Moral Christianity

35‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36‘I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ 37“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38‘When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39‘Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40“And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
Matthew 25: 35 - 40 NKJV

I read a article this weekend about a church in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota which has suddenly been put in the natioanl spotlight.  See, it seems the pastoral staff of this church made the decision to conduct a wedding.  Not just any ordinary wedding, but a wedding between two women.  As a result, the lead pastor has now been removed from his position and the church removed from the canopy of the national congregation.  Now, whatever your own view of the homosexual issue going on in our country, I believe that our own culture wars shouldn't be fought in our houses of worship.  Are you telling me that that very same building which has protected persucuted souls is now too high and mighty to be a refuge for yet another persecuted person?  Excuse me, sir, but you are a hypocrite.  In His woes to the Jewish Pharisees, Jesus Himself warned me of people like you.  For you tout your christian faith openly to others while at the same time using it to disparage those you don't agree with.  Can you imagine the response of Christ if He were approached by these same two women?  I'm sure you already know, but let me educate you.  What did Jesus do when He was confronted by the sinning woman at the well?  How did Jesus treat the cheating tax collector hiding in a tree?  What was Jesus' response when the Pharisees accused Him of spending His time with sinners?  Simple, He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance {Mark 2: 17}.  It certainly makes my heart glad that my salvation has not been decided by the likes of our modern christian moral army.  Our own sunday morning group has often heard of how God will judge harshly those of immoral behaviors.  Now, why would God do that when His followers here on earth do their best to pass judgement on those we find "immoral?"  How do you think the two women at the center of this controversy will view the church now?  I'll tell you how, the same way I see them, for the hypocrites that they are. 

16And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” 17When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Mark 2: 16 - 17 NKJV

I think we've long lost sight of just who Christ Jesus is.  Not only that, who God is.  After all, we're told that God...is Love {1 John 4: 8}.  Unless these women dig deep into the issues of this church, I would not blame them one bit if their first thoughts were of a God who is angry and disgusted with them.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  This isn't a God issue, this is a "us" issue.  We're the ones who have happily bastardized God in the name of our own morals.  How is the love of God shown through those who would shower others with anger and spite?  You are no different from those Pharisees Jesus called too hypocritical.  We do well to remember that the final judgement of mankind is not ours to deal with.  If it were then I shudder to think of who in our ranks would not be saved.  The apostle Paul tells us that it is Jesus who lives through us today {Galations 2: 20}.  Knowing this, is there any doubt how we are to see those who might be considered outcasts of society?  As the popular christian catch phrase from some years ago asked...what would Jesus do?  I'll tell you what He would do, He would show His love, grace and mercy to those whom others persecuted.  So, if Jesus indeed lives in us, how is He manifested today?  Yes, through those whom His Spirit dwells in.  I believe that the pastor in this instance was doing nothing more than exhibiting Christ who is in him.  Yeah, I know that there are plenty of hypocritical moralist christians out there who scream Gods judgement upon women such as these.  The truth is, they are the ones with the issue, not God.  How many times has a overzealous christian struck at those he disagreed with by invoking Gods vengence?  As I said, I have seen this type of christianity in our own group.  When we place ourselves in that judgement seat we put ourselves above God Himself.  How great will the fate of those who practice the condemnation of others be?  I for one don't want to find out.  That will never be the God I serve.

7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1 John 4: 7 - 8 NKJV

~Scott~

Our 911 Jesus

40Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What? Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
Matthew 26: 40 - 42 NKJV

To His disciples, Jesus must have been asking too much of them.  Here He was asking them to stay awake into the night as He went off to pray.  I'm sure a few of them, knowing Jesus was afar off, took the opportunity to catch a nap.  We already know this.  Do you think that Jesus, upon discovering His sleeping disciples, wondered if they could make time for Him?  Maybe, I know I've often counted the minutes during the day to see what I could ration off for my time with the Father.  As we all know, life can be hectic and time consuming.  If I forget sometimes to find time for Jesus He'll understand, right?  Of course He will.  I don't recall Him becoming angry at His followers when He discovered them sleeping.  I mean, He did question their attention span, but angry?  No.  Like I said, I've often struggled at times with finding time with God in my busy day.  More often than not, I have plenty of time for other things I enjoy, but time for Jesus?  I mean, we're talking about my day, my free time here.  Forget the fact that all I have is from Jesus, I get that.  What about me?  I'm the one being asked to make a sacrafice for his time.  I'm the one losing out on the opportunity to do something I love.  This is my life, or is it?  What we have here, friends, is the classinc struggle of believing that we are independent from God who created us.  Far too often we view ourselves as here on earth, while Jesus and our heavenly Father (who are one in the same) reside in heaven.  We know they're there, but it's more of a 911 relationship where we only call upon HIm when we really need Him.  I'm not saying that it's wrong to call upon Jesus in our times of need, He encourages us to do just that.  No, what I'm calling attention to is our perception of who Christ really is.  We see Jesus as looking down upon us from heaven instead of seeing Him for who He truly is.  The apostle Paul tells us that Jesus is closer to us today than we ever thought possible.  See, everythig that Jesus is, we are.  For it is He who lives through us {Galations 2:20}.  Now, I've run across more than a few christians who shudder at the idea that sinful man could be anywhere close to the presence of Christ, but I believe what Paul has told us to be true.  The very idea that Jesus cannot be in the presence of sin is, in my opinion, outdated theology.  After all, wasn't it Jesus whom the Pharisees accused of spending time with sinners? {Mark 2:16}  As He said, it is not those who are well that need a doctor, but those who are sick {Mark 2:17}.

