Two Faces Of God

 

For Gods indignation is being revealed from heaven on all the irreverence of justice of men who are retaining the truth in injustice. 

Romans 1: 18, Concordant New Testament 

How many of us have heard of the two faced God?  You the One, the God who promises safety and security all while somehow scheming to bring harsh punishment upon those foolish enough to disobey Him.  Does this sound like the God you serve?  Well, like it or not, He's out there.  I read a article this week from a columnist who was calling for a boycott of God due to His treatment of man whom He so lovingly created.  While I cannot be on board with this bunk, I can understand how someone might come to the conclusion that God is somehow a vengeful, hateful and violent being.  The scriptures are chock full of examples where God, in His almighty power, brings death and destruction unto those whom He supposedly created in His very image {Genesis 1:27}.  We have the Lords destruction of the Egyptians as the Israelites fled Egypt {Hebrews 11:29}.  We also know that it is God who wiped out most of humanity, save His few elect, with the great flood {Genesis 6:17}.  Many will, and have, wondered how it is that a God who professes to love His creation can suddenly turn a blind eye to His love and seemingly kill His cherished creation without so much as a care.  I get it.  There have been times where I have wondered the very same thing.  The ages old question of why bad things happen to good people has been a part of our Christian theology for as long as I can remember.  So, what's up with God?  Doe's He truly carry such a dislike for us that it's only a matter of time before He lets loose and performs another purge on humanity?  Is He so oblivious to the daily sufferings of His people that He allows so many things that hurt us to infest our lives?  Does God care at all about me?  Well, the good news is that God indeed does care for us.  He cared enough to provide His very Son as an offering in our place on that Roman cross {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  He loves me enough to live in me today {Galatians 2:20}.  Yet the ongoing narrative of some inside and outside the Christian community is that God somehow can be provoked into unleashing His other nature of anger.  The church, for their part, has certainly used this fear to their advantage.  

He who is not loving knew not God, for God is love.

1 John 4: 8, Concordant New Testament 

How many people have been subjected to the church mantra that continues to teach that disobedience and/or disinterest in God or the church will surely bring about the Lord's wrath?  For some time, I believed that missing a Sunday church service would open myself up to the opportunity for God allowing misfortune into my life.  Eventually I discovered that God was not this monster that He was being painted to be.  However, by using statements such as these, the Christian church is banking that congregations will be so in fear of Gods retribution that they dare not stray from the church doctrine.  As one country singer once opined...That ain't no way to go.  So if God is not the monster who dealt death and suffering to so many of His children, who is He?  Well, I believe that the God we serve indeed has, as we do, two natures.  Remember that we were created in HIS image.  Why would God not have the very same makeup as those He created to be as He is?  The trouble is, while you and I have no qualms when it comes to displaying our two natures any chance we get, God is different.  For while retaining two natures, God chooses to display His nature of love as His true nature.  We also know from scripture that Jesus Himself had the natures of both God and man {Colossians 2:9}.  When we see the worst of the worst unfolding before us, it is not uncommon to question why it is that God would allow such things to happen.  After all, we have seen and known His love nature for His children.  It is this side of God which He chooses as His one true nature.

Nevertheless empties Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming to be in the likeness of humanity.

Philippians 2: 7, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The New Disciples

 

And, approaching, Jesus speaks to them saying, "Given to Me was all authority in heaven and on earth.  Going, then, disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to be keeping all, whatever I direct you.  And lo!  I am with you all the days till the conclusion of the eon!  Amen!" 

Matthew 28: 18-20, Concordant New Testament

I remember back in the day where I was involved in one or another church based classes on discipleship.  I was taught all of the verses and bible matters that I was to share with those who wanted to know more about Jesus.  I guess that I wasn't cut out to be a disciple, however, because I don't think that I ever converted anyone.  A few years ago I actually researched the word disciple and I came away with more than a few interesting conclusions.  Our friends at Google have defined a disciple as a "Personal follower of Jesus."  A disciple is also "A follower or student of a teacher, leader or philosopher."  Knowing this, are not we who follow Jesus all his disciples?  All too often we make the mistake of classifying a disciple in the lens of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.  Yes, these men were followers of Jesus during His life and ministry, therefore we refer to them as His disciples.  But could Jesus have had more than twelve disciples?  Judging from the layman's definition of the word, He may have had thousands of followers.  Personally, I'm a follower of Jesus.  Am I now a disciple of His?  All of these word games present a interesting discussion as to how we refer to those who follow Christ yet they do nothing in the way of leading others to the truth of Jesus.  I would venture that it takes a disciple to lead another to knowing Jesus.  It takes a follower of Jesus to lead someone into knowing Him.  So, even though we may consider ourselves disciples, it is by definition only.  How have we helped others to know Jesus in the way which we do?  The question first and foremost is, how do I know Jesus?  I know Jesus on a personal level, one that is rarely if at all spoken of in the mainstream church.  To me, Jesus is intimate.  I have a relationship with Christ Jesus who is in me {Galatians 2:20}.  I am, if you will, a member of the new disciples.  Although Christ be in me, I am a follower of His word and truth.  

