." </span><span class="text"></span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-64941461785037553792015-10-30T10:25:00.000-04:002015-10-30T10:44:49.374-04:00That Voice in Your Head: Living Powerfully<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
You know that voice in your head that talks to you and
just won’t shut up. Yeah, that one. The one that is saying, “Oh yeah, I know
that voice.” Or maybe you aren’t like that. So, the voice in your head is
saying, “What is this guy talking about? I don’t have a voice in my head!”
Yeah, that’s the one. Or, maybe it’s saying, “Oh, do I have a voice in my head?
I wonder. Well if everyone has one, then I guess I have one.” Yeah that’s the
one. And, if you are really truly unique, the voice in your head is saying,
“Not me. I don’t have a voice in my head. I’m no ordinary person. I am
different.” Yeah, that’s the voice I'm talking about.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What
does that voice tell you? It depends. It depends on what language(s) you speak.
Right? Otherwise you wouldn’t understand the voice in your head. (Now that would be confusing. Kinda cool, though.) What that voice tells you also depends on
where you were born and live. Makes sense, right? Otherwise, the context would
be all confusing and wouldn’t make sense. It depends on your personality. It
depends on your relationships. It depends on your parents. It depends on your
children. It depends on where you work. It depends on whether the guy behind the counter
put whip cream on your latte. It depends.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That
voice is common to the human condition. It is part of being human. It is
something that we all share. We all have a voice in our head. Also, that voice
speaks from a certain perspective. No matter what it is actually saying, it comes
from a common foundation that we all share:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
1 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“There is
something wrong here, and, that something is me.”</b> What is the voice in your
head saying right now? “Oooowww, that’s deep. Such a profound idea.” Or maybe
it’s saying, “@#$%! That’s not true. There’s nothing wrong with me.” Or maybe,
it’s saying, “Ok, I can see that.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The voice in our head tells us things. It tries to guide us
through life. It directs us on what to believe and who to trust. It tells us
what to eat and what to avoid. But, the first thing underlying all of that is
this, “There is something wrong here, and that something is me.” So, your voice
has told you something like: look prettier, get stronger, be more guarded, be more
sensitive, to live in the moment, eat less and exercise more, read more, keep
growing, hide, don’t take anything serious, laugh more, play more, numb
the pain, or maybe all of the above at one time or the other. The voice in our
head has a lot to say. It almost never shuts up.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The voice in our head assumes that we are the something that is wrong and either wants to fix us or tries to avoid facing the
fact that something is wrong. Each moment, you and I have to decide whether, on
the one hand, to do what the voice is saying or to fight against the voice.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Which one dominates is up to you. Whether you choose to
stand and fight or run and hide is up to you. Now that voice in your head is
saying, “I’m gonna stand and fight!” or “Fighting, no thanks. I’m gonna run and
hide.” Or, maybe that voice in your head is saying, “It is not that simple.
There are always other choices that we have. I read in a book once, that…” Or
maybe, it’s saying, “I’m gonna fight! That’s the right answer isn’t it? Running
and hiding can’t be the right answer. Or is it? Is this a trick question?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And, that’s the point. We have a voice in our head that
is responding every moment to the foundational belief that "there is something
wrong here, and that something is me." Regardless of what it is saying, that is
where it is coming from. It is looking for the right answer, the best way, to
get past this life-altering, foundational belief that something is wrong and by
working so hard to get past it, it confirms moment by moment, day after day
that:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“There is something wrong here, and that something is
me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The second belief began a little later in life, but it is
just as foundational. It is the second underlying belief behind what the voice in
our head tells us.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
2 – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“I don’t
belong.”</b> The voice tells you and me that if we looked a certain way and not
another then we would belong. The voice tells us to eat a certain way and not
another. The voice tells us to change ourselves, educate ourselves, grow,
become, transform, metamorphosize into something that fits, something that
belongs.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
You have been responding to that foundational belief ever since. Your
actions in life, the career you have, the spouse you chose, the place you live,
the friends you have, the makeup you wear is all in response to that underlying
premise, “I don’t belong.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The voice in your head is again telling you, “Yes that’s
true!” Or, “No, that’s crap!” Others of you, the voice, is saying, “Where is
this all going? What’s the point already!?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Fair enough. That’s not the real point that I am learning and trying to share with you. It just is. It is what
it is. We have a voice in our heads. And, that voice, regardless of what it
says, is coming from this place: “There is something wrong here, and that
something is me,” and “I don’t belong.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Sometimes we do what that voice tells us and sometimes we
don’t. No, that’s not the point either. It just is.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So, wait for the voice. Listen for it. Hear it. Then,
choose whether to do what the voice says or not. Then, recognize that you made
the choice. You decided whether or not to listen. You chose whether to eat that
piece of cake or not, whether to get out of bed or not. You chose. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
You are not the voice in your head. That voice is not you.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Here’s the point: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">You
have power over the voice in your head unless you give that voice power over you. Either
way it’s your choice, your power.</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
You are powerful. You are great. But, you and I can
choose to live powerless and small. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I don’t want to. I like living powerfully. It is fun and allows
me to make the kind of impact that I want to make. So, I am going to choose to
live powerfully and BIG. Do you want to know why? Because I choose to. I choose
to because I choose to. I am powerful and have a choice, and I choose to live
BIG.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
You are powerful. You are great.You are not the voice in your head. You have power over it. So exercise ... or don't. Just don't believe the lie that you didn't have a choice. You are powerful. You can choose to obey the voice in your head or choose to ignore it. You are great. Be great.<br />
<br />
Any questions or want to know more, leave a comment below or contact me directly. This has been a life-changing reality for me. I trust it can be for you. Your choice!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-38397764905345942872015-09-08T08:53:00.000-04:002015-11-02T06:38:46.128-05:00When Jesus Isn't Enough<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7Km9w5ACtMA/Ve7cdr63ndI/AAAAAAAAAZE/AAzIH20ewqo/s1600/empty_bowl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7Km9w5ACtMA/Ve7cdr63ndI/AAAAAAAAAZE/AAzIH20ewqo/s1600/empty_bowl.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Is Jesus enough?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
If you were to sit in a church on a Sunday morning, thinking about
Scripture, singing praise songs like All in All, Knowing You and Indescribable, you might know what
the “right answer” is. </div>
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<br /></div>
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"Of Course Jesus is enough. What more could we need or
want? With Jesus, all things are possible. Apart from him we can do nothing."</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Is Jesus enough? "Yes."</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Well, that would be an awfully short blog post, and because
I have been wrestling with that question for days this week, I think there might be
some more to say on the subject.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I know that he is enough. I have taught others that Jesus is
enough. And, I believe that Jesus is enough. But this week, I didn’t feel like Jesus was enough. In fact, I could
have easily named a few things that I longed for that at the time seemed more
pressing than Jesus.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Nothing earth shattering happened this week. What happened to me this week was all quite normal, but I
questioned one of the central tenets of my faith. Is Jesus really enough?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I was tired, but that is often true because I am out of shape. I felt guilty and un-everything good: unworthy, unlovable, unproductive,
unloving. I was lonely and felt isolated from the ones I love. I started to
wallow in all of these emotions while I was reading and praying and preparing
for this week's sermon which started out being about fasting.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It was still about fasting, but the focus became quite
clear. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Is
Jesus enough?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Do you know what I needed, (or maybe "wanted" is a better word
for it)? I wanted someone to put their arm around me, rub my back
and ask me what was wrong. I wanted someone to listen to me sort through my
thoughts and tell me it was going to be OK. I wanted a physical person to sit
with me and maybe read the Bible to me or give me some godly advice. I wanted a
friend.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And this was a week that I had some good habits. I took my own advice and spent
the first 5 minutes out of bed on my knees in prayer each morning this week,
and I read Scripture this week, and I listened to some songs of praise, and I
took a walk yesterday to think and clear my head. But, in all of that, I still
didn’t feel like Jesus was enough. I still wanted a person, a friend.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
My feelings are not really what this post is about
though. I have spent maybe too long talking about them. I wanted to talk about
them though so that you could relate to what I am saying, so we could get past the
easy answer of, “Yes, of course Jesus is enough.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In theory, Christians all know, “Yes, Jesus is enough.”
But, in practice, we all feel at times that, “No, Jesus is not enough.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
That is why when we are faced with a choice between
sinning and choosing righteousness, we choose sin way too often. That is why
when we are faced with challenging or sometimes tragic circumstances, we ask why and
doubt God’s love or wisdom or compassion. That is why when we are faced with a
difficult choice, we worry and fear that we might make the wrong choice and
will then be headed in the wrong direction.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
These are three times when we are faced with the
question, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">“Is Jesus enough?”</span></b> and often come to the conclusion that
he very certainly is not. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Sin, Circumstances and Choices:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">When we sin</span></b>, we proclaim that Jesus
is not enough. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>With pride, Jesus gaining glory is not enough,
we want some of that glory for ourselves. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>With lust, Jesus’ provision for us is not
enough, we want something more for ourselves. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>With worry, Jesus’ Lordship is not enough, we
want a better god, one that does what we want.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When we sin, it shows us our true belief. We answer the
question, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">“Is Jesus enough?”</span></b> with a resounding, “No. No, he is not
enough. I need more.” </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Circumstances</span></b> in life might pull us
to believe that Jesus is not enough: </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When your child is in the hospital and you’re afraid.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When you’re hoping immigration will allow you to remain
in the country.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When you are wondering if you are going to lose your job.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When your health problems are beyond the understanding of
the doctors.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When you don’t know if you will have enough money to pay
the rent.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">OR</b>, when you
are feeling lonely and isolated and in need of a friend.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The circumstances are as varied as our lives, but the
question is the same, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">“Is Jesus enough?”</span></b> And, quite often,
we answer, “No. No Jesus is not enough. I need one more thing. I need this
circumstance to work out the way I want it to. Just one more thing, then Jesus
will be enough.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Choices</span>:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Sometimes when we have a difficult or important choice
ahead of us, we have that same question. We know that whatever we choose will
redirect the course of our lives.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What college to go to or what career to pursue.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Who to marry or not marry.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Should I adopt or foster or not?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Do I move to this city or that?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Do we or don’t we? The choices could be much smaller than
these of course, but the fear is the same, whatever choice I make, when I
arrive on the other side of this, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">“Will Jesus be enough?”</span></b> If I go the
way I want and hopefully the way He wants me to, will Jesus be there with me
and assuming He will, “Will Jesus be enough?” It’s so hard to know from this
side of the choice. It sometimes feels like this choice is life or death. If I
choose correctly, Jesus will be enough, but if I don’t, I’m really afraid that
I will be miserable. I will have lost my chance.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Which brings us FINALLY to fasting and Scripture:</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Matt 6:16-18</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text Matt-6-16"><span class="woj"><sup class="versenum">16 </sup>“When you fast, do not look somber
as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others
they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in
full.</span></span> <span class="text Matt-6-17" id="en-NIV-23300"><span class="woj"><sup class="versenum">17 </sup>But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,</span></span> <span class="text Matt-6-18" id="en-NIV-23301"><span class="woj"><sup class="versenum">18 </sup>so
that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to
your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in
secret, will reward you.</span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
He will Reward you. This reward seems to be heavenly. It
seems to be talking about something that we receive in the Kingdom of God. But,
as we see throughout this Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5-7), the question the Sermon on
the Mount is answering is how does the Kingdom of God look here on earth and how do those who
are in the Kingdom of God act toward their neighbors.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So, though the reward is heavenly, it has earthly
consequences. It effects us today. What we do in secret (like fasting), affects us and those around us in public.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
A couple of chapters later in Matthew, Jesus is asked a question about fasting: </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Matt 9:14-15</span></b></div>
<span class="text"><sup>14 </sup>Then John’s disciples came and asked
him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not
fast?”</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup>15 </sup>Jesus answered, </span><span class="woj">“How
can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will
come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Fasting is described as an act of mourning when we have
been separated from Christ.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This seems to be the key to fasting. When we are more keenly
aware of our separation from Christ than we are aware of his presence and
closeness to us, fasting can help us to reorient ourselves to Christ. He was with
us, but now he is not. Fasting reminds us not to fear, because he will be with
us again.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Fasting helps us in regards to the three things I brought
up earlier: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Sin, Circumstances and Choices.</span></b> In regards to sin, it
reminds us that our sinful desires and choices never deliver what they promise.
They don’t bring us the peace and joy and love that we long for. In regards to
circumstances, fasting reminds us not to worry and fear, but to trust and cling
to Christ, that regardless of the outcome of the circumstances, our only peace
and joy and love comes through Christ. In regards to choices that we have to
make, fasting reminds us that Christ is guiding us even now, but even if we
make the "wrong" choice, Christ will be with us on the other side of the choice. And, if Christ is with us, then
we can answer the question, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">“Is Jesus Enough?” </span></b>with a
resounding, “Yes.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
One of the most important verses in my life is a quote of Jesus that Paul writes down in his letter to the Corinthians. This is Paul quoting something that Christ said to him:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">2 Corinthians 12:<sup><span class="text">9</span></sup></span></b><span class="text"><sup> </sup>But he said to me, </span><span class="woj">“My grace
is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="woj">(But, Paul didn't show up in the Scriptures until after Christ was crucified. He never met Christ! And, everyone knows that Paul never met Christ, so he isn't trying to trick anyone. But, Paul did meet Christ spiritually speaking. And, Christ spoke to Paul, and Paul felt confident enough in his ability to know what Christ was saying to him, to quote him.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="woj">We, too, can "hear" from Christ. We can have the confidence that he is speaking to us and guiding us and encouraging us. <a href="http://stillwatersthewatermark.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-pray-god-already-knows-what-hes.html" target="_blank">For more on prayer and listening to God read this post.</a>) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="woj"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="woj">God's grace is sufficient for us. Christ is sufficient for us. He is enough.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="woj"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="woj">But, sometimes it takes more than reading a blog post to believe that. Fasting may be God's way of answering the question, "Is Jesus enough?"</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Choosing to fast is choosing to act in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Faith</span></b>.
Even if sin or circumstances or a looming choice has us disoriented and
wondering if Jesus is enough, we can choose to take the first step in faith. We may take this first step of fasting by faith with the prayer, "<span class="text Mark-9-24" id="en-NIV-24563">I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!</span>" like the father who wanted Jesus to help his son (Mark 9:24).</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Fasting is choosing for a relatively short amount of time (1 day to 40 days, usually) to go without something that you might otherwise be tempted to think that you "Need!" It can be food all together, a type of food or drink. It can be an activity that you perform daily. It can be a type of entertainment or media.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
For example, drinking coffee is often something people say they can't live without. Well, that happens to be a lie. And, fasting coffee for a week or month could help you move closer to Christ.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Others may check Facebook multiple times throughout the day and their actual dependence upon Christ might be more evident if they fasted from Facebook.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Maybe it's your cell phone, lunches, all food (check with your doctor to see if this is safe for you), reading certain types of books or magazines. Whatever it might be that fasting from it, might encourage you in your walk with Christ, and might remind you that Jesus is enough.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Fasting is an act of <b>Faith </b>and an act of <b>Hope</b>.</div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I am preventing myself from having this food or drink or
media, in faith, though my faith is weak, I trust that God will somehow use
this to strengthen my faith. It is also a hopeful action. Our<b> Hope </b>is in Christ
that he will meet me here in this act. That this action will have eternal
impact in my life and through me to impact this world. “Thy Kingdom come on
earth as it is in heaven.” </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I need to
Fast. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-58688930943557343032015-01-23T21:29:00.000-05:002015-01-23T21:29:03.484-05:00American Roulette: The economics of race relations in America<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
We've
all heard of Russian Roulette, but none of us has played it, I hope. But,
unfortunately, whether we like it or not, all of U.S. have been playing this
other kind of roulette.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It is a game that has big winners and big losers. It is a
game of economics or asset building. American white males started the game and
eventually American blacks and even the Native Americans got to play. And
later, almost as an afterthought, women got to play too.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It is a game not unlike the one played in casinos across
the country.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
You know the one, where a wheel is spun, a ball is
released that bounces around and lands in one slot of the wheel. If the bettor
is lucky enough to have his chips in the right slot, he wins big and if he is
unlucky enough to have his chips in the wrong slot he loses. Of course, in the
casino game, the odds of winning are much higher, 2.63% if you bet the right
number and lots of people just bet Red or Black where there is a 47.37% chance
of winning.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But in American Roulette, that's not really an
option. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So, here’s how American Roulette has been played
throughout history. Land owners owned the casinos. Slave owners had some of the
most profitable ones around. Their wealth increased exponentially with slave
labor. Others land owners, who had no slaves themselves, came to play. They
traded with slave owners, bought their crops and made business deals with them.
They may or may not have disapproved of slavery in principle, but they liked
how the system worked to create wealth, so for the most part they played along.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And, of course, everyone refused to let slaves play, so
slaves never won, and slave owners almost always won BIG.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
You know the saying, “The house always wins.” If the
house didn’t always win, then the house would go out of business. So, it just
makes economic sense. Slavery continued because slavery was profitable. Slavery
made slave owners wealthy. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In fact, with American Roulette, many Americans believed
that slave owners had an unfair advantage over non-slave owners. So, as our
forefathers were figuring out representation and taxation in the federal
government, the politicians came up with a compromise. A slave would be legally
counted as 3/5 of a person. Politically, it wasn’t a perfect compromise, but at
least the slave owners had to pay a little more taxes even if it meant they had
a little more pull in the government.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Morally, that’s a whole different story. This country
decided (now remember blacks and women were excluded from this decision making
process, so we should say, white men decided…) that slaves were not people in
the sense that other people were people. They were less human than other people
… white men, to be exact. Remember slave owners agreed to this but so did
non-slave owners.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Then one day, the powers that be, led by the President of
the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, decided that we shouldn’t be
allowed to use people as tokens to play American Roulette any more. Through the
Declaration of Independence and the civil war, we were able to finally declare
legally that slaves were human beings and must be treated as such.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Great! But now what… The white males in charge didn’t
know what to do with the millions of freed slaves. Fortunately, they also had
confiscated hundreds of thousands of acres of land from the Confederate states.
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So, Lincoln sent his secretary of war, Edwin M. Stanton,
to Savannah to meet up with the very successful Major-General, William T.
Sherman, to figure it out. “Stanton and Sherman <a href="http://www.freedmen.umd.edu/savmtg.htm" title="meeting">met with 20 men</a>
on the evening of Jan. 12. All were ministers or lay leaders from the city’s
black churches, and 15 were former slaves. Stanton posed a dozen questions to
the group. Asked to draw a distinction between slavery and freedom, 67-year-old
Garrison Frazier, a former slave who had been selected to act as spokesman,
responded</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
“Slavery is, receiving by <i>irresistible power</i> the work of another man,
and not by his <i>consent</i>. The freedom, as I understand it,
promised by the proclamation, is taking us from under the yoke of bondage, and
placing us where we could reap the fruit of our own labor, take care of ourselves
and assist the Government in maintaining our freedom.” (<a href="http://www.freedmen.umd.edu/savmtg.htm">from the University of Maryland</a>)<br />
<br />
What they desired sounds eerily similar to the desire of Martin Luther King
Jr. and even the desires of many impoverished African-Americans today: the
desire to earn a living wage from their labor, to provide for their own needs
and have adequate representation in the government and military to protect
their interests for the long term success of African-Americans and the country
as a whole.<br />
With great discernment, when asked whether they would prefer to live
interspersed amongst whites or to live segregated into all-black communities,
Frazier spoke for 19 of the 20 men when he responded:<br />
<br />
“I would prefer to live by ourselves, for there is a prejudice against us in
the South that will take years to get over.” (<a href="http://www.freedmen.umd.edu/savmtg.htm">from the University of Maryland</a>)
Little did he know that the prejudice he feared existed throughout the North as
well. Sherman himself showed severe prejudice against the freed slaves and
refused to have blacks join his army.<br />
<br />
But, seeing an opportunity to resolve Lincoln’s concerns and find a way to
get rid of the flocks of freed slaves that were following his army, he issued <span style="color: #1802be;"><a href="http://www.freedmen.umd.edu/sfo15.htm"><span style="color: #1802be;">Special Field Order No. 15</span></a></span> four days
after the meeting. This order gave up to 40 acres of confiscated Confederate
land per freed slave for them to work until such time as the national
government gave them the opportunity to purchase the land.<br />
New communities sprung up quickly and as per the Special Order were completely
segregated and self-governed. 40,000 ex-slaves were transplanted on 400,000
acres of redistributed land within six months of the meeting.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“And what happened to this astonishingly visionary
program, which would have fundamentally altered the course of American race
relations? Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s successor and a sympathizer with the
South, overturned the Order in the fall of 1865, and, as Barton Myers sadly
concludes, ‘returned the land along the South Carolina, Georgia and Florida
coasts to the planters who had originally owned it’ — to the very people who
had declared war on the United States of America. (<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/the-truth-behind-40-acres-and-a-mule/">from
PBS.org</a>) </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Even staunch Confederate sympathizers bridled at such
injustice. When a federal soldier told Mrs. George J. Kolluck that ex-slaves
would be forced to return to work for wages for their former owners, she
reported to her son that she answered, ‘very quietly, “this is what your
Government calls ‘Freedom’? The injustice to us in robbing us of our property
does not begin to compare to the cruelty to the negro himself.” <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/forty-acres-and-a-mule/?_r=0">(from
the NY Times)</a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Try to imagine how profoundly different the history of
race relations in the United States would have been had this policy been
implemented and enforced; had the former slaves actually had access to the
ownership of land, of property; if they had had a chance to be self-sufficient
economically, to build, accrue and pass on <em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">wealth. </span></em>After
all, one of the principal promises of America was the possibility of average
people being able to own <em><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">land, </span></em>and all that such
ownership entailed. As we know all too well, this promise was not to be
realized for the overwhelming majority of the nation’s former slaves, who
numbered about 3.9 million. (<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/the-truth-behind-40-acres-and-a-mule/">from
PBS.org</a>) </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And, so American Roulette was opened briefly to the freed
slaves. The house was forced to give each freed slave some of its own stash of
chips and welcome them into the game. They had a dream and a promise.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But, within months, during the fall of 1865, the land was
returned to its former owners.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Many of the ex-slaves were so limited in their options,
that they continued to work the land for former slave owners. Many became
sharecroppers limiting their ability to gain wealth and to add insult to
injury, their hard work continued to enrich former slave owners. Infuriating.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In the century ahead, laws were written, later called Jim
Crow laws, that were designed to provide “separate but equal” resources for
blacks and whites, but actually only worked to keep blacks and whites separate.
