As Intended

 Would anyone contend with his former?  Earthenware of the ground with its artificer?  Shall the clay say to its potter, what are you making?  Or the contrivance say, it has no hands? 

Isaiah 45: 9, Concordant Old Testament 

One of the current firestorm issues in this country has been the transfer of genders among those desiring to do so.  Swimmer Lia Thomas, who attended the University of Pennsylvania, seemingly blazed a trail for transgender athletes to follow when, in 2020, she chose to ignore who she was created to be and go with who she wanted to be instead.  Many people have expressed their concerns over the possibility of transgender women competing in women's sporting events.  Many more expressed their apprehensiveness at trans gender women using the same locker room and bathroom facilities as other women who have not chosen to abandon how it is they were created.  So, how is this a Christian issue?  How did this land in our laps?  As conservatives, aren't we for peoples freedom to choose?  Yes, to an extent.  I pose another question, can a man suddenly grow female organs?  No.  In order for the transgender idea to take hold, modern surgical procedures are required.  See, the truth of the matter is that men have been created to be men and likewise women to be women {Genesis 1:27}.  This was the original intent of the Lord, 'Men and women He created them.'  God created us each with different characteristics unique to who we are.  This is part of the miracle of creation.  How, then, can I say to the Lord, 'God, I don't think You got it right when You created me.'  Ask yourself this, does God lie?  Does God make mistakes?  If you answer in the negative, not only are you correct, but you have debunked the whole transgender idea.  See, I was born as a male, a man.  There is NOTHING I can do to change that reality.  I am a man, which is what God intended for me.  No matter who it is I choose to think I am, at the end of the day I am a biological male as the Lord intended.  I believe that one of the reasons that certain people choose to "identify" as someone of another gender is because they realize that, biologically, we are who we were created to be.  Aside from that, has anyone realized that we free thinking humans are the only ones clamoring that God messed up in His creation?  The rest of the Lords creation, it seems, accepts how it was created.  

O man!  Who are you, to be sure, who are answering again to God?  That which is molded will not protest the molder, "Why do you make me thus?"  Or has not the potter have the right over the clay, out of the same kneading to make one vessel, indeed, for honor, yet one for dishonor? 

Romans 9: 20-21, Concordant New Testament 

Are there things you have created in your life?  A garden?  A model airplane?  When I was younger I used to spend hours building model airplanes.  Never once did one of my creations speak up and proclaim that it did not feel like the object I created.  I have never known a garden to rise up and proclaim that it does not identify any longer as a garden as it was created.  Anyone see where I'm headed here?  What right do we have to say to the God who lovingly created us, 'I don't feel like that.'  Are we not openly accusing God of being wrong when we do so?      THIS is what makes this a Christian issue.  It should be mentioned that God is NEVER wrong in what He does.  It should also be mentioned that He never lies.  Therefore, when God spoke my name He created me as the person which I am.  God did not make a mistake, nor did He lie about who I am.  What has happened is that certain individuals have chosen to ignore who they were created to be and instead embrace the lie of the accuser.  For His part, God has given those individuals over to the lusts of their hearts {Romans 1:24}.  Again, this in no way changes our original creation  and God has certainly not abandoned them completely.  He has simply allowed those who choose to follow the lie to continue to do so. However, it is the Lords desire that ALL of His creation come to know Him.  God does not look upon those choosing to ignore who they are with condemnation, but with love {1 John 4:8}.  It is God who waits for His children to return to Him.

Wherefore God gives them over, in the lusts of their hearts, to the uncleanliness of dishonoring their bodies among themselves.  

Romans 1: 24, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

At The Altar

 For, passing through and contemplating the objects of your veneration, I found a pedestal also, on which had been inscribed, 'To an unknowable God.'  To Whom then, you are ignorantly devout, this One am I announcing to you. 

