Life With Eddie

16Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 

2 Corinthians 5: 16 - 17 NKJV 

Not too many people in this day and age recall the old television series Leave It To Beaver.  Sure, there may be more than a few, but not many.  One of my favorite characters from this popular series was the wise cracking teen Eddie Haskel.  If there was ever a poster child for a obnoxious kid...it would be Eddie.  Now, I can honestly say that there were times in my younger days when I may have modeled myself after Eddie, but that didn't last too long.  However, I have known quite a few people who seem to have studied at the Eddie Haskel school of interpersonal relations.  We all know them, they always have a negative comment or a wise crack waiting to inject into any conversation.  I think about Eddie whenever I come across someone who defines his personality.  There a number of self improvement books and videos out there which claim to teach us on exactly how to handle those Eddie Haskels in our life.  Like I said, there are times when that ghost of Eddie is reincarnated in my own life as well.  Is this simply an issue of how to deal with those negative people around us?  I would say no for one very important reason.  Are our own behaviors a true indicator of that person we truly are?  It's a well known fact that our own behaviors will be heavily influenced by events around us.  A friend makes a negative comment and we all of a sudden get defensive.  On the other hand, a child at play will more often than not elicit good natured behaviors.  So, obviously, our own behaviors may not be a true indicator of that person we truly are.  The apostle Paul hit the nail on the head when addressing this issue in his letter to the Corinthians.  Paul advised them not to judge others by their flesh any longer.  I take this to mean that we are not to judge others by their very behaviors or mannerisms.  I know that this might throw some people for a loop, but I believe that Paul saw the bigger picture.  What would Eddie Haskels reaction have been if Mr. Cleaver had simply claimed "Eddie, is that who you really are?"  A good question.  

20“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."

Galations 2: 20 NKJV 

For me to accept what Paul was saying, I had to understand just who it is that I was inside.  Who was Scott?  Well, most people would stake a claim about who I was after spending just a few minutes with me.  Judging by the flesh.  So, how is it that we can see our own behaviors, which are easily influenced by those events around us, as a true indicator of who it is we really are?  A key verse to help us understand this also came from the apostle Paul.  In Galations 2 he writes that it is no longer he who lives but Christ who lives in him {Galations 2:20}.  Wait, Jesus lives in me?  Well, yes, and not just in me but in others as well.  Yes, even Eddie Haskel.  What Paul was trying to tell us in Corinthians is that because the Spirit of Christ resides in all who accept Him, we are not to judge them by the flesh any longer.  Instead, when we come across a graduate of the Eddie Haskel college of human interaction we should inquire, "is that who you really are?"  However, if you choose to go this route, be prepared for more than a few blank stares in response.  See, what Paul mentioned way back when really isn't seen as truth by too many people on the christian side.  A good friend of mine likes to say that these people do not realize who it is that they really are.  Therefore, they continue to see themselves as bound by their behaviors, by their flesh.  I was there once.  However, I found it hard to see myself as governed by my flesh if the Spirit of Christ Jesus is indeed in me.  I also found it difficult to see others by their own behaviors if I knew in my own heart that the same Spirit of Christ was also in them.  I wonder what Eddie Haskel would have said had he known who he really was.

6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be adone away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.7For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV 

~Scott~ 

All That Glitters

"Jesus removed our sins and guarantees that we can be raised from the dead.  I'm still waiting on someone to enlighten me on what story beats that one."
~Phil "Uncle Phil" Robertson~

It didn't seem like a exciting story at all.  A poor child born into a poor family without even a hospital or decent shelter to cover him.  In fact, this poor lad was born in a barn.  This wasn't some disadvantaged kid born into a third world country.  No, in time He would make His mark upon a world which by all rights should have been in awe of His birth.  There would be no fanfare upon His birth.  However, it was the birth of this child which the scriptures had predicted would change the world.  Indeed, the greatest gift we will ever receive came to us in the most humble of ways possible.  However, this was exactly how it needed to come to pass.  My mother had a saying which she would tell me whenever I felt as if I didn't measure up to others.  Whenever I felt like I was a small fish in a big pond.  In these moments she would smile and tell her youngest son."Scotty...all that glitters is definately not gold."  In the years that followed, I would often come across a few of those who had looked down upon me and see that they themselves felt inferior as I once had.  All that glitters is not gold.  That baby born in a barn definately didn't fit the bill of a king born into a royal family, but this Son of Joseph and Mary was more important than anyone could ever imagine.  Sure, His birth had been foretold for generations, it still passed without much notice.  Local shepherds would not have known of His coming had the angels not proclaimed His birth that night.  So, how could such a important event pass without much notice?  Simple, it had to.  This was the plan all along.  How great is the story where a baby born in a manger ultimately is the very savior of us all?  That, my friends, is the greatest story ever told.

20But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.21“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Matthew 1: 20 - 21 NKJV

The baby Jesus was far from noticeable to those of His time.  Born out of wedlock (or so the local rumors claimed) the Son of a local carpenter and a (seemingly) disgraced mother.  By all accounts, this boy came into the world with more than enough strikes against Him.  He may have seemed destined to be anything from a recluse to a lowly carpenter like His father.  This leads to one of the big issues which I have with the scriptures. That is, our lack of understanding of the growth of the young Jesus into manhood.  This used to drive me nuts because it would certainly help explain a lot of who Jesus was as a person.  However, are we really left in the dark about Jesus' upbringing?  We are told in Luke 2 that as Jesus grew that He grew "in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."  If we want to know about Jesus' younger years we need simply look at the lives of other normal jewish children of His time.  THIS is where we will find the story of the growth of the boy Jesus.  We will see Jesus for who He was, a young man.  How often would He play in the shop of His father?  What was that day like when Joseph finally decided that it was time for his son to learn His fathers trade?  One of the many films of the story of Jesus which I enjoyed was Young Messiah.  It is in this movie where I saw the human Jesus for the first time.  Yes, it is hollywoods version of the life of Christ, but for the first time, we see the young Jesus.  How is it that we can think that the boy Jesus never played, laughed and at times worried His own parents?  I mean, this is what all children do right?  To my understanding, Jesus was a normal child of His time.  Despite His own lineage, He grew up without much fanfare.  Yet it is this humble child who would ultimately become the crowning of our heavenly Fathers love and grace.  Sure, God could have chosen anyone to bear our sin burdens upon that cross, but His was the perfect chioce.  A baby born in a stable to a poor father and a (seemingly) shamed mother for bearing her child out of wedlock.  Would such a child ever have a chance?  Perhaps...all that glitters is not gold.