16And when the scribes cand Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” 17When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Mark 2: 16 - 17 NKJV

My mother always had a saying she would tell me whenever I was troubled.  It was in these times that she would often tell me that Jesus was "as close to me as my next breath."  How right she was.  We get stuck on the idea that there must be seperation between ourselves and God because we are still sinners in Gods eyes.  Well, when Jesus took time out of His day to dine with the sinners of His day He blew that argument out of the water.  Wasn't it Jesus who became sin on our behalf at the cross so that the penalty would not be ours? {2 Corinthians 5:21}  Still think that it's our own sin that seperates us from the Christs' presence?  Well, Paul also tells us in Romans that sin no longer defines us {Romans 6:11}.  Sometimes what we've been taught for so long is the hardest habit to break, I get it.  However, our own relationship with Jesus should never be based simply on a as needed basis.  Now, Jesus will never forsake those who seek Him, but from a relationship standpoint He is far better seen as being with us than apart from us.  How do you see those friends of yours who only call when they need something?  Exactly.  As I said, Jesus will never turn us away simply because we seek Him now and then.  However, wouldn't you want more of Him than that?  I know I did.  One thing I almost never heard from a pastors pulpit was how to have a personal relationship with Jesus.  Sure, we're told that we can be "like" Him when the time comes, but be as Jesus?  I've had a friend tell me that it is herecy to believe such things.  Well, I guess Paul was a heretic then.  What is the event at which point God decided that He was finished with being in the presence of His creation?  The fall?  Well, even after the accuser instigated the lie that Adam and Eve could "be like God," the Father never left us {Genesis 3:5}.  See, Adam and Eve were already like God, that's the lie we've fallen for.  We do well to remember that Jesus is with us through it all, not just when we need Him the most.  He has a great interest in all we are.  After all, that is all He is. 

 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or eprincipalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
Colossions 1: 15 - 17 NKJV

~Scott~

The Jesus Filter

7You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
Galations 5: 7 - 9 NKJV

As somewhat of a amateur photographer I have experimented off and on with different lens filters.  One I might use to darken the photo, while I might use another to give a certain colored hue to my shot.  Using a filter can produce some nice photos.  However, our filter may actually cloud our own view of Christ Jesus.  This, my friends, is the Jesus filter.  The Jesus filter is nothing more than the experiences which might affect our own view of who Jesus truly is.  I have seen the Jesus filter in full effect in our sunday morning group meetings.  The views of Christ which we discuss have numbered up to three at times.  In fact, there is a running joke amongst us that we serve two Gods.  Two Gods, or two different views of the same God?  I would venture to guess that many times our own view of God might be somewhat skewed.  I don't blame the christian for the differing views of Jesus, many times we simply believe what we have been taught.  Or, in my own experience, my life experiences.  I recall a good friend who, while I was still counted among the institutional church goers, took to refering to God simply as "Daddy."  Now, there are plenty of people out there who might see this as a endearing term for our heavenly Father, and it is.  However, having grown up without a father, calling God Daddy cut right to the wounds of my heart.  This was my filter.  I could not see God as my Father simply because of the experiences with my own dad.  God might leave me as my own father had.  God might deprive me of His love as my dad had done.  Though I knew Him as God, I couldn't get too close to Him for obvious reasons.  Eventually, I came to see God not as a extension of my own experiences but as my heavenly Father who would never leave nor forsake me.  Are you begining to see just how our Jesus filter works?  In our sunday group we have a man who grew up in the strict teachings of the institutional church.  To him, everything about God is cut and dry, what the scriptures say is who God is.  There is little room for a more personal relationship with Him.  Within this mans filter, God is either a God of mercy or judgement depending on how we behave.  There has been many a time when I have told him that I don't serve the same God as he does...and I don't.