Acts 17: 23, Concordant New Testament 

After my mother passed, I contemplated purchasing a plot where she could rest and be remembered.  Fortunately a good friend talked me out of that plan.  For my mother is not only remembered, but her death meant only passing into a new life.  I cannot pin this just on Christians, for it seems that everyone seeks to remember those who have passed before us with some sort of memorial.  I get it.  In my church days I often wondered why it was that they had an altar dedicated to the Lord.  Sure, part of the reason we gather is to remember and worship Jesus.  However, if we have a memorial to Jesus aren't we inferring that Jesus is dead?  I mean, that's why we create memorials right?  Throughout the old testament and into the new as well scripture reminds us of the importance of the altar to the Lord.  Jesus calls on us to leave our offering at the altar and go and make peace with our adversary {Matthew 5:24}.  I would say that the existence of altars in Christianity has a lot to do with the traditions we continue to hold dear.  The apostle Paul, in his travels to Athens, noticed that even the resident Greeks had an altar to the "unknowable God."  Of course, the Greeks were also well known for altars and mythology.  So, do we require an altar in order to worship the Lord?  Is God somehow absent from us if there is no suitable altar of stone dedicated to Him?  Again, I feel that Paul would disagree with that line of thinking.  It was Paul who spoke of the indwelling Christ in all of us {Galatians 2:20}.  What altar do we have that Jesus would come dwell in the Lords children?  I have spoken on a few occasions of the freedom I have found in Christ Jesus.  Part of that freedom is being free of the traditions of the mainstream church.  I do not require a tithe nor worshipping at a man made altar in order to know Jesus as I do.  It is Christ Jesus who lives in me, and I don't need a altar or memorial to convince me of that.  

She said 'Lord my boy was special

And he meant so much to me

And oh I'd love to see him

Just one more time you see

All I have are the memories

And the moments to recall

So Lord could You tell him

He's more than a name on the wall

The Statler Brothers, More Than A Name On The Wall

The first time I noticed it was during a memorial day telecast of a ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans memorial in Washington, D.C....the wall.  As a nation watched, a disabled veteran walked up to the wall and traced the names of his fallen comrades onto a piece of paper.  Since then, I've noticed many veterans and families doing that very same thing.  It's as if seeing the names of loved ones lost keeps their memory alive.  I get it.  Yet if they realized one simple truth, it might make their experience a bit less heartbreaking.  As with my mother, these fallen warriors have not passed away, but passed on.  Passed on to a new reality in the presence of the Lord.  Paul speaks to this in Hebrews as he describes the 'Vast cloud of witnesses' that have passed before us.  Death is not the end, but a new beginning.  The grave could never contain the Lord Jesus, and His death assures us that our passing from this life is not the end for us {Romans 6:9}.  Yet what are memorials but monuments to those who have passed away.  Walk into any Christian church and you will see one of the oldest monuments in human history.  The cross is a memorial meant to remind us of the death of Christ Jesus.  The trouble with that is...Jesus isn't dead.  Would a church devoid of any crosses somehow be without the spirit of Christ?  No!  So, we're left with another yet church tradition.  Now, does seeing the cross help believers get closer to Jesus?  Perhaps.  In these cases I do not see the cross as a negative thing.  The church I used to attend was adorned with a giant cross by the side of the freeway.  Many were the stories of people who, seeing this cross by the side of the road, entered that church and came to know the Lord.  I would not see that cross as a memorial, but a reminder.  

Surely, in consequence, then, we also, having so vast a cloud of witnesses encompassing us, putting off every impediment and the popular sin, may be racing with endurance the contest lying before us. 

Hebrews 12: 1, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Real Jesus

 With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me is Christ.  Now that which I am now living in the flesh, I am living in the faith that is of the Son of God, Who loves me, and gives Himself up for me. 

Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament 

A lot of people walk into a church and believe that they are connected with Jesus.  While this might be true, do they know the real Jesus?  You know, the real authentic Jesus.  Mention Jesus to most believers and they instantly think back to the mainstream church narrative of what someone else has told them about Jesus.  Sadly, this is the only Jesus many people ever come to know.  Years ago, a good friend of mine mentioned that he began attending a local church because he wanted to "know Jesus."  Well, he might not have come to know Jesus while in that church, but the Father would soon reveal to Him the truth of Christ in him.  This is the same revelation which I received some years ago.  This is the real, authentic Christ.  This is the living Lord.  The apostle Paul spoke to the truth of Christ in him in Galatians {Galatians 2:20}.  This wasn't just a belief specific to Paul, but a truth for all to experience.  In yesterdays post, I attempted to address this truth of Christ Jesus in us.  However, I presented it in a way that most Christians might find difficult to swallow.  That is, this same Jesus which you have been blessed to receive the revelation of is not simply a Savior for believers only.  No, the truth of Christ in us includes ALL of Gods children.  Yes, even those whom you might see as not very worthy.  The revelation of Christ in you is not dependent upon how righteous you are or how many tithes you've given.  In fact, the truth of Christ is far removed from the traditions of the mainstream church.  In His "woes to the Pharisees," Jesus scolded the religious leaders of His day for placing their traditions ahead of Gods children {Luke 11:37-54}.  If church traditions meant so much, why then did Jesus speak against them?  Jesus is not revealed by traditions but by the revelation of the Father.  This is authentic Jesus.  