These were a constant reminder to former slaves and their descendants that
legally they were second-hand citizens.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In effect, the ex-slaves were given a seat at the
Roulette table, but only allowed to place one bet and hope for the best. Maybe
one in a 1,000 or one in a 100,000 made the transition from slave to property
owner with the ability to achieve the goals that were set out in that ground-breaking
meeting with Stanton and Sherman.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
One hundred years later, after the civil rights movement
of the 1960’s, the laws changed. The descendants of slaves were given
protection under the law. Many hurdles still existed though. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And, now American Roulette was opened to all … with one
caveat. You could only play with the chips you had. Some descendants of slaves
had begun to amass wealth and reach their economic goals despite the huge
obstacles they had faced. But, the large majority lived and worked in inner
cities and were plagued by poverty.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The other reality is that white males still owned 99.9%
of the casinos. And the house always wins.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
With only a limited capacity for making money, amassing
true wealth was about as likely for the descendant of a slave as the ball
landing in the 00 of the Roulette wheel. Some African Americans have hit it
big, been successful in business, achieved academic degrees, and amassed wealth
for themselves and their descendants.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But, for most, the American Dream remains a fairy tale.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://stillwatersthewatermark.blogspot.com/2013/05/time-to-judge-biblical-perspective-on.html">Before
you judge</a> the rest of African-Americans, those trapped in poverty, think
about the odds. Think about this game that we play, American Roulette. Think
about the history that has created a culture and a mindset among impoverished
African-Americans that cannot easily be untangled. At every turn, the house has
had the advantage. And, at every turn, whites have owned the house.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So, <a href="http://stillwatersthewatermark.blogspot.com/2013/05/time-to-judge-biblical-perspective-on.html">don’t
judge</a> African-Americans by the success of whites and ask, “Why can’t they
just be like me? I worked hard and found a way to make the system work for me?”<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="http://stillwatersthewatermark.blogspot.com/2013/05/time-to-judge-biblical-perspective-on.html">Don’t
judge</a> African-Americans by the success of other African-Americans and
declare, “We have a black president, black Supreme Court Justice, black leaders
in every field. There is no discrimination anymore! They need to quit
complaining and get to work!”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In fact, <a href="http://stillwatersthewatermark.blogspot.com/2013/05/time-to-judge-biblical-perspective-on.html">don’t
judge</a> African-Americans at all. The Bible is clear, <span class="woj">“Do not
judge, or you too will be judged.</span> <span class="woj">For in the same way
you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be
measured to you. (Mathew 7:1-2)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="woj">So, “If we can’t judge them, what should
we do?” Glad you asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="woj">First, stop referring to them as Them. They
are Us. And, so some of Us are in this predicament.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Then, We need to walk together through this. We need to
begin where it all began and have White leaders and Black leaders, probably
from the church or at least those who are community minded and not
politically-minded sit down together and make a plan.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Many African-Americans (as well as many whites from all
ancestries) have systematically and intentionally been hindered from acquiring
wealth. Together there must be a systematic and intentional plan made to undo
what can be undone and move forward with what cannot.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It doesn’t help to fight amongst ourselves about it. It’s
time to make changes and transform the culture and mindset of our country. It’s
time to stop playing American Roulette with its few Big Winners and multitude
of Poverty-stricken Losers.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The odds are always in the favor of the house. Who owns
the house today?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As, the saying goes, “Follow the money.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It’s time for all of US to stop playing into the system and
start building real wealth. We can’t get side-tracked by racial differences and
we need to start to address the injustices of wealth distribution. We need to
dream a way for the American Dream to be accessible for all. We need to talk. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-79585496099035573322015-01-10T13:01:00.001-05:002015-01-13T13:15:04.553-05:00Suburban Legend: White Flight, Black Flight and Inner City Blight<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Most of us have heard an urban legend or two.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But have you heard of a Suburban Legend. Here’s one: The
wealth of people who live in the suburbs has grown tremendously while the
wealth of those who were stuck in the central city has never materialized. Unfortunately, this suburban legend is true. A 5-bedroom house in Harlem or downtown Philadelphia is worth a fraction of what a
5 bedroom house in the suburbs is worth.</div>
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<br /></div>
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If you live in the suburbs, like I do, you may be
thinking, “Great! What luck! So glad I got out when I did!”</div>
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<br /></div>
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(If you are aware of our history as a nation, then
nothing I’m about to write will surprise you. But, seeing that I am just
learning all of this, I decided to write about it just in case anyone else is
left who is as ignorant as I was before this week.)</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Several weeks before
his death in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., told a group of sanitation
workers in Memphis:</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Now our struggle is
for genuine equality, which means economic equality. For we know now that it
isn’t enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able
to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn’t have enough money to buy a
hamburger?”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1213013515784513282#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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Makes sense, right? But, then again, I always admired Dr.
King and thought that he made a lot of sense.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Here’s the part I didn’t know:</div>
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A huge number of people in our country were screwed out
of the ability to increase their wealth. As a country, we played a game of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“3-card Monty” with them. We created huge
factories in the cities. The cities had everything. Jobs. Housing.
Transportation. So, we invited these people to come into the cities, work hard
and get a taste of the American Dream.</div>
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<br /></div>
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When they came, homes were built for them. Lots of homes,
but not suburban homes. Mostly these homes were built up. Huge apartment
buildings were built one after another to house these factory workers. We even
used Federal money to subsidize them.</div>
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<br /></div>
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These people moved in and worked hard. (Living the dream.)</div>
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<br /></div>
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Everyone knew we needed more housing and with better
transportation, people, especially the middle class, could afford to travel a
little further to work. So we built suburbs. Some of these suburbs were very
specific about who could and who could not live in them. Levittown is possibly
the most famous example, but not an isolated one. (Google it, if like me, you
had never heard of it.)</div>
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<br /></div>
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Levittown received those same government subsidies. (And
lots and lots of people were shut out from receiving any of the benefit of that
money.)</div>
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<br /></div>
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They were free. Free to live where they wanted, work
where they wanted, and grab hold of the American Dream just like everyone else.
But, they just weren’t free to live there, in Levittown or in a hundred other suburbs
like it around the country. And, because of that many were stuck in the inner
city.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Whites left the inner city to move to the suburbs, to
find a better life. Good for them. Eventually, the jobs followed them out of
the city. So, there were the blacks, left in the city, with fewer and fewer
jobs, no place to move to, and free. (Free for what? Were they supposed to
survive and thrive on the simple fact that they were no longer slaves?)</div>
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<br /></div>
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But, some blacks did make it out to the suburbs. Some
builders were very clear that their suburbs were open to blacks. We will sell
to anyone. (That makes me feel better. How about you?)</div>
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<br /></div>
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But, when someone said that, guess what happened more
often than not. Blacks would buy houses and move in. Actually, just blacks
would buy houses and move in. Whites usually wouldn’t.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Why? You may wonder.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Because whites are racist? Maybe some of them were.
Others were just smart. A home in Levittown, which catered to 90% of the
population was worth more than a home in a suburb that was perceived as
catering to 10% of the population. It wasn’t a smart investment for a white to
buy in these mixed race communities.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In other places, whites had already moved in and when
laws changed, circumstances changed and blacks started to have greater
opportunities, so they moved in as neighbors. Fearing their property values
would decrease as more blacks moved in and more whites moved out, many whites
bought homes further out into the suburbs, aka White Flight.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Were these fears legitimate? Yep. In almost every case,
as whites left communities and blacks moved in, the property values stagnated
and began to fall.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Why? Because blacks brought with them city problems
higher crime, more poverty, and greater dependence on government programs?
Nope. How do I know? Because it didn’t take that long for property values to
drop.</div>
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<br /></div>
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They dropped fast. Too fast. So, why did they drop so
fast? Because whites left these communities in droves. Supply and Demand. All
of a sudden, a few black families move to a neighborhood and whether out of
irrational prejudice or rational fear of losing wealth, whites fled to new
communities.</div>
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<br /></div>
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If whites had stayed put, their property values would
have stayed put. Since they didn’t, blacks now had a new community to move
into, but there was still little true integration. And, the ability of blacks to
build wealth remained stagnant.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So I can prove my point: there was a community that tried
things a little differently. Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, saw diversity as a
positive thing for their community. They knew that the fears behind White Flight
were legitimate, so they insured the property values, so that a family could be
assured that their home would not lose its value.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As a result, whites stayed, blacks moved in and diversity
was realized. Win-win.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I’m sure there’s more to it than a “They lived happily
ever after,” but it serves to prove the point, that the argument has merit.
White Flight is to blame for property values dropping, not an influx of blacks
into a neighborhood.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So, again and again, as whites moved further into the
suburbs, blacks were left closer to the center of cities. All in the name of
building wealth. Blacks who were trying to better their lot in life, for
themselves and their children, were shut out, again and again.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Three-Card Monty. See here it is, come get it. Oh, did
you think it was there. No its here. Come get it. No, not there. Now it’s here.
Meanwhile, the whites acquired wealth through hard work, careful planning, good
investment, and a system that was tilted in their favor. Meanwhile blacks continued
to lag behind in every respect, always fighting for a level playing field. But
every argument is met by, “What about innocent whites? They didn’t do anything
to you.” In other words, “Don’t blame me. I worked hard and played by the
rules.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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But, the game was rigged from the start.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Forget race for a moment and think about the frustration
that you would feel if this happened to you. You hear about a job opportunity,
so you leave everything you know and go to a city hoping to make a better life
for your family. You work hard, save your money, and see that your children
aren’t safe in this neighborhood. So, your kids grow up and they decide to move
out of the dangerous part of the city into a nice neighborhood in the suburbs.
They work hard, save their money and move, but when they get there, the
landscape begins to change almost immediately. The neighborhood they saw when
looking for a home is not the one they wind up raising their children in. Many
of the neighbors they had seen when shopping for a home have left, taking with
them their businesses, money and the infrastructure starts to fail.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And, your kids once again are growing up in neighborhoods
that aren’t safe. And. All of this. All of it is subsidized by the government.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now remember we are back in reality, and we are talking
about blacks. If you are white, none of this happened to you. So does that make
it any easier to swallow?</div>
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<br /></div>
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But, the government is supposed to be the good guys.
Really. The government is the provider in our minds. It was through the
government that blacks received freedom from the atrocity of slavery. It was
through the government that the civil rights movement made huge strides toward
integration and equal rights under the law. It is the government that makes
discrimination illegal in the workplace.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It is natural that blacks would look to the government to
solve this problem as well.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But, it was also the government that enslaved blacks in
the first place, created these laws and then loopholes in the laws that allowed
blacks to be shut out from wealth.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But, then I read about a woman applying for a job year
after year without success until she alters her profile slightly, only changes
her name, telephone number and checks off one box differently: the white box
instead of the black box. In other words, you’re trying to tell me that a qualified
black woman can’t get a job that a qualified white woman can get in a
heartbeat. Today! This pisses me off. (Actually, it happened 2 years ago and
this is the first I am hearing about it. That just makes me feel completely out
of the loop. Because I am white, I have no idea what it is like to be black. <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/black-names-a-resume-burden/">Giving your
child a “black sounding name” can hinder their ability to get a job?</a>
Really? Really. What world have I been living in? A world of white privilege.)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The disparity of wealth that Dr. King saw as the next
hurdle is still the next hurdle. In today’s society, there is enough blame to
go around. Whites are to blame for being racist or prejudice, for working the
system to their benefit while not being concerned by the negative effects to
blacks, and, even if unwittingly, benefiting from a system that is tilted in
their favor. Middle and upper class blacks are to blame for Black Flight which
continues to have a devastating effect on primarily black communities. Poor
blacks are to blame whenever they give up, stop working hard, stop trying to
make a better way for their kids and turn to drugs to numb the pain, crime to
take what should have been given, or wait for the government to save them.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Ok, there is enough blame to go around. Now I see that
more clearly than ever before.</div>
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<br /></div>
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For whites and middle/upper class blacks, the work that
needs to be done is the easiest and for poor blacks, the work is the hardest.
For one simple reason… resources. We have them and they don’t. There are
tremendous obstacles standing in the way of American blacks, some cultural,
some societal, some internal and many external. In light of all of this, every
one of us bears responsibility and has an opportunity to make change.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So, we all have a role to play in bringing about true
equality. Equality of opportunity. Equality of wealth building potential.
Equality of income.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So what do we do?</div>
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<br /></div>
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First things first, see reality. Blacks stuck in a cycle
of poverty today need more than just a good work ethic to pull themselves out
of poverty. Disparity of wealth in this country was in large part by design. It
is going to take a thoughtful plan to change it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Then, we each have to acknowledge our part in this tragic
story, whatever that may be. Confess it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But it can’t end there. There must be a change in our
actions. We have to act based on that new knowledge and understanding. We have
to make different choices. We have to talk differently, spend our money
differently, teach our kids differently, have different relationships, live in
different communities.</div>
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<br /></div>
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We need to see diversity of race and culture as a benefit
worth creating, worth building together. Then we need to sacrifice in order to
make it happen.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Please comment and let me know what I am missing, who
else I should read, or what your thoughts are about the next steps. What is my
best next step and what is yours?</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bonus tidbit about
race:</b> Race is a human construct. Scientifically speaking, there is only one
human race. Skin color and other differences in appearance, shape of eyes, type
of hair, etc. are not genetically significant. “On average, any local
population contains 85% of all genetic variation and any continent contains
94%.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1213013515784513282#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
This is because as a race, humans have migrated and intermarried throughout
their history. There has not been enough time or isolation for us to have
developed into different races. </div>
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<br /></div>
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So, what we refer to as different races, white, black,
etc. are only recent additions. “When the US was founded, equality was a
radical new idea. But our early economy was based largely on slavery. The
concept of race helped explain why some people could be denied the rights and
freedoms that others took for granted.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1213013515784513282#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a></div>
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1213013515784513282#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Read more at: <a href="http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-03-06.htm">http://www.pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-03-06.htm</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1213013515784513282#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
<a href="http://www.pbs.org/race/004_HumanDiversity/004_01-quiz.htm">http://www.pbs.org/race/004_HumanDiversity/004_01-quiz.htm</a></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1213013515784513282#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
<a href="http://www.pbs.org/race/001_WhatIsRace/001_00-home.htm">http://www.pbs.org/race/001_WhatIsRace/001_00-home.htm</a>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-1141711460239201292014-05-14T09:21:00.001-04:002015-09-19T07:42:49.014-04:00The "Routine" Procedure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v165XbhWWL0/U3NtQKhLO3I/AAAAAAAAANY/OjsyRyK-7ZE/s1600/IMG_7730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v165XbhWWL0/U3NtQKhLO3I/AAAAAAAAANY/OjsyRyK-7ZE/s1600/IMG_7730.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<b>The "Routine" Procedure</b></div>
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My 12 year old son had to go through a “routine” medical
procedure a few months ago. I did okay getting him to the hospital. I did okay
in the waiting room as we each read our books and watched old time Bugs Bunny
and Daffy Duck cartoons. I was feeling unsettled, but I could block that out with the tales about Coach Wooden and his dad.
Then, we were called in and Ethan was given one of those hospital gowns. We
told him which side was the front and how the breezy side was the back. And,
that unsettled feeling I had been trying to ignore was rushing to the
forefront. I hated this. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I wanted to be anywhere in the world but here. But, I had
a choice. I could be somewhere else. But, I wanted to be here, here with my son
to bring him comfort and peace and hope and confidence. So, there I sat or
stood or paced and prayed and trusted and prayed and doubted and prayed and
hoped. And this was a “routine” procedure. I cannot imagine living in a world
where this was routine.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The anesthesiologist asked him if he wanted gas to relax
him before she put the IV in to help rehydrate him. He shook his pale smiling head and said that he just couldn’t watch
the needle go in, after that he’d be fine. She kept talking to him about how
brave he was. He was brave. I wasn’t feeling brave.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I walked alongside him into the procedure room, praying and holding
his hand until they put the tube in his mouth and started the real IV that
knocked him out.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
He was in the room for less than an hour when the doctor told us that
everything was fine, maybe a little area of concern, but we could treat that
with medicine if need be. They would let us know when the results came back from
the tests they took.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Then, we sat watching him as he slept. And, I couldn’t
help but feel completely helpless. The only thing I wanted in that moment was for my
son to be okay, to wake up and be okay. The machines were all hooked up and
every indication that modern medicine could offer told me he was okay and was
going to be okay. But, my whole life was upside down.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I hated seeing him like that. I hated that helpless
feeling, knowing that there was nothing I could do to fix this and make
everything okay again. I could not protect him from this, and I could not speed
his recovery. I could only wait and hope.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Even with the full confidence of science and medicine, my
heart ached and my body followed. I felt like throwing up.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I bet most parents have felt that way about their children
at one point or another. Hopeless and helpless. Even most of those without
children can relate to seeing a loved one suffer, a parent, a sibling, or a friend.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Comparisons</b> <br />
<br />
If you compare your situation to mine, you might think I
was overreacting.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I recently met a couple who lost their young son to
cancer after a prolonged battle. I am sure they experienced every emotion and
fear and doubt that I experienced in those few hours, but with greater
intensity and prolonged over years instead of minutes. There was even a time
when they thought he had won the fight and was in remission.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
A woman from our church found out about her son’s death
after he crashed his car on the way to the prom. I’m sure she experienced the
same feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Surely my situation doesn’t compare to theirs.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
That is the thing. They don’t compare. My pain doesn’t
compare with your pain. My life doesn’t compare to your life. My faith doesn’t
compare to your faith. We are all gifted by God with different hopes, different
dreams, different courage and different faith. Because we all face different suffering,
different heartache, different pain, and different loss. There is no way to
compare ourselves with one other. There is no objective standard, no measuring
rod.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And,
besides, if there was a measuring rod, we would all
fall into the deception of thinking that our lives are worse than
somebody else’s,
that life is unfair, or that we are better than someone else because of
how we
have lived our lives compared to them. And, I think we all know how
destructive
that is. It leads to bigotry, hatred, condescension, insults, arrogance,
and that awful feeling that we are all alone, isolated from everyone
around us.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
That leads to the death of compassion. We close our hearts to others because we feel that they have closed their hearts to us.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And, that is where our suffering and pain is meant to
lead us. When we compare ourselves to one another it separates us, divides us
into those that are like us and those that are not.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Us vs. Them.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Compassion </b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But, compassion draws us toward one another. When we see
someone else in pain and are drawn by God to feel, to have empathy, we
experience oneness and unity. We feel compassion for them and love for them. We
feel what God feels when he sees our suffering.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As Mother's Day came and went, I could not help but ache for those who have lost children. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It is obvious that our new friends have experienced peace
and grace and hope throughout the torture of walking with their son through
cancer and grieving his death. It is clear that the struggle for life and the
defeat of death was not the whole story. They spoke about their son with smiles
and love and hope. Together we laughed and played and spoke of Christ's love. They have a peace and confidence that doesn’t make sense.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
They have a peace and confidence that medical and
scientific progress couldn’t give me as I looked into the colorless face and lifeless expression of my son lying on that hospital bed.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Strange.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Their peace brings me peace. Just like their struggle can’t
be compared to my struggle. Their peace can’t be compared to my peace.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But, I can draw strength and hope from it. I can and I
am.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
They have gone through hell manifesting itself on earth.
