Home Fires

There is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you all are one in Christ Jesus
Galatians 3: 28 NKJV

Like most, I watched the events unfolding this past week with disgust and sadness.  Disgust because I saw the video.  I saw the video of the final moments of a mans life choked away by someone who  did not see him as human much less a child of God.  Sadly, that is where we are as a society today.  The death of one George Floyd sparked outrage across the nation, as it should have.  Life is not so cheap that it has no value to a majority of Americans.  I watched the video with sadness because I know all too well the area where Mr. Floyd was murdered.  I lived in Minnesota for over 30 years of my life, and the area continues to hold a place in my heart.  That being said, during my time in Minneapolis, it was definitely understood that there were certain areas of the city where you just didn't go unless you were looking to fuel a addiction or for a porn shop.  South Lake Street was one of those areas.  As I watched the scenes of the unrest in Minneapolis, I realized that not much had changed since I left that city.  Prominent among the businesses along Lake Street were the local liquor stores.  As Minneapolis burned, there was a steady stream of people running in and out of one liquor store or another looting booze.  I guess they couldn't find a electronics store anywhere.  What grieves me about this situation isn't so much the callous nature by which George Floyd died, but how we as a society have chosen to segregate our Lords creation.  Instead of being Gods children, we are now black, white Democrat, Republican etc.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that God has been almost fully removed from our everyday lives.  During the coverage of the unrest in our cities, I heard hardly a whisper of how we needed to remain calm and seek the Lord in this time of grief.  This is where we stand as a society.  I think of the scriptural warnings of what we see happening {Isaiah 5:20-21}.  This is not a race issue, but a human issue.  The truth is that we as a people have more in common than we do our differences.  We are all part of the same lineage and inheritance {1 John 3:12}.  I don't expect others to follow what it is I believe, only that when we look in that mirror we all see the image of Christ Jesus gazing back at us {Galatians 2:20}.

If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
1 John 4: 20 NKJV

I read on social media this week the words of a local pastor I know apologizing to his African American brethren for the treatment they have received.  I thought to myself...you hypocrite!  You stand in the pulpit week after week speaking to the fact that we are all Gods children, and then you marginalize His children by segregating them into man made divisions.  I agree that there is evil in racism, there always has been.  Racism is simply mans effort to shove a wedge between ourselves and others.  To hear it coming from the pulpit is pretty disturbing to me.  I am not foolish enough to believe that God stands in favor of segregating His children.  One look into the scriptures will show anyone that God is about our union in Christ Jesus and Himself {John 17:21}.  One of our most iconic scriptures assures us of this by reminding us that Christ Jesus came that ALL might be saved {John 3:16-17}.  It is exactly in times such as these where we need to be reminded of all which we have in common.  Most notably is who it is that we truly are inside.  The apostle Paul assures us that when we look upon our brethren we will never see a division based upon the color of our skin or our own political beliefs.  What we will see is that we all have within us the Spirit of Christ Jesus who lives in us {Galatians 2:20}.  When we have this realization, we begin the process of seeing those around us not by their outward appearances, but by He who is in all of us.  There is no black.  There is no white.  There is only Christ.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1: 27 NKJV

~Scott~

The Lie

Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die'"  "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Genesis 3: 4 - 5 NKJV

A lot has been said of "the fall" in Christian teaching.  That moment when Eve, deceived by the serpent, ignored Gods warning and took of the fruit of that she had been told not to.  It was at that moment where our lives changed forever.  Gone was the identity we once had with the Lord, or so it seemed.  At that moment we entered into a life of separation from God, of constantly trying to gain His approval and to make up for what we had done.  I wasn't there that day, but I still felt the guilt.  Guilty by association.  For if I indeed shared in Adams lineage, then I also share in his punishment.  So, I went through life constantly trying to make up for what Adam had done.  Thanks to him, I was a sinner {Romans 3:23}.  But wait, what if I were to tell you that you haven't been told the entire story about that infamous day?  What if I told you that the lie Satan put on Eve still resonates today in Christian teachings?  This isn't some heresy or anti Christian viewpoint, but simply the part of the story of the fall which we are seldom told.  We may believe that the lie told by Satan the deceiver is true, that we need to spend the rest of our days trying to make up for the mistakes of the garden.  However, nothing could be further from the truth.  First off, Christ Jesus came to eliminate that sin debt we once carried {John 3:16}.  I admit that most all Christians know this truth, yet still feel the weight of guilt for their sins.  Why?  Because in our hearts we know that God cannot be in the presence of sin.  Being sinners, we also believe that it is our sins which separate us from God.  This belief works out very well...for the accuser.  Satan is fine with our belief that we are somehow separated from God, for this steals away our Hope.  Now, let me ask you, if you knew someone who constantly lied to you, would you keep on believing them?  Not me.  Yet that's what we are doing every time we believe in the lies of our accuser.  That's what they are...lies.  The truth is, we are not separated from God.  The apostle Paul assures us of this in Galatians where he reveals the truth of Christ Jesus in us {Galatians 2:20}.  So, do you still believe in the lie?

Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.  Death no longer has dominion over Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives; He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV

It was difficult for me to accept the truth for some time as well.  I knew that I was a sinner, and that I had a lifetime of repentance to look forward to.  I also believed that God was constantly watching me for whatever sin I might indulge in.  As funny as it seems, this is the teaching I grew up in.  It's also the Christian teaching which is being spoken today.  The tipping point for me came in a Easter Sunday sermon where a pastor I looked up to asked people to confess their sins immediately after preaching on the forgiveness of Jesus.  It all sounded a bit hypocritical to me.  Why would I need to bare the weight of my own sins if Jesus has dealt with that issue on the cross {2 Corinthians 5:21}?  Not only that, but Paul tells us that the sin issue is finished {John 19:30}.  Through Christ, we are now dead to those sins that once haunted us {Romans 6:11}.  What remains is the lie of the accuser which he continues to speak any chance he gets.  You're a sinner!  God cannot be in the presence of sinners!  You are separated from God because you are a sinner!  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It is through the love and mercy of our heavenly Father that we are now one with Christ and the Father {John 17:21}.  It has never been Gods desire to make us suffer for the sin of doubt we showed in the garden.  On the contrary, it is God who brought us to restoration through Christ Jesus.  The lie of Satan claimed that Adam and Eve, after eating of the forbidden fruit, would "Be like God."  In reality, we already were like God {Genesis 2:7}.

~Scott~

Real Life Jesus

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Galatians 2: 20 NKJV

Most people cannot fathom what it is that I know.  When I tell them these things that I know I usually get a blank stare.  When I ask believers if they know Jesus, the typical answer is yes.  However, when I ask them if they REALLY know this man Jesus, they hesitate.  For to know a real life Jesus is to admit some things which we as Christians might not be ready to contemplate.  The traditional Christian identity of Jesus is one who is holy, perfect and without blemish.  I get it.  However, what if I were to introduce you to a radically new Jesus?  A Jesus who still held to His traditionally held identity, yet incorporated those traits and behaviors of His followers.  Would this sound like the Jesus you know?  Well, in order for us to understand fully the real life Jesus, we must first comprehend a key passage of scripture.  That scripture is from Galatians chapter 2, where the apostle Paul speaks to the truth of Christ Jesus that he himself had come to realize.  Paul tells us that it is Jesus Himself who lives in us today {Galatians 2:20}.  Now, our traditional Christian teachings tell us the story of how Jesus was tortured, crucified and three days later rose again.  This is where our perception of the reality of Jesus hits a fork in the road.  We're taught that after His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven to be seated next to the Father {John 16:28}.  This is the identity of Jesus for all too many Christians.  Jesus remains in heaven, and we are here on earth.  This is not real life Jesus.  Paul understood real life Jesus.  He knew that, even though Christ has ascended into heaven, He remained in him as well.  Not only that, because Christ Jesus now lives in us, He experiences all which we do.  This is the basis of the radically new real life Jesus.

"I have seen two things that cannot reconcile.  A man dead without question, and that same man alive again.  I pursue Him, the Nazarene, to ferret the truth."
~Clavius~

In the movie Risen, the Roman centurion Clavius comes face to face with the reality of post resurrection Jesus.  He had witnessed the death of Jesus upon the cross, and was astounded to see Him alive once again.  Although a Hollywood adaptation around the events of the death of Jesus, this is a good illustration of the reaction many Christians have when confronted by a real life Jesus.  We see, but we also find it difficult to believe as it goes against the grain of all which we have been taught about Him.  So, what would think if I told you of a Jesus who made mistakes, farted on occasion and often lost His patience?  Would you be able to believe in such a idea of the Son of God?  Jesus making mistakes?  Jesus losing His patience?  How can this be?  As I said, the key to understanding the radical real life Jesus begins with Paul's scripture in Galatians.  For if we are to believe that Jesus indeed lives in us, then we must also accept the idea that He incorporates into Him all that we are.  We must agree that all of our faults, whatever they might be, have now become part of the identity of a real life Jesus.  Now, I know for a fact that Jesus, being human as well as the Son of God, must have displayed more than a few of those awkward human behaviors while He walked the earth.  I have no doubt that Jesus was teased, insulted and often tempted by women and drink.  After all, He was human as well.  A good thing to remember is that while Jesus was tempted by these, He never gave in to those temptations.  Knowing this, I find the identity of the real life Jesus to be all that more acceptable.  I know that Jesus is in me, and I also know that He shares in all that I am.  It is Jesus who loses His patience, gets angry and at times uses some colorful language.  If I believe that Christ is in me, then I believe that He shares in all that I am.  Jesus is not separated from me, as traditional Christian teachings tell us.  He is all that I am.  That is the real life Jesus.