Not you chose Me, but I chose you, and I appoint you, that may be going away and be bringing forth much fruit, and your fruit may be remaining, that anything whichsoever you should be requesting the Father in My name, He will be giving it to you.

John 15: 16, Concordant New Testament 

Taking a look back into scripture, how is it that Jesus "called" the twelve?  He simply gave them each  one command...follow Me.  To follow Him.  Now, I have no doubt that by asking these men to follow Him that He intended to teach them that they in turn would be teaching others about Him.  Are things any different for the new disciples of today?  I would say no.  Jesus has chosen us to follow His example and to share with others His truth.  Then we might be asking ourselves, how is it that we share Jesus with others?  The church model on discipleship suggests that we present the story of Jesus to others through well memorized scriptures.  I say that's bunk.  How is it that Jesus approached others to teach them?  How did He approach the woman at the well?  How did He approach the woman about to be stoned for adultry?  Jesus met people where they were in life.  When He called Simon to follow Him, He met him on the shore as he was struggling to work out a living catching fish.  He called the tax collector Matthew to follow Him, knowing all too well the indignation the Jews felt towards him.  Jesus met people where they were in life.  This should also be the practice of the new disciples.  I have no desire to spew a few well rehearsed scriptures to someone hoping that they will somehow believe me.  No, I want to tell them about the Jesus I know.  I want to tell them about the Jesus who loves them no matter what they feel they have done.  I want to tell them about Jesus who is the true identity of who it is they are.  They ARE Christ.  This is the Jesus I proclaim.  I am a new disciple. 

By this all shall be knowing that you are My disciples, if you should be having love for one another.

John 13: 35, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

I Am He

 

"This Messiah you speak of, I am He" 

Jesus to the woman at the well, The Chosen 

What is so hard to believe that Jesus lives among us?  Is it that difficult to comprehend that our Lord and Savior continues to influence every aspect of our lives?  Scripture tells us that Jesus not only bled and died upon the cross, but that He rose again three days after that.  When mainstream church teaching sings the same old song for generations, I tend to believe that there must be something to it.  So it is that we accept that Jesus survived the cross.  But here's where the teachings of the church and the reality of Jesus diverge in a dramatic way.  The church teaches that after His death and resurrection Jesus rose into heaven and was seated next to the Father there.  Therefore, ask many a pastor where Jesus is and their response will most likely be...in heaven with the Father.  But if the cross and the tomb could never contain Him, why would thousands of years of church teachings constrain Jesus?  The fact is that we have scriptural references that Jesus not only survived the cross, but might not be where most people expect Him to be.  Up until a few years ago, the one place that I expected to find Jesus was right where the pastor told me, in heaven.  This is where the disconnect started.  For if Jesus was with the Father in heaven, I was indeed alone here on the earth the Father created.  Had the Lord violated His vow to never leave me {Matthew 28:20}?  Yet this is how things seemed to be.  Then I was introduced to the writings of the apostle Paul and the truth of Jesus began to be revealed.  Contrary to what I had been led to believe from the pulpits of countless churches, Jesus was not only alive but living in me {Galatians 2:20}.  For his part, Paul had first hand experience in the revelation of Christ.  It was on the road to Damascus that his own conversion began {Acts 9:1-43}.  So it is that Paul was changed from a life of persecuting the early church to a life of knowing Jesus in a intimate way.  This is the Jesus I have come to know.  