52And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Luke 2: 52 NKJV

~Scott~

White Jesus

18No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten hSon, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
John 1: 18 NKJV

A friend of mine brought up a interesting point this week.  Why is Jesus always portrayed as a white man?  I'll admit that I was shocked, but I have to say that I agree with his statement.  For centuries, those who have related and printed various versions of the scriptures have depicted Christ as a white, dare I say european looking dude.  Yes, it is this version of Jesus which I grew up knowing.  White man, long hair and beard.  Now, I'll have to point out that this is not a race issue, but an issue of how it is we see Christ.  In my opinion, it is we who resemble Jesus.  After all, we were all created in the Fathers very image {Genesis 1:26}.  So, is the Father white?  Probably not.  However, we can rest assured that we resemble Him in all that we are.  One thing that I told my friend is that our focus should not be on that physical apprearance of Christ, but on who He is.  Who Is Jesus?  Well, Jesus is our Lord and Savior AND it is Jesus who lives in us today {Galations 2:20}.  This is who the man Jesus really is.  We can be assured that our heavenly Father will never catagorize any of His children according to their race, abilities or faults.  This is from man, not God.  So, who is it that fostered the image of the white Jesus?  Yep, we did, and still do.  I will say, that our image of a thirty something Jewish man from Nazareth may be a bit skewed.  But, that might not fit our narative, right?  Again, why is it that we are so stuck on that physical image of Christ?  That is not who He really is.  As much as our own bodies are but vessels which house the Spirit of Christ, so it was for the man Jesus as well.

12No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
1 John 4: 12 - 15 NKJV

Even before my friend introduced his question, I had come to see Jesus not based upon His physical appearance but on who He really is.  As they say, everything else is but window dressing.  If some artist insists on depicting Christ as a white european, does that change at all who Christ is?  Not at all.  See, Jesus had to have a appearance to those He came into contact with as He was born unto us in the flesh.  I would suggest that had Jesus not come in the flesh that we would never have seen Him.  Indeed, it was His fleshly body which housed who He really was...His Spirit.  It is His same Spirit today which lives in us.  Jesus will never judge us according to our appearance, and we should never judge Him as such.  In fact, we do Him a supreme disservice by presenting Him as we would see Him.  Let us present Christ to others not as we see Him, but as who He really is.

~Scott~

On The Road To Knowing Jesus

6knowing 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.7For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV

There is a often used phrase out there to describe those people who are trying so hard to be someone they're not.  All too often, people such as this put on a mask to hide whatever insecurities they might have.  I never even thought that the christian life could be chock full of posers as well.  That is, until I began to realize the truth of Christ Jesus in me.  I would bet that until my real identity in Christ was revealed to me, that I was a poser as well.  See, I didn't need to hide a inner deficiency to make myself into something I wasn't, I only needed to continue living in that knowledge of life seperated from Jesus.  Sure, like any good christian I knew that Jesus was out there somewhere, just not as close to me as He's always been.  I was acting like someone I wasn't....I was a poser.  The traditional institutional church message had taught me that Christ Jesus had bled and died to forgive me of my sins.  Then, after His death on the cross, He ascended into heaven to His rightful place at the Fathers side.  There He remained, always watching over me.  It is this understanding of Jesus that plagues most christians to this day.  For Jesus is holy, perfect and without sin.  How could Jesus EVER be in the presence of sinful man?  These are the very same thoughts I ran into as I searched to know Jesus the man.  Like so many, I wanted a more personal relationship with my Savior.  Yet I continued to run into the ages old stumbling block of the seperation of myself from Jesus.  I mean, if the pastors taught this it was believable...right?  Well, it took one pastor to upend all that I had understood about this man Jesus.  One voice fromt the wilderness, if you will.  What this man suggested to me didn't seem like the truth of Christ, simply because I'd never heard it before.  Yet, I listened.  What he related to me shook all I believed in when it came to Christ.  Yes, He died for the cleansing of my sins, but there was so much more I'd never even known.  The man Jesus had been there all along.

9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8: 9 - 11 NKJV

One of the first things my friend the pastor revealed to me were the very words of the apostle Paul, which testify to the truth of Christ.  Indeed, there are more than a few passages, written by Paul, which tell us of the truth of Christ Jesus in us.  As Paul writes in Romans 8, our bodies may be dead due to our sins, yet our spirits are alive because of righteousness {Romans 8:10}.  Wait, I died?  Somehow I think I would have remembered that happening, right?  Indeed, this is a question many people ask when faced with the truth of Christ.  I died?  Yes, I was with Jesus on that cross and perished with Him.  Perhaps Paul explained it better in Romans 6 when he claimed that our "old man" was crucified with Him {Romans 6:6}.  Even though I don't remember dying on that cross of Christ, I was there.  Indeed, the old Scott which I was born into perished on that day.  The trouble is, despite this truth of Jesus in my own life, it took me some time to realize who I really was.  This is the journey of coming to know the man Jesus on a more personal level.  This is the journey I began for myself not so long ago.  This will never be a journey of instant revelation, but one of gradual coming to the knowledge of who Jesus really is.  He has never been simply words from a book, but as much of a physical reality as I am myself.  For those of you who, like me, yearn for a closer relationship with Christ, you don't have far to look too far.  For it is not Jesus who tells us that we are seperated from Him.  No, that was mans narative all along.  We can take heart from another man who walked that road to knowing who Jesus really was.  Paul spent a good part of his own life in opposition to the man he eventually gave his life for.  Yet, one day on that Damascus road Paul met the man who would change his life {Galations 1:15-16}.  This is how my journey began and most likely how the journey of knowing Jesus will began for others as well.  When it pleased God, He revealed His Son in me.

20“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."
Galations 2:20 NKJV

~Scott~

The Good, The Bad and God

The man with no name

2For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
James 2: 2 - 5 NKJV

A friend of mine recently related a story to me on why he and his family had grown sour on their local church, a church he had never stepped into but was eager to try.  Well, it seems that as he was parking his car in the lot one particular sunday morning, a woman walked out of the church and sarcastically "reminded" him that first time visitors were to park in another section of the parking lot.  That was enough for my friend to forgo his visit to this particular church.  I don't blame him at all.  After he told me his story, I told him that I would have done the very same thing.  I'm sorry, but I have neither the patience nor the self control for self righteous christians who hold to the belief that their way is the only way to pay tribute to God.  Now, if I sound a bit hardcore, good.  Obviously, the person my friend came into contact with had never before read the words of James, or is she did she had conveniently tossed them away as not useful to "modern" christianity.  I get it.  After all, we all worship in our own way, right?  I attended a church for quite some time where greeting new visitors had become a priority in the congregation.  This is a good thing.  I have also visited my share of churches in my life and it can be a nervous experience for some.  Think about it, you're stepping into a large group of people whom you've never met under the assumption of welcoming christian fellowship.  Sadly, there may be a large number of first time visitors to a church who would never come back due to a bad first impression.  Even more damaging is when these visitors equate the behavior of those they come across with the traits of our heavenly Father.  Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.  For it is we who are dependent upon God, it doesn't work too well the other way around.  A question I asked my friend after he related his story was, why did James even bring up this example of avoiding personal favoritism in his writing?  Obviously in James' day they were dealing with that same issue we ourselves have dealt with.  We should not judge God through the actions of men.  God is welcoming, forgiving and His desire is that ALL would come to know Christ {John 3:16-17}.