~Scott~    

Prerquisite To Jesus

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9: 7 NKJV

There is a common phrase among Christian church elders these days that each time I hear it makes me cringe.  Give until it hurts.  That's right, give to the local church or ministry until you have nothing left to give.  So, what will happen once this is accomplished?  Will we in turn be blessed that much more by a God who is keeping score?  Are we now competing for our Lords favors?  I believe that the apostle Paul would have found such practices cringe worthy as well.  It is Paul who tells us in Ephesians that our salvation is based "not of yourselves," but as a gift of God.  Therefore, there is absolutely nothing we can do to alter our salvation situation.  Once we have it, it's ours to keep.  God has never been a Indian giver.  Also, there is nothing which we can do to earn this gift from God, for it is given out of His love and mercy for His children.  Knowing this, why is it that we continue to try to curry Gods favor as if He needed anything from us {Acts 17:25}?  Everything which we have or will ever need has Gods fingerprints all over it.  We are nothing without Him.  And yet we continue in our quest to make ourselves into something we are not.  That is, separate from God.  So, why is it that we claim that we need to give to the Lord until it hurts?  Is this something God has instructed us to do?  Has the Lord indeed said "Give me all you have and you can make it on your own?"  I will never believe in a God so uncaring as that.  The basis of these outrageous claims, I'm afraid, is ourselves.  That's right, we staked claim that man should give until it hurts.  We put forth this prerequisite to the Lord.  And it doesn't end there, we also require attendance on certain days to certain functions.  We require worship in a certain way.  I even saw a church which was selling tickets for attendance to its services!  Is this something Jesus would require of us?  What has Jesus required of us?  I'll tell you what Jesus has suggested...believe {John 14:1}.  And not only that, but confess His truth as the Son of God {1 John 4:15}.  Jesus does not tell us to give until it hurts, or that we somehow need to pay the price of admission in order to worship Him.  That's all our doing.

"God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.  Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things."
Acts 17: 24 - 25 NKJV

Yes, the God who breathed into me the breath of life requires not a thing from me {Genesis 2:7}.  How do I give something to He who created all things?  I've said that it is we who have created this narrative that we somehow need to be on the giving end when it comes to God.  One good way that we enforce that narrative is by good old fashioned compulsion.  We compel believers into doing what it is we desire.  All in the name of God.  We compel people into worship, tithing and church attendance.  To break from this would certainly bring about the Lords vengeance upon the guilty party.  Does this sound like the God whose very nature is that of Love {1 John 4:8}?  Is it any wonder why our church congregations are getting smaller?  A faith based on compulsion is not faith at all, but simply following orders.  I do not see myself as a robot of the Lord.  I was created with the freedom to choose.  I believe that God did this for a reason, so that we who believe would never do so out of compulsion.  I believe that God desires true love from the hearts of His children.  He never needs to tell us to follow Him, we just do.  He has never put it upon our hearts that we must believe.  We do this knowing that it is He who lives in us {Galatians 2:20}.  There is no prerequisite to Jesus.  I know who He is, and I know that He is in me.  In turn, I will worship and commune with others in His name whenever I choose.  That is freedom in Christ.

We love Him because He first loved us.
1 John 4: 19 NKJV

~Scott~

You'll Be A Man

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor common friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a man, my son!
~Rudyard Kipling~

