Another Failed Liberal Idea

 

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4: 10 - 11 NKJV 

It has frustrated me a lot over the years to have to explain why it is that I am against liberal policies and the damage they have done.  Now, notice that I did not say that I am against liberals in general, just what they believe in.  Indeed, I will defend all day long their right to speak to and believe what it is they they think is right.  You won't find me protesting somewhere, breaking things and vandalizing property simply because I don't agree with a policy.  Believe me, after eight years of the destruction of Barack Obama I never protested once.  One liberal policy which irks me, and should be seen by all Christians as unattainable is the notion that everyone be treated fairly and equally.  What?  When was the last time that happened?  I understand their desire, that we all are humans and rightly deserve to be treated the same way...nobody's different.  That's where liberals drop the ball on this issue...we are different.  Every one of us, whether you're Donald Trump or some homeless guy digging through a trash can, are different.  The idea that we can attach a common standard of behavior to people who are different is ludicrous.  I can say that we are different, but others may not understand.  Am I the same person as you?  More than likely not.  Indeed, we were all created in the Lords image {Genesis 1:27}.  For those of you Christians who interpret things literally, this does not mean that you resemble God in regards to your earthly vessel of a body.  In this way we are all different.  However, when God breathed into us the breath of life, we became one with Him {Genesis 2:7}.  The resemblance, the connection we have with God comes from the fact that we share in His identity in spirit form.  Yes, for the longest time I believed that I looked like God physically.  While my body does not resemble Him in appearance, my spirit does.  So, what does this mean in the way of everyone being treated fairly and equally?  Well, nothings changed in that respect.  

For there is no partiality with God 

Romans 2: 11 NKJV

Let us understand, that is is not by any heavenly commandment or edict that we show favoritism to those around us.  Indeed, we are instructed in scripture to treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated {Luke 6:31}.  For it is God Himself who shows no partiality {Romans 2:11}.  If we were all the same, why would we need to be reminded to treat others as we would like to be treated?  Why?  Because God knows us intimately.  He knows that by our flesh we dabble in things like favoritism and racism.  Now, if we really knew who we truly are would we act in such a way?  That's hard to tell because many people still remain clueless as to their one true identity.  That identity is in Christ Jesus.  I mentioned that it is our earthly vessels that differentiate us from each other.  Well, a vessel is merely a container.  Our containers hold something inside of us deeper than our internal organs.  The apostle Paul spoke to the contents of this container in Galatians.  Paul realized that living in Him was his true identity in Jesus {Galatians 2:20}.  So, Christian, would you ever show partiality to Jesus?  Well, when we treat others as less than ourselves we are doing just that.  One of the key thoughts of our realization of Christ in us is that those around us share in this with us.  We are not exclusive to this club.  What about that mean guy down the block, is Jesus in him?  Whether he realizes it or not...yes.  Why is it that Jesus made the statement in Mathew 25, "as you did it to the least of these, you did it to Me?"  I believe that Jesus was giving a preview in that moment as to how things were going to be.  We may be the most despicable person alive and not know the gift of He that lives in us.  We could be the most righteous of righteous and still not realize that it is Christ who lives through us.  My advice to liberals would be to not expect that we are all to be treated fairly and equally...but as Jesus Himself.  

"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; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me."  "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  'When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  'Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'  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 

~Scott~ 

Who Will You Vote For?

 

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10: 31 NKJV 

I realized this past week, after watching the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, that we are indeed in the midst of one of the most contentious election seasons in our nations history.  Indeed, there are different platforms and ideas for our nation which each man represents going forward.  Will we choose the economic growth which has been displayed under president Trump?  Or, will we revert to the tried and true democrat principles of tax and spend economics?  Personally, for me, the choice is quite clear.  However, we still have a good portion of our population for whom the choice is not so evident.  One thing that this election brings is abundantly clear...choices.  In fact, it is in elections where we see not only the positive results of our choices, but the negative as well.  In recent years, a phrase that has so often been tossed around the political arena is that elections have consequences.  I agree.  I also agree that the choices we make have consequences as well.  I have talked to far too many Christians who agonize every day over the choices they have made in life.  There are choices I myself have made that I'm definitely not proud of.  This, I believe, goes hand in hand with being human.  As Gods creation, we are unique in that we were created with that ability to choose for ourselves.  Why is that?  Well, I believe that the Lord desired free will for us.  I don't believe that it was Gods desire that we would blindly follow Him without question.  No, I believe that it is Gods intent that we ourselves desire to be with Him.  Yes, there will be those of His children who will never allow their free will to choose life with Him, but whose fault is that?  As they say, God does not want robots who will follow Him without question.  I believe that a key part of realizing that we have the freedom to choose is how we received that freedom.  Our freedom of choice was not granted to us in some dusty hall of congress.  No, for as our constitution states, we were "endowed by our creator."  The founding Fathers got it.  They knew that God needed to be a part of the union they were forming.  After all, it is God who we are born of {Genesis 2:7}.  