19cSo then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
James 1: 19 - 20 NKJV

Whether I like it or not, there are people out there who are going to make a assumption about God from the way I conduct myself.  After all, I'm His representative, right?  Yes, but I am also created in His own image, good and bad.  Most people don't feel comfortable when they first hear of the opposite "bad" side of God.  Oh yes, God has another side to Him.  Fortunately, He has chosen to manifest Himself in His loving and merciful side.  However, along with the God we see as merciful, loving and all forgiving, is a God of punishment, torment and fire and brimstone.  My point is this, as I am created in His image, this is my identity.  That is who I am.  It is Christ Jesus who now lives in me {Galations 2:20}.  Regardless of the actions of my flesh, the Spirit of Christ still resides in me.  However, most people all too often recognize a simple equation about christians.

Bad behavior = christianity = God

Nothing could be further from the truth of who it is we really are.  Despite the fact that our heavenly Father has two natures does not take away from the reality that He created us in His very image.  Just because God has chosen to embrace His Holy nature over His opposite does not mean that He nonetheless a Holy and merciful Lord.  Trust me, it was a tough time coming to the realization of the harsh nature of the God I love.  So, is our own bad behavior a reflection of the God we love?  Absolutely not.  Do we, as christians, sometimes choose to react within our flesh?  Absolutely!  However, this in no way is a indication of who it is we truly are.  I have the realization of Christ Jesus in me, yet there are times that I make decisions to act according to the flesh...that's on me.  My friend might have felt slighted by the conduct of a few christians choosing to act according to the flesh, but my prayer for him was that his eyes would be opened to who he, and they, truly are.

16Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

~Scott~

In The Trenches

2My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
James 1: 2 NKJV

Charles Stanley once wrote that there is nothing joyful about lifes trials, and absolutely no value in our suffering for it's own sake.  In this I would agree.  Who among us enjoys going through those tough times in life?  Trust me, I don't wake up with a smile every day and proclaim, "Lord, I'm happy for the bad things in my life!"  That's just me.  Now, I have known more than a few christians who were on the other side of that fence, who would relish in whatever trial God would send their way.  Believe me, when I get into the trenches of my everyday life, I'd rather there be smooth sailing all the way.  Am I wrong in thinking this way?  Maybe, but I also know that God has a purpose for those trials which He allows into my life.  That purpose is my own endurance through these situations.  If I never once faced a tough time in my life, how would I know how to handle them?  This is why I'm a big believer in those who keep a journal of their daily walk through life.  I've tried it, and it is a big help when I can look back on situations I've been through which God has brought me through.  I can recall many a situation I've faced where I was not so sure of the outcome.  We've all been there.  What I didn't see during those times was how that situation looked from Gods perspective.  Sure, I can ask God what He was thinking, but unless I have a personal relationship with Him then I probably won't see how it is that He walks with me each day.  This I am already assured of because we know that Christ lives through us {Galations 2:20}.  Each and every step I take, I take as Christ who is in me.

3And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces bperseverance;4and perseverance, ccharacter; and character, hope. 5Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5: 3 - 5 NKJV

I have a coworker who has struggled in his own relationship with his oldest son.  On more than one occassion he has asked me, "Scott, does he REALLY think that I would give him advice that would hurt him?"  I can say the same thing about our relationship with God.  Do we really feel that God would lead us into something that would ultimately harm us?  Yet every day there are christians who sit on that fence wondering if the Lords leading is REALLY what He desires for them.  Yeah, I've been there too.  Do we really know better than God when it comes to what's best for us?  At times I have been foolish enough to think so.  We call it taking a wrong turn in life, when what we should be calling it is failing to follow His leading.  Does He who breathed into us the breath of life ultimately know what's best for His children?  I would think so.  Maybe this is exactly why James tells us to "consider it all joy" when we come across lifes trials?  Maybe what we see as a trial is simply Gods way of  leading us in that direction He desires for us?  Do we really feel that He would lead us into a direction that would harm us?  Perhaps a better response when we encounter lifes forked roads would be to step back and allow Him to lead us where it is He desires.  Easier said than done, right?  I get it.  Yet, I think back again to my coworkers situation.  If his son would place enough trust in his fathers experience to see that he is not leading him astray then perhaps the relationship would be on better footing.  When those times of trial and turmoil rage into our lives, if we trust in Christ  who is in us to lead us where it is that He desires then perhaps it will deepen our own relationship with Him.  In the end, He will never fail us nor lead us into harm.

12Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
1 Peter 4: 12 - 13 NKJV

~Scott~

Book Smart

13I can do all things through fChrist who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13 NKJV

I have a friend who, when we meet for our weekly Jesus talk, relishes relating our own daily experiences into our discussions.  Sure, it's all good to gather to learn all about Christ in us, but there's something about putting Jesus into our own every day experiences that somehow makes Him more real to us.  I get it.  There are times when we all look to others that they might share in our daily struggles.  I believe that this is one of the main benefits of christian fellowship.  When we share in our experiences, we not only relieve that burden of life in the trenches, but we may very well learn how to handle it better as well.  However, one thing I have reminded my friend of from time to time is that we do not need to go to such lengths to make Jesus more real to us.  See, Jesus is as real to us today as He was to His own disciples back in the day.  Yes, I know I will get some push back on this, but I know from my own experience that a personal relationship with Christ is not only possible, but essential to all who trust in Him.  The funny thing about knowledge is that it fades over time if we don't use it.  We can be "book smart" in the scriptural descriptions of Jesus and His life and yet never know Him on a personal level.  My question would be,  what have we gained by this?  Sure, we learn all about Jesus from that book, but we also learn of how God is a jealous God and all men are sinners.  This is where a lot of christians get tripped up, they focus on the book and not on their own relationship with Jesus.  Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of value we can gain from reading into the scriptures.  Why wouldn't we, this is Gods own story to those who seek Him.  It is my belief that the scriptures were never meant to be used as a guideline for how we live our own lives, but as a story.  Think of how it would be if God wrote a letter to you about His own life, and there you have the bible.  Think of what it would be like if God wrote you a letter to introduce to you His own Son.  Well, you get the idea.  Like I said, this is where many well meaning christians get tripped up.  After all, we've been taught by way too many pulpit pounders that burying ourselves in the scriptures is what every christian needs to be more "Christ like."  I get it.

