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~