For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified 

1 Corinthians 15: 22, Concordant New Testament 

Can someone be led to the real Jesus through the church?  Absolutely.  However, I don't believe that the church itself will reveal the true Christ to anyone.  That is in the realm of the Father.  When I received the revelation of Christ in me, it wasn't a brick and mortar church which led me to my realization.  This  revelation of the authentic Jesus came to me as a dear friend spoke to me of the truth of Christ which the Father had revealed in him.  I believe that knowing the One true Christ is not specific to Christians only.  A good friend and coworker firmly believes that Christ Jesus can never dwell in one who does not know the Lord.  Sadly, too many believers adhere to this thinking.  But Jesus never wanted it that way.  The desire of the Father is that ALL would be one with He and Jesus {John 17:21}.  Yet what most believers fail to realize is that it is Jesus who has always been with us from the beginning.  When Christ died on that cross, He took with Him our old sin nature {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  Therefore, as Paul proclaimed, we are now dead to sin {Romans 6:11}.  In its place is the indwelling Christ within us.  Jesus does not pick and choose among believers and non believers.  ALL have the spirit of Christ Jesus within them.  As I said, this may be a bitter pill for Christians to swallow.  We have been taught all of our lives that we need to be striving for Jesus.  All of the efforts on our part will never produce the truth of Christ in us {Ephesians 2:8-9}.  Instead, the authentic Christ is revealed in us by the Father in His timing.  This is the One true Jesus.  

To whom God wills to make known what are the glorious riches of this secret among the nations, which is: Christ among you, the expectation of glory

Colossians 1: 27, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

Who Would Jesus Love

 

With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living; No longer I, but living in me is Christ.  Now that which I am now living in the flesh, I am living in faith that is of the Son of God, Who loves me, and gives Himself up for me. 

Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament 

It has been said that the true test of our constitutions first amendment is that we do not support it that we might speak freely, but that those who we disagree with can.  The rights which we celebrate do not only belong to us, but to all citizens regardless of their beliefs.  As I was pondering that this week, I began to apply the same reasoning to another area as well.  The apostle Paul, in Galatians, speaks to the reality of the indwelling Christ in us {Galatians 2:20}.  Now, at first glance, the average believer might assume that Paul was speaking only to those who were followers of Christ Jesus.  But is this the case for Jesus?  Do we have Christ in us only after we prove ourselves worthy?  If this were the case, then damn few people would be able to proclaim the indwelling Jesus in them.  What would the standard be for having that indwelling Christ in us?  Who would be found worthy?  Thankfully, through the love and mercy of the Father, we need not worry about whether of not we have Jesus.  We can speak with confidence the same words Paul spoke, living in me is Christ!  Yet, whether we like it or not, those we might disagree with can make the very same claim.  The indwelling Jesus is not reserved for those who believe, but for all of the Lords children.  The scripture tells us that Christ Jesus gave Himself once for ALL {Hebrews 10:10, Romans 6:10, 2 Corinthians 5:21}.  Yes, even that grumpy guy down the street who nobody in their right mind would ever believe had Jesus.  As believers, we do not hold a monopoly on who Jesus lives in.  The mainstream church will preach that knowing Jesus is a competition, that we somehow need to earn the right to have Jesus.  This is not what the Father intended.  Through the apostle John, we can see that the true desire of the Lord is that we would be one with He and His Son {John 17:21}.  One of the most over used verses of scripture in history even proclaims this truth.  We all know and have read John 3:16.  However, far too many people overlook the second part of that verse.  John 3:17 proclaims that "the world may be saved through Him."  I don't know about you, but that sounds to me as if the Lords original intent was that all would be saved.  

Who Himself carries up our sins in His body on to the pole, that, coming away from sins, we should be living for righteousness; by Whose welt you were healed.  

1 Peter 2: 24, Concordant New Testament 

Time and again, we find that Jesus is not simply a reward for the faithful.  On the contrary, Jesus is the Life in us all.  In the film Come Sunday (2018), the reverend Carlton Pearson is ostracized by the church for proclaiming that there is indeed no hell.  In one scene, Pearson inquires of the church leaders assembled before him, "If you could save your own father from hell...wouldn't you?"  I believe that if I were to ask God that same question I already know what His response would be.  We do not serve a God who delights in weeding out the unfaithful.  We serve a God who rejoices in His children knowing Him.  As a result, not only are we who follow Christ assured of His presence within us, but so are those we would never even suspect Jesus would choose.  Before we step back and decide who we feel has the indwelling Christ in them, we should consider what gives us the authority to make such claims.  Are we not judging others when we do so?  Has not Jesus Himself warned us against judging others?  When Christ gave Himself once for all, He did just that.  As difficult as it is for the mainstream Christian to accept, we all were intended have the indwelling Christ in us.  The stumbling block occurs when some never realize the gift they have been given.  How sad it must be having the glory of the indwelling Christ within you and yet never having the realization that you do.  Jesus stands at the door and knocks {Revelation 3:20}.  Will you answer?  