37“And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. 38“But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
John 5: 37 - 39 NKJV

I recently heard a radio preacher claim that there was no way to God but through scripture.  Really?  Think of the words of Jesus in John 5:39.  "You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me."  Jesus was plainly telling all who would listen that the road to knowing Him was not paved by the pages of the bible.  Don't be that guy.  There is no way that you will find a personal relationship with Christ through the scriptures.  Now, what you will find is His own story.  For the pages of scripture are what testify of Him.  It is through the scriptures that God introduces His own Son to us.  There is a guy in our group who steadfastly hangs his hat on the scriptures as a guide on how to live his christian life.  This does not make him any less a christian, only that he has not yet realized the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus.  That relationship cannot found on the pages of any book which I've seen.  The apostles did not come to a personal relationship with the man Jesus by reading about Him.  No, they came to know Him through spending time with Him.  Yet, you tell me, "Scott, how can I come to know Jesus personally?"  Believe me, I asked that very same question of a good friend some time ago.  What he told me made me stop and think.  See, getting to know Jesus on a personal level is not too complicated when we we realize the truth of who it is we are.  See, part of the story of Christ Jesus is how He has come to live in us {Galations 2:20}.  It is through this revelation that we can confidently proclaim, I AM Christ!  After all, it is Jesus Himself who lives through me.  How much closer to Him will I ever be?  It is this truth of Christ in us which we should be focusing.  After all, our heavenly Father has already written His letter to introduce His Son to us.

20“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."
Galations 2:20 NKJV

~Scott~

Someone Like Me

Someone Like Me

3For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Galations 6: 3 NKJV

There was a time not so long ago when pride in ones self was considered a admirable trait.  Such people were looked upon as self assured, confident and strong.  Now days, to hear most people tell it, these very same people are now looked upon as arrogant, pridefull and mean.  What happened?  I mean, I myself have been convicted all too often by those around me of being far too arrogant.  No, I know who it is that I am and I simply WILL NOT allow some  poor schmuck to label me as somone I'm not.  Yes, I could go along with the crowd and be that cookie cutter person that everyone else tells me that I am, but what fun is that?  After all, I wouldn't be too honest with myself if I did that.  Yes, I am confident in who I am, but that in no way means that I am conceited.  Was the apostle Paul arrogant?  Was Jesus Himself conceited?  Some misguided believers might say so, but not me.  That wasn't who they were.  In fact, Paul made it a point to claim that it was he who had died {Romans 6:6}.  There was a reason for the demise of the old man they used to know as Saul.  That man had been replaced by the one true Spirit/personality/being in the universe.  See, Paul realized that it was no longer he who took center stage in his life, but Christ Jesus in him {Galations 2:20}.  Was Paul arrogant in this realization?  Hardly.  I would have been more concerned if he, knowing Christ in him, continued to see himself as really important.  Paul knew better.  For lack of a better anology, Paul knew where his bread was buttered.  He knew who was really important.  So, what's the difference between myself and Paul?  What's the difference between myself and any other believer who knows Christ in them?  Nothing really.  Still, when I am confident in who it is that I am, I'm seen by many around me as arrogant and conceited.  I guess Jesus faced these same nay sayers whenever He proclaimed His own identity.  How can a sinful man be the Son of God?  Blasphemy!  Well, most well meaning christians see Jesus for who He really is yet refuse to see themselves in the same light.  I get it.

20“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."
Galations 2:20 NKJV

Not so long ago, former Minnesota Vikings coach Tony Dungy, himself a christian, penned a book titled simply "Quiet strength."  I have to say that the title of the book fit Dungy to a T.  For anyone who has watched this man walking the sidelines or in the broadcast studio you cannot come away without seeing how confident and strong Tony Dungy is.  Yet he is not seen as arrogant or conceited.  However, too many others are labled as conceited for displaying the same traits as Dungy.  Go figure.  The truth of the matter is...I know who it is that I am.  I am a child of God.  I am the heir to His kingdom.  If knowing this causes me to walk with self confidence never before seen then so be it.  I will never apolagize for walking in the realization of who it is that I am.  This is not false confidence but self assurance.  As I said, I would be far more worried if I, knowing Christ in me, continued to see myself as truly important.  Instead, I walk in the knowledge of WHO is important in my life.  I walk each and every day as Christ Jesus who is in me.  This is not arrogance, but the realization that my old man has died and has been replaced by He who loved me first.  If I have any regrets it is that I do not proclaim often enough who it is that I am.  Even then, that is who I am.  All it is that Jesus is, is all that I am.  If others see this as being conceited then perhaps they need to come to that realization of who they really are as well.  I haven't cornered the market on the realization of Christ in us.  God delivers that revelation to all who seek Him.  True arrogance is accepting the lie that we ourselves are responsible for our own being.  That we are indeed a independent self.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  The prophet Isaiah has claimed that there is but one God...and no other gods besides Him.  I know this to be true.  I also know the man who walks in Christ.  That man is someone like me.

5I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me.
Isaiah 45:5 NKJV

~Scott~

Who I Am

9Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’13“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’14“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18: 9 - 14 NKJV

I have a bad habit.  See, there are times when I tend to give the words of others more importance than they actually deserve.  I'm speaking more along the lines of negative comments than anything else.  Yes, I'm sure that there are others out there who have struggled with this very same issue.  Now, if I listened to the words of those who were trying to diminish who it is that I really am, I would be nothing more than a dumb, arrogant, lazy shmuck.  Thankfully, I know in my own heart that this is not who I am.  Not only that, I know in my heart that this is not the true identity of those who have suffered words that hurt them.  I know it's hard to think otherwise when we are constantly being bombarded by insults and put downs, but trust me when I say that there is something special about all of us.  We are unique in our very being.  In fact, each of us were created in our heavenly Fathers very image {Genesis 1:27}.  Not only that, it is the Spirit of Christ Jesus who lives through us today {Galations 2:20}.  However, knowing these words and taking them to heart is another issue.  For too long I simply stuffed these words inside as mere book knowledge found in scripture.  I didn't take them to heart.  Therefore, I did not realize who I really was inside.  Can anyone blame me for having a bad attitude at times?  In my eyes, I was the same insignificant person certain people painted me out to be.  Nothing could have been further from the truth.  It wasn't some dog and pony show empowerment seminar that caused me to start seeing myself as I really am.  Far from it.  No, I didn't began to see myself as my heavenly Father looks upon me until I came to the realization of who I am in Christ Jesus.  It is Jesus who loved me first {1 John 4:19}.  When was the last time that someone convinced you that you weren't alive?  That the sky wasn't blue?  We are all too willing to accept these facts, yet we remain on the other side of the fence when it comes to who we really are.  It's time that changed.

1Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of aGod! Therefore the world does not know bus, because it did not know Him. 2Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
1 John 3: 1 - 2 NKJV

When was the last time that you called God dumb or lazy?  Gee, Scott, who the hell would ever do such a thing?  Uh huh, but when you talk down to one of His children aren't you demeaning His creation?  When you insult one of His children aren't you in fact criticizing Jesus whose Spirit is in them?  Indeed, I am not afraid to claim that...I am Jesus.  All that He is I am for He is in me.  Christ is as much a part of me as my own family DNA.  In fact, it is His DNA which is in me as well.  So, again I ask you, when you talk down to one of Gods children who do you think you're talking to?  As I mentioned, I did not know who I really was until I realized my personal relationship with Christ Jesus.  This didn't stop others from disparaging me, only how I perceived their words.  It didn't take long for me to realize that I wasn't that person who others were trying so hard to say that I was.  Then I began to ask myself, if these people  were trying so desperately to paint me as someone I wasn't, how did they see themselves?  Seriously, if you see yourself as being worthless, then more times than not you will portray that feeling unto those around you.  I get it.  The truth is, we've bought into the lie perpetrated by the master deceiver.  The same snake who deceived Eve in the garden continues to deceive us today {Genesis 3:4-5}.  The narative is that we're full of sin, useless and in constant need of Gods punishment.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It is Jesus Himself who became sin on our behalf that we would be saved {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  We are no longer sinners, but saved through Christ.  Of course, we can read scriptures until we're blue in the face and yet still not realize who we really are.  That was me.  I'm not the one others claim me to be.  I am Jesus...that's who I am.

6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be adone away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV

~Scott~

I Can

20“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."
Galations 2:20 NKJV

The other day I wrote out a list of a few things which I've considered shortcomings in my life.  Now, I wouldn't call these areas detrimental to my daily living, just misplaced beliefs.  Things like, being successful, having good things etc.  The list included about ten things that I was telling myself that I could accomplish.  It was more of a motivational tool than anything else, but I soon realized that I had touched on something important in my own life.  While it's true that I can indeed accomplish all of the things on this list of mine, I really shouldn't have had to even wonder if it was at all possible.  I already have it in me.  I have within me the ability to be all that Christ Jesus Himself is.  This is not only my identity but all that I am.  If indeed Christ is in me as we're told, then along with that comes all which He is {Galations 2:20}.  I cannot sit back and claim Christ Jesus in me while ignoring that fact alltogether.  So, my list has suddenly turned from "I can" to "He can."  Like most people, it seems that I had failed to realize all that Jesus is.  He is not simply a story in the bible.  He is not just the perfect man to model ourselves after.  The fact is, we need not struggle with being "more like" Jesus because we already are.  I wasted a lot of my christian life chasing the carrot on the end of the stick of being more like Jesus.  This isn't a issue with how Jesus is, He never changes {Hebrews 13:8}.  No, this is a issue of how WE see Jesus.  Or, how we see Jesus in us.  If we listen to the institutional pulpit pounders tell it, Jesus is unattainable.  We're better off simply imitating Christ than realizing who we truly are inside.  Brother, this is a race we can never win.  When we view Jesus as outside of ourselves, then we see ourselves as seperated from Him which is the lie which satan introduced to Eve in the garden {Genesis 3: 4-5}.  Of course, it is the very same lie which Lucifer himself believed {Isaiah 14: 13-14}.  The truth is, when satan tempted Eve in the garden by claiming that by eating the from the forbidden tree that she would "be like God"...she already was!

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

I recently related a story of a friend of mine who worked hard to provide for his own children, only to have his son claim that he grew up without a father.  The reason that I used this story as an example of Christ in us is for the very reason that we ourselves all too often perpetrate the same lie which satan threw down so long ago.  We cannot be like God....we already are Him!  Through Christ Jesus, we now have our heavenly Fathers Spirit within us.  All that He is, we are as well.  Still, like most well meaning christians, I fell for the bait on the end of the line and believed that I could be "like" Jesus if I tried hard enough.  A few months ago I ran across a struggling christian who, like many, was weary of the institutional church rat race of always trying to be good enough.  He was surprised when he told me that he had left the church and I simply told him "I don't blame you."  I don't blame someone for growing weary of constantly struggling to measure up, I've been there.  The truth is, it's a struggle we can never win.  There will always be one more sin, one more indiscretion which will make us feel unworthy of our Lords presence.  The reality of Christ in us was not meant to enslave us in more guilt and shame, but to free us from it!  There is truth in the words of the apostle Paul when he claims that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus {Romans 8:1}.
As I finished writing out my motivational list of accomplishments I realized that I had chosen a appropriate title for my list.  Through Christ Jesus in me...I can.

1There 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. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8: 1 - 2 NKJV

~Scott~

Our Human Condition

27So 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 

I asked myself a question this week after watching the election coverage on some talking head channel.  I had just finnished watching a interview where some millenial snob was arguing that his vote must be made important at all costs.  Really, dude?  So, should I take it from this comment that everyone elses vote should be less important than this new age hippie?  So, I asked myself the question, when did did it become all about us?  Now, it's no secret that we live in a age of self important, entitled millenials, but I think it goes even deeper than that.  For some time now, "sieze the day" and "look out for number one" have been catch phrases to describe our own human condition.  Can anyone see the obvious discrepancy in this thinking?  Well, I'll refresh you with one question...what about God?  Where does He stand in all of this?  We're talking the God who created all we see, not just a God who we turn to when we're up that creek without a paddle.  Now, I'll admit that I've been bitten by that millenial bug every now and then, but I really do not believe that this is how God intended us to be.  For to believe this we must believe that we are seperated from our heavenly Father who created us, our Father who has called proclaimed us His children {1 John 3:1}.  In my heart, I cannot fathom that a God who would take such care in His own creation and ensuring our future would suddenly toss us to the winds of fate.  No, He has never worked that way.  With God there is always a purpose to all He does.  Funny man George Carlin once quoted "What's the use of being God if any run down shmuck with a two dollar prayer book can come along and f@ck up your plan?"  I agree.  Be it Gods will or His devine plan, that which our heavenly Father set in motion long ago was a series of events all leading up to His desired outcome.  Is there anything in our own lives in which God has not been involved in?  Yet, seperation from God is a teaching we so often see these days.  