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, termed Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.  The other disciples, then, said to him, "We have seen the Lord!"  Yet he said to them, "Should I not perceive in His hands the print of the nails, and thrust my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will by no means be believing."  And after eight days His disciples were again within, and Thomas was with them.  The doors having been locked, Jesus is coming and stood in the midst and said, "Peace to you!"  Thereafter He is saying to Thomas, "Bring your finger here and perceive My hands, and bring your hand and thrust it into My side, and do not become unbelieving, but believing."  And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"  Now Jesus is saying to Him, "Seeing that you have seen Me, you have believed.  Happy are those who are not perceiving and believe." 

John 20: 24-29, Concordant New Testament

How many Thomas' do we have out there?  How many well meaning Christians have struggled with knowing Jesus simply because they could not see Him?  Well, I once counted myself as one of these believers.  In fact, when I was first introduced into the scriptures of Paul, I kept butting my head against the wall because I could not physically see what Paul was describing to me.  Christ in me sounds awesome...but how come I can't see it?  How can I verify that Jesus indeed is in me.  The answer to this all too often brings more questions than answers.  For it is by the revelation of the Lord that we began to see Christ in us.  This is the same revelation which brought Paul to his knees on that Damascus road {Galatians 1:15-16}.  It is the same revelation which Paul himself referred to as the great mystery {Colossians 1:27}.  Knowing this, it's not too difficult to understand why so many have a tough time believing the truth of Christ Jesus in them.  Like Thomas, we strive for some kind of physical evidence we can use to verify our own revelation of Jesus in us.  This is not only our mystery, but the expectation of our glory in Christ 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~ 

Leadership

 

"When I get home people will ask me, 'Hey Hoot, why do you do it man?  Why?  You some war junkie?'  I won't say a goddamn word.  Why?  They won't understand.  They won't understand why we do it.  They won't understand that it's about the men next to you, and that's it.  That's all it is." 

SFC Norm "Hoot" Hooten, 1SFODD 

People dole out thousands of dollars each year for seminars and conferences on leadership.  Corporations routinely send their employees to these venues in order that they will somehow come away with the magic formula on what it takes to lead others.  Sad to say, but I could save these companies a whole lot of money with some simple advice.  First, however, we need to agree on what makes a good leader.  Is a good leader someone who dictates instructions to others from the relative safety of their corner corporate office?  Or, as I believe, is a good leader one who walks and works with those they have been chosen to lead?  When one looks at the styles of military leaders, the ones most remembered are the ones who led from the front lines and not from the rear.  One of the most celebrated generals in our nations history, General George Patton, made this a common practice during his career.  Patton was a soldiers general and his men respected him for that.  In my opinion, I would rather work for someone who wasn't afraid to get their pants dirty like the rest of us than someone who killed time in a corporate office.  I've seen too many times the weak leadership of those who were disconnected from their frontline workers.  I happen to work for such a agency currently.  The traditional corporate model on leadership is one who sits at a desk and delegates.  I get it.  But a corner office does not a leader make.  I look at the example of the leadership of our mainstream churches and I cringe.  Total corporate business model on top down leadership.  The lead pastor dictates to the assistant pastor who dictates to another assistant who...well you get the picture.  But is this the way that Jesus wants His church to operate?  Is it the desire of the Lord that our churches be run by the top down business model?  Is it the Lords desire that there be church leadership at all?  If there are no leaders, who is the head of the church?  That would be Jesus Himself {Colossians 1:18}.  

Now Jesus calling them to Him said, "You are aware that the chiefs of the nations are lording it over them, and the great are coercing them.  Not thus is it to be among you.  But whosoever may be wanting to become great among you, let him be your servant, and whoever may be wanting to be foremost among you, let him be your slave, even so as the Son of Mankind came, not to be served but to serve, and to give His soul a ransom for many."

Matthew 20: 25-28, Concordant New Testament 

I look at the leadership model of Jesus and I see something we could all learn from.  For Jesus did not seek to Lord Himself over those who followed Him.  I'm thinking He would not have been too comfortable in some corner office somewhere dictating His desires upon others.  From the beginning Jesus presented Himself as lowly and meek.  Born in a manger.  Raised in a modest family.  The birth and life of Jesus was not what one might expect of a chosen messiah or king.  But I'm certain that this is the way our heavenly Father intended it to be.  Jesus did not lead His disciples by edict, but by example.  Wherever His disciples traveled, Jesus was there with them.  They shared meals by the sea.  Conversations along dusty roads.  Jesus called on those who followed Him to learn from Him.  He is the textbook definition of learning by example.  Then again, what corporate executive would be caught dead comparing themselves to their underlings?  What corporate model advocates leading from the bottom up?  Yet this is what we get with Jesus.  It is Jesus, the Son of God, who makes His home in us today {Galatians 2:20}.  It seems to me that this has less to do with leadership and more to do with relationship.  In the corporate model, relationships are definitely frowned upon.  