We do not have government of the majority.  We have government of the the majority who participate.

~Thomas Jefferson~

Before I started writing this I looked at those areas of our lives where the choices we make directly impact out daily life.  Strangely enough, politics is a wonderful example of such things.  You can complain all day long about the decisions made by one politician or another.  However, our complaints are balanced by one key factor...did you vote?  Did you exercise your free will to choose?  Is there any doubt that our founding fathers, having been created with the ability to choose, would create something where the choices of the people would ultimately affect who will lead them?  Make no mistake, we did not come across our ability to choose through maturity or chance.  It is by the grace of God that we are created in His very image {Genesis 1:27}.  Indeed, all which we are is a result of what God desires for us.  I asked a friend this week his opinion of the Lord "molding" us into vessels He can use for the greater good.  His answer?  We're already there!  Why would we waste time with thoughts of are we good enough when God has ensured that we indeed are?  In spite of the choices we make, God has ensured that through Christ Jesus we remain in Him.  How good is that?  Right now, I am created by the Lord as His vessel.  Think about that for a minute...Gods vessel.  What is a vessel?  Yes, a vessel is a container...it contains something.  What do our vessels contain?  Jesus.  The apostle Paul speaks to this in Galatians.  For it is Jesus who lives through us {Galatians 2:20}.  But wait, is it Jesus who at times makes the wrong choices?  Absolutely!  Is it Jesus who makes wrong decisions?  Yes!  This is neither heresy nor blasphemy, but the realization that if indeed we live as Christ Jesus, that Jesus shares in all we do...good and bad.  No matter the mistakes we make, Jesus will always be there.  So, who will you vote for?

"That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

John 17: 21 NKJV 

~Scott~

Negative Reinforcement

 

Do not withhold correction from a child, for if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.

Proverbs 23: 13 NKJV 

What have we done to ourselves?  Almost every night I see the news of crowds of young people marching in the streets and causing havoc.  Yes, in a way we have done this to ourselves.  For when I look at these entitled kids out there one thing is pretty obvious...they've never been told no.  Imagine going through your childhood where it really didn't matter if you did something wrong.  Where the worst discipline you could expect is a talk on how "we don't do those things."  Believe me, there is a reason why the author of the book of Proverbs advises parents to "not spare the rod" with their children {Proverbs 13:24}.  For once we do that, we show our children that there are no consequences for their own behavior.  The next thing you know, he's crying because something didn't go his way.  This isn't just a old testament issue, but a life experience issue.  I have a Christian friend who scoffed has scoffed at the idea of raising his children with proper discipline.  "That's for the old covenant" he'll tell me.  Then again, I've lost count of how many times he's told me of how undisciplined his kids are.  Anyone see a correlation here?  Now, I would never advocate for the physical abuse of a child.  There is absolutely no place in society for that, which is why there are strict penalties for such things.  However, I will admit that there is something to be said for the discipline of a child.  First, it lets them know that there are consequences for what they do.  Second, and this is often a hard one to swallow, it shows that you love them.  Wait, striking my child shows my love for him?  Yes!  The author of the book of Hebrews even goes so far as to say that the Lord disciplines those He loves {Hebrews 12:5-6}.  So, if God shows us His own love for us through discipline and correction, are we ourselves not able to love our own children through correction?  I'd say yes, despite the liberals out there who claim that any discipline is paramount to abuse.  

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons:  "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son who He receives."