7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Genesis 2: 7 NKJV 

I have a dear friend who refers to this teaching from the institutional church as seperation theology.  I agree.  So, what is it about our so called "human condition" which places upon us the desire to be seperated from God?  Well, I don't think that it is a desire to be seperated from God, but a desire to be seen as a independent being.  I have a friend I work with who has had a fractured relationship with his son over the years.  Now, over the years his father has provided for his sons well being, health and shelter as any good parent would have.  However, these days that same son he cared for all those years ago has taken to proclaiming that he grew up with a father who was never around!  Now, either this young man is delusional or he simply has refused to accept all which has occured in his life.  I mention this to bring attention to our own human condition.  See, all too often we are that estranged child who feels that we as well did not receive the benefits of being a child of God.  Does this mean that God has somehow abandoned us?  NO!  What it means is that we, as His creation, have failed to realize who it is that we truly are.  This is not a God issue, it's a WE issue.  I cannot come before God and lay claim that He somehow was never there for me.  Likewise, I cannot approach Him with the belief that I am somehow seperated from Him.  For it is God who breathed into me the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  All that He is...I am.  It is God who lives through me today {Galations 2:20}.  As with my coworkers own son, he carries with him all which his father is.  So, what does this say for our own human condition?  Well, I believe that our own condition is and always will be linked our heavenly Father.  There will continue to be a mistaken belief that we are somehow seperated and independent from Him, but that will never make it true.  

3For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Colossions 3: 3 - 4 NKJV

~Scott~ 

The Unforgiven

10Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Matthew 9: 10 - 13 NKJV

I recently shared a conversation I had about God in the most unlikely of places.  A week or so ago I found myself at a local watering hole after work enjoying a beer.  Yeah, I know, what's a self proclaimed christian doing in a bar?  Of course, this may well open the door to many a christian joke.  A pastor walks into a bar...a christian walks into a bar etc.  I get it.  Even though I'm no bar fly, I do enjoy a good brew every now and then.  Perhaps this is something I need to ask the Lords forgiveness for.  Anyway, it wasn't my beer swilling that made this visit noteworthy, but the conversation I had with another bar patron.  This man seemed to be your normal working guy enjoying a beer after a days work, but as I found out, there was something different about him.  I'm not really sure how our conversation turned to God and church, but all of a sudden I found myself talking to this man about his own failures, as he saw it, in the church.  It seems that he and his family had been regular church attenders up until the past few years.  Being raised in a catholic household had dampened his desire to know God a bit, but he continued to attend church regularly.  All the while, he would question whether he was doing enough to satisfy the Lord he loved.  Was he really Gods child?  Was he really forgiven?  Now, I understand his feelings because I myself have battled them in my past church going life.  So, I asked him a simple question, how do you see God?  Do you see the Lord as simply a spiritual being, on His throne in heaven looking down upon us?  Or, do you see Him as a God who is intimately involved in your life each day?  He gave this some thought before saying that he had never known God to have a personal relationship with anyone.  I mean, how could He?  Aren't we all sinners?  God cannot be in the presence of sin...right?  As I said, I've asked these very same questions myself at one time.  So, I laid it out for him.  Why did the Pharisees and Jewish authorities accuse Jesus of dining with tax collectors and sinners {Matthew 9:11}?  I won't say that a light bulb came on in this mans head, but for the first time I saw in him that he was begining to see what I was telling him.

1Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3So He spoke this parable to them, saying: 4“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5“And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6“And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’7“I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."
Luke 15: 1 - 7 NKJV

As I've said, I have asked myself many a question concerning God and His relationship with me before.  How could God love me?  Was I doing enough to please Him?  What if He became angry with me?  I've heard it all before.  So, hearing a desperate man in a bar who was himself searching for God was nothing new to me.  Not so long ago, I was in the very same place he was in.  Sure, I had been taught over the years that I was forgiven and that God indeed loved me, but at the same time I heard the double speak from the pulpits of the church that I needed to be "more like God."  I cringed whenever I heard it.  I mean, how could any sinner be more like God?  The very idea of this seemed unattainable to me.  On top of that, I was told in my most difficult times that maybe, just maybe God was angry with me and letting me go through my oreeals alone.  What?  So, you're telling me that the God who loved and cherished me enough to provide for my future with Him and the forgiveness of my own sins would suddenly turn his back on me?  Was I really doing enough to please God?  Well, it turns out that my own view of God was flawed.  I saw Him as seperate from my own life, which couldn't be further from the truth.  As it turns out, I was already closer to Him that I ever thought possible.  I just didn't realize it at the time.  So, how close are we to our heavenly Father?  Well, the apostle Paul tells us in Galations 2 that it is Christ Jesus who now lives in us {Galations 2:20}.  We don't need to be more like Christ...we ARE Christ.  Now, I don't expect the run of the mill christian to be able to embrace this truth of Jesus right away.  It took me awhile to realize it myself.  That teaching that God is somehow seperate from His children is simply not true.  We are created in His very image {Genesis 1:26}.  Into His likeness He breathed the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  He very being is now within us.  All that He is...we are as well.  If God has revealed His truth to you, then you too can have a bar stool ministry.

~Scott~

The Fathers Eyes

7But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. Ford the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16: 7 NKJV

Our discussion at our breakfast this week turned to how God sees all that He has created.  Many of us already know the truth of Christ Jesus which we have been trying to make our brothers aware of.  That of Christ in us {Galations 2:20}.  This...is how God looks upon His children.  Where mankind will see those around them in the filter of the worlds imperfections, our heavenly Father sees all that He has created for what it truly is.  If we have ever wondered just how God sees the world His own creation, we need only revisit the creation story.  We are told that God looked upon all He had created and it "was very good."  I have n doubt that He continues to see the world around us in such a way.  How can God see a sinful world as good?   How can God see sinful man as good?  Well, first off, all which has occured from the begining of time until now has not occured beyond His notice.  Indeed, nothing ever happens that God is not keenly aware of.  So, it's my belief that all which has occured has come to pass within the desires of God.  He allows these things to happen.  Despite the death, bad behaviors and tragedy of the world we know, it is God who has orchestrated it all.  How can God see sinful man as good?  Well, that sin debt was paid at the cross so there is nothing left to pay.  When God looks upon His children, He no longer sees one who is in debt to his sins.  No, when God looks upon me He sees His perfect Son living through me.  The trouble most people have is that they themselves fail to realize that which God has already given them.  This realization will only come by His revelation in our hearts.  To put it another way, if I were rich but didn't know how much money I had...would that make me not as wealthy?  Just because we do not realize what our heavenly Father has provided for us does not diminish us in our
Fathers eyes.

20“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who jwill believe in Me through their word; 21“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23“I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. 24“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
John 17: 21 - 24 NKJV

One can make the argument that the state of our world today is the direct result of Gods unhappiness with what He has created.  I get it.  After all, didn't He cast His judgement in the days of Noah?  What about Sodom and Gomorah?  Yes, I get that people may believe that God is unhappy with us and on the verge of washing over His creation to start all over again.  Well, that might be what the institutional church wants you to believe.  But is this really how God feels?  I doubt it.  Like I said, He has provided His children with the means to, as Adam had before us, be in fellowship with Him.  Not only do I believe that all our Lord has accomplished has been for our benefit, but I also believe that His desire is for us to be one with Him as Adam and Eve were.  In fact, this was the prayer of Jesus in the garden that night.  that we would be one as He and the Father were one {John 17:21}.  To me, it does not sound to me that God is unhappy with His own creation at all.  If He were unhappy, would He have provided for my salvation?  If He were unhappy, would His only Son dwell within me?  I'm sorry, I just don't buy the whole old testament fire and brimstone thing.  In fact, I think the belief that God may punish those whom He is displeased with keeps many people in bondage.  I've seen that belief with my own eyes, and it's destructive to a person.  The truth is that God is love {1 John 4:8}.  His love towards us has never been in question.  What has been in question is our own belief of how He sees His own creation.  May we see ourselves through the Fathers eyes.