5They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1 John 4: 5 - 6 NKJV

So, how do you see Jesus?  How dark or light is your own Jesus filter?  Is your filter clouded by life experiences as mine was?  I get it.  One thing I have learned is that Jesus transcends all which we might ever experience.  Jesus has overcome this world, that we will never need to {John 16:33}.  In a way, there is nothing we might ever face in our life that Jesus will not be personally involved in.  How is that possible?  Because of the truth of Christ Jesus in us.  The apostle Paul tells us that Jesus Himself lives through us today {Galations 2:20}.  There is nothing that we will ever experience that Jesus will not be a intimate part of.  All that Jesus is, we are as well.  Unfortunately, many a Jesus filter has clouded this truth from the eyes of believers.  We are stuck in that old testament narrative that God could never be in the presence of sinful man.  Well, the truth of Jesus is that sin is no longer a issue between He and us.  Jesus dealt with that sin issue at the cross.  As He cried out "It is finished!" He declared a end to our own sin.  Paul tells us that we have, in fact, died to sin {Romans 6:6}.  Indeed, that old institutional church narrative that it is sin which seperates us from God has been done away with.  Yet, somehow, this does not fit into our Jesus filter.  We continue to see ourselves as washed in our sins, unworthy of a personal relationship with Christ.  My friends, you've been lied to.  There is no longer any need for us to "run the good race" that we somehow might be like Christ one day on that bright shining shore.  The unfiltered truth of Jesus is that we already are as He is.  All that He is...we are.  It was never Gods intention for us to live apart from Him.  However, it WAS our intention to use our own experiences to filter the truth of Christ.  While it may take some radical thinking to overcome the Jesus filter, He will be revealed within us by our heavenly Father.  However, if you choose to stick to your guns and live within the filter...then you serve a different God than I do.

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, creckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV

~Scott~

The Man I Am

17But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
1 Corinthians 6: 17 NKJV

There are those out there among us who will spend a entire lifetime on that journey to discover who they are.  It's a interesting question, and it makes for some good stories, but it makes me wonder as to why someone would work so long and so hard for self discovery.  I remember watching a movie some time ago about one mans journey of self discovery that led him the world over.  I get it.  I will say that my own path didn't last as long as some others, but I have known my own journey.  Why is it important for someone to know who it is they are?  Well, I'm guessing it has something to do with self identity.  Now, I'm not talking simply about our family ties here, it goes deeper than that.  Knowing who it is we are is the framework of who we are as a person, how we feel and, ultimately, how we act.  I knew a man who spent a good amount of time worrying and searching for his own identity.  He had gone through a rough childhood of abuse and really didn't feel connected to his own family.  So, he searched for who his own identity and purpose.  I recall mentioning the church thing to him, but he never seemed to interested in that.  He eventually came into one of those feel good eastern religions and seemed be content with that.  Did he find who he really was?  Maybe.  This is what's funny about our search to find out who we are, it can mean different things to different people.  That is exactly why each time I see some motivational show on tv claiming that they've found the path to our true identity that I call it a load of Bernie Sanders (BS).  My own search will be different from another persons, that's the way it is.  I have a friend who, whenever my own flesh will make the wrong behavior choice, will ask me a simple question, "Is that who you really are?"  See, he himself knows who I am, and so do I. 

 17“the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
John 14: 17 - 18 NKJV

So, who am I?  I am Scott, child of God and bearer of His inheritance.  Yes, my heavenly Father and myself are one in the same.  I know this because it is Christ Jesus who lives through me {Galations 2:20}.  How much better of a future can that hold?  Knowing in your heart that despite all of the turmoil which this world brings us, that we can be assured that Jesus can be closer to us than we could have ever imagined.  That we are no longer indentified and connected to the sin which once defined us.  That we can walk each and every day...as Christ who is in us.  If I've made it sound like my own journey to knowing who I really am has been easy think again.  Like most people, I searched to know the man I was.  However, I didn't really find out who I was until I learned who Jesus really was.  After all, to know Him is to know my heavenly Father.  Jesus is much more than the man who gave Himself for the forgiveness of my sins.  This is what most of us are missing as we come to learn about Him.  We see Jesus as a story in the bible, not on a more personal level.  The truth is, if we desire to learn who it is that we really are, then Christ Jesus is the starting point in our search.  After all, it is God (Jesus) who breathed into us the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  It is Jesus wo, knowing no sin, became sin on our behalf that our own relationship with Him would be restored {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  For without this selfless act of Christ, there could be no relationship with Him...or God.  Talk about being on an island all alone.  Like the man I used to know, my own younger years were not always ideal.  I struggled not to identify myself with my own father, as my parents were divorced when I was young.  In fact, I vowed to NEVER be the man my father was.  Well, it turns out that I wasn't.  We miay have shared our earthly bond, but that's where the similarity ends.  I became the man my own father SHOULD have been.  So, the question remains, do you know who you are?



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~

I Talk Too Much

10When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: 11“Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
Matthew 15: 10 - 11 NKJV

Anyone who knows me knows all too well my characteristics.  One of these characteristics is my ability to piss people off with sarcastic answers to dumb questions.  Now, while I myself may justify this at times, there are others who would tell me that I'm a...jerk.  The simple fact is, I talk too much.  Be it a blessing or a curse, that is who I am.  There you have it, Christ Jesus layed out in His reality.  Christ Jesus?  Yes, for despite my obvious shortcomings, in my heart I know that it is Jesus who lives through me {Galations 2:20}.  How could a Jesus lover be so crass?  Well, does anyone remember the answers that Jesus gave to the questions of the Jewish authorities?  Yeah, He definately didn't make any friends among the Pharisees.  However, He wasn't lying at all.  God cannot lie.  Ok, I digress.  There has definately been more than a few times where my well thought of answers have produced many a angry reaction.  I get it.  If someone, on a rainy day, asks me if it's raining what do you think my answer will be?  No, the sun is hiding behind those rain drops.  See, I wasn't lying was I?  Well, part of the reason for this post was too bring this part of me to my own attention.  Yes, I knew that it was there all along, but I dealt with it.  I'm not going to make some pie in the sky promise that I'm going to change.  After all, I'm Jesus, why would I need to change?  I know in my heart that Jesus Himself was not loved and adored by all that He came across, and neither will I be. 