Lo!  I stand at the door and am knocking.  If ever anyone should be hearing My voice and opening the door, I will also be coming in to him and dining with him, and he with Me. 

Revelation 3: 20, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

Gods Eyes

 

Who rouses Him from among the dead, you also being dead to the offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He vivifies us together jointly with Him, dealing graciously with all our offenses, erasing the handwriting of the decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and has taken it away out of the midst, nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2: 13-14, Concordant New Testament 

In my years of being a believer and follower of Christ, I believe that there is but one obstacle which often prevents the believer from realizing who they are in Gods eyes.  This has less to do with how we see the Lord than what it is we are taught about Him.  For the Christian narrative has traditionally been that we serve a temperamental God who often vacillates from good to bad in His treatment of His children.  One moment the Lord showers us with love when we are doing good.  However, when we forget who we are and resort to negative behaviors, that same God who not so long ago showed us love now levels His discipline upon us.  What's with that?  We know that scripture tells us that God never changes {Malachi 3:6}, yet what do we make of this apparent contradiction in God?  But is this really a contradiction of God?  Does Gods behavior so blatantly change depending on how it is we conduct ourselves?  Personally, I don't see things that way.  In my experience, I am shown the love and mercy of the Lord regardless of how it is I conduct myself.  To believe otherwise would be to call God a liar.  Yes, we may PERCEIVE that God treats us differently when we act out, but is this really the case?  Again, this is what we have been taught about God.  This is not the nature of the indwelling God in me.  For that we turn to the apostle John, who speaks to us of the one true nature of the Lord.  God...is love {1 John 4:8}.  Is there any credence, then, that God disciplines His children as any earthly father would?  Certainly, but where our earthly parents may get wrapped up in the heat of the moment and turn loving discipline to abuse, it is God who allows His love nature to show in all He does.  This is the God few believers come to see.  Instead, they are fed some pulpit pounders thoughts of how they view the Lord.  

Perceive what manner of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God!  And we are!  Therefore, the world does not know us, for it did not know Him. 

1 John 3: 1, Concordant New Testament 

So, how is it that God sees me?  How is it that God sees us?  Knowing this truth could very well transcend the relationship all believers have with their creator.  This truth is something I have come to realize through His own revelation to me.  How is it that God can see me with anything more than the love which He is?  This is the love of the Lord which I have experienced through my life.  He loved me enough to create me in His image {Genesis 1:27}.  He loved me enough to dispatch His own Son for me {John 3:16}.  This is the love of God, and how it is that He sees me.  When God looks upon me, He sees his Son.  The apostle Paul speaks to the truth of the indwelling Christ in us {Galatians 2:20}.  This is who God sees when He looks upon me.  The trouble for the believer is, this is NOT how we see ourselves.  So, why would we look upon ourselves with anything less than how God sees us?  Well, the filter of the mainstream church all too often gets in our way.  Again, we have been taught to believe in a God who not only plays favorites, but who goes against His own love nature.  Dare I say that the God of the mainstream church is not the indwelling God in us.  It is an immense gift when He reveals to the believer just who He sees when He looks upon us.  He does not see a reformed sinner, but a loved child.  

According as He chooses us in Him before the disruption of the world, we to be holy and flawless in His sight, in love designating us beforehand for the place of a son for Him through Christ Jesus; in accord with the delight of His will. 

Ephesians 1: 4-5, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

Hope

 For the expectation we were saved.  Now expectation, being observed, is not expectation, for what anyone is observing, why is he expecting it also?  Now, if we are expecting what we are not observing, we are awaiting it with endurance. 