Hebrews 12: 5 - 6 NKJV 

I recall that I was disciplined as a child, yet never abused.  I will never know what it is like to grow up without correction for my actions.  I don't need to, I see it all around me every day.  Young people who feel entitled to do whatever they feel good doing.  This is fine for them, because mom and dad never told them it wasn't.  Indeed, there are those parents out there who feel that any show of violence will somehow turn their child into a psychopath.  I get it.  While I'm not one to tell another person how to raise their children, I will point out the continued success of children being raised with firm boundaries in place.  I know that I will get some pushback, but I also know that the disciplining of our children is as vital as providing for their well being.  I wasn't one of those Christians who trembled at the thought of a God who would chasten me.  On the contrary, on those occasions which He did so only solidified in my heart the love that He had for me.  He loved me enough to show me the error of my own ways.  Why?  So that I would cease doing what He knew was bad for me.  I will be the first one to admit that God knows all too well what is best for me, even if I don't realize it myself a times.  Have there been times where I have questioned Him over His correction?  Absolutely.  However, I have never come away feeling anything less than loved by God.  This is the example the Lord sets for us to follow.  He loved us before we were born.  He loves us despite all we've done.  Finally, and this is a big one, God loves us for who we are.  Does He love us enough to show us correction?  Yes, He tells us that.  However, at the end of the day we are still His children created in our Fathers very image {Genesis 1:27}.  

~Scott~ 

The Jesus Movement

 

That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10: 9 - 10 NKJV 

I remember watching a movie about a high school football team in Alabama in the 1970's.  The movie centered around the racial divide and hatred which was all too present in the south as government mandated desegregation was instituted.  Up until this point, white and black students were educated separately.  As you might expect, hatred and violence ensued.  However, this particular school, Woodlawn high school, became the example of how the Lord can sew the seeds of healing.  For in the midst of all of the hatred, a young man struggles with the teams coach that he might be able to speak to the team.  His message?  The gospel of the Lord Jesus.  What follows is almost the entire team accepting Jesus as their Lord and savior.  One of the most inspirational scenes I remember is that of the coach speaking to the young evangelist and telling him that he wanted to be baptized.  Now, I was never a huge fan of the 1960's.  With the protests, the war and all of those long haired hippies walking around it was like a totally different country to me.  Recently I've began comparing the era of the 60's with what we are experiencing as a nation today.  Is it the same?  Not really.  One thing is missing, a Jesus movement.  There was a time back in the 1970's when young people across the country were abandoning the traditional churches they had grown up in for something radically different.  No longer did they desire to simply adhere to the theology of the church and "hear" about Jesus.  No, they wanted to KNOW the man Jesus.  The Jesus movement was born.  I can recall watching tv back then and seeing actors portraying the long haired hippy kids who simply wanted to know Jesus.  Here was a entire generation seeking a personal relationship with their Lord and Savior.  As far as traditional church practices go, this was pretty radical.  How could these kids, sinners all, ever even hope to be in the presence of Jesus?  As it turns out, this was the same question which I asked myself a few years ago as I struggled with the realization of Christ Jesus in me.  I wasn't a young hippy, but I wanted a relationship with Jesus.

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4: 10 - 11 NKJV 

I used to laugh at all of those young hippies who would go around proclaiming "Peace and love, man."  Then I began to wonder, where did they get that message?  Well, they got their message from the same place I received mine...the Lord Jesus.  I guess that I can say that it is Jesus who transcends generations that His message would be revealed to all.  Long haired cultural deviants joining congregations of Christians in proclaiming Jesus?  Don't laugh, I've seen it with my own eyes.  What Christians of today need to stop and realize is that we have perpetuated the idea that Jesus is unreachable.  Jesus is seated in heaven and we are here on earth trying to make it through life.  That is the message of the Christian church.  Well, what does that mean to someone who simply desires to know Jesus?  For one thing, it means that He cannot be found where we thought He was...in the church.  I didn't find a closer relationship with Him in the church.  Where I did discover a closer relationship with Christ is through a good friend who introduced me to the revelation he himself had discovered.  What was his revelation?  The same revelation which the apostle Paul received on the road to Damascus.  Paul was a changed man after that experience.  It is Paul who speaks to Christ Jesus in us {Galatians 2:20}.  This is where we will discover the relationship with Jesus that we desire.  It is not something which is taught in the church, but the realization given unto us by God that it is Jesus who we now live as.  We are now one with Jesus and the Father.  Sometimes I think about how radical Jesus must have seemed back in His day.  The message which He taught certainly went against the grain of the old school Jewish teachings.  However, it's the same message He relates to us today.  I might not be a hippy...but I know Jesus.