The conversation was a good one.  Talk of where it is that all the Christian men had gone.  It's a question I've heard more and more recently not only from broadcast pastors, but from friends who remain in the institutional church.  Now, what makes for a good Sunday sermon is not always a good thing.  For we need that Christian man, and all of the strength and virtue he embodies.  As I wrote in my last post, in order for us to locate the Christian man, we first need to define what it is that a man is.  The poet Rudyard Kipling seemingly did a good job of this with his classic poem "If."  Kipling goes through more than a few attributes one might come up with to describe what being a man involves.  Yet, I think that it goes deeper than that.  If we're looking for the idea of a Christian man, I say that we begin with the one who defines what a Christian man truly is.  That man being Christ Jesus.  I believe that we can look to Jesus for all that we need to know about being a man.  Jesus was indeed a man, one whom few had ever seen before.  For even in His own time, the example which Jesus gave of manhood ran contrary to the society of His day.  Mercy?  Love?  Certainly these were not the attributes of a man in the Jewish culture.  If you don't believe me, then just take a look at the example of manhood which Jesus was left to follow and learn from.  We're told that Joseph was indeed a godly man {Matthew 2:19}.  We know that Joseph was a carpenter by trade, and that he more than likely passed these skills to a young Jesus.  However, I believe that it wasn't just these skills which Joseph passed to his son, but his knowledge of what it took to be a man in Jewish society.  Who would know more about being a man in those times than Joseph?  It is here where a young Jesus learned many vital lessons.  We know that Jesus, being a son of Joseph, carried His fathers DNA within him.  This includes not only physical characteristics, but thoughts and attitudes as well.  One can look upon Jesus and see His father in Him.  We also share in that heredity of the family of Christ Jesus.  The apostle Paul assures us of this as he explains that it is Jesus who lives in us {Galatians 2:20}.  Therefore, we cannot see ourselves without seeing Jesus as well.

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galatians 2: 20 NKJV

I dare say that, contrary to the complaints from those around me, that the Christian man has never been lost.  No, we simply did not see him for who he truly was.  And who is it that we really are?  What is that identity which we stand behind?  Are we simply bodies of flesh and other organs within?  If so, then we have no room inside for Jesus to prosper.  I believe that we are more than the flesh vessel which we exhibit each and every day.  In other words, our bodies have never defined who it is that we truly are.  What defines us is He who lives in us.  Jesus is who we are, He always has been.  From the moment that God breathed into me the breath of life, He was a intimate part of me {Genesis 2:7}.  Jesus is connected with everything I do and experience.  Paul knew this as well.  Now, are we to believe that simply knowing who we are is the prerequisite to being a man?  I would not venture to make that statement.  However, I do know from personal experience that knowing who we are in Christ Jesus is a vital component to our ascension into manhood.   We cannot discount someone being a man simply for showing the love and compassion of God any more than we could say that Jesus was never a man.  For it is through His children that the world will see the glory of God.  It is through us that Christ Jesus will be revealed to those around us.  So, along with the many attributes we associate with manhood, we can add to them the love and mercy of Christ.  Being a man entails many attributes which we ourselves have created.  We look at a godly man and immediately decide he is not worthy simply because he does not live up to our standards of manhood.  The Christian man has never been gone, we simply didn't know where to look.

~Scott~

Man Down

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1 Corinthians 13: 11 NKJV

There comes a time in life when we, as children, move on to adulthood.  It's a natural progression of life...for most people.  Gone are those days of acting and playing as children do.  Suddenly, our lives are opened up to something altogether new...responsibilities.  I think back every so often to what my days used to be like when I was younger.  A time when things like paying bills, work and thinking of someone other than myself never even existed.  Of course, back then that all seemed normal to me.  Why do I reminisce about those long forgotten days?  Well, it seems that that these days there is growing concern that there are some among us that missed the boat when it came to graduating into adulthood.  In churches across the country the cry goes out...where are the real men among us?  I will say that this is not simply a Christian issue, but one we as a society have been facing for some time.  Before we can answer the question of where a real man is, we must first define what we expect a real man to be.  So, what is a real Christian man?  Well, Christian author John Eldredge spoke to his idea of the new era of Christian men in his popular book Wild At Heart.  In his book, Eldredge speaks to  men of God doing men things.  He popularizes the idea that men were made for adventure, for rough and tumble play and living.  According to Eldredge, every man carries within him the desire not only for adventure, but for a female to rescue.  Now, many people may think right away of men living out a cowboy movie, but there may be some truth to where John Eldredge was attempting to lead us.  For I can remember walking through the woods behind my childhood home with my rifle in hand stalking my enemy as I struggled to make it back from behind enemy lines.  However, in my case, the rifle was a stick I found and my heroic assault usually lasted about as long as it took for my mom to call me home.  John Eldredge may say that I was doing what I desired to do.  For me, I was simply doing what kids have been doing for thousands of years.  Be it stalking a enemy or playing sports, kids around the world do what they do.  That's the life of being a child.