Romans 8: 24-25, Concordant New Testament 

I've listened to more than a few well intentioned Christians lately who seem to have given up hope for our country.  Who could blame them?  With an administration seemingly bent on the destruction of all we have come to respect over a lifetime and a government seemingly charged with protecting them at all costs.  Some might wonder what there is to hope for.  For those believers I would simply say, you've lost your perspective.  Yes, at times it seems that this world is crumbling all around us.  Yet I would say that, as believers, we were never meant to follow the lead of the world around us.  That is not the meaning of our hope.  Our hope, our expectation, is in Christ Jesus.  Yet all too often we are bombarded by the media with the cares and worries of this world.  I reminded my friend this week of the true nature of the mainstream media in this country, and worldwide.  That being, when they smell blood in the water, all bets are off.  Eventually, those who are snared in scandals will find themselves plastered across every major news headline.  The media cannot help themselves, people love to see the mighty fall from grace.  Against this backdrop, I can understand why many believers would be disheartened by the state of the world we live in.  But if we simply take a step back and remember our expectation, we will once again see the hope we have in Jesus.  Jesus never meant for us to embrace this world.  On the contrary, He spoke of the Fathers desire for Gods children to be a light to a fallen world {Matthew 5: 14-16}.  Not only that, but Jesus warned us about embracing the world long before the mainstream media came along {John 16:33}.  I find it far better to hope in our expectation of the Lord than in that which is of no value to us spiritually.  

Being, then, justified by faith, we may be having peace toward God, through our Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom we have the access also, by faith, into this grace in which we stand, and we may be glorying in the expectation of the glory of God.  Yet not only so, but we may be glorying also in afflictions, having perceived that affliction is producing endurance, yet endurance testedness, yet testedness expectation. 

Romans 5: 1-4, Concordant New Testament 

Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if, after watching the events of the evening news, that we could rest assured of our future?  As children of the living God, we were never meant to despair over what might be.  We are meant to glory in the expectation of what WILL be.  This is our hope.  This is our expectation.  We expect that we are children born of God {1 John 4:4}.  We understand that we are created in His image {Genesis 1:27}.  Our expectation is that we are now one with Christ Jesus and the Father {John 17:21}.  Our expectation has been met with the reality of Christ Jesus in us {Galatians 2:20}.  Our future does not include the gloom and doom predicted by the media, but our reality in Christ Jesus.  You could say that anything else is fake news.  We do well to understand that the mainstream media will never pedal good news.  That is not how they make their money.  They make their money when they report on the tragedies of people to a population so consumed with seeing tragedy fall on others.  Speaking to our expectation of Christ does not sell.  However, judging from the popularity of anything Jesus in the mainstream media, we can come to the conclusion that people want to hear of Him.  After all, Jesus is hope, and that is what many of us are seeking.  

Anticipating that happy expectation, even the advent of the glory of the great God and our savior Jesus Christ. 

Titus 2: 13, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Man In Me

 

With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me is Christ.  Now that which I am now living in flesh, I am living in faith that is of the Son of God, who loves me, and gives Himself up for me. 

Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament 

For some time I have written about my realization that Christ Jesus lives in me.  This I believe in my heart.  Yet there are times where I feel as if I am on an island out there all alone.  See, this realization which I have is about as far off the grid of mainstream Christianity as one can get.  I'm pretty much off the reservation and have been for some time.  To say that Christ in me is not a common Christian mindset is definitely an understatement.  This is why I feel at times as if I walk in my faith alone.  In the past, whenever I have attempted to share what it is that I believe I am more often than not met with blank stares.  Those who feel convicted with argue that I am living a false faith.  Perhaps this is why the Apostle Paul referred to this revelation as the "secret among the nations" {Colossians 1:27}.  Paul knew better than most that his own faith in the truth of Jesus was not shared by the mainstream church of his day.  He was speaking to those whose own memories of Jesus were of the man crucified on the cross.  This Jesus was dead, yet Paul spoke as if Jesus still was alive.  Herein lies the secret.  Now, imagine the confusion when I suggest that I am not alone in this life of mine.  That's right, I'm living with a dead guy.  For we cannot profess to the belief of Christ in us without knowing that He shares in everything we do, the good and the  bad.  Imagine my own shock when a good friend informed me that Jesus does not choose when and where He will share this vessel I call a body.  No, He's in me for the long haul.  From the time I wake up in the morning until I finally go to sleep, it is Jesus who remains in me.  Imagine the surprise to the mainstream Christian when they're told that Christ remains in me even when I behave badly.  Wait, Jesus dwells in...a sinner?  This is admission is more than enough to get me laughed out of any decent church in town.  The secret among the nations.  

To whom God wills to make known what are the glorious riches of this secret among the nations, which is: Christ among you, the expectation of glory. 