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

It would be easy for me to tell someone that if they didn't want a sarcastic answer then they shouldn't ask a stupid question.  Yes, I've done that too.  However, the higher road would be to speak not through my flesh but through Christ Jesus who is in me.  The trouble is, even speaking as Jesus would find more than a few people to offend.  It seems that I can't win this one.  Seriously, a well placed answer WILL avoid the wrath of others.  It may not be easy for those around me to see Jesus in me especially from the way I act at times, but trust me He's there reigning me in.  The way that He does that is by speaking to my heart about what it is that I'm doing.  More than once I've felt His gentle voice within me whispering "Scott, is this really who you are?"  It is in these moments where I need to take a step back and think of what He's trying to tell me.  No, that isn't the man who I really am.  For all that Christ Jesus is, I am.  I carry His traits, His dna, His heredity.  I am simply not His child...I am Him.  For all of my faults, and there are many, it is Jesus who assures me of the man that I am.  Someone else could ask me that very same question, but they might not like my answer.  Yeah, I talk too much. 

~Scott~

Voices

8But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
James 3: 8 - 10 NKJV

I was talking with a friend this week who was struggling with self confidence.  It seems that she had been listening to the disparaging words of those around her for far too long.  Now, even she was at the point that maybe these words were true.  Believing in this false narative, she had developed a low opinion of herself.  What amazed me is that I saw myself in her situation.  Yeah, there was a time when I fell into that trap of believing the negative words others told me.  All of the awful things they said that I was, I bought into it hook line and sinker.  One thing that I know in my heart is that if we are to believe that we are indeed in a spiritual battle, then we already know who it is that tosses those false accusations at us.  It is none other than satan the accuser.  Now, I'm not naive enough to think that our heavenly Father cannot and has not used the words of others to communicate His desires to us.  However, I really don't think that God would present to His children a steady stream of negativity.  That's just not who He is.  We are told that God is Love {1 John 4:8}.  So, if it is in Gods very nature to Love His children, are we to believe that He would waste His time bringing them down?  I don't think so.  I've lost count of just how many self help books there are out there that address this issue.  Now, all of these feel good novels might be useful for a time, but they really don't address the real issue.  That being our knowledge of who it is that we truly are.  See, it's easy for our accuser to find victims if we're not aware of who we really are.  So, who is it that I am?  Well, I know that I am not of the world, which means that my identity lies with my heavenly Father.  It is God who breathed into me the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  It is Christ Jesus who lives through me today {Galations 2:20}.  This is who I am.  All of that other trash is just negative words given by the accuser.  This is exactly what I told my friend, you are not that person they say you are.  Of course, as it was with me, hearing and believing are two different things entirely. 

5They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1 John 4: 5 - 6 NKJV

I remember watching a documentry on navy SEAL training some time ago which gave me a interesting take on hearing and believing.  There was a certain master chief who, each and every morning, would greet his students with one simple phrase..."success is what we do!"  To most of the students this was just their teacher blowing smoke, until one morning in the ocean surf.  After a long night of swimming exercises, they learned the difference between hearing and believing.  As each swimmer came ashore, the chief would ask them, "what is it we do?"  "Fight," the first man ashore said...back in the water he went.  This continued until one go getter recalled his instructers words.  "What do we do?"  "SUCCEED," Said the swimmer fully expecting to be sent back into the surf.  "Good morning, Mr. Goodman, you're secure."  Needless to say, it didn't take long before each and every student gave the correct response.  Hearing versus believing.  I think of all of the time I've wasted worrying about what it is that others thought of me.  Wasted time.  If we place that much power in the words others tell us, what power will our own words of affirmation give us?  It doesn't take some feel good self help book to convince us of our own value.  No, what it takes is our own realization of our value to our heavenly Father.  It will never be God who will fill our heads with words of inferiority.  That's not who He is.  Once we are secure in the knowledge of who we really are, those negative words we hear will not make it past the filter of the truth.  So, who are you?