They have experienced the result of sin on this earth fulfilling its goal,
leading to death.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
They have also experienced heaven on earth. A oneness
with God, a peace, a love that they attribute to Christ.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This reminds me of a verse from the Bible that I have
memorized over the years.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Christ was using an illustration about branches needing
to remain connected to the vine in order to have life when he said, “<span class="woj">apart from me you can do nothing.</span>”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="woj">When I live apart from Christ and apart
from the people he gave me to love, I die. If you have ever felt so depressed
that you didn’t think you could get up out of bed, you didn’t think you could
take another step, you didn’t care whether you lived or died, you couldn’t eat
and all you wanted to do was sleep, then you have experienced this verse to
some extent. “Apart from [Christ] you can do nothing.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="woj">If
you have suffered through addiction and felt powerless to break from
the chains that you feel, then you too have experienced the truth of
this verse, "apart from [Christ] you can do nothing." </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
If you have ever faced a life controlled and confined by fear, anxiety and worry. If you have ever said, "No, I just can't do that," because you were afraid you might have a panic attack. If you have ever not done when you knew in your heart was the right, good and best thing to do because you were terrified what might happen. Then, you have experienced the reality of the verse, "apart from [Christ] you can do nothing."<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The flip side of
that verse is one that many of us teach even to our youngest children. “</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">If apart from Christ we can’t even
go to work or stop from taking a smoke or walk into a crowded mall, it makes sense that whatever Christ gives us the
strength to do, we can do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Like I said, I wanted to be
anywhere in the world except there with my wife watching my son go through that. But, Christ
gave me the strength to do what I wanted to do even more, be there for him. As
Rachel and I sat by his bed, Christ gave us strength and peace and hope and
courage. Christ gave us love that overcame our fear. My heart said to run and
hide and try to numb the pain I felt. But, Christ’s love gave me the courage to
sit and wait and pray and hope.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I guess that is always our choice.
Face the fear and the pain and the suffering of life with love or not. We can always
choose to run and hide and numb the pain or stand and fight in our own strength
of mind and will and body.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">But, in the end, the only choice we
have is whether or not to remain in Christ. “Apart from me you can do nothing.”
OR “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Live in strength. Live in Christ.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Live in peace. Live in Christ.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Live in love. Live in Christ.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Choose life. Choose Christ.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Then, we will have compassion and
empathy for those around us. Then, we will be a bright light offering hope and
a way to those around us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thank you Jesus for being our
light, our way, our hope, our peace and our strength.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-63929683769809095362013-09-24T14:09:00.002-04:002013-09-24T14:09:25.476-04:00One Protestant Pastor’s Response to the Pope’s Interview<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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If you were to ask me, a Protestant, how best to describe
the Pope, and I answered, “He is a sinner,” you might take offense. But, when the
interviewer asked him who he is, Pope Francis humbly responded, “<span class="pullquote">I am a sinner.”</span> Then, in Latin, he whispered, “I am a
sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and I accept in a spirit of penance.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pope Francis is a humble man.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This glimpse into the Pope’s heart sheds light on some of
his recent comments during an interview conducted <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">in person by Antonio Spadaro, S.J., editor in chief of<i> La Civiltà
Cattolica</i>. He has drawn some high praise and some strong criticism, but one
thing that is plain from reading the interview: he desired neither. He spoke
from his heart.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And, except in his traditional Catholic views which differ
from my own, his words are hardly controversial. If anything he is seeking to reignite
a commitment to the foundational truths of the church found in Scripture.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Church must remain
open to all</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a church, whether Catholic or Protestant, he reminds us
that the church is not a social club for a select few: “This church with which
we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only
a small group of selected people. We must not reduce the bosom of the universal
church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Harsh but true. Churches can easily cling to their
mediocrity, to their legalistic, rigorist interpretation of Scripture or to
their lax, nonchalance toward sin.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Walk with our
neighbor</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pope Francis reminds us to walk alongside our neighbor,
whether he is homosexual, whether she has had an abortion, or whether he denies
God’s existence entirely. He claims that the pastor’s role, and arguably all
Christians share this responsibility, is not to judge or condemn them but to
walk beside them, offer them all kinds of “healing”, “warm the hearts of the
people,” and “walk through the dark night with them.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pursue the un-churched</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He challenges the church to be audacious in their pursuit of
finding new roads into the lives of those who do not attend church, “who have
quit or are indifferent”. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Focus on the essentials</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of his most controversial statements came in this
context: He said, “I also consider the situation of a woman with a failed
marriage in her past and who also had an abortion. Then this woman remarries,
and she is now happy and has five children. That abortion in her past weighs
heavily on her conscience and she sincerely regrets it. She would like to move
forward in her Christian life.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This leads to his oddly controversial statement, “We cannot
insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of
contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these
things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues,
we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that
matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk
about these issues all the time.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He states his point clearly that not all of the teachings of
the church are of equal importance. And, it is not the job of pastors to teach
lists “of a disjointed multitude <span class="pullquote">of doctrines to be
imposed insistently.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="pullquote">He goes on to say that we have to
proclaim the essentials, on the necessary things, the Gospel. If the church
tries to maintain a moral stronghold but ignores the Gospel, it is likely to
fall like a “house of cards.” Our morality must flow out of the “simple,
profound, radiant” Gospel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Look to the past for
courage not methods</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Tradition and memory of the past must help us to have the
courage to open up new areas to God. Those who today always look for
disciplinarian solutions, those who long for an exaggerated doctrinal
‘security,’ those who stubbornly try to recover a past that no longer exists—they
have a static and inward-directed view of things.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God is in every
person’s life</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“God is in every person’s life. God is in everyone’s life.
Even if the life of a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by
vices, drugs or anything else—God is in this person’s life. You can, you must
try to seek God in every human life. Although the life of a person is a land
full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can
grow. You have to trust God.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How can we call these controversial statements? They simply remind us all who God is and what he desires for His church. We must focus on the Gospel. Jesus Christ died on the cross to the penalty of sin for all humankind. Faith in Him is our only hope. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-86457326948713452902013-09-12T13:40:00.001-04:002013-09-12T13:53:31.976-04:00The Mission, the Men, and MePeter Blaber wrote a book by that title. He wrote about his time as a Delta Force commander, his training and his pursuit of Osama Bin Laden. It is a fun read if you like to read about military strategy and maneuvers. It is also a condemnation of the military's over-dependence on hierarchies, unwavering commitment to its plans and of course, to transport helicopters and their systemic mistrust of ingenuity and improvisation. Mostly, it is a thinly veiled book on management and working with teams.<br />
<br />
Blaber's lessons are easily applied to the church.<br />
<br />
Like the military, church systems put up many of the same obstacles to accomplishing the Mission that God has set for the church and which most churches have signed onto. <br />
<br />
I described that Mission like this yesterday:<br />
<br />
The Mission is to live in community, grounded in the love of
Christ, demonstrating that love to the world of people within their
reach and influence. "Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near,
in this way of life,
marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit" (MSG).<br />
<br />
This is sometimes called the Great Commission. It was some of Christ's last words before leaving the earth and returning to heaven.<br />
<br />
It's important.<br />
<br />
It's clear.<br />
<br />
And, it's clear that it is not that important to many of us.<br />
<br />
The main principle that Blaber used to make decisions, even split-second decisions, was the inspiration for the title of the book. Early in his career, a battalion commander and Vietnam veteran taught them to him when he reported for duty in Korea.<br />
<br />
"<b>The first M</b> stands for mission; it's the purpose for which you're doing what you're doing. Whether in your personal of professional life, make sure you understand it, and that it makes legal, moral and ethical sense, then use it to guide all your decisions. <b>The second M</b> stands for the men. Joshua Chamberlain, a Medal of Honor-receiving schoolteacher in the Civil War, once said that 'there are two things an officer must do to lead men: he must care for his men's welfare, and he must show courage.' Welfare of the troops and courage are inextricably linked. When it comes to your men you can't be good at one without being good at the other. Take care of your men's welfare by listening and leading them with sound tactics and techniques that accomplish your mission, and by always having the courage of your convictions to do the right thing by them. <b>The final M</b> stands for me. Me comes last for a reason. You have to take care of yourself, but you should only do so after you have taken care of the mission, and the men. never put your own personal well-being, or advancement, ahead of the accomplishment of your mission and taking care of your men."<br />
<br />
Though we may disagree on how best to accomplish it, it's obvious what <b>our first M, our Mission</b> is.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>The second M, Men</b>, is our church. The Church all over the world, but specifically those around us, those we know personally and intimately and love deeply and sacrifice for and mourn with and celebrate with and have coffee with and pray with. They are the ones that we call when need someone to watch our kids while we fly to be at a family funeral. They are the ones who call you when their child is running a fever, and they can't decide whether to bring him to the ER or wait until morning. Those are your Men and women and children, friends, mentors, and more. "<span class="text John-13-35" id="en-NIV-26666"><span class="woj">By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."</span></span><br />
<br />
<b>The third M is Me</b> and mine, my family, my career, my hopes, my dreams, my self-interest, my health, my wealth, and all that is mine. "<span class="text Rom-12-3">Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment."</span><br />
<br />
"<span class="text Rom-12-10" id="en-NIV-28256">Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves."</span><br />
<br />
We need to consider all three M's and we need to keep them in a proper balance, not neglecting any one of them, not even ourselves.<br />
<br />
One of the fatal mistakes that the military has made over the years, according to Blaber is that it has not been adaptable enough. It has not trusted the "man on the ground" to evaluate the situation and adapt the plan to meet the mission. Instead, they process the plan through all of the levels of hierarchy and get it signed off on by superior after superior, each one covering his own butt, making sure that they are not ultimately responsible for anything.<br />
<br />
Then, the plan is etched in stone, no variations can be made or else whoever gave the orders to allow adaptation is on the hook if anything goes wrong.<br />
<br />
Within Delta Force, which often depends upon small groups of soldiers, open communication lines despite rank or experience, and creative adaptation as a situation unfolds, Blaber found success when he wasn't bogged down by the military system.<br />
<br />
He stressed the importance of preparing instead of planning. In all of life this makes complete sense. We prepare as best we can by being physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally ready. Then, we head out on the mission. The plan is basic and leaves room for imagination. Success is defined as accomplishing the mission as opposed to following the plan.<br />
<br />
In churches, the mission can easily get confused with the plan. Whether we are planning a potluck dinner or a missions trip across the world, we can spend countless hours developing a plan. We need this many people to arrive at this time and do these things. And, we need to make sure that we are all on time and that everyone knows what they are in charge of and who they report to. Got it! And, if we follow the plan, no one gets angry and lots of people are helped, then the plan is a success!<br />
<br />
But, often, though we start with the Mission in mind, we end with only the plan in mind. Afterwards, we talk about whether or not we raised as much money as last year or whether we had enough people to help. And, we decide that in order to follow the plan better, we need to do things different next year.<br />
<br />
It can be a rare moment when someone decides to forget the plan, "We are seeing God at work and we are going to follow the Holy Spirit's leading right now in this moment."<br />
<br />
It might look like this...<br />
<br />
Tom arrives on time to the church dinner, a little tired from work, but he has been praying about this opportunity to serve Christ for weeks. He reports to Sue, the head of the servers, and she gives him some simple directions. He prays one more time, "God use me to honor you."<br />
<br />
While he is serving, he notices someone sitting alone and feels the compelling voice of the Holy Spirit, urging him to get some food and sit down next to him. Such a simple request from God that he would gladly obey.<br />
<br />
But, he struggles in his heart with the pressures of the system. He signed up to serve, not to eat. If he doesn't serve, who will? What will Sue think of him if he abandons his post? What will the other servers think?<br />
<br />
Then, he thinks, is it really God speaking to me? Maybe it is but maybe it's not.<br />
<br />
I believe that this happens a thousand times in a thousand different ways because the system of the church is as broken as the system of our military. (In fact, I think the same could be said about our educational system, our governmental system and every system ever set up by people to control other people and protect them from themselves.)<br />
<br />
One obvious example is church fundraising. Why is the church raising money? What does the church need money for?<br />
<br />
To pay the pastor? It is the responsibility of the church, the people who are the church, to take care of the needs of the pastor (and not just his or her financial needs).<br />
<br />
To pay the bills, for electricity and heat and to buy hymnals or a new video projector? Isn't that all just maintaining the system? What does that have to do with the Mission? Unless we think we need things in order to accomplish the Mission. In that case, it is the church's responsibility to pay for accomplishing the Mission. (And, it is God's responsibility to provide it to them.)<br />
<br />
Maybe, they need the money to do something great and meaningful and totally focused on the Mission. Maybe they need food to give out to the hungry, want to rebuild a home lost in a fire, or want to purchase Bibles to give to those who cannot afford them for themselves.<br />
<br />
A fundraiser, really? Is that the best idea we can come up with? The Girl Scouts do fundraisers. The soccer team does fundraisers. Should the church who serves the Almighty God, be doing fundraisers?<br />
<br />
Trust in God seems to preclude fundraising. Anything beyond making the need known is coercion and not faith. (There is one exception I would make for this. If the fundraiser is designed not to make money but to raise awareness that would further the Mission. But enough about that.)<br />
<br />
But, fundraising is not alone. So much that is done in churches is based on a different mission. It is a base and self-serving mission. It might sound like this if a church was honest.<br />
<br />
The Mission of ABC Church is to keep ABC Church open for as long as humanly possible.<br />
<br />
Churches can become so enamored with themselves that they cannot imagine life without them. Those who have power in the church want to keep it. Those who have built and served in the church for many years want to relive the days of their prosperity and youth. Closing the church would feel like a personal attack. Those who enjoy church and feel at home there want to keep enjoying church and keep feeling at home there.<br />
<br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Christian
love is a devotion to people not to an institution, a way of life, a
philosophy or a religion. Love for one another is the heart of what it
is to be the church.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">The Church can survive without buildings, without budget meetings, without children's programs, without paid staff, without great preachers on TV and radio, and definitely without pressure to keep the system going.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">The Church cannot exist without you and me expressing Christ's love to those that we meet. It cannot exist apart from relationships.</span><br />
<br />
<b>What then? Leave church?</b><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">This morning, someone asked me, "</span><span class="null">I realize that working with kids and talking to them
about having a relationship with Christ, you prepare them for something
much deeper (hopefully) than what traditional churches usually provide. </span><span class="null">What do you do then about church leadership? Would
you leave the idea of paid pastor positions and lean more toward taking turns at
leadership like the Quakers? Could you do community outreach without
some planning or should Christians be prepared to do it individually
rather than waiting for church organization?"</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">Great questions that I am wrestling with every day. Here's what I am thinking at this moment, though it is constantly changing.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><b><i>Paid Pastors </i></b></span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">The decision about whether or not to pay a pastor is based on the church. Remember, the church is a group of people who know and love each other intimately. It is impossible to have a church of a thousand people. You cannot know and love that many people. If a church building has that many people come through it each week, then in order to help them be the church, it must help them find an intimate number of people that they can share life with. And, that is then, their church.</span><br />
<span class="null"><br /></span>
<span class="null">In our spiritual journeys, we may decide to go to a church building and participate in any number of church programs, worship services, etc. Or, we may not. Either way, we are designed to be in a church, connected.</span><br />
<span class="null"><br /></span>
<span class="null">Together as a church, we need to decide whether or not to help support a pastor financially and to what extent. The Bible teaches us to raise up pastors and elders and leaders and to support them. But, it doesn't give clear guidelines about how we should do that.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">Though this may sound like it may put some of us pastors out of business, the current system in many churches too often treats their pastors more as employees bound to their low mission rather than servants of God bound to His Mission. I think many pastors would gladly make that exchange.</span><br />
<span class="null"><br /></span>
<span class="null">So, whether we pay our pastors or not, we should find pastors and elders to lead us, and we should provide for their needs in all aspects of their lives.</span><br />
<span class="null"><br /></span>
<span class="null">From my brief look at an informational site by and about Quakers, I think that this is similar to their thoughts, but maybe not a typical understanding of them. Some Quakers have pastor-led gatherings. Some do not. Some have more form in their services and others are happy to sit in silence until receiving guidance from the Holy Spirit.</span><br />
<span class="null"><br /></span>
<span class="null">The key for me is that the church itself decides what is the best method to accomplish the Mission.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null"><i><b>Community Outreach </b></i></span><br />
<span class="null"><br /></span>
<span class="null">Community outreach would be done with the Mission in mind. There may be a plan, but it would not be an intricate plan with unchangeable details. The Mission would take precedence over the plan. The plan would be to pass out water during the community day or to go where the homeless are sleeping and help meet their needs.</span><br />
<span class="null"><br /></span>
<span class="null">The plan would set the ball rolling, but the Mission, the Men and Me would be the guiding principle for all the decisions made once the community outreach began. If we run out of water, should we go get more or not?</span><br />
<br />
<span class="null">The low mission would ask, "Do we have time in the schedule? Do we have money in the budget? Have we passed out enough water to consider this plan successful?"</span><br />
<span class="null"><br /></span>
<span class="null">The Mission would ask, "What is the Holy Spirit leading us to do? Based on what we've seen and heard and experienced here, would it be better to not have water to hand out and continue talking with people and developing relationships? Would we be more effective at accomplishing the Mission if we had Gatorade or Hot Chocolate to pass out, or hamburgers and hot dogs?" Together we can ask, "What are we sensing from the Holy Spirit, from the people we are trying to reach out to and from our own hearts?" And, then we adapt the plan to fit the situation.</span><br />
<span class="null"><br />Communication is crucial for this. Communication with Christ and with one another in the church. Together, we need to discover the next step.<br /><br /><b>Any plan has to incorporate room for adaptation or else it is only as good as our ability to predict the future. </b></span><br />
<span class="null"><br /></span>
When we label something a "Community Outreach", it may betray an underlying problem in our thinking. We might think that we are setting apart time from our regular lives to reach out to people in our community for some purpose, (either to fulfill our mission or His Mission, usually).<br />
<br />
The problem with this way of thinking is that we are asked to reach out to everyone we meet. So, yes, we should not wait for the church to organize an event in order to reach out. But, we can organize events that will create opportunities to connect with people that we might not ever meet otherwise.<br />
<br />
But, the plan must remain submissive to the principle of the Mission, the Men and Me.<br />
<br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"></span><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><b>We must stay focused on the Mission, look out for the welfare of the Men, and not lose track of caring for Me.</b></span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-72770712397519850432013-09-11T10:09:00.000-04:002013-09-13T09:20:24.888-04:00Going to Church is a Good Idea, But Don't Go<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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We need to be the Church, not go to church. Part of
being the Church is joining with other believers for relationship and worship
and teaching and mission. I agree with the premise of <a href="http://www.relevantmagazine.com///god/god-our-generation/yes-millennials-you-need-local-church#_=_" target="_blank">an article in Relevant magazine</a>
that tells Millennials to go to church. They need to be grounded in a local community for relationship building
over time to those who need to see the love of Christ lived out. They also need
mentors and a secure place to return to after taking risks in their faith.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The systemic problem of the church is what limits the
church's connection to this generation. What God-fearing Christian wants to
spend their life energy, passion and resources maintaining a broken system.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Millennials, like other sane people, don't want to spend
time filling positions on planning boards, redecorating the church foyer or
making photocopies for Children's Church. They want to connect with people who
are in need (spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially...) and pour out
the love of Christ into their lives.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The Mission of the Church is as clear as the mission of most churches is muddled. The Mission is to live in community, grounded in the love of Christ, demonstrating that love to the world of people within their reach and influence. "Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life,
marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit" (MSG) </div>
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<br /></div>
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The typical church structure hinders this. It is much more
direct to walk the streets, strike up a conversation with a homeless person and
invite him to lunch than to sit in a planning meeting about the next church
barbecue.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Church-owned property, church-centric programs, and finance-driven
decisions betray the anemic mission of most churches.<br />
<br />
When I mention that our family has started a home church, we
sometimes get asked questions that reveal a tragic misunderstanding of
the nature and mission of the church.<br />
<br />
The first question is usually: "How many people come?" I want to say, "Really? Is that your first question? How about, 'How have you seen God working in your midst?' or if we are close friends, 'Are you fulfilling your mission as a church?'" What I usually say is something like, "Not many. It's been the most rewarding and life-giving experience of our lives."<br />
<br /></div>
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We are called to be light and salt, to bring life to those
who are dying, to rescue those who stumble, to feed the hungry and preach the
Gospel to everyone we meet.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Millennials should not join a church just because there are
some good reasons to. They should continue to think outside of the church
systems and find new ways to be the Church. They can help the rest of us figure
out how to be rooted in communities, facilitate much needed mentoring
relationships and maintain a strong faith community without wasting our resources on finding creative ways of inviting people into our well-maintained buildings.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was a pastor at a traditional church for 18 years and was
unable to break through the systemic problems to get back to the important role
of the church to be light and salt. In a traditional church, buildings must be maintained, bills must be paid, organization and hierarchy are necessary evils.<br />
<br />
Every moment spent on these hinders the church from fulfilling its true mission. When we ask questions like, "How do we keep people from leaving?" or "How do we attract more people?" or "Who can we get to fill this position?" we demonstrate a commitment to the structures that is stronger than our commitment to Christ and to His mission. The traditional church model is not the
answer and more and more it seems to be a hindrance.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let's find a way forward together.<br />
<br />
My next post is in response to questions that arose from this one: <a href="http://stillwatersthewatermark.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-mission-men-and-me.html" target="_blank">The Mission, the Men, and Me</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-20850750921010421892013-08-13T11:38:00.000-04:002013-08-21T08:24:09.040-04:00What is Best for Me? A Case for Selfishness<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When, I think about where to go to dinner, what to wear, or where to go to church; when I think about what college to attend, what job to take, or where to live; when I think about who to love, who to be friends with, or who to do business with, I think about what is best for me or maybe for Us, if others are in the picture.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Obviously, I don’t always know what is best.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And, typically, I almost always think that I do.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
On a larger scale, we ask what political party is best
for our country, what side of an issue should we raise our voice for, what role
should capitalism and socialism play in society, and how should we respond to
poverty?<br />
<br />
When dealing with national and global issues, we ask a remarkably similar question to the one we ask when choosing what restaurant to eat in.