Colossians 1:27, Concordant New Testament 

Despite my own faith of the indwelling Christ, I understand why many still balk at the idea.  All roads lead to what the church has been teaching and preaching believers for over two thousand years.  The message, Jesus was crucified and died on the cross, rose again and was raised into heaven where He remains now.  It's a good story, if only it were true.  See, the cross was not the end of Jesus, but the beginning.  Jesus is not sitting at the Fathers side doing nothing.  No, it is Jesus who is among each of us today.  That's right, each of us share in the indwelling Christ.  From the most devout believer to one whom nobody would dare associate with Jesus, we all share in Him.  Is this even possible?  Remember, with God everything is possible {Matthew 19:26}.  Even the most devout Christians believe that all are created in the Lords image, the good and the bad among us.  The same is true of the indwelling Jesus.  Jesus shares our lives in the good times and the bad as well.  In those moments where I am behaving not so Christ like, it is Jesus who asks me if this is who I really feel that I am.  Indeed, there has been many a time where I have forgotten who the Man in me was.  The secret of the nations.  The mainstream church will preach that I need to be closer to Jesus.  My heart tells me that Jesus is closer to me now than I once realized He was.  

So that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: the primitive passed by.  Lo! There has come new! 

2 Corinthians 5: 17, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~  

The Father And The Damage Done

 

And "father" you should not be calling one of you on the earth, for One is your Father, the heavenly. 

Matthew 23: 9, Concordant New Testament 

This week I ran across a article where the Archbishop of New York, a man by the name of Stephen Cottrell, suggested that the words "our Father" from the lords prayer may problematic as people may associate them with abusive and bad earthly fathers.  I have to admit that this struck a chord with me as my own father was not really a part of my life growing up.  As it is, whenever someone referred to the Lord as "Daddy" I somehow felt cheated and left out.  Now, if this could happen to me, how many more church going believers out there feel the pain of not knowing their one true Father?  The Father that never forsakes them.  The Father who will always love.  This is the Father which I learned of a bit later in life.  Yet by then some of the damage had already been done.  I won't get into the nitty gritty of being the child of a single parent home or of not having that fatherly influence as I've delved into it before.  However, I think of the others whose own experiences affected their understanding of our heavenly Father as well.  This was never the relationship the Father intended.  It has always been the desire of the Lord that we would be one with He and His Son {John 17:21}.  The love of our Lord is not abusive, selfish or manipulative.  The very nature of God is love {1 John 4:8}.  This is in stark contrast to the nature of far too many earthly fathers out there.  For try as they may, even the most solid fathers among us will never achieve the status of our heavenly Father.  It was never meant to happen that way.  What was intended was for our fathers to treat their children with the love, mercy and respect which the Lord has shown us in our own lives.  It's painfully obvious that far too many of our fathers have missed that boat.  

Perceive what manner of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God!  And we are!  Therefore the world does not know us, for it did not know Him. 

1 John 3: 1, Concordant New Testament 

One of the main comments I hear from believers is that they find it hard to believe in a God they cannot see.  I get it.  I've been down that same road.  A dear friend of mine reminded me this week that to get a good picture of the Father all we need to do is look to Jesus.  For Jesus has proclaimed that if we have seen Him we have seen the Father as well {John 14:9}.  However, when Christ is revealed in us, we come to know the Father on a more personal level {Galatians 2:20}.  Our focus should not be on a earthly father who endures the same struggles as we do, but on our true Father in whose image we were created {Genesis 1:27}.  This is the Father archbishop Cottrell seeks to discard from the scriptures.  The Father whose faith he supposedly teaches (although I would dispute that assumption).  We live now in a world where we are not only harmed by earthly fathers, but also by those claiming to represent our heavenly Father as well.  When I hear of those who have been "harmed by the church," this is what I see.  The antics of Bishop Cottrell are simply another way believers are being harmed by todays leaders of the faith.  Is it no wonder that our churches are experiencing the masses leaving their congregations?  I would suggest that if someone is seeking the Lord, if they are looking in the mainstream church then they are looking in the wrong place.  We will not find the Father in the church, but through Christ Jesus within us.  

Jesus is saying to him, "So much time I am with you, and you do not know Me, Philip!  He who has seen Me has seen the Father, and how are you saying, 'Show us the Father'?  Are you not believing that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?  The declarations which I am speaking to you I am not speaking from Myself.  Now the Father, remaining in Me, He is doing His works. 

John 14: 9-10, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

I Once Was A Bully

 

For not ashamed am I of the evangel, for it is Gods power for salvation to everyone who is believing - to the Jew first, and to the Greek as well. 