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

~Scott~

Jesus Versus Scripture

Arche and Meathead arguing about religion

2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John 1: 2 - 5 NKJV

I find it interesting how our own perspectives can, and often do, influence our beliefs.  Our experiences can, and will, dictate how we see often see things.  Our own view of christianity is no different.  Some may see the scriptures one way while others will take that very same writing and spin it into something completely different.  Now, it took me awhile to see it, but I finally began to realize that the same scriptures we have memorized over time were but a message of...Christ.  In the old testament we see His coming revealed in prophesies.  In the new testament we see Him revealed in life.  Yet I've run across more than a few christians who hold tight to their own belief that the bible they read is but a rule book for our christian life.  Well, if that's true then I've already failed in more than a few things.  I suppose that's why was in need of the forgiveness of Jesus, right?  I've often wondered just how Jesus would see scripture today.  Would He see it as a loving message to Gods children or as a revelation of Him?  There are times where it seems as if we are arguing our faith in a court of law.  There it is, folks, Jesus versus the scriptures.  Who will win?  I learned a long time ago that God has never needed me to defend Him, yet many a well meaning christian takes each and every opportunity to do just that.  So, you're telling me that the creator of universe needs you to defend Him?  You're telling me that He who breathed into me the breath of life needs me to somehow argue His case to others?  I get it, I've been there.  In my infant christian years I was all about standing up for a God who I felt needed me to defend him.  Was I wrong in this assumption?  Well, wrong is a strong word.  I would say...misguided.  Each sunday I would sit in the pew while one pulpit pounder after another called on me to be a good christian and "speak" God to others.  Well, to me that meant only one thing, God wanted me to recruit and defend the faith.  Believe me, it didn't work out too well.  See, I couldn't defend something I didn't really understand at all.  To me, God was a belief, a story I had been told in sunday school.  It never occured to me that I could have a relationship with Him.  I think this is a big issue with the christian faith today.

 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: 10 - 11 NKJV

The issue that have these days is that I've given up one sunday morning rally call for another.  Our sunday morning group all too often has morphed into a who's who in the defender of the faith.  On one side we have a brother who will swear up and down that the scriptures are the be all and end all for our beliefs.  I'm on the other side.  I see the value of knowing my heavenly Father in a close, personal relationship.  Oh, yeah, that's in scripture.  It was Paul who spoke of Christ Jesus living within us {Galations 2:20}.  So, are we to toss out this scripture simply because it doesn't fit into our own experiences?  Well, I've seen that too.  Our brother will all too often steadfastly proclaim that there are "dozens" of scriptures to support his view.  Well, that might be so, but there are also just as many scriptures to support my beleif of our own relationsip with Christ.  So, who's right?  The way things are going, we may never know.  For the more we keep arguing God, the more people we will turn away.  If there is one thing I've learned it's that God is big enough to transcend my experiences.  It's not that He needs me to defend Him...I need Him!  I would say that the more time we spend in relationship with God and less time arguing about who He is or isn't the better off we'll all be.  This is the difference between unity and division.  As the scripture you hold so close tells us, a divided house will not stand.

~Scott~

The God I Serve

 28“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.30“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11: 28 - 30 NKJV

We all have issues in our life.  We all share those times where we feel that the tribulations that we carry are ours and ours alone.  Well, I know from experience that once we start to feel that we have no advocate for the troubles in our life, then we will start down a dark and lonely path.  Believe me, I've been there.  I used to wonder why it was that Jesus spoke those famous words of "take my yoke" to all who would listen.  Well, the answer is easy once we realize what I believe to be the true reason for all of those troubles we come across.  See, God never intended for His children to live a life of fear or anxiety {1 John 4:18}.  It was never Gods intention to push us through prolonged periods of suffering just to make a few christian self help authors rich off of our pain.  Now, I know that I'm going to hear more than a few institutional thinkers who still cling to the belief that our heavenly Father causes us to walk through our pain and crisis in order to somehow increase our endurance in living life.  I think that's crap.  If this were true at all, then why would Jesus ask Gods  children to take His burden instead?  Think about it, why didn't Jesus simply tell us "keep that burden of yours and I'll teach you endurance through all the crap you go through in life?"  Well, I'm of the belief that if Jesus didn't say it, then just maybe He doesn't desire for me to do it.  There are a lot of wonderful words of advice spoken by Christ in scripture, but some of the most important might be recorded in Matthew 11.  Now, I will never know the burdens the people Jesus spoke to were facing, but I'm quite certain that they rivaled the trials I go through in my own life.  The need for food, shelter and acceptance.  We all share these burdens.  But are they ours to endure alone?  Absolutely not!  Besides the fact that Christ encourages us to release our burdens to Him is the truth that I have never been seperated from the presence of Christ.  Paul writes to us in Galations that it is Jesus who lives through us today {Galations 2:20}.  Many a institutional church thinker profess to believe in the "indwelling" Christ, yet cannot fathom the idea that Jesus could be in us.  Well, if Christ Jesus is "indwelled" in me...He is IN ME. 