What is best for Us? What is best for the people of our world?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As I’ve studied childhood development and development throughout a
person’s life, I find that the question we ask grows in scope as we grow in
maturity. The youngest of children are only concerned with themselves, while
older children focus on their families and friends. The most enlightened adults among
us consider themselves to be world citizens, considering what is best for all
people including the unborn, future generations. Some empty themselves of
self-interest to the extent that they are able to sacrifice themselves for a
greater good.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In essence, we always divide the world into Us and Them.
As we mature, the number of Us increases and the number of Them decreases.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Our question remains constant, what is best for Us?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Still obvious - We don’t always know what is best.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Still typical - We often think that we do.<br />
<br />
<b>Humility</b> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
For many of us, though, we can confess that there are
just too many variables for us to believe that we have it all figured out.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Part of being human is: We always want what is best for
Us.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Maybe trying to figure out what is best for Us, is the best any
of Us can do.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Heroes</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
That is what we call people who are willing to
courageously risk and often sacrifice their own lives in pursuit of the common
good. Both the fireman who enters a burning building to rescue a single child
and the soldier who dies attempting to the rid the world of terrorism are
celebrated as heroes.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When someone is willing to sacrifice what is best for herself as an individual, in order to achieve a higher good, we hold her up as a model for all of Us to follow.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Christ declares that, “<span class="text">No one has
greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
You don’t have to be a Christian to know that what Christ
is saying rings true. It feels right to all of Us. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Twist</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What if what is best for all of humanity is for each
person to know and love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength? That
is another claim of Christ. He implies that that would lead us to loving our
neighbor as ourselves. He claims that that is what is best for Us.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
That everyone on earth would be included when we say Us
and that no one would be left to be called Them.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">So, what is best for humanity is not to
strive for what is best for humanity, but to strive to love and know God.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">1 John 5 teaches us that “the love of
God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not
burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the
victory that conquers the world, our faith.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">Don’t be misled by the word, “conquers”.
John is not talking about a hostile takeover. He is talking about conquering
the world through love, defeating the “Us vs. Them” paradigm one act of love at
a time, like dominoes falling to reveal an intricate pattern of beauty and grace that includes all people of all nations.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">And, in this conquering </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">– by faith and through obedience to
God’s commandments which are: first to love God and then to love our neighbors
–</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">we experience what is best for humanity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Shift</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What if, what is best for Us, as individuals and as all
of humanity or all of Creation, is not the beginning or end of the story? What
if that is not the most important question?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Here is the shift. What if what is best for humanity is
not the primary focus of history, of our world, of our time? What if what is
best for humanity is not the primary focus, but what is best for God is the
primary focus?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What if that is the end all, the final deciding factor?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What if humanity, history, creation and all of the above
are here because that is what is best for God?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What if the main goal of every person’s life is to bring
glory to God and enjoy a relationship with Him forever?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What if the main goal of every family is to bring glory
to God and enjoy a relationship with Him together forever?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What if the main goal of every tribe and every people group
and every nation is to bring glory to God and enjoy Him forever?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What if all of Creation was designed to bring glory to
God and reveal His power?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In Exodus 9, through Moses, God tells Pharaoh that He
hasn’t destroyed him and his people completely because, “<span class="text">I
have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and
that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">Did you hear that? God wanted to reveal
his power and make His name known in all the earth.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">At that time, He did his revealing through
Moses’s obedience and through Pharaoh’s disobedience.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="text">He will do the same in our lives,
through our obedience or through our disobedience.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">In Our Lives</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As human beings, the best we can do is to consider
what is best for Us, in ever widening circles, including more of our fellow humans with Us.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
God’s desire is to bring glory to
Himself, to make His name known throughout the earth, and reveal His power.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Since we are all here because that is what is best for
God, then we can determine two things…</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
First, knowing what we know about the character of God,
we can be confident that fulfilling our purpose is equivalent to receiving grace, mercy, compassion
and love.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Second, we can accept that following God’s will, doing what is best for God, is
actually also best for Us.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We can surrender all of our understanding, performance and
passion and submit to the will of God.<br />
<br />
Maybe then we will discover for ourselves that we have not
only found what is best for God, but what is best for me, for Us, and for all
of humanity.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This is the history of our existence. This is the story
of humanity. This is the story of the Scriptures. This is what God has revealed
to us throughout His word.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
All of this is encapsulated in an age old saying, “The
chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”<br />
<br />
So, our answer to "What is best for me?" is to love and know God. Let's do it.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-33508829102488441532013-07-02T09:01:00.000-04:002013-07-02T09:01:03.234-04:002 - Lauren: Her Search for a Place to Belong<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(This is the second
part in a series of blog posts based on interviews I did with 7 adults ages
26-32 about their experience growing up in an American evangelical Christian
church setting. All names have been changed to protect their identities.)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Lauren was 32 years old when I interviewed her. She grew
up attending a single church until middle school.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The pastor there “knew my name. I always felt loved by
him, by everybody there.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Her description of this church was “the happy, typical
church experience,” but what she described was something almost
too-good-to-be-true.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When her parents left that church to search for another,
she struggled with feelings of insecurity and isolation. Her entire world
revolved around her relationships at church and when they were taken from her,
she felt totally alone, unloved, and unknown.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Her family bounced around from church to church. “There
wasn’t any one person I could look back at that time and say that person truly
cared about me really…. At that point I was a preteen and teenager and I felt
like a ghost. I didn’t really belong anywhere.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This loss of place, loss of identity stuck with her in
the following years.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Sarcastically, she described her parents looking for “the
perfect church in the county”, she felt like she was placed in very
uncomfortable situations week after grueling week.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“So we went to all these different churches and you can
imagine, middle school girls aren’t easy for anybody and now I’ve been ripped
away from my friends and sort of that comfort and security, and thrown into
these awkward, awkward situations of churches making you stand up and introduce
yourselves and having you go to Sunday School class after Sunday School class
with all these people that you don’t know and looking at you… and being on the
outside. I was not an outgoing person at all and really shy, and it was just
horrific. When I think back on my life, that was like the most… darkest, and
uncomfortable, and just lost feeling ever… and I’m so angry at my parents for
pulling me out of church.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
A detailed story that she shared illustrates how this
time of transition between churches impacted her and actually helped her to
discover strength that she didn’t know she had.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I went to the overnight sleepover at this church, not
really making any friends, nobody was talking to me. I was by myself the whole
time. Then, they played a game of hide and go seek.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We hid and I had a really good spot, a great spot, and
the game was over and nobody had found me, and I just sort of waited to see
what would happen, and they just started the next activity. They didn’t realize
I wasn’t there. It was purposeful. It wasn’t like I was stupid sitting in the
dark not knowing what was going on. I knew that they wouldn’t notice, and they
didn’t.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This had an interesting effect on her. Instead of feeling
unloved and unwanted, she had this feeling of being in control. She had put
them to the test and they had failed to care about her. “I remember actually
having a better time after that point because I realized that they didn’t care
about me, and I was able to have that self-worth.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When she realized that no one there cared about her, she
took control and enjoyed herself without having to test them anymore. She could
just take what they had to offer, the program, the event and have fun. She
didn’t make an effort to try to build relationships. She knew that wasn’t part
of the deal.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She later described these churches in this way. “They
were running programs, it wasn’t there because the people that were involved
truly cared about what I was going through.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
It was not until years later that she felt accepted, like
she belonged anywhere.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Worse yet, Lauren never felt accepted by her parents. She
felt like she could never make them happy, no matter how hard she tried.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I wish I had grown up with the acceptance of people who
had flaws, as opposed to this rejection of people who had any sort of flaws.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A Church Family</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Her family finally settled into a church, but she hated
it. So, in ninth grade, she decided to start attending church with a friend.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She CHOSE to go somewhere other than where her parents
went.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As an adult, she thinks it is strange that her parents
would let her do that, but at the same time, she believed that having that
choice and that independence helped to shape her identity.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Lauren described her time at her new church as
reminiscent of her time at her first church. It was here that she finally felt
like she belonged again.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She regained her sense of safety and security. It was
here that she felt loved and accepted.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I always will look fondly at [that church] because I had
an Aunt [Rachel] and an Uncle [Bill] and I had Mrs. [Johnson], I had Mr.
[Johnson], I had Uncle [Bob]. It was all these people that I didn’t know, they
weren’t my family and yet they immediately became my family. You and Rachel,
okay now I’m not going to cry, you never made me feel, I never felt insignificant.
I always felt important.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As she detailed many people from this church who became
an extended family to her, the emotion rose in her voice. Then, she remembered
a humorous story to illustrate how far this love and acceptance went.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As a teen, the youth group was preparing to leave for a
retreat when the driver noticed that the headlight wasn’t working.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“He told me to hit it, and I decided to kick it. I don’t
know why. I wasn’t like that. And I broke it, and it wasn’t something like, it
wasn’t even the light that broke, I broke the…, the whole thing kicked in. The
light stayed intact. I was horrified.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In my house, I would have been done. And here they were
totally—I will never forget, it was the most, one of the most embarrassing
times in my life—I remember they were both, they were cracking up that I had
done it, and they were so loving and caring and it shocked me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She perceived the church family as being even more
accepting and understanding than her own parents. This allowed her to grow in
her identity and self-worth. She went on to say, “I think the churches that
stick out in my mind are the churches where somebody noticed me; somebody
cared; somebody paid attention; somebody KNEW MY NAME; somebody asked me a question;
somebody cared about me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
With this confidence in herself and guided by her
understanding of what God wanted for her, she was able to move out on her own
after high school, go to college, get a few jobs that she really felt good
about. She became successful.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Perfection vs.
Imperfection</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As an adult in her twenties, she was actively involved as
a volunteer at church and unknowingly had adopted this attitude of rejecting
people who showed signs of imperfection. At one of the volunteer Christmas
parties, Bill gave her the book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ragamuffin
Gospel</i> by Brennan Manning, which is all about God’s gracious love for
broken people like the author, who was an alcoholic.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She recalled, “I read that book and this is literally
what I said at the end, ‘This book is a joke. This isn’t true. You shouldn’t be
allowed to mess up like this and then be able to write about it and make other
people think it’s okay.’ That was my impression of that book and I couldn’t
understand what [Bill] or anybody saw in it. I thought it was absolutely wrong
and that nobody—you shouldn’t promote things like that.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Her inability to accept others stemmed from the feeling
that her parents could never accept her. She never felt good enough for them.
So, she made sure that no one else was good enough either.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
During what turned out to be a pivotal time in Lauren’s
adult life, she felt frustrated with where her life was headed and decided to
take control. She decided to stop trusting her future to God and doing what was
expected of her by people at church. She was going to do what she wanted to do
so that she could be happy.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Soon after this, she stopped working with the church youth
group because she wanted to focus on herself and on getting married.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You figure at that point I was 25 and every girl feels
they are going to be alone forever at that point (which is totally irrational
but now looking back that’s what I thought). I decided to focus on myself and
so I met this guy who had two kids and was not a [Christian] and I was ready to
throw everything away. I was going to date this man and just ‘Ha, ha!’ to
everything else.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Everything changed one day while she was brushing her
teeth. She remembered</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
shouting out to God.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I remember at that point God told me, ‘You’re doing
something dumb. This is not the plan for your life. This is not what you’re supposed
to be doing.’ And I remember shouting out to God and saying, ‘Oh yeah, what
have You done for me?’ Because, by 25, I didn’t have a good relationship with
my family. I had been moved a thousand times. I didn’t have a typical story. I
didn’t have boyfriends. I didn’t have proms. I didn’t have these things that
other people have.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Lauren’s entire life was playing out before her. She
could feel all of the injustice. She had sacrificed so much to be a Christian.
All the normal things, the fun things that kids get to do, she had given up to
serve him. She had done so much for Him and was so angry and challenged God, “What
have You done for me?” </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She was “just so angry and that’s what I said to God.
And, you know those moments where God just talks to you? God said, ‘I sent my son
to die for you on the cross’ and it was the most—I don’t want to even say like
the most humbling—It was the most loving point, like I totally—It wasn’t a
moment of like that God punished me and made me feel guilty and made me
feel—cause that’s a horrible thing to say, you know that’s awful to say to God
but it was like this moment of absolute purity and love and simplicity and I
was like, ‘You’re right.’”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She struggled to find just the right words to express the
inexpressible presence of God. The presence of God overwhelmed her with love
and she no longer felt that he had abandoned her.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Her sacrifice seemed reasonable when pictured alongside
Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. God loved her and had not forgotten her desire
to get married and be loved.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Soon after she broke off the relationship with this man,
she started dating the man who would become her husband.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
God’s grace did not culminate in Lauren finding a
husband. God wanted her to know that he loved and accepted her for who she was
and not just because she had sacrificed so much for him.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Lauren found herself in a very difficult and confusing
situation when she “got pregnant before I was married, all of a sudden I [understood]
that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ragamuffin Gospel.</i> And now I get
it because it’s not about—it’s not about perfect people and what he said in
that book, the Gospel is not for perfect people.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The culmination for Lauren was realizing that there was a
lie that she had believed and accepted from her family. “I had adopted exactly
what my parents did to me, which was “Reject everybody.” … If somebody has an
issue, you reject that person, and just that perfection and that lack of love.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This started her on a yearlong journey of trying to
understand what love is. Her perspective on everything had begun to change, for
Lauren, “it was an absolute break in the way that I have viewed the world for,
up to that point, 30 years. It was a massive change of a worldview and
absolutely I had adopted that [lie], probably unknowingly, because what’s the
worst mask, [thinking that] you’re doing what’s right. So why would I ever
doubt what I was doing was wrong because I was doing what was right.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She recognized the lies of perfectionism and
judgmentalism that had become her perspective. By God’s grace, she was able to
begin the process of learning to love unconditionally.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She is still following that path, attending church and
feeling very connected with her church family.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Belonging:</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Lauren felt like everything was perfect in her world as a
young child when she belonged, when she was surrounded by people that loved her
and knew her.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When she lost that sense of belonging, she felt like she
lost her identity.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Finding a new church, people that loved her and accepted
her brought her a new sense of identity. And, typical of adolescence, that new
identity formed apart from her parents.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She didn’t realize until years later that she had adopted
some of the same judgmentalism and perfectionism that isolated her from her
parents. As they had pushed her away, she had pushed so many others away.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
When she had a moral crisis, she was forced to face her
own imperfection and her own need for God’s grace.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In this place of humility and a desperate need for grace,
she found her true identity in Christ. Finally, she truly belonged. She
belonged in her own skin. She could accept her own imperfections and therefore
accept the imperfections in others. Her understanding of what it means to belong
was transformed and became a strong foundation upon which to build her life.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-73762329983757200962013-06-28T11:15:00.003-04:002013-06-28T11:15:47.107-04:004 Chances to Win the Struggle with Sin<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><b>Proverbs 7</b> (This is the New Living Translation adapted by Dave Zirilli to make it read more like a story.)</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><sup>7 </sup>I saw some naive young men,</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and
one in particular who lacked common sense.</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16560">8 </span></sup>He was crossing the
street near the house of a sinful woman,</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">strolling
down the path by her house.</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16561">9 </span></sup>It was at twilight, in
the evening,</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">as
deep darkness fell.</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16562">10 </span></sup>The sinful woman
approached him,</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">seductively
dressed, she had evil plans in her heart.</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16563">11 </span></sup>(She was the brash,
rebellious type,</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">never
content to stay at home and do what is right.</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16564">12 </span></sup>She is there often,
in the streets and markets,</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">selling
evil at every corner.)</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16565">13 </span></sup>She came up to the
man, threw her arms around him and kissed him,</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and
with a brazen look she said,</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16566">14 </span></sup>“I’ve just gone to
church, given my offerings</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and
fulfilled my vows to God.</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16567">15 </span></sup>You’re the one I was
looking for!</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">I
came out to find you, and here you are!</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16568">16 </span></sup>Come see my bed! It is
spread with beautiful blankets,</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">with
colored sheets of Egyptian linen.</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16569">17 </span></sup>I’ve perfumed my bed</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">with
myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16570">18 </span></sup>Come, let’s drink our
fill of love until morning.</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Let’s
enjoy each other’s caresses,</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16571">19 </span></sup>for my husband is not
home.</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">He’s
away on a loooooooong trip.</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16572">20 </span></sup>He has taken a wallet
full of money with him</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and
won’t return until later this month.”</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span id="en-NLT-16573"><span class="text"><sup>21 </sup>So she
seduced him with her pretty speech</span></span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and
tricked him with her flattery.</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16574">22 </span></sup>He followed her at
once,</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">like
an ox going to the slaughter.</span><br />
<span class="text">He was like an animal caught in a trap,</span><br />
<span class="text"><span id="en-NLT-16575"><sup>23 </sup></span><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">awaiting
the hunter that would come to kill him.</span></span><br />
<span class="text">He was like unaware of the danger, like a bird flying into a
snare,</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">little
knowing it would cost him his life.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span id="en-NLT-16576"><span class="text"><sup>24 </sup>So
listen to me, my sons,</span></span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">and
pay attention to my words.</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16577">25 </span></sup>Don’t let your hearts
stray away toward her.</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Don’t
wander down her wayward path.</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16578">26 </span></sup>For she has been the
ruin of many;</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">many
men have been her victims.</span><br />
<span class="text"><sup><span id="en-NLT-16579">27 </span></sup>Her house is the road
to the grave.</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">Her
bedroom is the den of death.</span></div>
<div class="line">
</div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">Think about the progression.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">1 - First, this naive young man with no common sense is
wandering around at night.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">Remember HALT! Halt means STOP! It is also an acronym for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired. I will add Bored. When we feel these ways, we are most vulnerable to giving in to temptation.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><b>Our FIRST chance to Win the Struggle with Sin:</b> When we feel HALT, we should HALT! STOP! Go home and get refreshed. If we are hungry, eat; angry, process our anger; lonely, call or meet with someone who is an encouraging friend, family member or mentor; tired, rest; or bored, find something constructive and positive to do like helping someone in need.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">2 - Then, he sees her and the way she is dressed
and he lusts. Lust means to want something that you don’t have, and usually
something that is bad for you. You don’t lust after a meal, you hunger for it.
You may lust after dessert or after a person that you are not married to or
after a fancy car or new video game. You can lust after someone’s power or
fame. Usually, lust is selfish. It is wanting what I want and not caring about
other people.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">We do that, don’t we. We think about what we
want, what we wish we had. We play it over and over in our minds and hearts.
And our desire grows and grows. Then, we begin to think we need it, deserve it,
can’t live without it.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<b>
</b><div class="line">
<span class="text"><span class="text"><b>Our SECOND chance to Win the Struggle with Sin:</b> </span>What happens in our minds and hearts is so
important. That is why reading the Bible and praying is so helpful. When we
read the Bible and talk to God in prayer, our desires get reoriented. God says that He will give us the
desires of our hearts.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">Proverbs 37:4 - </span>Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.</div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
Not only will God give us what we desire when you delight in the
Lord, but He will also give us new desires, desires that are in line with what
the Lord wants for us.</div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">3 - Then, she speaks and invites him to take
hold of what he was lusting after. This is key. The temptation comes from the outside,
we can’t always control what temptations we face.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">(Though many times we can!
Avoid Las Vegas, avoid the internet, avoid commercials, avoid bars or
nightclubs, avoid certain “friends”, etc. When we know where temptation will be, we can often avoid it.)</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">But, when we do have to face a temptation that is totally
out of context from our thoughts, it is easier to stand strong in the face of
that temptation. It stands out as an obvious temptation. It looks and feels
like temptation.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">If you never worry about money or think about getting rich, seeing someone's wallet on the ground or being given a chance to rob a bank are not really all that tempting. Stealing is wrong and we know it is wrong. So, we can more easily resist. </span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">But, if we have been thinking about it, longing
for it, wishing for it, then it presents itself…. "WOW! It really is possible." "I
didn’t think I would ever get this chance. What luck!"</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">We might even think, “God must want
me to have this! He gave me this opportunity!"</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><br /></span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">I have heard this from several Christian married people who were having affairs. They seem so convinced in their mind that God has brought this other person into their lives to rescue them from an unhappy marriage. From the outside it seems obvious that they are deceived or deceiving themselves, but to them nothing could change their minds. They cannot fathom turning away from God, so they bring God into their sin.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">Notice in the Proverb, verse 14, the temptress even includes God in her seduction. She has presented her offerings at the temple and fulfilled her vows to God. </span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">We may think, "So she is right with God. She believes in God, too. She is faithful like me. God must have brought her into my life to help me."</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><br /></span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><span class="text"><b>Our THIRD chance to Win the Struggle with Sin:</b> </span>Reject this lie that we all have to face in one way or another: Sin will NOT satisfy our desires or bring us fulfillment.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">God will never ask us to sin in order to follow Him.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">4 – Then, he sins. We all sin. It happens.