Romans 1: 16, Concordant New Testament 

I read with some interest this morning a Wayne Jacobsen The God Journey post speaking to religious bullies.  This is a subject which I am pretty well acquainted because I was a pretty decent bully for the church back in the day.  We've all seen them, those holier than thou church goers who at times seem like members of some Christian gestapo purging the world of all non believers.  Not only that, these Christian soldiers work tirelessly to ensure that all believers that encounter are towing the line of the mainstream church.  Like I said, I once counted myself among this group before the revelation of Christ in me.  If anyone dared to challenge the sanctity of the Lord I served, they were worthy of my wrath.  There is no doubt that I alienated more than my share of believers by being a Christian bully, but I was defending what I truly believed in at the time.  God was holy, and it was my job to ensure everyone understood that.  Never once did I consider the consequences on the church body by my actions.  After all, I was defending God.  I was a good soldier.  In an age where we are seeing a good deal of discontent among believers with the mainstream church, I can only imagine how much of this discontent has been fomented by the actions of over zealous believers.  The funny thing is, the entire time that I was defending God, I bristled at the thought of some other believer treating me as I treated others.  Was I a hypocrite?  Perhaps.  But, I was defending God.  It did not enter my mind until much later that I had it all wrong.  For instead of defending God from others around me, it was God who had been defending me all along.  

Jesus is saying to him, "I am the Way the Truth and the Life.  No one is coming to the Father except through Me" 

John 14: 6, Concordant New Testament 

It was a few years after I stopped attending my local church that I ran headlong into a Christian bully.  During a weekly men's group discussion, a brother from the church we once attended would often speak up in defense of the Lord as if his life depended on it.  This mans crusade followed the strict church and religious guidelines which are still active today in many of our mainstream churches.  Scripture is taken literally and the gospel is defended at all costs.  This man was, in fact, a religious bully in his own right.  I will say that it feels a lot different being confronted by a Christian bully than it does actually being one.  I'm not at all proud of the way which I treated others in the name of Jesus, and Jesus has since showed me that there is indeed a better way.  See, Jesus has already done the groundwork for us.  He gave Himself that we would be free {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  If anything, our opportunity is not to compel those around us into following Jesus.  Our one and only opportunity is to tell those around us of the truth of Christ Jesus in us {Galatians 2:20}.  Freedom in Jesus has never been meant to force others unto Him.  True freedom in Christ comes when we realize that through Jesus we are free of the religious traditions and institutions which the Christian bullies push upon us.  

For everyone, whoever shall be invoking the name of the Lord, shall be saved.  How, then, should they be invoking One in whom they do not believe?  Yet, how should they be believing One of Whom they do not hear?  Yet how should they be hearing apart from one heralding?  Yet how should they be heralding if ever they should not be commissioned?  According as it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those bringing an evangel of good! 

Romans 10: 13-15, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

Freedom Without The Fireworks

 For freedom Christ frees us!  Stand firm, then, and be not again enthralled with the yoke of Slavery.

Galatians 5: 1, Concordant New Testament 

This week much of the nation will be celebrating our annual independence day holiday.  This season usually brings out everything from backyard barbecues to hometown fireworks.  Yet, over time many have forgotten the true meaning of our annual independence day holiday.  It's safe to say that this holiday meant more back in the 1700's than it does today.  For back in those days, the wounds of the bondage of oppression were still fresh in the minds of many in our young nation.  Beginning in 1775, our forefathers fought back against British colonial oppression.  This fight carried on until the end of hostilities brought forth a new nation in 1782.  If one were to ask the average citizen in 1782 what freedom meant to them, you would more than likely get a heartfelt answer from one who had experienced the oppression of the British.  However, ask that same question today and you may get a myriad of responses, with very few relating to the British empire of old.  Today, freedom carries with it many definitions.  Freedom from slavery.  Freedom from addiction.  I even heard one misguided CNN anchor comment on our freedom from Donald Trump!  I believe that very few people would comment on the freedom they have in Christ Jesus on this day.  Somehow we do not associate Jesus with freedom.  Yet freedom in Christ is exactly what the apostle Paul spoke in the beginning of Galatians {Galatians 5:1}.  It is Jesus who has freed us from the yoke of slavery in sin {Romans 6:11}.  It is Jesus who gave of Himself that we would be free {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  There is no greater freedom than this.  He demanded no payment.  He accepted no ransom.  On the contrary, it is Christ Jesus who is OUR ransom from sin.  Yet this is not the entire picture of our freedom in Christ.  Once realized, one will see that they truly are free.  

If ever, then, the Son should be making you free, you will be really free.