 6And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, b“Abba, Father!  7Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir cof God through Christ.
Galations 4: 6 - 7 NKJV

So, if God never intended His children to walk through trials in their lives alone, why in the heck does He allow me to go through them?  Doesn't He love me?  My friend, you could never put a measure to the love that your heavenly Father has for you.  Our sunday morning group is shared with a man who insists on the institutional church belief God somehow rules the world with a iron fist.  He is a vengeful, angry and just God.  Oh, yeah, He's merciful to those who believe too.  I've told this man on many occasions that I don't serve the same God which he serves.  This is a statement he simply can't understand.  My God is not sitting in heaven like a rent a cop simply waiting for me to screw up.  That's not who God is.  If it was then the scriptures would have layed it out for us.  Instead, we are told that God is not a angry, but a loving God {1 John 4:8}.  The scriptures do not tell us that He releases His fury upon us when we sin, but that when we realize we are doing wrong we have a advocate in Him.  Those trials I have endured in my life have never been faced alone.  This is what more than a few christians fail to recognize about God.  The battle is not, nor has it ever been ours alone.  This is exactly why Jesus tells us to "take My burden."  It was never Christs intent to live seperate from us.  When we walk through those trials of life, it is Christ Jesus who is walking with us, right there in the mud and muck we call life.  It was never Gods intention that we would endure the burdens of life by ourselves.  For this denotes a seperation between ourselves and God, which has simply never been true.  We compare God to a loving Father while we instill in Him the traits of a stern diciplinatian.  We praise Him as "Abba Father" as we await His punishment.  Forgive me, but if this is your view of God, then you and I are serving two different Gods.  If God is Love, as scripture tells us, He will never take joy out of punishing His children.  However, as our loving heavenly Father, He will allow us to endure the consequences of our own choices as He walks with us.  This is the God I serve. 

18‘I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19“and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’20“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23‘And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24‘for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’And they began to be merry.
Luke 15: 18 - 23 NKJV

~Scott~

Man Things

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

A friend of mine sent me a Promise Keepers article last week along with a question...is this the definition of a man?  Now, nothing against promise keepers, but they have done as much to build men in this country as I have of building a house on the moon.  That's not to say that they have not done well at bringing more than a few men to the Lord, but making men?  I don't think so.  Yet, one of the main claims of the promise keepers movement has always been "raising men in the Lord."  There have been few topics in the christian faith that are written about so often.  In fact, if you look into any contemporary christian periodical you will likely see articles on one of a few common topics.  These include prayer, bible reading and how to be a man.  That's just the way it is.  So, what is the definition of a man?  Well, I think that there might be two different answers here.  One for the christian faith and the other for everything else.  However, I think that we can get lost in debating over the definition and yet still ignore what makes a man.  Society will tell us that a man is strong willed, tough and hard working.  Well, I'm here to tell you that I've seen plenty of men who showed none of these traits.  Am I a man?  I believe that I am.  However, some other shmuck with a alternative agenda might come along and tell me that I'm not.  No matter, in my own heart I know who it is, and what it is, that I am.  At the end of the day, I'm the only one I need to reassure of my manhood.  However, that didn't answer the question did it?  What makes a man?  We could turn to scripture for help with the answer, but what about the man who for one reason or another has chosen not to follow the Lord?  Is he somehow less of a man because he doesn't fit our definition?  I don't think so.  So, why am I so damn sure that I'm a man?  Because I've given up childish things.  I no longer depend on someone else to guide me in all I do.  I no longer carry with me the habits I carried as a young boy.  That's what accepting responsibilities and following through with them will do for a person.  Like it or not, there are things the adult man will accomplish that a child can not.  That's not saying that a "young" man can not do extraordinary things, but when he does it's considered unique. 

 ”It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.”- George S. Patton Jr.

I remember, growing up in the 70's the constant reminders of what a real man was.  One couldn't escape the ever present "Marlboro man" ads with the rough and tumble cowboy glaring back at you.  By God, THAT was a man!  The trouble with this perception is just that...it's a perception.  What about the young man who never became a cowboy, or smoked a cigarette or drank a drop of liquor?  Is he a man?  I'd say yes.  Of course, others would disagree.  That Marlboro man, that image of what a man was...that was my dad.  He embodied all that the world wanted him to do in order to be a man.  He smoked, drank and chased women.  That's what real men did, right?  We've all seen the rituals of joining the ranks of manhood.  That first cigar.  Your first glass of whiskey or your very first nude magazine.  Do that and you'll be  a man, my son.  Sorry, that doesn't cut it in my book.  For I saw what my dad did to maintain his status of being a man, and in the end he lost more than he gained.  But, I guess he could call himself a man and hang his hat on that.  For the longest time I struggled with feeling like I wasn't a man just because I didn't follow in my own fathers self destructive footsteps.  Today I will say I'm more of man for not doing so.  Don't get me wrong, my father was a good person, when he wasn't trying to prove himself to others.  That, in a nutshell, is the essence of being a man.  If you feel the need to prove your manhood to those around you, then you're doing something wrong.  For it's not the opinions of others that will guarantee or affirm your manhood.  That comes from within.  There will come a time, not of our choosing, when we will put away those childish things we once treasured and embrace what it is to be a adult.  In that day, the Lord will reveal to those He wishes the true identity of what a man is.