20“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."
Galations 2:20 NKJV

~Scott~

The Graveyard Of Sins

8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,9not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Ephesians 2: 8-9 NKJV

I took some flack this week for a mass message which was sent out.  It's funny, there were those friends who assumed that just because I had been involved in questionable behavior in the past that this was just more of the same.  I get it.  Guilty until proven innocent is the order of the day at times...just ask Brett Kavanaugh.  The embattled judge endured a slew of accusations before ascending to the nations highest court.  Still, there are others who assume that he is not worthy of his position.  Still, there are those in my circle who asume that I still hold to my former behaviors.  The graveyard of past sins is overflowing with many bad choices.  So, I thought this week, what would happen if God treated others as we do?  Well, if He did I would assure you that many of us would be up in arms over it!  How can you treat me like that, God?  All too many times we fail to notice that it is by the love and grace of our heavenly Father that we no longer carry the stains of those sins of our yesterdays.  No, we are now free and clean of those acts of that man we once were.  I have talked with more than my share of addicts in recovery who have shared with me that freedom they feel when the chains of addiction are broken.  This is the very same freedom which we have through Christ Jesus.  It is Jesus who took our sins upon Himself at the cross that we would no longer carry that burden {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  In fact, I would argue that should we ask God to forgive our sins that He would simply say...what sins?  One of the conflicts I have with the institutional church is the suggestion that we continually seek Gods forgiveness for our own behaviors.  Well, doesn't that invalidate the work of Jesus on the cross?  Did He only die for a part of our sins?  How soon we forget.

6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be adone away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.7For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV

If there is one thing I know, it's that graveyards are a permanent resting place.  Save for one, there has NEVER been anyone who walked out of a grave after dying.  He who defeated death took away the fear and consequences that we ourselves should no longer fear that part of our lives {Romans 6:9}.  So it is with that graveyard of sins, it is through Christ that we are no longer slaves to our former sins {Romans 6:6}.  Yet, as I found out this week, there are those who continue to hold us to that former standard.  I'm quite sure that these would be the very same people who would cite every scripture they could think of on forgiveness should that shoe be on the other foot.  However, I know just who we are in Christ despite what others might have me believe.  The identity we now have is in He who lives through us {Galations 2:20}.  It's not as if I walk around each day thinking of the life I've left behind, it's not for me to dwell on any longer.  In Gods eyes, that Scott no longer exists.  Yet in the eyes of some people, it still defines me.  Tell me how that works.  I'll go with how God sees me.
I recall the story of a man who spent half of his life in prison for a crime he didn't commit.  Cleared by dna evidence years later, he was suddenly faced with something he never thought he would experience...his own freedom.  In a lot of ways, many of us continue to hold fast to that which has died.  I am no longer associated with that man I once was, even if a few of my friends refuse to believe it.

16Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5: 16 - 17 NKJV

~Scott~

No Ones Home

Religion convinced the world that there's an invisible man in the sky who watches everything you do. And there's 10 things he doesn't want you to do or else you'll go straight to a burning place with a lake of fire until the end of eternity. But he loves you! ...And he needs money! He's all powerful, but he can't handle money!
~George Carlin~

I heard a story this week of a good man, a good christian man, who everyone assumed was a pillar in his church congregation.  It was assumed by those who knew hm that he prayed, fasted and tithed dutifully and encouraged others to do so as well.  When it came to righteousness, it seems that nobody could top him in his service to his Lord each week.  His story unraveled one sunny sunday morning when one of the local deacons saw the man on the golf course bright and early.  Incredulous, the deacon asked the man the next day where he had spent his sunday morning.  "In church" the man replied with a smile.  Now, obviously any Pharisee school deacon worth his own salt would contest this obvious blasphemy.  My thoughts on the matter are this, the man WAS in church.  Which brings us into the discussion of...what is church?  Well, if you wanted to get down to the brass tacks of the matter...WE'RE the church {1 Corinthians 12:27}.  Yes, we are all members of the church whose head is Christ Jesus.  Indeed, we are the church of Jesus.  In this church there is no weekly attendance by ushers carrying clipboards, no passing of the tithe plate and no boring pulpit pounder sermon.  I can speak of this quite honestly because my own church is not your typical chapel.  No, my church building is a fast food restaurant where a few men of Christ gather each week to learn more of who Christ Jesus truly is.  Far from being a God centered corporation, this church is simply a gathering.  If you think about it, this was all the first early churches of the followers of Jesus really were.  Believers in Christ gathered in each others homes to know more about Him.  It's called community, or if you really wanted to get fancy...koinonia.  I remember seeing a sign outside a local church last summer advertising their end of the summer church picnic.  The sign said "come join us in Koinonia.  What intrigued me was what else was written on this so called community sign..."All CHURCH MEMBERS welcome."

44Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2: 44- 47 NKJV

I'll have to admit that I'm far from a good christian soldier.  I don't attend church, I seldom tithe and I haven't heard a live sermon since the administration of George W Bush.  So, how can I believe that I am still a follwer of Christ Jesus?  Well, because I have taken that rare step of coming into a relationship with Him.  I don't feel the need to come into a building to know Jesus is near to me.  In fact, I know in my own heart that Jesus is IN me {Galations 2:20}.  It is Christ Jesus who lives through me each and every day.  So, you could say that I am a member of the worlds largest church.  The church of Christ Jesus.  He is the head, and we are the members of His community.  There has been a lot mentioned lately of those who are leaving the church.  Well, I see them as leaving MANS church.  Created, founded and maintained by...men.  Oh, we mention God and try our best to show everyone that we're on the Godly path, and yet the churches are bleeding members at a alarming rate.  Are that many people suddenly rejecting God?  No.  That many people are suddenly rejecting mans VERSION of who God is.
I made the comment a few weeks ago to a bible thumping friend of ours that his God was not the God I served.  My God is not a God of anger, punishment and testing.  My God is a God of love and cherishing of His children.  My God loved me enough to provide for my salvation, and He still loves me today.  People still ask me if I attend church, that will never change.  However, I think that if I were to try to walk into a local church one of these days...I might find that nobodys home.