We feel guilty. We feel ashamed. We feel sneaky. We hope we can get away with it. And, maybe we begin to feel like
we are defined by our sin. Like we are our sin. That we will always be sinful.
We can’t control it. It controls us.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">That is the battle.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">That is the battle
that Paul describes in Romans 7:13-25.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">It is sin living in me, my sinful nature.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">battling against my will, my desire to obey the Spirit of God. </span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">We are fundamentally flawed. Foundationally, we
are sinful. We cannot escape our sinfulness. Everything we touch is tainted
with it.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">It is like when we are soaking wet. Everything we touch gets wet; wherever we
sit, we leave a mark; everyone we hug, gets wet.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><span class="text"><b>Our FOURTH chance to Win the Struggle with Sin:</b></span> Don't get stuck in the cycle of sin. (Sin - Guilt - Shame - Identify with Sin - REPEAT) Break the cycle with confession, repentance, and discipline.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><br /></span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">We are not defined by our sins. We are defined by our relationship to Christ. The Holy Spirit is the sign given to remind us that we are God's children. He is the promise that one day we will be fully His.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">We also have the Holy Spirit in us.
Everything we touch, as Christians, is also touched by the Holy Spirit in us.
Just like sin, the Holy Spirit infiltrates every conversation, every
relationship, every thought and feeling. We cannot escape the influence of the
Holy Spirit in and through our lives. We can try to ignore it. We can pretend it doesn't exist. But, there He is. Always with us. (Psalm 139:7-12)</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><b>The Battle of the Christian is Different: </b></span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">The battle we face is much different than the
battle of someone who doesn’t know Christ.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"></span><span class="text">Romans 5:10 describes us as being enemies of God before we received salvation. The struggle we were in then, pitted our own will against God Himself. God desired what was best for us and yet we resisted Him at every turn.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">But, as Christians, with the Holy Spirit living in us, the struggle has not stopped. We still struggle. Everyday, we
make choices and form habits which guide and shape our lives. But, now our will is to do the will of God. Our deepest desire is to please God, to serve and obey Him.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><br /></span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">But, there is a new enemy. Our enemy is sin. Sin through the law tries to bind us, to kill us, and to make us powerless.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><br /></span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">That is the message of Romans 5-7.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><br /></span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">We are dead to sin, so why would live in it any longer. Don't sin. Don't give any victory to sin. We have already been declared victorious over sin. Death is sin's greatest weapon and death has lost its sting. Christ has victory over death. So in Christ, we have victory over death and sin.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><br /></span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">The tools that Proverbs offers to us in our battle with sin are the Bible (Proverbs 7:1-3), discipline (Proverbs 5:23) and wisdom (Proverbs 8).</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><br /></span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">We have the promise of ultimate victory in death. And, we have the tools to have daily victory through faithfully reading the Bible, developing healthy habits, and seeking after wisdom.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><br /></span></div>
<div class="line">
<b>Use these 4 Chances to Win the Struggle with Sin.</b></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">1 - Know yourself and when you are vulnerable. HALT! before you are even tempted.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">2 - Read the Bible and pray in order to allow God to change the desires of your heart.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">3 - When faced with a temptation, reject the lie that sin will satisfy our desires and bring us fulfillment.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text">4 - After we sin, don't get caught in the cycle of sin. Repent and receive forgiveness.</span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
<div class="line">
<span class="text"><br /></span></div>
<div class="line">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-64296434683493373732013-06-12T12:50:00.000-04:002013-06-12T12:50:10.743-04:001 - Christina: A Search for Identity, Love and Acceptance<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<h3>
</h3>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(This is the first
part in a series of blog posts based on interviews I did with 7 adults ages 26-32
about their experience growing up in an American evangelical Christian church
setting. All names have been changed to protect their identities.)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gJ6L_TwdFZo/UbdNp4DLD7I/AAAAAAAAAMY/ZhH_YMzUTwk/s1600/DSC00088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gJ6L_TwdFZo/UbdNp4DLD7I/AAAAAAAAAMY/ZhH_YMzUTwk/s400/DSC00088.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Christina was 30 years old. She walked into my office full of smiles. This young woman is one that I had
known for over two decades. I first met her when she was a little girl and I was in high
school. But, since we hadn't really talked since she was in high school, I wasn’t
sure what twists or turns the interview might take.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She seemed happy and confident, more confident, more comfortable than
I remembered her ever being.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Christina wanted to know about the interview process, my
paper, and the research that I had done already.<br />
<br />
She seemed so happy. It took me back a bit.<br />
<br />
I knew enough of her story to know that she had had a rough time of it in the years since I had had her in youth group. <br />
<br />
Why was she so happy?<br />
<br />
I explained to her that honesty was of utmost importance,
much more than telling me what she thought I wanted to hear. And then I asked her to just tell me her faith story. Whatever she wanted to tell.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She began the interview by saying, “I was born into this, a world, a Christian setting, a Christian
family, a religious background.” It was not something she had chosen for
herself. She was raised in a family who always attended church. She also attended
a Christian school in her younger years.<br />
<br />
When she went to her parents for help, “it was always, 'Oh, did you pray about it?' But, it
didn’t really work for me, I guess. When I grew up and got older … I was
still going through routines trying to make people happy, just doing the things
that I felt like I was supposed to do to try to make everybody feel like I was
a good person, just doing things so that people didn’t have anything bad to say
about me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She was confident that people said bad things about her at church anyway. So, she learned to fake faith, fake the routines, do church, and follow the rules when she was there.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
During her high school years, she became less and less
comfortable being honest about who she really was. She describes this time as
living these “two worlds”.<br />
<br />
On one hand, she would act like the “good Christian”
people wanted her to be. And on the other hand, she found herself doing things
that would have made her parents very unhappy. “When I was twelve years old, I
got drunk.”<br />
<br />
So, she chose to hide that part of her life from her parents and everyone at church. But, she
didn’t feel like this rebellious child was her true self either. She was going between these “two
worlds” without being honest with anyone. Hiding one part of her from her
parents and another part from her friends.<br />
<br />
She never could just be herself. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
After graduating from a Christian college, she only
attended church occasionally. Sometimes she would come to church just to see a smile on her parents’ faces.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
After something bad would happen in her life, “my mom was like, ‘You should come to church’ and ‘You should
hang out with these people’ and ‘You should do this’ and [her voice trailed
off].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was right away! Any time
something bad happened in my life, it almost seemed like everybody was like, ‘Well,
now is the time for you to go to church’ and ‘Now is the time for you to (do
this and do this).’ It always had to do with religion and so, me being more a
rebellious type of person, my whole life, was like, ‘You’re out of your mind.’
I’ve done that; I’ve tried that. I think the more it was—not forced—somewhat
forced, but more of a persuasion, the more I wanted to say, ‘No.’”<br />
<br />
The religious people in Christina's life, including her parents, kept thinking that if she just gave Christianity and church another chance, it would provide her the stability and security that it provided for them.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
At the end of an unhealthy relationship, she came to
realize, “I will never again care what people think or say about me. Because that’s
all it ever was. I had to [please him]. I always felt like I had to impress
everybody in his life for everybody in his life to like me.”<br />
<br />
This was a pivotal
time in her search for her identity, her search for herself. She decided not to change herself, contort herself to try to please a man or to please those in the church anymore. She would figure out who she was and just be herself.<br />
<br />
The confident young woman I saw walk into my office that morning was the result of that journey.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Christina's mom told her not to waste time crying over losing a man who didn't love and accept her for who she was.<br />
<br />
She said, "[Mom told] me that I was better than all of that. It
helped our relationship because she learned that trying to force God on me
wasn’t going to work. But her having a relationship with me was going to work.
That made me learn some lessons in life that I hadn’t already learned. It made
me realize who I was and what I wanted.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Christina had begun to enjoy her relationship with her
mom, and her mom really seemed to be trying to understand her and listen to
her. Her mom had stopped trying to manipulate her and persuade her to be
religious. This shift made all the difference.<br />
<br />
Life was no longer about what
everyone else expected her to do and to be. Her life had become about who she
wanted to be.<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
This gave Christina the room she needed to be herself and
she began attending church when she wanted to and not just to make her parents happy.
This changed the way she thought about herself.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“That’s when it started to be me doing things because I
wanted to do them not because I felt like I had to do them. It’s a difference,
you know. Sad thing about it is it took a lot of pain to get to that point, but
when you get to that point, you feel like you are a whole different person.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She felt like she was finally able to have a relationship
with God that fit into her worldview and allowed her to be herself and not try
to conform to the image that others wanted her to fit.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Her relationship with her Mom started to flourish.<br />
<br />
“It
was me being able to talk to her about [Christianity] and for her to better
understand who I was. And know where I was, and where my head was, where my
heart was. It got to be where I would go to church on my own. Where I would do
something because I wanted to do it. I would go to a small group thing. I was
doing those things because I wanted to. Because I was able to have those
conversations with her. Because I was able to talk to her about stuff.”<br />
<br />
Her mother's acceptance of her as she was, for who she was, made all the difference to her. She was finally able to explore her parents' faith, Christianity, from a place of love and acceptance. She felt free to be herself, with all of her doubts and fears and questions and all of her faith and beliefs and hopes.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Tragically, her mother died unexpectedly and everything
changed again.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Christina felt so much pain.<br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">She had developed a close friendship with her mother after years
of strained relationships,</span> "and then to have that taken away after where I was and where
I was headed and the direction I was going. And then, for the simple fact that
everybody in the Christian bubble says God does everything for a reason. For
Him to do that! Do I blame Him? No, because I can’t. I can’t sit there and say 'Hey, God, guess what? This is all your fault.' When I don’t necess—
[interrupting herself]. I’m not saying I don’t believe in God. I do. But, I am
not to a point where I can say, 'Oh this is all God’s fault.' I did say that.
If he really wanted me to believe in him. Well, then, what is wrong with him
because he just kind of really destroyed all of that."<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1213013515784513282#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></span></span></span></a>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">She <span class="st">struggled</span>
to describe what she was feeling toward God. She didn't know if she could feel anything
toward God.</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">She thought that she either had to believe that God was close and
personally involved in her life and was cruel or that he is distant and
uninvolved. She chose the latter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Do I believe in God? Yes. Do I believe that
God created the world? Yes.”<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span></span></span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">But, her belief about what happens after death has changed. “I believe that when you die you die, I guess that’s supposed to mean
I am not a Christian, you know. Some people will say that.”<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span></span></span> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Previously she said that part of her wanted to believe in heaven and hell that
her childhood life is still in her. She asked herself this question, “Do I have
the belief that I had growing up? Yes.”<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span></span></span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">This may be a case where she has some deep confusion about what she
believes. The nostalgic feelings from her childhood, connected to the
memory of her mother, may compel her to try to reclaim some part of her
childhood faith.</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The pain of her mother’s death and the accompanying confusion probably reminded her of all of the reasons she struggled to have faith in the
past. There is something real and true there, but people keep spouting these ridiculous cliche's that are devoid of compassion and seem hollow.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So, she went to bars to drink and numb the pain.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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In one bar, she built friendships. She reconnected with some people from her past
and her current boyfriend. They accepted her, even with her pain. They let her talk
about her mom, talk about something inconsequential or not talk at all. They walked through a very painful time with her.<br />
<br />
They showed her love and
acceptance. The same thing her mother had been able to give her.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She avoided church because she kept hearing things like,
“She’s in a better place.” “She’s where she wanted to be.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But Christina knew differently, “No, she wanted to be
here with her family, watching her grandchildren grow up. Sorry! Don’t agree
with you! I am glad that you guys have this peace of mind. … It brought a lot
of anger back in me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The anger and pain have subsided over time, but it was
still easy to sense it in her voice as she spoke.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Through all of this pain, Christina believes that she is
happier, more confident, and more self-aware than ever. She was reluctant to say
it because she didn’t want to hurt my feelings when she
said, “I guess it’s hard for me to say, especially to you, cause I grew up
knowing you. It is a bad thing to say because it’s not the right thing to say
in a Christian world, but I’ve never been happier in my life than I am now. Is
that because I stopped going to church? I don’t know.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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For Christina, church was a dangerous place to be
herself. She couldn’t be honest about her feelings, her heart, her beliefs, or
anything real with those in church. She felt judged whenever she opened her
mouth, and often, before she even opened her mouth.</div>
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<br /></div>
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“I know that now that I’ve gotten to the point where I
don’t feel like I have to go to church just to make people happy. Where I don’t
care if somebody says [to her parents], ‘Wow your daughter is not a very good person because she
doesn’t go to church anymore.’ I don’t care. I am who I am.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Christina was on a search for acceptance and love, a search for her identity and
did not find support in church.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So, I asked her, “What can we do different in church?
What could the church do to help the next generation better than we helped you?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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Her response cuts to the core of our responsibility as a
church, as the Church:</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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“I think it is important for kid’s not to feel like by
making a mistake, the world is gonna end. I think it’s really important,
really, really important to have open communication where, I can sit here and
tell you, ‘Dave, listen, when I was twelve years old, I got drunk.’ I would
want kids who grow up in a Christian bubble but who are also surrounded by the
rest of the world to feel like it’s ok for them to be friends with these people
and when they’re faced with these situations and they are like, ‘Wow, that
looks like a lot of fun, but I don’t know.’ They need to have somebody that
they can actually talk to that is going to [care more about the kid than about
what the church expects from them]. That isn’t going to respond with [cliche's like], ‘Well
pray about it’, ‘Well, ask God what you think you should do.’ I think a lot of
choices in my life could have been made if I just sat down and rationalized it
out. But, I didn’t have the thought power to rationalize them out at the time.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She said that she realizes now that she probably could
have talked to her parents, but she wanted someone else, another adult who
would listen and love and accept her and give her good advice, someone to help
her think through her choices and reason it all out.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
That’s the mission of the church, isn’t it: to make
disciples. To walk along side our children in deep and mutually loving
relationships and guide them to become disciples of Christ.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Christina had to go to a bar to feel loved and accepted
after her mom died.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Christian cliché’s, Christian "answers", Christian superficiality
was killing her from the inside out. She needed real people to really love her.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Church</b>: a
place where real people can experience real love and acceptance from other real
people because of Christ’s work in their lives.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Real people</b>:
people who have experienced grief and comfort, sinfulness and grace, humility
and acceptance, love and hope.<br />
<br />
This blog post is the first of seven blog posts based on interviews I did for my dissertation. I hope that Christina's story encourages you in some way to draw near to God and receive the love and acceptance and grace that He has to offer. And, then to extend that to those around you.<br />
<br />
Everyone wants to be loved and accepted for who they are. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-34285573241719109932013-06-11T13:45:00.000-04:002013-06-11T13:45:31.268-04:00Dying Eyes: Lessons from a Death Bed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s4ZmlB0vOuw/Ubc2egU2ZQI/AAAAAAAAAL4/leK94a7OcSw/s1600/02+Grandma+Zirilli.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="377" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s4ZmlB0vOuw/Ubc2egU2ZQI/AAAAAAAAAL4/leK94a7OcSw/s400/02+Grandma+Zirilli.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Looking into the eyes of someone who is dying changes a person.<br />
<br />
Last
week, I visited a woman that I have known for years and love. I asked
her if she was afraid to die. "No, not really... Is that weird? I feel
like I have done everything I needed to do. I have two great kids. I had
a husband who loved me. What else is there to do?"<br />
<br />
She
seemed a little worried. "Do you think that's normal? Do you think it's
the drugs?" She is on a morphine drip to help with the pain.<br />
<br />
I
tried to reassure her. I told her about my grandmother who passed away a
decade ago now. I still remember visiting her in the hospital after a
heart attack scare. And, I was worried about her. I asked her if she was
ready to die. (Mind you, this was a couple of years before she actually
did.) I'll never forget her words.<br />
<br />
"Oh, yeah. I don't want to die. But, I am ready. I enjoy each day I have. But, I am ready. I have this peace about it."<br />
<br />
And, I could see it on her face. She wasn't scared. She was prepared.<br />
<br />
I saw that same peace in this woman's eyes.<br />
<br />
My
grandma and this woman are comfortable with who they are. They know
that God loves them, Jesus died for them, and that they had lived their
lives giving and receiving love.<br />
<br />
There was no hiding or
pretending, no need for superficiality. Their life had been lived and
there was no need for lies. The truth was enough. They were dying and
the best they could hope for was to enjoy each moment they had left.
And, then, trust God with the rest.<br />
<br />
I guess we could all learn to do that.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-53304898543556691222013-06-07T13:04:00.000-04:002013-06-07T13:04:00.839-04:00The Necessity of Fear: How to Fear ProductivelyI have a friend who is afraid of crowds. So, he tries to avoid them. I
am afraid of heights, so I limit my time on our roof. My son may still
be afraid of the dark, so he avoids it by using a light.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cdWbZlWobxg/UbISNyY7KNI/AAAAAAAAALo/-SO5SjDTk68/s1600/Face+of+Fear.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="366" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cdWbZlWobxg/UbISNyY7KNI/AAAAAAAAALo/-SO5SjDTk68/s400/Face+of+Fear.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Face of Fear - Blurry Fear</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
That is not what we mean when we say, "Fear God." But, in reality, many people hear that. They fear God by avoiding him.<br />
<br />
Some
try to avoid him by not going to church. Many try to avoid him by not
thinking about Him. Often, people even avoid thinking about other things
that remind them of God.<br />
<br />
The list of avoided topics varies, but how about these for starters:<br />
<br />
Death<br />
Meaning of life<br />
Our true self<br />
Sin<br />
Guilt<br />
Shame<br />
Pain<br />
<br />
"I just don't want to think about it."<br />
"I don't want to talk about it." <br />
<br />
We avoid them and in turn avoid God because we are afraid of God, afraid of the unknown.<br />
<br />
God's
desire is to be known. He has revealed Himself through creation and
nature. He has revealed Himself to individuals throughout history. He
has revealed Himself through the Bible. He has revealed Himself through
Jesus Christ. He continues to reveal Himself through his church (when we
let Him by being obedient).<br />
<br />
He is hard to avoid.
Whether we go to the top of a mountain or the bottom of the ocean, there
He is. Whether we go where it is pitch dark or find some uncharted
island, there He is.<br />
<br />
And, we are told to fear this unavoidable God.<br />
<br />
<b>What Does it Mean to Fear God?</b><br />
<br />
I heard this explained over breakfast this morning, in a way that made sense.<br />
<br />
If
we reject God entirely, God promises to reject us. So this should cause
fear, but by trying to avoid thinking about God, we tend to not feel
that fear until we are face to face with God Himself after death.<br />
<br />
If we accept God, God loves and accepts us. So, what is left for us to fear?<br />
<br />
His discipline.<br />
His correction.<br />
His regaining of our focus and attention.<br />
His pruning.<br />
His training.<br />
<br />
God
loves us. He promises not to leave us to die apart from His love and
grace. When we get stuck in habitual sin, it is like a fish who has
jumped out of the water and is lying on the shore of the ocean unable to
breathe. Struggling to survive. He will not leave us there. He promises
to rescue us from ourselves, from sin and from death.<br />
<br />
He picks us up and throws us back into the ocean of his grace.<br />
<br />
Many
times it hurts. Our sin can cause irreparable damage to our
relationships, to our view of God or of ourselves. If God exposes our
sin, it can cause further damage.<br />
<br />
Is it because he wants to hurt us?<br />
No.<br />
It is because He is always loving.<br />
The
most loving thing He can do in that instance is to rescue us from our
sin. If that hurts, then the pain is worth it for the freedom that comes
as a result.<br />
<br />
Fear God because he has the love to want
to rescue us, the power to rescue us, and will rescue us. His discipline
and correction will come in order to save us from being separated from
his love and grace. Nothing can separate us from His love and grace.