~Scott~

Mistaken Identity

13For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.14I will praise You, for gI am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. 15My hframe was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
Psalm 139: 13 - 16 NKJV

If you were to pass me on the street, you wouldn't know me.  I would venture to say that even if we were formally introduced that you would fail to recognize who it is that I am.  Oh, sure, you know me for my mistakes, arguments and for those times when I make a complete and utter fool of myself.  Sorry, man, but that's not me.  Never has been.  It amazes me at how it easy it was for a man to believe in the most ridiculous case of mistaken identity ever conceived.  Then again, it wasn't man who conceived it in the first place.  No, for that we can look no further than the one who proposed such a outrageous notion to Eve, that she could be like God {Genesis 3:3}.  What would you do?  What would you do if someone approached you and told you that you...could be like God?  Well, I'm sure that most people would suddenly conjure up images of how they would create their empire, but it isn't about that at all.  I'll take another approach, what if your father approached you and told you that you could be part of his family.  How many of you would disagree with that?  Well, Eve did.  Then again, I'm of the opinion that Adam and Eve really didn't know their true indentities either.  That's what made it so easy for the accuser to suggest one of the biggest lies in history to Adam and Eve {Genesis 3: 4-5}.  See, what Eve failed to realize that what satan was suggesting...was already true.  Yes, Eve was already like God.  She already had Gods dna, His lineage, all of that.  Remember that it was God who breathed into His creation (Adam and Eve) the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  Yes, Eve, you were already like God!  This is why I say that Eve most likely wasn't aware of her lineage, or she may have very well rebuked satan on the spot.  To Eve, her relationship with her creator was simply life as it was.  She had known no other way.  All it took was one well placed suggestion to throw all of humanity out of whack.  So it is that most christians and non christians alike still live.  Indeed, people often speak of the fall as if it were the final scene of a movie instead of the begining.  It was never our Lords intention to have us live in the mistakes of our past.  That just isn't who we are.

 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

That is one important truth you need know if you ever meet me, the old things have passed away.  I will be the first one to admit that I am harder on myself than anyone I have ever met.  I'm not proud of that, but it's who I am.  See, even I at times fail to see who it is that I really am.  There are those times when I hardly recognize myself.  It is in these times that I am reminded of my lineage.  Not only am I Gods child, but it is He who lives through me {Galations 2:20}.  Remember the furor from the Jewish Pharisees when Jesus proclaimed to them that He was the very Son of God?  Was He lying?  Of course not, but the Pharisees were not seeing the big picture.  I have a good friend who has expressed a reluctance to tell it like it is, that he is Christ.  I get it.  Can you imagine a group of people walking down the street claiming they were Jesus?  I bet the first thing you would do is look for some crisis intervention professional to deal with these obviously crazy people.  So, that's where we stand as christians today, afraid to proclaim who it is we are.  This is why I mentioned that those who met me for the first time would not know who I was.  Sure, you know me from my mistakes and actions, but is that really who I am?  My heavenly Father doesn't believe so.  In my Fathers eyes I am more than the sum of my victories and shortcomings.  No, in His eyes I am His child and the heir to His glory.  When I look back to see my mistakes people remind me of, it is God who whispers to me that He has wiped them away.  THAT is who I truly am. 

19Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body gand in your spirit, which are God’s.
1 Corinthians 6:19 - 20 NKJV

~Scott~

Counterfeit Jesus

29But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”30Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31“Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32“Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34“So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35“On the next day, jwhen he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’36“So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”37And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Luke 10: 29 - 37 NKJV

A discussion this week took us into the question of how we would tell someone else about God.  Well, most people don't follow this advice, but I rarely follow the words of others.  Talk is cheap.  No, I watch what you do and not listen to what you tell me.  There are plenty of counterfeit Jesus' out there who will fill many people with the words of the gospel, or at the very least their own interpretation of it.  The apostle Paul warns us to beware of those people around us {1 John 4:1}.  Believe me, I've been approached by every Tom, Dick and Harry christian there is, all telling me how it is that I need to follow their advice to good christian living.  Yeah, if I needed your help, dude, I would have asked for it.  The counterfeit Jesus, described as the spirit of error by Paul, may be one of the largest ministries anyone has ever seen.  It seems that anyone who is anyone in the christian faith has a opinion on what we should to do please God.  Again, if I wanted your help I would have asked for it buddy.  Add to this that there may be as many interpretaions of the scripture as the day is long and you have a breeding ground for many a false teacher.  So, how would I tell someone else about God?  Well, first off I would do away with the institutional BS and tell them right off that they don't need to look too far to find Him.  Indeed, Paul tells us that it is Christ Jesus who lives through us {Galations 2:20}.  However, many times I find that this description gets me nothing but a blank stare.  So, I ask the question.  What does your heart tell you?  For it is to our hearts that our Heavenly Father will speak.  There have been many times where some counterfeit Jesus has thrown some cool sounding scripture at me, yet my heart was uneasy.  It is for this very reason that find the practice of throwing scripture at someone who is hurting to be so reprehensible.  Who am I to tell my brother how he should perform?  I'm am not, nor have I ever been, a pastor.  Yet, somewhere along the way we christians came to believe that quoting scriptures was a damn good way to make someone feel better.  Far from it.