~Scott~

Used Shoes

6Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is also coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” 7So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. 8And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.” 9Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’
Genesis 32: 6 - 9 NKJV

The other day a friend reminded me of the moment in which brothers Jacob and Esau once again reunited.  See, although they were brothers, Jacob and Esau had been distant for some time.  Indeed, Jacob had deceived his younger brother a few times along the way.  In the end, however, it was the younger Jacob who received their father Issacs blessing which had been meant for the older Esau.  The scriptures tell us of the anger of Esau upon his own brother.  So, Jacob left home with Esau in pursuit.  So, what would you think would be their reaction should these two brothers meet again?  I mean, Jacob had a lot of explaining to do right?  Perhaps some repayment was due for what he had stolen from his older brother?  Indeed, Jacob had to be thinking that his younger brother would be out for revenge.  Yet that wasn't the way it played out.  For as Jacob approached his brother after sending reconcoliation gifts ahead of him, he encountered something he didn 't expect.  Forgiveness.  As they approached one another that day both brothers embraced.  Why do I bring this up?  Because it reminded me of two brothers who have been distant for a long time.  Two brothers who, at times, certainly had feelings of anger towards one another.  Seperated by both miles and the passing of years, each lived his life not knowing the other.  However, like Jacob and Esau, the Lord eventually once again brought the two brothers together.  Not for the purpose of settling of old scores, but for reconciliation.  Those who claim that time heals all wounds certainly have never met my brother and I.  Yes, we had our differences while growing up.  My brother might also be justified in his claim that his younger brother was indeed a terrorist.  Guilty as charged!  However, as with Jacob and Esau, this was never about settling old scores from long ago.  In the end, love won out.

1Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. 2And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3Then he crossed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. 4But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
Genesis 33: 1 - 4 NKJV

One of the things I've struggled most with this week was how I could even put myself in my brothers situation.  Yet, those are old shoes.  Indeed, unless we walk in another persons shoes we may never know their experiences.  I get it.  My bro and I have lived two totally different lives despite being of the same family.  The issue isn't to reclaim the years we've lost, but to cherish what we have left.  There is a old saying which claims that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.  I don't forget the past, but what's done is done.  Did Esau slay his brother for his transgressions?  No, for he recognised that his own love for his brother overcame what happened before.  So it is with my brother and I.  I don't know where he's been, but I do know that love and forgiveness can conquer years of being apart.  Those old shoes aren't hard to fill, but all too often we fail to do so.  All too often we find it easier to be a critic than to see things from another persons perspective.  A friend of mine has a saying that more often than not we have more in common than we do differences.  Amen brother!  What have I gone through that others haven't?  What challanges have I faced which are not common to those around me?  I admit that I have been guilty of being blind to the point of view of others.  Old shoes are hard to fill.  One good thing with old shoes, however, is that they can be passed down to someone else.  I may not have walked a mile in my brothers worn out shoes, but through my own love and forgiveness I can overcome years of bad feelings.

Last night I dreamed I died and stood outside those pearly gates
When suddenly I realized there must be some mistake
If they know half the things I've done they'll never let me in
Then somewhere from the other side I heard these words again
Let me tell you a secret, about a Fathers love
A secret my daddy said was just between us
See daddys don't just love their children every now and then
It's a love without end Amen

~Love without end, amen~
Georege Strait

~Scott~

Not Wasted On The Young

3But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the asimplicity that is in Christ.4For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!
2 Corinthians 11: 3 - 4 NKJV

I heard a radio pastor mention a story the other day about a group of young people in California back in the 1970's who attempted to bring their own version of the gospel of Jesus into the local church.  Their pastor,Lonnie Frisbee, is described as a "seeing prophet, minister and evangelist."  Frisbee was a key figure in the Jesus movement of the 1970's.  He wasn't just another hippie pastor...he WAS the hippie pastor.  Frisbee and his group of young upstarts did their best to propegate the local church with their brand of new age Jesus talk.  To say that Lonnie Frisbeee was a evangelist is to claim that Babe Ruth was just another ball player.  Indeed, when they talked of power evangelism, they often mentioned Lonnie Frisbee.  What struck me about his story is the number of young people he was able to entice into his movement.  Of course, I really should not be too surprised considering the direction of many local institutional churches these days.  Time and again we see church after church tailoring their teaching to fit the "young" crowd in the church.  I would venture to say that if a pastor stuck to his guns and held to the traditional gospel of Christ instead of catering to the youth movement that he might soon find himself out of work.  This was the fear of the apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, that they would become accepting of another gospel than the one which God had revealed to them.  Every time I see a congregation being overtaken by the alternative teachings of yet another young Pharisee school graduate I think of this scripture.  Far from simply quoting another, I have seen firsthand how easily this can happen.  A former church which I used to attend was once overcome by a new system designed to cater to a younger crowd.  So much so that the teachings of the church were reshaped as well.  The focus of the church had been placed on how well they spoke to the younger generation.  Lonnie Frisbee would have been proud.  I see it more and more these days, churches "energized" by the teachings and energy of a younger generation.  So, what happened to that gospel of Jesus which you first heard not so long ago?  How soon we forget.

6I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to perverta the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
Galations 1: 6 - 8 NKJV

I might be just be an old fart, or perhaps I know that which is true in my own heart, but I have always stuck to the same gospel of Jesus which I was brought up in.  Well, with a few revelations thrown in by Christ in His own timing.  So, I really don't understand that popularity of another message brought forth by another slick talking youngster.  I mean, if I know the truth in my heart, don't others as well?  Maybe we just want a fresh perspective every now and then, but we're talking about the gospel here people.  What good does it ultimately do us when we circumvent that which we know to be true in order to appease a few within the church?  I'll tell you what good it does, it means drawing in more people.  In the end, this is the goal of each and every Pharisee school church pastor.  The more people in the church means the more successful it has become.  It's no wonder that I have always been a fan of the small neighborhood church.  I'm guessing that the gospel which we once heard isn't so exciting anymore.  That doesn't mean that it is the wrong gospel. only that there are others who don't like it for whatever reason.  I get it.  Sitting in the same stuffy church hearing the same message sunday after sunday can take its toll I guess.  Again, this doesn't change the gospel of Jesus, only that we have grown weary of hearing it.  So we inject our churches with young people and a new energizing message designed to impress and fill those empty pews.  Sorry, but I'll stick with what I know to be true.  Some might claim that I'm for not teaching young people in the church.  On the contrary, I am all for our youth being involved in our congregations.  How will the gospel of Jesus be passed down if not by the next generation?  Our heavenly Father tells us that we are to bring our youth up in His teachings.  I'd love to ask Lonnie Frisbee just what he would think of our modern christian youth movement.  However, Lonnie passed away from AIDS in 1993.

23“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’or ‘There!’do not believe it. 24“For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25“See, I have told you beforehand. 26“Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’do not believe it. 27“For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."
Matthew 24: 23 - 27 NKJV

~Scott~