Separation is not an option.<br />
<br />
Sometimes it comes in the form of physical death. We are eternally freed from our addictions and sin.<br />
<br />
Sometimes
it comes in the form of physical sickness, disease or injury. Sometimes
it comes in the form of broken relationships. Sometimes it comes in the
collapse of systems, governments and nations.<br />
<br />
He will do whatever it takes to rescue us from sin and death.<br />
<br />
Whatever it takes.<br />
Whatever it takes.<br />
<br />
Fear God. He loves you enough to do whatever it takes. Fear God and do what He says, obey Him. Avoid sin. Don't avoid God.<br />
<br />
"Here
is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind." - Solomon in the book of
EcclesiastesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-4083437136949255342013-06-07T11:44:00.000-04:002013-06-07T13:09:19.370-04:00Why Christians Must Fear God in Order to Truly LiveI have a friend who is afraid of crowds. So, he tries to avoid them. I am afraid of heights, so I limit my time on our roof. My son may still be afraid of the dark, so he avoids it by using a light.<br />
<br />
That is not what we mean when we say, "Fear God." But, in reality, many people hear that. They fear God by avoiding him.<br />
<br />
Some try to avoid him by not going to church. Many try to avoid him by not thinking about Him. Often, people even avoid thinking about other things that remind them of God.<br />
<br />
The list of avoided topics varies, but how about these for starters:<br />
<br />
Death<br />
Meaning of life<br />
Our true self<br />
Sin<br />
Guilt<br />
Shame<br />
Pain<br />
<br />
"I just don't want to think about it."<br />
"I don't want to talk about it." <br />
<br />
We avoid them and in turn avoid God because we are afraid of God, afraid of the unknown.<br />
<br />
God's desire is to be known. He has revealed Himself through creation and nature. He has revealed Himself to individuals throughout history. He has revealed Himself through the Bible. He has revealed Himself through Jesus Christ. He continues to reveal Himself through his church (when we let Him by being obedient).<br />
<br />
He is hard to avoid. Whether we go to the top of a mountain or the bottom of the ocean, there He is. Whether we go where it is pitch dark or find some uncharted island, there He is.<br />
<br />
And, we are told to fear this unavoidable God.<br />
<br />
<b>What Does it Mean to Fear God?</b><br />
<br />
I heard this explained over breakfast this morning, in a way that made sense.<br />
<br />
If we reject God entirely, God promises to reject us. So this should cause fear, but by trying to avoid thinking about God, we tend to not feel that fear until we are face to face with God Himself after death.<br />
<br />
If we accept God, God loves and accepts us. So, what is left for us to fear?<br />
<br />
His discipline.<br />
His correction.<br />
His regaining of our focus and attention.<br />
His pruning.<br />
His training.<br />
<br />
God loves us. He promises not to leave us to die apart from His love and grace. When we get stuck in habitual sin, it is like a fish who has jumped out of the water and is lying on the shore of the ocean unable to breathe. Struggling to survive. He will not leave us there. He promises to rescue us from ourselves, from sin and from death.<br />
<br />
He picks us up and throws us back into the ocean of his grace.<br />
<br />
Many times it hurts. Our sin can cause irreparable damage to our relationships, to our view of God or of ourselves. If God exposes our sin, it can cause further damage.<br />
<br />
Is it because he wants to hurt us?<br />
No.<br />
It is because He is always loving.<br />
The most loving thing He can do in that instance is to rescue us from our sin. If that hurts, then the pain is worth it for the freedom that comes as a result.<br />
<br />
Fear God because he has the love to want to rescue us, the power to rescue us, and will rescue us. His discipline and correction will come in order to save us from being separated from his love and grace. Nothing can separate us from His love and grace. Separation is not an option.<br />
<br />
Sometimes it comes in the form of physical death. We are eternally freed from our addictions and sin.<br />
<br />
Sometimes it comes in the form of physical sickness, disease or injury. Sometimes it comes in the form of broken relationships. Sometimes it comes in the collapse of systems, governments and nations.<br />
<br />
He will do whatever it takes to rescue us from sin and death.<br />
<br />
Whatever it takes.<br />
Whatever it takes.<br />
<br />
Fear God. He loves you enough to do whatever it takes. Fear God and do what He says, obey Him. Avoid sin. Don't avoid God.<br />
<br />
"Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind." - Solomon in the book of EcclesiastesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-20458998208887254372013-05-26T21:23:00.000-04:002013-05-26T21:23:58.118-04:00The Death of ChristianityChrist's death was the most life changing, heaven and earth colliding moment of human history since the Creation of man.<br />
<br />
Heaven and earth were close,<br />
intermingled,<br />
indistinguishable,<br />
intertwined.<br />
The fate of all humanity was transformed in an instant, in an eternity.<br />
<br />
God, who is with us, who is for us, who is holding us, who is in us, died.<br />
<br />
Everything changed,<br />
for us.<br />
God never changes,<br />
for us.<br />
Our reality will never be the same. A door was revealed, an open door. It had been there all the time, but we couldn't see it until God himself came and revealed it. All that happened before and everything that was to happen since made sense in a new way because of his death and resurrection and the new life that He offers to each of us every day.<br />
<br />
There is hope for new life.<br />
There is hope in Christ.<br />
There is hope for us to live, really live.<br />
<br />There is hope for love and joy and peace and grace and mercy and forgiveness to be revealed through us, through the Holy Spirit in us reflecting the light that shone from heaven through the cross, through Christ.<br />
<br />
There are so many barriers that hinder that light from shining. We talk about shining our light and sharing the Good News. Of all the barriers, there is one that has arguably done the most damage to the Church's ability to share Christ with those who don't know him. <br />
<div class="headword" id="headword">
<h2>
<a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/christianity" target="_blank">Chris·tian·i·ty</a></h2>
<span class="main-fl"><em>noun</em></span> <span class="pr">\<span class="unicode">ˌ</span>kris-chē-<span class="unicode">ˈ</span>a-nə-tē</span></div>
<div class="dictButtons">
<div class="citeBtn_debug">
</div>
<div class="facebookBtn">
<span style="height: 20px; width: 71px;"></span></div>
</div>
<div class="sblk">
<div class="scnt">
1<span class="ssens"><strong>:</strong> the religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible as sacred scripture, and professed by Eastern, Roman Catholic, and Protestant bodies </span></div>
</div>
<div class="sblk">
<div class="scnt">
2<span class="ssens"><strong>:</strong> conformity to the Christian religion </span></div>
</div>
<div class="sblk">
<div class="scnt">
3<span class="ssens"><strong>:</strong> the practice of Christianity</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"> </span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">Being in the presence of the Almighty God has led some to fall on their faces, to shut up, to shine, to sing, to worship, to see, to dance, to live.</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">Christianity is designed by well-meaning people to draw others to God, to help people relate to God, and to give guidelines, provide a context for worshiping and serving God.</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">All of that sounds good and sounds helpful, but the one flaw is that it is designed by people.</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">Christianity is like a painting of Christ or a statue. It is a representation of Christ created by one for the benefit of another.</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">And, for as long as there has been a church, there have been those who have preferred enjoying the statue over knowing the Almighty God of the universe.</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">We tend to talk about different things. We either talk about the creators of the statue or we talk about the Creator of the Universe. "The founding pastor of our church was such a godly man. He was there when my son was sick. He was such a dynamic speaker, such a strong man."</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">We either talk about how the statue was carved out of a lump of stone or how our hearts were transformed from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. "We started with just a few families and then started meeting at the lodge and finally bought our own property and built this beautiful church."</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">We either talk about how the statue makes us feel or how God makes us feel. "When I come to church, I feel so loved, so accepted. I never feel better than when the team leads us in singing."</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">When times are hard, we either look to the statue or we look to God. "Why didn't someone from the church call? The sermons just don't connect with me. The music team just sounds flat. The programs don't meet our family's needs. Maybe we should visit some other statues."</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><b>Christianity must die</b></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">The statue must fall. Christianity must be undone. We cannot let anything detract from God, not even our beloved religion.</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">The system is broken. It doesn't work. It has never worked. It is just what we do. We create systems to replace relationships. We know that something is important and we don't want it to get messed up, so we create a system to protect it, provide it, or pass it down.</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">It didn't work. It doesn't work. It never works.</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">Christianity can't protect Christ, can't provide Christ, and can't pass down Christ to future generations.</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">At best it can protect an idea, provide a doctrine and pass down a beautiful building. But, it isn't worth the sacrifice. We lose more than we gain.</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">The system robs us of relationships. The system replaces relationships with programs. The system replaces intimacy with bureaucracy.</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">The best hope for the message of Christ to move forward is for Christians, those who know and love God, to know and love those around them.</span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens"><br /></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="ssens">Christ describes it this way, "</span><span class="text John-13-34" id="en-NASB-26665"><span class="woj">A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.</span></span> <span class="text John-13-35" id="en-NASB-26666"><span class="woj">By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."</span></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="text John-13-35" id="en-NASB-26666"><span class="woj"> </span></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="text John-13-35" id="en-NASB-26666"><span class="woj">Christianity must die, so that people are not distracted from Christ. The statue must be torn down, so that when people reject the model, they don't think that they are rejecting God.</span></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="text John-13-35" id="en-NASB-26666"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="text John-13-35" id="en-NASB-26666"><span class="woj">We must trust. Trust Christ to not let the church die. Trust ourselves to keep loving God without having a structure to protect us. Trust our children to not lose faith and forget the God who loves them.</span></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="text John-13-35" id="en-NASB-26666"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="text John-13-35" id="en-NASB-26666"><span class="woj">Let the Bible be our structure, not a building. Let the relationships that we have provide for us not the programs that we design. Let the presence of God in our lives pass on our faith to our children.</span></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="text John-13-35" id="en-NASB-26666"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="text John-13-35" id="en-NASB-26666"><span class="woj">God died, but He is not dead. </span></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="text John-13-35" id="en-NASB-26666"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="scnt">
<span class="text John-13-35" id="en-NASB-26666"><span class="woj">Now it is time for Christianity to die. Death is not the end. It will be a new beginning.</span></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-76200438102349588162013-05-10T15:18:00.001-04:002013-05-10T15:18:17.660-04:00When Knowing Hurts: The Case for Saying No to Knowledge<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Friends of ours went to Las Vegas and vowed never to take their kids there. "The images. They're unavoidable. And, once they get in your head, you can't get them out, so we don't want our kids to even see them." </div>
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<br /></div>
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Makes sense. <br />
<br />
We worried when our kids switched from a small private school to a public school. What would they be exposed to? What would they see and hear and be asked to do?</div>
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<br /></div>
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We talked with our kids about not being too
curious. "You may hear some things that you can guess are inappropriate, but you aren't sure what they mean. Don't ask. If you really want to know, come home and ask us. It may feel embarrassing but we would rather talk to you about embarrassing things and tell you the truth, the accurate truth, than have a friend tell you."<br />
<br />
We are all so curious about things that seem to be off limits. "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence," as they say. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I grew up very curious. Mostly it was a good trait, but it also got me in trouble.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As I watched sitcoms, I was always trying to figure out the double entendres, meant to conceal adult content from us kids who were watching.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My mind became accustomed to deciphering these, and eventually I would read them into comments that weren't meant to be inappropriate at all.<br />
<br />
Like when your grandma is talking about salad dressing and says, "I don't want it on the side. I like it on top." And, I want to say, "TMI, Grandma, TMI!"</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Cool Kids </b></div>
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<br /></div>
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It always seemed like the cool kids had inside jokes and understood sex, drugs, alcohol and the like before the rest of us. So, there was a tendency to think that knowing more about immoral or inappropriate things was what made someone popular.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unfortunately, that may be true to a degree... even among adults.</div>
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<br />
The lie behind this is an age-old one. Knowing is better than not knowing. It is better to be exposed to everything, so that we can make an informed choice.<br />
<br />
It takes so many different forms, it would be impossible to list them all. Someone is tempted to watch a PG, PG-13, R, or X rated movie. <br />
<br />
The old motto, "Try it, you'll like it" whether it be alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, or other drugs. Whatever is out of reach is desirable.<br />
<br />
I say it is age-old because it sounds like Adam and Eve, doesn't it? As the story goes, God tells them to enjoy the fruit of any tree in the garden except one, the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil". <br />
<br /></div>
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Why would it be knowledge that is off limits? Don't we equate "more knowledge" and "better"?<br />
<br />
<b>The Truth </b><br />
<br />
Paul shows us the underlying truth in Romans 1-2<br />
<br />
The Gospel is unfolding, being revealed. It is alive and penetrating. It brings life and healing and hope and peace and joy.<br />
<br />
The Gospel, the good news of Jesus' life and His death and the open door that we have to be with God, is revealed when people, like you and I, allow God to love others through us. (1:17)<br />
<br />
Our lives become a window through which others can see God at work in all of our lives.<br />
<br />
If we shut down. If we become closed to God. If we allow bitterness, sinfulness, or judgment to overshadow our lives. If we stop the Gospel from doing what it will always do, reveal itself, then we are fighting against God Himself.<br />
<br />
Paul talks about suppressing the truth, suppressing the Gospel, suppressing Christ by our wickedness, our sinfulness. (1:18)<br />
<br />
All those things that seem so enlightened, so compelling, so desirous, so eye-opening, that increased knowledge but was sinful has become a barrier and has actually led to the truth being suppressed.<br />
<br />
It sounds contradictory.<br />
<br />
More knowledge, in this case, suppresses the truth.<br />
<br />
<span class="text Rom-1-21" id="en-NRSV-27937">Romans 1:21-22 - for
though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to
him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds
were darkened. </span><span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938">Claiming to be wise, they became fools.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938">I love the way that is translated, "Claiming to be wise, they became fools."</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938"><br /></span>
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938">Isn't that what we all do at times. We get so tied up in wanting... needing to know so that we can be wise, only to realize that we have become the fool.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938"><br /></span>
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938">Information doesn't make us wise. Only obedience to Christ brings wisdom. And, obedience to Christ leads away from some knowledge. Not all knowledge. But definitely some knowledge.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938">Following God's will for our lives will not stop us from enjoying the things of this world. It will allow us to enjoy life more fully.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938">Do we really believe that? Sometimes, I do, but often I don't.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938"><br /></span>
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938">The lie is so compelling. I continue to believe that the more I know the better off I am. I justify it by thinking that I am limited by what I don't know and can always choose to ignore something I do know.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938"><br /></span>
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938">But in reality, some images, some experiences, some knowledge you can't easily shake. It sticks even when you don't want to. How do you un-see or un-feel or un-do something? You can't.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938"><br /></span>
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938">Obedience to Christ is revealing and experiencing sin suppresses the truth. </span><br />
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938"><br /></span>
<span class="text Rom-1-22" id="en-NRSV-27938">Our identity is in Christ, formed through obedience to Christ, and not formed by gaining knowledge of things that hinder and hurt us.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-90084458770743099372013-05-07T13:36:00.001-04:002013-05-07T13:36:51.101-04:00Time to Judge: a Biblical Perspective on Judging OthersThere's a great song by the Byrds, <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1e1ya_the-byrds-turn-turn-turn_music?start=51" target="_blank">"Turn! Turn! Turn!"</a> based on a great poem in the Bible. Thanks to the Byrds, many people memorized part of the Bible without even knowing it, including me.<br />
<br />
"A time to be born, a time to die<br />A time to plant, a time to reap<br />A time to kill, a time to heal<br />A time to laugh, a time to weep..."<br />
<br />
A time to judge isn't mentioned, but maybe it should be.<br />
<br />
We are surrounded by a culture that preaches tolerance. We are told not to judge others. We are told not to be prejudice.<br />
<br />
The church is often accused of being the most intolerant and judgmental group.<br />
<br />
There is a biblical precedent for us to follow. There is a balanced approach. There is hope.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ztTEVtvenlU/UYk3vUiDOEI/AAAAAAAAALI/z2-aFa72lWA/s1600/pinch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ztTEVtvenlU/UYk3vUiDOEI/AAAAAAAAALI/z2-aFa72lWA/s400/pinch.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
First, I agree that as a people, we need to see ourselves as part of a group that includes not excludes others. The more we can embrace one another as one of "Us" and not push one another away as one of "Them" the more this world will witness the love of God penetrating into our society.<br />
<br />
All not some. Impartiality not favoritism.<br />
<br />
Though, we all make judgments all the time. It is a necessary social skill. We judge others based on appearance, based on their ability to communicate, based on our relationship to them, based on their position of perceived power.<br />
<br />
It is right and good and helpful to judge in some ways. I will not begin to address the plethora of examples that exist when judging others is wrong. I will only address one general principal and then focus on how to judge others when we are given the responsibility to do so. <br />
<br />
<b>A Biblical Perspective on Judging Others</b><br />
<br />
If we see the Bible as a guide to teach us how to model our lives, then judging others is part of our responsibility. Part of our responsibility is to...<br />
<br />
Judge others as an expression of God's love.<br />
<br />
Let me say that again to let it sink in...<br />
<br />
Judge others as an expression of God's love.<br />
<br />
Here's the explanation and please let me know what you think in the comments. Let's work through this together.<br />
<br />
<b>Matthew 7:1-5-</b> <span class="text Matt-7-1">“<b>Do not judge, so that you may not be judged</b>. </span><b></b><span class="text Matt-7-2" id="en-NRSV-23319"><b>For with the judgment you make you will be judged</b>, and <b>the measure you give will be the measure you get</b>. </span><span class="text Matt-7-3" id="en-NRSV-23320">Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? </span><span class="text Matt-7-4" id="en-NRSV-23321">Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? </span><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NRSV-23322">You hypocrite, <b>first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.</b></span><span class="text Matt-7-1"><span class="woj"></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj">Jesus is pretty clear, "Do not judge </span></span><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><span class="text Matt-7-1">so that you may not be judged</span>."</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span>
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj">But, then, he seems to suggest that we will all judge. "</span></span><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><span class="text Matt-7-2" id="en-NRSV-23319">For with the judgment you make you will be judged</span>."</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span>
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj">In other words, He is expecting us to judge others and it is the way we judge others that we need to be concerned about.</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span>
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj">"</span></span><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><span class="text Matt-7-2" id="en-NRSV-23319">And the measure you give will be the measure you get</span>", so we need to choose a measure that is appropriate for judging.</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span>
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj">And, we need to "</span></span><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NRSV-23322">first take the log out of </span></span></span><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj">[our]</span></span><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NRSV-23322"> own eye, and then </span></span></span><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj">[we]</span></span><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NRSV-23322"> will see clearly to take the speck out of </span></span></span><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NRSV-23322"><span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj">[our] </span></span>neighbor’s eye</span>."</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span>
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj">So, we need to be humble. We need to examine ourselves and deal with our own sin. Then, still humbled, we can assist our neighbor with the speck of sin that is causing them pain and if left uncared for could cause them disease or loss of sight.</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span>
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj">Humbly, out of concern for our neighbor, we can offer to help them by judging them in love.</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span>
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj">Romans 2 faces the same question from another angle.</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-5" id="en-NIV-23322"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span>
<div class="chapter-1">
<span class="text Rom-2-1"><span class="chapternum"><b>Romans 2:1-6</b> </span>- Therefore
you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in
passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the
judge, are doing the very same things. </span><span class="text Rom-2-2" id="en-NRSV-27950">You say, “We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is <b>in accordance with truth</b>.” </span><span class="text Rom-2-3" id="en-NRSV-27951">Do
you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such
things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? </span><span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952">Or
do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience?
Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to
repentance? </span><span class="text Rom-2-5" id="en-NRSV-27953">But
by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself
on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. </span><span class="text Rom-2-6" id="en-NRSV-27954">For he will repay <b>according to each one’s deeds</b>. </span><span class="text Rom-2-11" id="en-NRSV-27959"></span></div>
<br />
<br />
First, God judges "in accordance with the truth." End of story. He is the only one who knows the whole truth, everything.<br />
<br />
We judge based on partial truth at best. At worst, we judge based on gossip and lies and manipulation.<br />
<br />
Second, we, too will be judged. Again, this reminds us to be humble and use a measure that we would choose for our own judgment.<br />
<br />
Third, we will be judged based on our deeds. We will be judged based on our actions, our words, our lives.<br />
<br />
For those of you who are accustomed to the Gospel, salvation through faith by grace, this may seem contradictory. But, it is not. We will be judged based on our deeds and it will be found that<br />
<br />
<span class="text Rom-3-10">There is no one who is righteous, not even one;</span><span class="indent-1"><span class="text Rom-3-11" id="en-NRSV-27988"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="indent-1"><span class="text Rom-3-11" id="en-NRSV-27988"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span>there is no one who has understanding,</span></span><br /><span class="indent-2"><span class="indent-2-breaks"> </span><span class="text Rom-3-11">there is no one who seeks God. - <b>Romans 3:10-11</b></span></span><br />
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11"><br /></span></span>
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">We all need grace and mercy. This is the measure that we must use when judging others.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">This may lead us to decide: "Forget it! I am just not going to judge anyone ever!"</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11"><b>Judging Is Loving </b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">1 Corinthians </span></span><span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">specifically </span></span><span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">addresses when we must judge. If we are to love, then we must judge. To not judge, is to not love.</span></span><br />
<b><span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11"><br /></span></span></b>
<span class="text 1Cor-5-9"><span class="text Rom-3-11"><b>1 Corinthians 5:9-13</b> -</span> I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral persons— </span><span class="text 1Cor-5-10" id="en-NRSV-28449">not
at all meaning the immoral of this world, or the greedy and robbers, or
idolaters, since you would then need to <b>go out of the world</b>. </span><span class="text 1Cor-5-11" id="en-NRSV-28450">But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who <b>bears the name of brother or sister </b>who is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber. Do not even eat with such a one. </span><b></b><span class="text 1Cor-5-12" id="en-NRSV-28451">For what have I to do with judging<b> those outside?</b> Is it not those who are<b> inside </b>that you are to judge? </span><span class="text 1Cor-5-13" id="en-NRSV-28452">God will judge those outside. <b>“Drive out the wicked person from among you.”</b></span><br />
<br />
<span class="text 1Cor-5-13" id="en-NRSV-28452">We are not to avoid immoral people, in order to do so, we would have to "go out of the world." That would preclude us from bringing God's love to the world.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="text 1Cor-5-13" id="en-NRSV-28452">We are to avoid spending time with immoral people who "[bear] the name brother or sister", who claim to be followers of Christ.</span><br />
<span class="text 1Cor-5-13" id="en-NRSV-28452"><br /></span>
<span class="text 1Cor-5-13" id="en-NRSV-28452">We are not to judge "those outside".</span><br />
<span class="text 1Cor-5-13" id="en-NRSV-28452"><br /></span>
<span class="text 1Cor-5-13" id="en-NRSV-28452">We are only to judge those "inside". We are to "drive out the wicked person from among [us]."</span><br />
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11"><br /></span></span>
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">This is key. We are not to judge the world, it's actions, it's laws, it's immorality, it's sin, it's customs, it's traditions, it's anything. We are not to judge.</span></span><br />
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11"><br /></span></span>
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">What good would it do anyway?</span></span><br />
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11"><br /></span></span>
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">If someone does not know Christ and is not thinking about Christ, why would he or she care what God thinks about their actions.</span></span><br />
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11"><br /></span></span>
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">Ask them. They don't care.</span></span><br />
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11"><br /></span></span>
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">The opportunity we have is to show them the love of Christ through our words and actions. We are to be Christ's ambassadors, to bring light to the darkness, be salt of the earth, fishers of men and women. Whatever picture works for you. That is our responsibility and privilege.</span></span><br />
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11"><br /></span></span>
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">We are not to judge those in the world. We are to love them.</span></span><br />
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11"><br /></span></span>
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">Now, about those who call themselves brother or sister.</span></span><br />
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11"><br /></span></span>
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">We must judge them. Why?</span></span><br />
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11"><br /></span></span>
<span class="indent-2"><span class="text Rom-3-11">God's judgment is always for the same purpose. Look back at Romans 2:4 - </span></span>"<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952">Do you despise the
riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize
that <b>God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance</b>?"</span><br />
<br />
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952">God's judgment and his kindness and his wrath and everything else that God does "is meant to lead [us] to repentance." When we judge others without love, without grace, without mercy, we are demonstrating that we despise his kindness.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952">We despise his kindness to us, forgetting how He has forgiven our sin.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952"><br /></span>
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952">We despise his kindness to others, forgetting that God's judgment is designed to lead them to repentance.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952"><br /></span>
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952">Matthew 18 concludes that if we attempt to address sin in the life of someone we love and are rejected, and then we bring a couple of elders and are rejected again, and then make the situation public to the whole church and still are rejected, then we are to treat the person as if they were an unbeliever.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952"><br /></span>
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952">In other words, if we humble ourselves, judge someone else in love, hoping to lead them to repentance for their benefit, and we do everything that the love of Christ compels us to do and they choose not to repent --- then we treat them as if they are not a brother or sister, not part of the church.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952"><br /></span>
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952">We treat them like they are of the world.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952"><br /></span>
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952">Which does not mean that we continue to judge them and condemn them and gossip about them.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952"><br /></span>
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952">It means that we no longer judge them. We stop judging them because we are not to judge those of this world.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952"><br /></span>
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952">It means that we love them with the love of Christ. It means that we go out of our way to show them God's love and kindness in hopes that it will lead them to repentance.</span><br />
<span class="text Rom-2-4" id="en-NRSV-27952"><br /></span>
Judge others as an expression of God's love.<br />
<br />
Judging others this way is obviously difficult and takes much love and time and commitment. It can only be done in relationship. Take heart. It can be done.<br />
<br />
By the grace of God, it can be done.<br />
Because this is the will of God, it can be done.<br />
<br />
"There is a time to judge and time to withhold judgment."Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-38456847923289036942013-05-01T19:10:00.000-04:002013-09-11T10:16:26.709-04:00The Future of the Church (and Volleyball)Volleyball is the most amazing sport I have ever played. The better I got at it, the higher the level of play I was in, the more I loved it. It never lost its shine, as they say.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LcrOSIUycPQ/UYFfxW_7ZZI/AAAAAAAAAK4/NJZjBBPCsGc/s1600/Anna+Volleyball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LcrOSIUycPQ/UYFfxW_7ZZI/AAAAAAAAAK4/NJZjBBPCsGc/s320/Anna+Volleyball.jpg" width="320" /></a>In the beginning, volleyball is about getting the ball over the net. Picture the 3 or 4 year old standing by the net trying to toss the ball over. Success!<br />
<br />
My son, Ethan, at 10 years old, could finally serve the ball from behind the line and get it over the net. Success!<br />
<br />
My first coaching gig at a small school, I taught girls who had never played the game. Ouch! Then, finally the ball would go over the net. Success!<br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eTFWvNfon0o/UYFfv42MZuI/AAAAAAAAAKo/KARpWi9WWkY/s1600/Anna+Volleyball+Set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eTFWvNfon0o/UYFfv42MZuI/AAAAAAAAAKo/KARpWi9WWkY/s320/Anna+Volleyball+Set.jpg" width="199" /></a><br />
In the beginning, volleyball is a lot like ping pong. The ball bounces all over the place until someone hopefully pushes it over the net (before the third hit).<br />
<br />
After playing for awhile, something strange happens. The goal is no longer to simply hit the ball over the net. You are trained not to return the ball, at least, not until the third hit. <br />
<br />
Bump, Set, Spike.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ClKBrIPTP7Q/UYFfwCsTE5I/AAAAAAAAAKs/1Bu1mo2ZErA/s1600/Anna+Volleyball+Spike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ClKBrIPTP7Q/UYFfwCsTE5I/AAAAAAAAAKs/1Bu1mo2ZErA/s320/Anna+Volleyball+Spike.jpg" width="161" /></a><br />
The better you are at volleyball, the more you rely on your team.<br />
The more important who your teammates are. <br />
The more important communication is.<br />
The more important trust is. <br />
<br />
It sounds a lot like church to me. <br />
<br />
There are plenty of buildings that are called churches. There are plenty of groups of people that call themselves members of a church.<br />
<br />
Some of them are focused on putting the ball over the net. They haven't learned to care for their teammates, to communicate and trust.<br />
<br />
But, some places are different.<br />
<br />
Church was designed by God to be a place for the love of God to be see-able, touch-able, taste-able.<br />
<br />
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."<br />
<br />
Like volleyball, the better you get at it, the more you will love it and value it. It will never lose its shine. Never.<br />
<br />
Home church for us has been that kind of church. There is love.<br />
<br />
Here's 3 ways you can tell you are part of a church: <br />
<br />
<b>1 - No Place to Hide</b><br />
<br />
My 14 year old, Katie, said yesterday that she likes our home church, "You don't have to be perfect. You can just be yourself."<br />
<br />
When you know everyone in church, there is no place to hide. When everyone in church fits in a home, life is intimate and shared. Everything is visible. You can either run away or be seen. You can't stay in the church without being known.<br />
<br />
Being known, being loved, being accepted for who you are. Welcome to church.<br />
<br />
Sin, too, is easy to see. So, we learn quickly not to try to hide it, but to confess it and look for support and guidance and grace. Confronting sin is a natural part of our own introspection and relationships with one another.<br />
<br />
<b>2 - Everything is Shared </b><br />
<br />
It is easy to rejoice with those who rejoice and grieve with those who
grieve because you know every single person from the infant to the
eldest. The infant's first words or first steps to the oldest person learning a new hobby are celebrated together. Love lost and hope dashed are mourned together.<br />
<br />
In church, you are not forgotten. Your pain is everyone's pain. Your victory is everyone's victory. Everything is shared.<br />
<br />
Giving and generosity flow from the growing relationships. When one person or family has a need, the whole church feels it. And, the giving flows outside the church, too. As you feel God's love and see how he provides for you through the church, there is less anxiety about providing for yourself and hording what you have. You are free to give to any one as they have need.<br />
<br />
The church frees you to love and share and give.<br />
<br />
<b>3 - Equality Among Members</b><br />
<br />
All members are valuable. Not for what they have to offer the church, but for who they are as people created in God's image.<br />
<br />
There is no place for politics<b> </b>in the church, no place for personal agendas, no place for power plays, no place for divisiveness or gossip. There are no winners or losers. No competition.<br />
<br />
All people in the church are there because they choose to be and want to be a part of the church. Jesus lifted up the littlest child and told the adults to learn from her, to have faith like her. Paul told a young man, Timothy, to set an example for others in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Those who are older are asked to train those who are younger.<br />
<br />
Everyone in the church is a gift to the church and can only fully blossom if they are fully engaged in and fully embraced by the church.<br />
<br />
<b>Relationships are the Key</b><br />
<br />
The key to it all is our relationships<b> </b>with one another. It comes back to volleyball. The members of our church are important, communication is important and trust is important.<br />
<br />
If you don't like the people in your church, can't communicate with them or don't trust them, then you are not part of a church. But you can be. God wants you to be.<br />
<br />
Keep looking. Don't give up.<br />
<br />
This is the only future for the church. The only way that will make the church relevant for this generation. There is no other plan. Be the church. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-86113398248703689262013-04-30T12:51:00.000-04:002014-09-19T10:12:17.777-04:00Lost Your Faith? It's Time to Rebuild, Part 2 - Building on the Foundation<br />
Our home has a pretty open floor plan. We like having less walls and more
room to run and play, laugh and dance. We throw balls and climb walls. When the
kids were smaller we had a basketball hoop tied to a pillar in our living room.
Check it out in the background of this cute picture of Rachel and Ryan.<br />
<br />
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We designed our home to be practical, usable, a place to have fun. <br />
<br />
In fact, we were able to design our home on the computer before it was
built. In the original plans, we wanted to have an open kitchen, dining room
and living room on the first floor with only one closed room with doors that
could serve as a bedroom for an elderly grandparent or parent if it was ever
needed.<br />
<br />
When the architect looked at our floor plan, he quickly saw the problem. We
had no support for the second floor. Unfortunately, if we didn’t put in posts
for support, we would have soon had a one story house. It would have collapsed
under its own weight.<br />
<br />
So, we compromised.<br />
<br />
That’s what we do, isn’t it. We have plans and dreams and hopes and desires.
Then, we face reality and we make choices. Some things are worth the extra
money, extra time, or extra work to have them just so, and other things aren’t.
They just aren’t that important.<br />
<br />
Some walls in our house are weight bearing walls; others are simply for
design purposes. Together they make up the structure of our house.<br />
<br />
Confuse the
two when we are doing remodeling and there can be big problems.<br />
<br />
The same can be said for our houses of faith. Assuming that we are building
on a solid foundation, <a href="http://stillwatersthewatermark.blogspot.com/2013/04/lost-your-faith-its-time-to-rebuild.html" target="_blank">(To see Part 1 of this series to learn more about a solid foundation, click here)</a> we need supporting walls. These are important truths
that aren’t foundational.<br />
<br />
In fact, a solid foundation is so singular, so precise, there is no room for most of our beliefs. Besides the foundational belief, everything else falls in one of two categories. beliefs are either structural or décor.<br />
<br />
<b>The Structure</b> <br />
<br />
What are these structural beliefs? Here are a few examples of what might be structural to you.<br />
<br />
(For some, these concepts might not have an impact on your faith and so for you they wouldn't be structural but rather part of the décor. For others, some of these beliefs may take priority over others. Those that take priority would be weight bearing walls.)<br />
<br />
Is the Bible inspired by God? Is it true? Does it contain errors and
misrepresentations of God, people, the earth, etc.? And to what extent?<br />
<br />
Was the world created in 7 literal days? Was it created over millions of
years? Was there a literal Adam and Eve or are they representations or symbols?<br />
<br />
Was Christ truly born of a virgin? Did he know that he was the Son of God
all His life or did he learn that as he grew up? What was the significance of
his baptism by John?<br />
<br />
What is our responsibility to the poor, to the outcast, to prisoners, to modern day slaves, to the mentally ill, to the physically disabled, to any who are oppressed?<br />
<br />
What is our responsibility to the world, to our countries, to our people, to our culture? Are we to evangelize with words or deeds or both? As citizens, what is our responsibility? Are we to vote if we are able?<br />
<br />
Will there be a rapture? Is the anti-Christ really coming? Will there be a
thousand years when Christ will reign on this earth? Or are these symbolic ways
to understand the end times?<br />
<br />
Our perspectives about communion, baptism, the church, the differences
between men and women, etc. are all structural beliefs. Some are more important
than others based on our perspective. <br />
<br />
These are our structural beliefs and though they change over time, they
give shape to our faith. Some years, we focus on activism. Others we lean inward for spiritual renewal and growth. Some years we focus on grief and healing. Others we lean toward celebration.<br />
<br />
Like my physical house, my house of faith has an open floor plan. I have
some main pillars for support, but lots of open spaces for conversation and
interaction. If we can agree on our foundation, I am not closed off to too many
ideas. I love discussing beliefs with others who have well-thought out floor
plans of faith.<br />
<br />
What your house of faith looks like, depends largely on how you answer this question: What beliefs are important to me? What beliefs, if they changed, would change how I perceive God, myself, and the world around me?<br />
<br />
My advice to you is to build slowly, methodically. Hold everything lightly with open hands. Begin forming your opinions but keep an open mind. And never be afraid to tear down one of these beliefs and start over. But, do so deliberately, lovingly. We want our homes and our house of faith to be inviting and welcoming. We want them to be a safe place for us and for others.<br />
<br />
If we have too many firm, unshakable beliefs, we might feel more secure, safer. We might feel like we are defending the true faith. But, what happens is we build lots of walls in our home. Our rooms become cramped and uncomfortable. Others don't feel welcome. And our faith house becomes a cold and uninviting place.<br />
<br />
Build your house of faith with love and grace.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Décor</b><br />
<br />
The décor is what makes us feel at home. If you live in a house,
think what it would be like if you removed all of your stuff and went to live
somewhere else. Then, someone buys the house and moves in all of their stuff.<br />
<br />
Is it the same house? Yes, of course.<br />
<br />
But, is it your home? No, not really.<br />
<br />
The furniture is different.<br />
The paintings are different.<br />
The feel is
different.<br />
The smell is different.<br />
It just isn’t home.<br />
That is what I mean by
décor.<br />
<br />
Décor is what makes your faith your own. If you and I took a multiple choice
test on what we believe, we may check the same boxes off. But, our faith is
still different.<br />
<br />
Faith is mysterious that way. It can be shared in the sense that we can journey together with others, grow together, enjoy their company, but we never have the same faith. Our faith is unique, personal.<br />
<br />
My house of faith is fit for me, right now. But over the years it has looked quite different. My tastes have changed. I like
to spend more time alone than I did 20 years ago. Where I used to wear vibrant
colors, I now enjoy more earth tones. As I have changed, my décor has changed.<br />
<br />
But, the house, the house has remained pretty much the same since seminary.<br />
<br />
I used to judge others based on my house of faith. I would assume that if others disagreed with me, it was because they were wrong and I was right. I didn't realize that their faith could be right for them though it was wrong for me.<br />
<br />
It sounds so much like relativism as I type it. But, it is something much more. It is the infinite ability of a loving God to meet each of us where we are and not just leave us there, but to guide and lead and love us toward Himself.<br />
<br />
Every person’s faith is unique. Each person’s relationship with Christ
develops differently over time based on things that we cannot quantify or
calculate.<br />
<br />
Every house of faith is unique, specific to the person who lives there.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Belief
Test: Which Belief Is Which</b><br />
<br />
If you aren't sure whether a belief is foundational, structural or décor,
take this simple test:<br />
<br />
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Is it worth dying for? Is it worth living for?<br />
Is it important? Does it add to my understanding of God, faith, and life?<br />
Is it something that makes me feel comfortable and feels fresh and new?<br />
<br />
My foundation is worth dying for.<br />
<br />
Almost all of the apostles and many Christians to this day, have been
martyred for their faith because they would not deny their foundation. Some
report that more have been killed in the past century than at any other time in
history. By one estimate, the year 2000 was the peak at 160,000 martyred for
their faith in Christ. (The report acknowledges that the faith of individuals
cannot be determined with certainty, so they calculate how many were killed
because they were believed to be Christians.)<br />
<br />
My foundation is also worth living for. I can spend the rest of my life in
the service of Christ, sharing the good news of eternal life, the Gospel and I won't regret it. I won't.<br />
<br />
But, my structure… not so much.<br />
<br />
I wouldn’t choose to die to defend the right to have an abortion or a law
making it illegal to have one. I wouldn’t die for Creation vs. the Big Bang, the
virginal conception of Christ, a method of baptism, or details about communion.<br />
<br />
My structural beliefs are real and important because they help me to make
sense of my life and my faith. But, they are not worth living or dying for.<br />
<br />
My décor? I hate even wasting breath on those. I could argue for or against
them. Based on the time of day or what I had for dinner last night, I could
argue either side depending on who wanted to argue with me. It just isn’t worth
it. They make me feel comfortable. They bring a smile to my face. They are not important.<br />
<br />
<b>Throughout History</b><br />
<br />
Denominations split over structural beliefs. Churches divide over décor. Individuals leave churches over décor. Rarely do we ever find ourselves arguing over foundational truths.<br />
<br />
<b>What Now?</b><br />
<strong></strong><br />
Check your foundation. Do you have a relationship with Christ? <a href="http://stillwatersthewatermark.blogspot.com/2013/04/lost-your-faith-its-time-to-rebuild.html" target="_blank">(To see Part 1 of this series to learn more about a solid foundation, click here)</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1213013515784513282" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>The fastest and simplest way to build your structural beliefs is to read the Bible and pray. Study the Bible. As you read, listen to the Holy Spirit guiding you. What resonates with your soul? What makes you feel alive and refreshes your soul?<br />
<br />
When you lose your faith, it is normal to give up or feel lost and confused. Be patient with yourself. Rebuild your faith slowly and deliberately. Find some friends and let them be your church, your fellow journeyers in the faith.<br />
<br />
There will be some rough times ahead. Be gracious to yourself and others. Your new house of faith might look quite different than what used to be acceptable to your old friends.<br />
<br />
Give them time to adjust as you grow and change.<br />
<br />
Don't build your walls to shut people out. Build them to welcome people and invite them in. As your house of faith takes shape you will be more and more comfortable with it. But, don't wait until its finished before you have guests.<br />
<br />
May God bless you as you build. He is faithful and will guide you.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-35564707855927023032013-04-29T14:02:00.000-04:002014-09-19T09:56:29.582-04:00Lost Your Faith? It's Time to Rebuild - Part 1 - The Foundation<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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If you are able to read this, then my confident belief is
that you have faith. I agree with James Fowler and many other experts in the
field of faith development…</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">"I believe faith is a human universal." (from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stages-Faith-Psychology-Development-Meaning/dp/0060628669" target="_blank">Stages of </a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stages-Faith-Psychology-Development-Meaning/dp/0060628669" target="_blank">Faith</a>)</span></span></div>
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If it is true that we all have faith, then I believe that it is also true that all of us have had or will have serious doubts about our faith. <br />
<br />
When we realize that we have put our faith in the wrong things or the wrong people, we come to a crisis of faith. We have to choose what to keep and what to throw away. And, sometimes, we have to start all over from scratch.<br />
<br />
Do you feel like you've lost your faith?<br />
<br />
Do you wonder what is true, what is real?<br />
<br />
Do you want to start over, but don't know how? <br />
<br />
This is a guide to rebuilding your faith, when you realize that you have based your life on a faith that is a lie. When you realize that you no longer have faith in the things you used to believe.<br />
<br />
<b>Re-Building a House of Faith</b><br />
<br />
When I talk about faith, I like to use the illustration
of a house. A house has a foundation, structure, and
décor.</div>
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If you build a new foundation, it is
because you want to build a new house. So, it is important to make sure the foundation
is solid before you start building. That way the house will last a lifetime.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In house building, you usually start with the blueprints, the layout of the house that you want and then you build a foundation to fit under and support it</div>
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Not so with a house of faith.<br />
<br />
A house of faith can only be built once you have chosen a foundation. This is the first level of your faith. It is where you must begin. Your first choice. <br />
<br />
If you feel like you have lost your faith, you may recognize something from this list that you had put your faith in.</div>
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<br /></div>
Myself - Talent, Intellect, Charisma<br />
Religion - Superstition, Idolatry, Rituals, Tradition
<br />
My Feelings - Love, Revenge
<br />
Others’ Expectations - Parents, Teachers, Friends, My Own
<br />
Financial Security - Work, Wealth, Inheritance, the Lottery
<br />
Logic - Science, Reason, Education, Training
<br />
Personal Righteousness - Purity, Perfectionism, Comparison to Others
<br />
Heritage - Ancestry, Family Name
<br />
Political Power - Manipulating Others for Personal Gain
<br />
Strength - Physical Power, Emotional Distance
<br />
Fame<br />
<br />
Did you find something there that you had trusted? Something that proved to be false and untrustworthy?