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

More often than not, when others quote scripture to me, it is done to promote some sort of condemnation.  What these counterfeit Jesus' are really saying is, Scott, you need to be doing this or that.  Now, granted, God can definately use those around us to speak into our hearts as well.  However, I don't believe that God would use someone elses words to put me to shame or to condemn me.  That isn't who He is.  What many people of the counterfeit Jesus crowd don't realize is that God...is Love {1 John 4:16}.  Knowing this truth in my heart has show me many a counterfeit Jesus agenda.  I am not of the opinion that God is a angry God bent on lording over me with the threat of punishment if I don't tow the christian line.  Yet there are those out there who continue to practice a performance based branch of christianity.  If I only pray harder, give more or do more then God will surely be happy with me and save me from His wrath.  Tell me, how does the love of God fit into that narrative?  Has God delivered me into fellowship with Him only to use me as a convenient punching bag for His anger?  The counterfeit Jesus crowd would have us think so.  However, in my heart I know that the love my heavenly Father has for me transcends whatever man can, and will, throw my way.  I'm not turning my back on God.  On the contrary, I'm turning my back on your interpretation of Him.  I'm rejecting the condemnation, hurt feelings and sadness which every counterfeit Jesus has ever used against me.  As I said, in our hearts we will know what is true and what is not.  This is how we are to test the spirits.  The next time counterfeit Jesus comes knocking you will have a answer for him. 

~Scott~

Institutional Band Aids

44Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45and sold their possessions and goods, and dividedp 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

For those who know me, you know that I'm not a big fan of the catholic church. In fact, I'm really not a huge fan of large organized churches as a whole.  I've been in my share of large congregations, and I know that it is easy to become lost in the shuffle of such a large group of people.  I also am well aware that in such large congregations, there is ample room for a house of worship to become more like a political office than a gathering place to worship the Lord.  Knowing this, I was surprised this week when Wayne Jacobsen engaged in a discussion on his weekly podcast of just how it is that we can save a failing catholic church.  I found this discussion interesting because it seems lately that Wayne  has been migrating away from the large institutional church idea.  However, here he was talking about how it was that the institutional church could be brought back from the threshold.  One of his main ideas was to do away with the priesthood and give up control of the church to the people it serves.  yeah, that was one of his solutions.  So, what we're going to do to save the catholic church is to get rid of the order of priests and replace them with...pastors?  How is this going to save the church?  I believe that Wayne and others like him have missed the boat on just why the church has seen decreasing numbers in their congregations.  I believe that one of the big reasons that christians are abandoning the traditional church is one of relationship.  People are weary of marching into a building each week into a well orchestrated performace.  There is simply nothing organic, new or ground breaking the traditional church service.  I could walk into any congregation this sunday and pretty much predict the events that would occur while I was there.  I also know the teaching of the institutional church, which does nothing to foster the knowledge of coming to know and grow in Christ.  In fact, most of the truth of Jesus which I know in my heart today is not taught in the modern church.  This doesn't sound like a leadership issue to me.  No, this sounds more like a broken system. 

“So no, I’m not too big on religion...and not very fond of politics or economics either...And why should I be? They are the man-created trinity of terrors that ravages the earth and deceives those I care about. What mental turmoil and anxiety does any human face that is not related to one of those three?”
― William P. Young, The Shack

Tell me, how is a change in leadership going to help a dying system where most people feel choked off and lost?  It's not.  At best, a shakeup of leadership in the church is simply a band aid placed over a gaping wound.  We will do away with the order of the priests, but who will we replace them with?  See, in our minds, the church needs a heirarchy of leadership.  We definately need a head pastor.  We also need associate pastors for those times when the head pastor is feeling overwhelmed.  Oh, and we'll definately need some sort of support staff to bring all of this together right?  There you have it, we've now replaced the prisets of the catholic church with the pastors and staff of the churches we know.  Now, tell me what possitive changes you made.  Tell me how these changes are going to inspire the numerous congregations yearning for relationship amidst the sea of the institutional church.  What I've experienced for myself is being in a large congregation while being told all about Jesus.  Sure, I heard the traditional stories and sermons with the institutoional message, but what I rarely heard was how I could experience a relationship with my Savior.  In fact, most christians I talk to today think that a relationship with Jesus is only something we will experience after his second coming.  I get it.  This is the message we have been taught for thousands of years.  The apostle Paul was one who knew the heirarchy of church leadership all too well.  It was Paul who persecuted the followers of the early church of Christ Jesus.  It was also Paul who tells us that we can and do share a relationship with Jesus through His Spirit who dwells in us {Galations 2:20}.  What about this early church?  Well, there were no large temples or congregations, priests or pastors.  No, these followers of Jesus gathered privately in each others homes to learn of the teachings of Christ.  You can't get any more organic than that, right?  Now, we may have our potluck lunches or church family camping trips, but nothing we do will ever come close to the relationship of the early church.  No change in church leadership will ever produce this.  What will produce a church of relationship with Christ is a gathering of believers who come together without all of the trappings of the institutional church dog and pony show.  And the Lord will add to that church daily those who are saved. 

~Scott~