~Scott~ 

Old Friends

 

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

Genesis 3: 7 NKJV 

Recently, I decided to try a challenge and give up processed sugars for at least two weeks.  I'll be doing my readings by recording my weight before and after my trial.  As I sit here on the beginning of day number one, I already have doubts as to if I will be able to make it.  I guess that's only natural when we head into something unfamiliar.  This situation is important for two reasons.  First, it is important for my overall health.  Second, it gives me the opportunity to speak to something which we all have faced from time to time.  That is, the allure of behaviors or habits which we know are wrong, yet we indulge in them anyway.  I am well aware that highly processed sugars are bad for my health, yet I return to them every now and then.  I'll admit that I have gotten better at ignoring them, but somehow they still hold a place in my life.  Why is that?  Why is it that we continue to hold onto habits we know to be destructive?  Well, as near can tell, we always seem to gravitate to what feels good for ourselves.  It's that simple.  I recall a phrase I've heard from time to time that "if it feels good...do it!"  Do you think that you would ever hear God utter those words to us?  Perhaps.  However, I'm guessing that those things which we might see as well and good for ourselves also come with a warning from the Lord.  I used to see pornography as something a man did.  God never saw it that way {Matthew 5:28, 1 Corinthians 6:18}.  I knew that pornography was wrong, but like a old friend I kept returning to it because it felt good at the time.  Sweet to the taste, yet bitter to the end.  I know that there are many more out there who, like me, desired all the things which we felt were good.  The alcoholic who is willing to do anything for one more drink.  The drug addict who thinks nothing of losing everything as long as he gets his last fix.  I can honestly say that I have never been addicted to alcohol or drugs, but I've still felt the pull of what I was addicted to at the time.  When old friends would come to visit. 

I don't need to punish people for sin.  Sin is it's own punishment, devouring you from the inside.  It's not My purpose to punish it; it's My joy to cure it.

~Wm P. Young, The Shack

A good friend once told me that Satan the accuser was sort of like the minions of animation movie fame.  Even after we have accepted and come to know Christ in our heart, the minions would continue to come around and remind us of the good times we once shared.  Do you understand that?  Even though you have Jesus in your heart, that never stops Satan from continuing to drag you back into the life you once lived.  That will never change I'm afraid.  The accuser will not stop attempting to pull you away from Christ, it's what he does.  Interestingly, could this Satan connection be the key to our continuing to engage in bad behavior?  Well, what is it that he said to Eve in the garden when she told him that God had warned against eating the forbidden fruit?  "You will surely not die" {Genesis 3:4}.  Satan even goes so far as to perpetuate the lie that if Eve were to eat of the fruit which the Lord had told her not to, that she would, "Be like God" {Genesis 3:5}.  Really?  Who wouldn't want to be like God?  So, Adam and Eve gave into the lie of Satan and took of the fruit.  However, what Eve did not realize in that moment was that she was ALREADY like God.  It was God who had breathed the breath of life into her {Genesis 2:7}.  Adam and Eve were as much a part of the Lord as they could be.  Yet, they did not realize this because all they knew was their relationship with God in the garden.  You could say that when it came to Satan's lies that they were ripe for the picking.  We can see the results of Satan's antics in the history of our own creation.  Let me tell you, he hasn't changed.  The accuser will continue to come around and remind you of the times you spent in bad behavior.  His ultimate goal is to drive a wedge between ourselves and God.  However, the truth shall set you free.  The truth that we are already one with Christ {Galatians 2:20}.  Satan cannot convince me that God has no need for me, because I realize that I live as Jesus.  As far as those times where he reminds me of my past?  Well, sometimes old friends are better forgotten.  

Thus they became conscious of the opposites through the attraction of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The good is a self which expresses God and the other-love; the evil is a self which expresses Satan and self loving love.  They became expressers of their Satan-father's self-for-self nature, Satan's seed {Genesis 3:15}.

~Norman P. Grubb, No Independent Self

~Scott~ 

Off The Wall Religion

 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin; He condemned sin in the flesh. 