<br />
We tend to trust what seems to work.
We trust our senses, our education, our parents or our tradition. We trust
ourselves and whatever gives us the illusion of being in control.<br />
<br />
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Whether we feel that we have these things or just are working toward them, we can easily be deceived and think that these things are worthy of our trust. So, we put our faith in them.</div>
<br />
We all have a tendency to put our faith in the wrong
things. When we do, we wind up having a weak foundation for our house of faith. When the storms of life come, our houses can easily crumble.
<br />
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<br /></div>
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I am a Christian, so I truly
believe that the only solid foundation is the Gospel message, a relationship
with Christ. I believe that any other foundation, at best, is incomplete and at worst is a complete lie.<br />
<br />
If you disagree, please bear with me. Look at that list above. People have put their faith in everyone of those things. Each one is dependent on people. People fail. We fail. I fail. You fail. Putting our complete trust in a person, even ourselves, can't work.<br />
<br />
If we build our lives on trusting a person, our faith will be broken and we will have to rebuild... again. And, if you are thinking about rebuilding now or have had to in the past, you know how painful it is, how confusing it is and how the sooner we can start building on the right foundation, the better.</div>
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<br /></div>
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A foundation built on a lie is like building on sand. The
house can be perfectly formed with beautiful architecture and magnificently
decorated. But, the first sign of a major storm, of waves or a strong wind and the
whole house crumbles. Without a firm foundation, the house has no anchor, no strength.</div>
<br />
But, a foundation built on the truth of Christ is like
building on solid rock that cannot be shaken. Storms, waves, wind cannot
destroy what has been built.<br />
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Solid Foundation</b></div>
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<br /></div>
Our only hope for a solid foundation is a relationship with Christ. This is based on the immeasurable, matchless love that God has for us all and His infinite grace.<br />
<br />
When we surrender our need to control and figure out and manipulate and twist and turn, <br />
<br />
When we see that all that we do to make a sure foundation is faulty and twisted by our own sinfulness,<br />
<br />
When we admit that we are too weak to even try to build a new foundation, we are starting to get close.<br />
<br />
We realize that we are overwhelmingly broken and hurting and in need and we cry out to God and say, I can't rebuild. I have lost faith. I have lost hope. <br />
<br />
I can't go on.<br />
I can't try again.<br />
I can't even begin.<br />
I just can't.<br />
<br />
Then, we are ever so close. It is here that God meets us. It is here that God who has loved us each moment of our lives pours out His love and grace and offers us His son, Jesus Christ.<br />
<br />
Jesus, who was sinless Himself, laid down His life. Though many cried out, "Crucify him!" and others nailed him to the cross, no one took his life from him.<br />
<br />
He laid it down.<br />
<br />
He gave his life freely, because of his love and the love of His Father. He chose death, so that we could have life.<br />
<br />
He laid down his life and then he picked it back up. He died to pay the penalty for our sins and then he rose again so that we too might one day rise again to have life, to be forever with the Father.<br />
<br />
This is the foundation. Receiving the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.<br />
<br />
This gift is the only solid foundation. It is a gift, freely given and must be received to be enjoyed.<br />
<br />
Any other foundation is built on us, our efforts, our abilities, our strength.<br />
Every other foundation will fail because we fail. We sin.<br />
Christ and his love never fail. His grace is enough.<br />
<br />
This is the foundation that we all can depend on.<br />
<br />
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If
you want this foundation but need more help in receiving it, it is spoken about throughout <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/" target="_blank">the Bible</a>. Read the book of Romans and ask God to reveal to you the truth of
the Gospel.
He is faithful and will gladly receive you, forgive you and give you
eternal
life.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rom%203:23&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 3:23</a> - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rom%206:23&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 6:23</a> -<span class="text Rom-6-23" id="en-ESV-28076"><sup class="versenum"> </sup>For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2010:8-13&version=ESV" target="_blank">Romans 10-8-13</a> - “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”<br />
<br />
There is no magic prayer to pray or special ceremony. But, if you choose to rebuild your house of faith on the foundation of a relationship with Christ. A prayer like this might be helpful to you:<br />
<br />
"God, I have tried. I have tried to trust and to believe, but my house of faith is not strong. It is weak because I have sinned. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins. I believe. I believe that He died to give me the gift of eternal life. So, I choose to put my trust in him and to receive that gift. I trust you to help me build a house of faith that is true and real and will last for my entire life. I trust you. In Jesus, my Savior's name, I pray, Amen."<br />
<br />
(Please leave a comment or contact me if you want more help in understanding this
good news. It has transformed my life, and it can yours as well.)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://stillwatersthewatermark.blogspot.com/2013/04/lost-your-faith-its-time-to-rebuild_30.html" target="_blank">Part 2 of this blog talks about the structure and decor of your house of faith. Click here. </a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-58504771305645983702013-04-25T15:04:00.001-04:002013-04-25T15:04:33.458-04:00Losing Faith: The Best Thing that Could Have Happened to Me<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Going to College</b></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">When I left high school</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">, I was a leader in my church youth group. I had brought people to youth group with me. Our youth group leader had led some of them to Christ, and I was confident in my faith.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I arrived at college a couple of weeks early to try out for the soccer team, so the place was pretty much deserted. Parties were held every night, but alcohol wasn't appealing to me, so I spent a lot of time alone.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Current research out of the Fuller Youth Institute suggests that the first two weeks of college are crucial for students. Most students will fall into some temptation or other, but how they deal with it, who they talk to about it and how much they dwell on it can set the tone for the rest of their time away from home.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">After classes started for real, I wanted to make some friends, but I felt completely out of my element. So I decided to go out partying with a friend from high school. I still didn't drink, but I didn't know what else to do, so I went along and became the designated driver. </span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">One time, there were eight or nine of us heading to a party. So, my friend from high school hopped in the trunk and rode to the party.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">That was the most memorable thing that happened that night. The party was boring. I played quarters, a drinking game, but I drank shots of Sprite. It was stupid. The atmosphere was bizarre and kind of surreal. I felt totally out of place and had no desire to do what it took to feel "in place".</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">At the next party, I found myself wandering around on the street outside a frat house. They had supposedly spiked the punch with pure grain alcohol that wouldn't leave any alcohol taste. They had two flavors and kept serving my friends grape instead of cherry. They figured that the alcohol was only being served to the frat guys and the girls because none of my friends were getting drunk. So, I offered to get a cup, assuming that I could taste the alcohol or more quickly feel the effects of it since I was a non-drinker.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I couldn't taste anything and didn't feel a buzz. I told them they were probably being pranked and went outside to walk around.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I found another non-drinker, Antoine, who was also looking to make friends.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">We ate some donuts, began talking and stopped going to parties.We had found what we were looking for. We made another friend, Pete and eventually we all became suite mates.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
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Pete and I found a church and joined a couple of Christian clubs on campus. I felt confident that I had survived the transition to college without losing my faith.<br />
<br />
<b>House of Faith </b><br />
<br />
I like to use the analogy of a house when I talk about faith. It takes time to build. We each build our homes differently based on lots of variables from life experience to personality to circumstances.<br />
<br />
And a house has three <span style="font-family: inherit;">important </span>aspects: the foundation, the structure and the <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">décor</span></span></span>.<br />
<br />
I was sure that I had a firm foundation. Unfortunately, I was inexperienced and had little
understanding of my faith. So, I began to build out instead of up. </div>
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</div>
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Like an untrained builder, I was building my house away from the foundation. It hung off the edges and was supported by my
intellect, personality, wit and logic. I was trusting in the wrong things. I
was trusting largely in myself and my ability to understand and interpret the
teaching of others. I became the judge of what was right and wrong.<br />
<br />
(I looked for a picture on the internet of a house built hanging out away from a solid foundation, but there aren't any. I guess that's because no one does that. Here's one interesting picture I found, though.)<br />
<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://favim.com/orig/201108/12/bed-dreams-house-hanging-house-nature-open-house-Favim.com-121394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="bed, dreams house, hanging house, nature, open house" border="0" src="http://favim.com/orig/201108/12/bed-dreams-house-hanging-house-nature-open-house-Favim.com-121394.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">http://favim.com/image/121394</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I could explain my points and “win” some arguments. </div>
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Then I had the talk <a href="http://stillwatersthewatermark.blogspot.com/2013/04/who-am-i-apart-from-church-that-misled.html" target="_blank">(which I mentioned in an earlier blog, click here)</a> with my father, an ongoing conversation that lasted for a whole summer.<br />
<br />
That conversation shook my house of faith. It washed away all of the things that
had no foundation and damaged the structural integrity of those things that
did. I wasn’t sure what I could trust, what was real.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I learned to trust my intellect from my Dad. And my intellect and his intellect led us to different places. </div>
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I felt paralyzed by fear. I was afraid to think that I had been wrong. I was afraid to think that I had wasted so much of my life and energy on lies. <br />
<br />
In time, I discovered that my foundation
was unshaken, undamaged. I still believed in Christ. I still had a relationship with
Christ. And, that was the realization I needed in order to have the courage to keep going. I tore down the
rest of the house and started over.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I began to rebuild my house of faith. I read the Bible
through from beginning to end. I started paying closer attention to what I was
being taught. I checked things with Scripture. I had not learned the difference
between exegesis, drawing conclusions out from the Scripture, and eisegesis,
reading one’s ideas into the Bible, (e.g. drawing conclusions and then finding
Scripture to support it). So, I still was making lots of assumptions, but I was sticking closer to my foundational beliefs.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Losing Faith, Again</b><br />
<br />
So, my second house of faith was more carefully built.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In seminary, post-graduate training for a life as a pastor, I found myself in another storm. Even after what I had been through
the first time, I wasn't ready for this.<br />
<br />
I knew that my professors were incredibly intelligent. I believed that they loved Christ. And yet, they were telling me that many of the things I had been taught in church and Sunday School were untrue.<br />
<br />
They taught me to study the Bible as literature. They taught me new ways of understanding the inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture. They taught me to question everything that I had learned up to that point.<br />
<br />
I realized that so much of what I believed was based on other people’s
opinions and interpretations of the Scripture rather than a prayerful, careful study of them. In
seminary, I learned that there are many different ways to interpret the Bible and
each way was inadequate to grasp the richness and wonder and glory of God.<br />
<br />
They taught me to stop striving for the right answers and start striving for honest answers.<br />
<br />
I learned to say, "That's not really clear from Scripture. There are different views on that. My best understanding is..."<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">God is an Ocean</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">To use a different analogy, as a teen, I was taught about
the ocean, that is God, and thought that I had grasped it. I was taught about its vastness and its power. I was taught how to understand it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">After my conversation with my Dad, I began to visit the ocean, to feel the breezes, smell the salt filled air, and put my feet in the wet sand. I met artists on the beach painting seascapes and eventually I even started trying to capture it for myself.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">In seminary, I learned to swim.
I gave up the hope of ever capturing the ocean with my ideas or pictures, and I embraced its greatness
and enjoyed exploring its beauty. I let it wash over me and envelop me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The ocean is powerful. Most days, I stay close to the shore afraid of what the deep waters might bring. But, some days I feel brave, I trust God a little more, and I lose sight of the land for a little while. I like those days... when all there is is God. (Writing about it now is making me long for it. I need to plan my next trip.)</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qL7Ofx7mIP4/UXlm3strK9I/AAAAAAAAAJw/TNSARvG-nEs/s1600/Picture32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qL7Ofx7mIP4/UXlm3strK9I/AAAAAAAAAJw/TNSARvG-nEs/s640/Picture32.jpg" width="586" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katie frolicking in Washington, on the Pacific Coast</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
So, with the help of my professors, I tore down
my house of faith again. This time, I knew the foundation was good. I even kept some of the weight bearing walls. My
relationship with Christ was strong. It had stood the test of time. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And, then, over three years, they taught me how to build.
I was free to build and shape my house however I wanted. Each paper I wrote,
each discussion in class, and each personal encounter about some theological
concept or practical ministry decision was an opportunity for them to show me the strength and weakness of my construction.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
They taught me to know the limitations of my understanding and my theology, to hold my ideas
with humility and grace. They helped me to see how my personality, experiences,
and upbringing led me to certain beliefs. Others with different
backgrounds were led in other ways.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
My way wasn’t the right way and the other way wrong. Each had
its strengths and weaknesses. Each was incomplete. But, they both provided shelter,
security and a way to understand the world around us. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
After having my house torn down twice already, I was afraid to build anything. They
helped me get over my fear of saying, “I believe…” this or that. To begin construction again. But, they also
helped me to engage with other beliefs without fear of losing my own faith.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
After 21 years in ministry, my house of faith is still
standing on the rock, the true foundation, Jesus Christ. I have moved some walls and definitely changed the <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">décor</span></span></span>, but</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
my faith is secure.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I appreciate the shelter that it provides, trusting God
to hold me even if the walls fall again.<br />
<br />
Our God is faithful. He will carry us through every trial. He only tears down our faith so that he can rebuild it again, stronger.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-66107917691113999692013-04-18T11:46:00.000-04:002013-04-18T11:46:57.483-04:00Enjoy Each Moment: 9+ Reasons to KneelTo fall to your knees is a sign of submission. It is an admission of
inferiority, of weakness. When you kneel before a king, you acknowledge
that you are subject to him. After a defeat in war or because of your
position in life, kneeling was a sign that your life was in the hands of
the one to whom you are bowing.<br />
<br />
If you have been a Christian for some time, getting down on your knees may remind
you of praying. But, for everyone else, you probably think about discomfort: scrubbing the kitchen floor, getting down to work under a car, or picking up broken glass off the tile floor. Kneeling means work.<br />
<br />
But some of the greatest moments we have in life require us to kneel.<br />
<br />
Here are some of the best reasons to get down on your knees. <br />
<br />
1 - To play in the sand.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w1_1LeH21Zc/UXANJz0qmTI/AAAAAAAAAIM/rZB5mW93mAY/s1600/Picture17.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="371" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w1_1LeH21Zc/UXANJz0qmTI/AAAAAAAAAIM/rZB5mW93mAY/s400/Picture17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
2 - To find that perfect book from the bottom shelf.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MZO1HIvY3BU/UXAQqQNHQZI/AAAAAAAAAJY/229j31u4eW8/s1600/IMG_4151.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MZO1HIvY3BU/UXAQqQNHQZI/AAAAAAAAAJY/229j31u4eW8/s320/IMG_4151.JPG" width="294" /></a></div>
<br />
3 - To look her in the eye.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dthNzdQc8DM/UXAQUQhN6wI/AAAAAAAAAJE/Zm5iM6ERMHc/s1600/IMG_4003.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dthNzdQc8DM/UXAQUQhN6wI/AAAAAAAAAJE/Zm5iM6ERMHc/s320/IMG_4003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
4 - To propose to your wife.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/m4o3p9tPS3o" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
5 - To skip a rock across a pond.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LVR9gIMwbGs/UXANwxZzIrI/AAAAAAAAAIs/PdPOO18nGLc/s1600/IMG_2018.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LVR9gIMwbGs/UXANwxZzIrI/AAAAAAAAAIs/PdPOO18nGLc/s320/IMG_2018.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
6 - To wrestle.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gqUJ3LGpeBw/UXAP2ghHsRI/AAAAAAAAAI4/Ww07pNDtJ2E/s1600/IMG_5436.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gqUJ3LGpeBw/UXAP2ghHsRI/AAAAAAAAAI4/Ww07pNDtJ2E/s400/IMG_5436.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
7 - To make a new friend.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y-clgJ8PKlw/UXANYBA2UnI/AAAAAAAAAIc/1pFlRglfrXY/s1600/Picture166.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="361" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y-clgJ8PKlw/UXANYBA2UnI/AAAAAAAAAIc/1pFlRglfrXY/s400/Picture166.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
8 -To get just the right angle.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zuT45fOgfFQ/UXANaWEisnI/AAAAAAAAAIk/x2L-wnFykxs/s1600/colleen+camera.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zuT45fOgfFQ/UXANaWEisnI/AAAAAAAAAIk/x2L-wnFykxs/s400/colleen+camera.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
9 - To play with your Buddy.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a-o4Yxuln6U/UXANJ3xQnWI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/XQmZAHMqQvc/s1600/DSCN1229.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a-o4Yxuln6U/UXANJ3xQnWI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/XQmZAHMqQvc/s400/DSCN1229.JPG" width="295" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
And, as I mentioned before, to pray and to thank God for the ability to get back up again.<br />
<br />
When we kneel down to enjoy the moment, we slow down and are reminded of what makes this life worth living. <br />
<br />
If
we can remember the love that caused us to get down on our knees in the
first place, we will remember why we need to get up and keep going.<br />
<br />
Life is good. Enjoy each moment. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213013515784513282.post-83554018998628055522013-04-17T11:07:00.002-04:002013-04-17T11:36:39.958-04:00Message Received: Thank You Brennan Manning for a Grace Well Lived<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Brennan Manning died Friday morning on April 12, 2013. He revolutionized my view of grace. He unabashedly revealed his sins without glorifying them in the least. He talked openly about his weakness and failures. </div>
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He wrote about sinful actions. He was an alcoholic. But, he also wrote about his sinfulness as a person. His lying and deception, his character flaws. he didn't portray himself as a good guy who messed up a little or even a lot.</div>
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He portrayed himself as a sinner through and through. It rocked my world and helped me to face my own sinfulness.</div>
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But, he didn't wallow in it or let us, his readers, wallow. He persistently pointed us to Christ to receive grace and forgiveness. He led us there with child-like honesty and vulnerability.</div>
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He showed us the power of grace to transform our lives and invited us to join him in a new way of living. (<a href="http://stillwatersthewatermark.blogspot.com/2013/03/confessions-of-pastor-part-2.html" target="_blank">Here is my story of receiving that grace in a previous blog</a>.)</div>
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Church can sometimes be a place where grace is mentioned but not lived.</div>
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I did my dissertation on the spiritual development of children raised in church culture. One of the young ladies I interviewed talked about her initial rejection of and eventual acceptance and appreciation of Brennan Manning's <i>Ragamuffin Gospel</i>. Here is some of my interview with her: </div>
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"I read [<i>Ragamuffin Gospel</i>] and this is literally what I said
at the end, “This book is a joke, this isn’t true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You shouldn’t be allowed to mess up like this
and then be able to write about it and make other people think it’s okay.”</div>
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That was my impression of that book and I couldn’t understand
what anybody saw in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought it was
absolutely wrong and that nobody…you shouldn’t promote things like that.</div>
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And then, I got pregnant and when I got pregnant before I
was married, all of a sudden I got that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ragamuffin
Gospel</i> and now I get it because it’s not about, it’s not about perfect
people and what he said in that book, the Gospel is not for perfect
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is for alcoholics, it is for
drug addicts and it is for people who have premarital sex and all these other
things.</div>
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That is what Jesus came for, and yet I grew up in a home
where it was – it’s not that you earned your salvation, but it was just that
constant, you have to be perfect and you don’t accept people…</div>
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“Well she did (this and that) so we’re not friends with them
anymore.” </div>
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“We don’t talk to them, they do this.” </div>
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I wish I had grown up with the acceptance of people who had
flaws, as opposed to this rejection of people who had any sort of flaws."</div>
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Interviewer - Do you feel like you actually adopted that
belief [of judging people and expecting perfection] based on your response to
the Ragamuffin Gospel.</div>
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"Absolutely, ...[my husband] and I went to marital counseling a
year and a half ago, ... and I was so set for this man to sit and tell [my husband]
everything that was wrong with his family, cause there were glaring issues, and
he actually got me to realize that I had adopted exactly what my parents did to
me, which was reject everybody if there’s something. If somebody has an issue,
you reject that person, and just that perfection and that lack of love.</div>
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And it actually started a year long journey, which is very
difficult when you have children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
just sort of finding for me what love actually is. Whoa, forget it, children
and marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just sort of,
it’s huge and it was an absolute break in the way that I have viewed the world
for, up to that point, 30 years.</div>
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It was a massive change of a world view and absolutely I had
adopted that, probably unknowingly, because what’s the [hardest mask to realize
you are wearing] “You’re doing what’s right.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So why would I ever doubt what I was doing was wrong because I was doing
what was right. </div>
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So you’re trying to do what’s right…. “Of course I have my
flaws but it was always within reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You know, it wasn’t a really bad flaw, it was just a minor flaw and not
as bad as that person over there.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
type of situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So yeah, yeah, I
definitely did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I adopted [their
judgmentalism and rejection of anyone who wasn’t perfect]."</div>
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Brennan Manning was a great guy, don't get me wrong. But, he didn't transform this young woman's life.</div>
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The grace of God transformed her life.</div>
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And, Brenning Manning's willingness to share his story of receiving that grace was a window that she could look through. And when she looked through that window, she rejected Brennan, but when she saw her own reflection in that window, her life was changed.</div>
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Rather than choosing to reject herself and run from God for fear of more rejection, she opened herself to receive His love and forgiveness, to embrace the Gospel of grace.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06428173204782720565noreply@blogger.com0