No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house.
Mark 3: 27 NKJV

The question of what makes a man is one that has been with us for as long as men have been living.  Of course, along with that came different ideas of what makes a man.  John Eldredge was one of those ideas.  When I was growing up, my idea of a adult man was one who came and went as he pleased, smoked his cigarettes and commanded the respect of those he met.  That was my dad, and how I began to see what I needed to become a man.  There's no doubt that many of us get our own images of being a man from our own parents, and I was no exception.  But what happens when that image is no longer around?  Who is your model then?  Thankfully for me, I had a few more role models left to emulate as I grew up.  However, if this were indeed the end of the story, then we wouldn't be facing that question in our churches of just where the Christian men are.  So, where are they?  Well, I believe that many a man has been hijacked by a political agenda over the years.  I still get more than a bit of pushback when I gripe about the affect on the American male since the emergence of the women's liberation movement of the 1960's.  Where men were accustomed to leading, providing and being who men were, the switch was now flipped where being a man was a bad thing.  Suddenly, men were brutal, chauvinistic and violent.  Now, I admit that there are those who have never outgrown their childhood, but to classify all men in this way is dangerous.  The end result is that you now have a generation of men confused about their role in life.  Do they embrace the traditional role of men and take the lead to provide for their families?  Or, do they simply step aside and allow women to fill that role?  Well, from what I've noticed, our attempts to bring equality to our ranks have left us with some undesired consequences.  And do we really need to "create" that equality?  We're told that God has breathed into each of us the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  We're told that God also created both male and female in His very image {Genesis 1:27}.  Instead of wondering where all the men are, we should be asking ourselves where the men in Christ Jesus are.

~Scott~        

The Trail Of Tears

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8: 1 NKJV

In these times, many churches have been forced to resort to online services in order to remain connected to their congregations.  This week I happened to come across one of these video church services conducted by a acquaintance of mine.  Now, this seems to be a popular church, with a steady group of followers.  However, as I watched the service I began to wonder just what it was that draws people to such a scene.  For the most part, I saw more than a few people crying instead of the usual service I'm accustomed to.  Granted, I've been away from the church for some time so perhaps this is the new normal?  Are we to now come before God in sorrow?  What happened to joyful praise and worship?  The trouble is, I see this more and more often recently.  Sorrowful, sad Christians walking through life wondering what it is that they have done that their lives would be in such tumult.  It is here where I believe that we will find what we are looking for.  See, I used to be among the church going crowd as well.  I walked into church on Sunday as took my place among the followers of Jesus.  I put on my smile which, I hoped, would tell everyone that I was rejoicing in the Lord.  The trouble was, more often than not I was just like those people in the video church service, unhappy with how I was.  Almost in tears that once again I was unable to live up to that standard which Christ Jesus had set for me.  Yes, He died in my place to wash away my sins, but each and every Sunday I walked into church knowing that I had failed Him once again.  How could I not be anything but unhappy?  I see this in a lot of unhappy Christians these days, worried that their sins will somehow prevent them from experiencing all the happiness which a life in Christ Jesus has to offer.  Will we ever reach that point where we can rejoice in Him instead of crying through our sin?  I did.  It wasn't that I grew tired of being unhappy most of the time, although that had a lot to do with it.  What opened my eyes to my own unhappiness was beginning to see Jesus for who He was.  And, in turn, seeing myself for who I am.

Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.  Death no longer has dominion over Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV

What made me look deeper into who Jesus truly is was a pastors sermon.  One Easter Sunday I sat in church listening to the same old story of how Jesus died on that cross and rose again three days later.  However, it's what the pastor said next that forever changed me.  After the sermon, the padre asked that if there were any among them that felt they had sins to confess that they could come forward and be forgiven.  In that moment, all that I had been taught about Jesus seemed like a lie.  How is it that I could have ANY sin remaining if Jesus had given Himself to wash away my sins?  How is it that I could have any sin remaining if Jesus had become sin at the cross{2 Corinthians 5:21}?  This was my Jesus aha moment.  I began to realize why I had been unhappy in my faith.  I had been seeing Jesus in the wrong light.  I was not following a someone who was far removed from me, as I had been taught for so many years.  No, the Jesus I am following is closer to me than I ever would have known.  It is this Jesus who lives in me {Galatians 2:20}.  How can I ever be unhappy knowing that I and Jesus are the same {John 17:21}?  How can I be anything but happy knowing that I...am Jesus?  It is Jesus who removed sin from my life, knowing that He would replace it.  I am no longer bound by the guilt and shame of a life of sin apart from God.  THIS is the truth of Jesus that I have discovered.  I will never believe that God means for any of His children to live a life of unhappiness and sorrow.  What I do believe is that He will bring us to that place where we will see the truth of Jesus for ourselves.

~Scott~