John 8: 36, Concordant New Testament 

I believe that when Paul spoke of the freedom we find in Christ Jesus he wasn't only speaking to our freedom from the slavery of sin.  I first realized this during a Sunday morning gathering of Christian believers coming together in fellowship.  Many of those in attendance testified to how free they felt not being tied down to a church pew that Sunday morning.  Imagine that, a believer feeling freedom from not being in church?  But consider this, is church where we will ultimately find God?  I would have to disagree with that.  Paul, when speaking in Athens, testified that the Lord does not dwell in temples made with hands {Acts 17:24}.  This fly's in the face of the traditional church narrative that we need to be in "Gods house" on Sundays.  As if the Lord dwelled in each and every house of worship.  This goes against the truth of Christ our Lord and savior.  For Paul also speaks to the truth of Christ Jesus in us {Galatians 2:20}.  It is not the brick and mortar building which is the Lords house...but His children.  This is the reality of our freedom in Christ.  It is Jesus who dwells in us.  Gone are the old obligations of mandatory church attendance, tithing and adhering to a law long since dead.  Freedom in Christ assures us of a life lived in Him, not striving to be like Him.  Freedom in Jesus frees us from the traditions and demands of the man made church.  When they ask you what church you belong to...tell them you celebrate Christ Jesus in you.  

All is allowed me, but not all is expedient.  All is allowed me, but I will not be put under its authority by anything. 

1 Corinthians 6: 12, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Shroud Of Jesus

 

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it was not yet manifested what we shall be.  We are aware that, if He should be manifested, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him according as He is. 

1 John 3: 2, Concordant New Testament 

The conversation the other day turned to the fact that there is a large population of people who do not know who Jesus is.  We may know OF Him, but we do not know Jesus the man.  We do not know Jesus as He relates to us today.  I can talk for hours on end of the Jesus most people know.  Born of a virgin, walked with His disciples and was crucified on the cross for the sin of mankind.  This is the prevailing, church taught version of Christ that we have come to know.  Have you ever desired to know more of Jesus than what some pulpit pounder has told you?  Some years ago a good friend of mine related that he chose to attend a local church because he desired to "know Jesus."  How many people take this into consideration when choosing a place of worship?  Probably not too many.  From the moment you walk into any church, you are spoon fed the prevailing story of Jesus preached for thousands of years.  One of the most popular streaming shows out there is the series The Chosen.  This series depicts the life of Jesus as He begins His ministry and chooses those who will follow Him.  What I like about this series is how Jesus is portrayed as a every day normal person among those of His day.  The viewer watches as Jesus displays the kindness and mercy we have only heard about.  I believe that this is the Jesus so many desire to know, if it were for the shroud of Jesus.  What is the shroud of Jesus?  Anything that disguises the true identity and nature of Christ.  The one who perpetrates this shroud is none other than our accuser Satan.  Through the years he has used anything from false teachings to the very image of Jesus to cast a shroud over who He is.  As a result, very few people know Jesus in a way He desires them to.  Understandably, God desires that His children know Him and His Son whom He has commissioned.  It the desire of Satan to continue providing the shroud which blinds us to who Jesus truly is.  

He shall grow up like a young shoot before Him, and like a root sprout out from the arid earth; He has no shapeliness nor honor that we should observe Him, and no such appearance that we should covet Him. 

Isaiah 53: 2, Concordant Old Testament 

It is interesting that when scripture speaks of the physical appearance of Jesus that He is described as One of a very common appearance.  That Jesus possessed no such appearance "That we should covet Him" {Isaiah 53:2}.  So what of all those paintings which portray Jesus as a young man with flowing hair and beard?  All part of the shroud of Jesus my friends.  Indeed, we have no eyewitness accounts of His appearance to base our opinion on.  Lacking such, a few ancient officials commissioned artists to paint a portrayal of the Christ.  This is mans vision of the appearance of Jesus.  I believe that He came as a normal person, plain in appearance that He would best resemble who He truly is, the children of God.  The apostle Paul speaks to the reality of Jesus in Galatians {Galatians 2:20}.  From his words, we know that it is Christ who dwells in us.  It is Christ Jesus who is our one true image.  Scripture tells us that no man has seen God except for Jesus {John 1:18}.  We know that we are created in the image of God {Genesis 1:27}.  We also know that it is the very spirit of the Lord which has been breathed into us {Genesis 2:7}.  WE ARE the very image of Christ.  It is Jesus who reveals Himself through us.  There will also come a time when the shroud will be lifted, opening the eyes of the children of God to the Lord Jesus.  In that day, we shall see Him as He is {1 John 3:2}.  

God no one has ever seen.  The only - begotten God, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He unfolds Him. 

John 1: 18, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~