Romans 8: 3 NKJV 

Almost every one has, at one time or another, has become familiar with the words of the rhyme Humpty Dumpty.  The egg shaped lad who, despite all of the efforts of those around him, could not seem to put him back together after he fell off that wall.  For anyone who has ever cracked a egg shell either intentionally or by accident, I'm sure that you can relate.  I found myself thinking of old Humpty this week as I considered all of the efforts which we have gone through to make ourselves more acceptable to God.  Now, we all know that God is holy {Hebrews 7:26, 1 Peter 1:16}.  Yet, one of the most confusing concepts to any Christian is...how can a holy God ever be in the presence of sin?  This question takes on a more somber meaning when we consider that one of the things that the church continually drills into our skulls is that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God {Romans 3:23}.  So, if all have sinned and carry those filthy rags, then how is it that we could ever come before our heavenly Father who cannot be in the presence of sin?  Enter the law.  For through the mosaic law, we were given guidelines to those behaviors or activities which were...bad.  The law could be seen as a series of goal posts which we could identify with.  If we kept the law, then we could most assuredly come into the presence of a holy God.  A few of these were no brainers.  Honor thy father and mother.  Do not kill.  However, over time, when we realized that as humans we could not come close to keeping the law, we added more laws.  Like Humpty Dumpty's friends, we were trying to put ourselves back together once again after falling off of that wall.  So, how did that work out?  Because it seems to me that we still struggle with that very same issue of our sin getting in the way of our getting close to God.  How can I, a sinner, ever be in the presence of a holy God?  Are we doomed to simply "get close" to God as the church tells us?  Well, if we were indeed still sinners, I would say yes.  However, Christ Jesus has provided for Gods children a path into the presence of the Lord unhindered by our sin.  For it is Jesus who put to death the sin we once carried {Romans 6:6}.  

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

Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV 

The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, lays out what each and every believer needs to know about the truth of sin.  That is, the truth of the sin which we once were bound to.  It is Paul who tells us to reckon ourselves to be "dead indeed to sin" {Romans 6:11}.  Whatever worries which you might have had about your sins keeping you from the Lords presence, those sins have long since been forgotten through the finished work of Jesus on the cross.  For not only did Jesus become Himself become sin{2 Corinthians 5:21}, Paul also tells us that we can enjoy a life in Him.  It is through the finished work of Christ that Jesus now lives in me {Galatians 2:20}.  Could this have happened if we were still under the conviction and condemnation of our own sin?  Perhaps, but Jesus guaranteed it by putting that sin which we carried to death.  What we failed in our own efforts to fix, Christ fixed for us.  Keep in mind that a law needs to have a threat of consequences if it is to be effective.  What good is it for speeding to be against the law if there are no consequences for it?  As believers, we longer live under the law {Romans 6:14}.  What remains is the grace of Christ Jesus.  It is through Jesus that we are now free to live a life in Him.  A life free of what once convicted us.  In Christ, we have all we need. 

~Scott~ 

Being Big

 I can't really recall a time when I wasn't big.  When I wasn't overweight.  The nicknames from my childhood into adulthood also reflected that.  I was "that big kid" when I was younger, which then became "big guy."  A name which I still despise to this day.  Why?  Because it takes away from who I really am.  As I see it, my identity is not tied into my health issues.  I have a name...so refer to me as such.  I can't recall referring to people I've met by their weaknesses and not by their names.  However, I can start, watch me.  All frustration aside, I recognized some time ago, with the help of a friend, that my identity does not lie in my appearance, but in Christ Jesus who lives in me.  More on that later.  When I say that I cannot recall ever living my life as a normal sized person I mean it.  I used to think that perhaps it was something with my genes, but I eventually discounted that.  My own dad, Mark Wakefield, was a mountain of a man with a attitude and temper to match.  I can't blame him, he grew up in a house with four brothers, a sister and a father who would constantly put his kids down.  It seems that nothing was ever good enough for grandpa Wakefield.  The funny thing is, my memories of my grandparents on my dads side are somewhat positive.  I can remember my grandpa sitting with me at the kitchen table and telling me stories of the sawmill which he owned and his sons operated.  Back then, lumber was a big business in northern Minnesota.  Not as big as iron ore, but it was big.  Grandma was the typical doting wife.  Her place in the house was more of a servant than anything.  Yet, I don't recall there ever being any tension between them.