Who being inherently in the form of God, deems it not pillaging to be equal with God, nevertheless empties Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming to be in the likeness of humanity, and, being found in fashion as a human, He humbles Himself, being obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 

Philippians 2: 6-8, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

What Does God Say?

 

Among whom we also all behaved ourselves once in the lusts of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and of the comprehension, and were, in our nature, children of indignation, even as the rest.

Ephesians 2: 3, Concordant New Testament 

Recently there has been an uproar over the state of Florida instituting the so called "Don't say gay" law.  This legislation, far from what the left leaning media will tell you, discourages gender identity teaching through grade 3 as well as giving parents more information of what their children are being taught in school.  I for one have no issue with this.  What parent would not want to know what their child is being taught in school?  However, I guess more than a few teacher unions find this idea repulsive.  Go figure.  Each time there is a controversy over some cultural issue I am tempted to ask one question...what would God say?  Take the so called don't say gay law for instance.  Who does God say a child is?  Well, I would bet that He sees each and every child in the very same way that He sees me...as His loved creation {Genesis 1:27}.  Each and every child takes their very identity from their creator...the Lord God.  It is God who breathed into us the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  I realize that over time many have forgotten where it is we came from, but that does not nullify it in any way.  We were once dust of the ground whom God blessed with life...it's as simple as that.  That's what God says.  How about another so called hot button issue...marriage.  Traditional marriage is yet another battlefield the left leaning cry babies have assaulted in the past decades.  First it was the issue of divorce, then it became the issue of same sex marriages.  Again I ask, what does God say?  Well, the very word woman denotes just where women originated...from man.  For it is God who caused a sleep to fall upon Adam in the garden where He extracted from his creation a rib bone which then He formed into Eve {Genesis 2:21-22}.  I find Adams reaction to Eves presence very telling.  'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of Man"{Genesis 2:23}  This is what God says.  

If anyone should be saying that "I am loving God," and should be hating his brother, he is a liar, for he who is not loving his brother whom he has seen can not be loving God whom he has not seen.

1 John 4: 20, Concordant New Testament 

So, I have presented two examples of how mankind has taken something which God has meant for good and turned it upside down.  I'm not at all surprised.  Man and moral behaviors go together like oil and water.  I'm not saying that there are no morally sound people in the world, it's just that there are far more immoral people.  Of course, God has something to say about this as well.  It is God who has given unbelievers over to wrong behaviors {Romans 1:28}.  As usual, nothing falls away from the Lords attention.  So what are we to do with all of these immoral people all around us?  Are we the Christian soldiers who are to fight for our Lord to bring the heathen hordes to justice?  Well, what does God say?  The answer may surprise you.  We have been called...to love {1 John 4:11}.  That's right, if God so loved us, then we are to love one another.  We see this in the very nature of God, which is love {1 John 4:8}.  Despite the fact that many behave in a way that goes against the desires of the Lord, we are called to show the love of God unto them.  This is what God says.  Many believers grew up in the church where looking down upon those who behave badly may have been encouraged.  This IS NOT what the Lord desires from His children.  We are to display for all the world to see Christ Jesus who is in us {Galatians 2:20}.  We are to love those around us as God loves all of His creation.  This is what God says.  

~Scott~ 

Showing Jesus

With Christ I have 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 

I retraced my steps this weekend back to a question which a friend posed some time ago.  How is Jesus best seen in me?  In order to answer this one must understand the truth of Jesus, that He lives in all of Gods children.  If I fail to see Jesus as living in me, how is it that I can proclaim to know the best way He is seen in me?  Makes sense huh?  So it is that I will go by assumption that more than a few who are reading this have the understanding of Christ in them.  For those who don't, buckle up, you might just learn something.  How do I know for certain that Christ is in me?  Well, the apostle Paul makes this truth known in a few places in scripture, most notedly in Galatians 2:20.  It was Paul's revelation on the road to Damascus which led him to the knowing of Jesus in him.  I believe that it is by the Fathers revelation that His Son is made known to all who seek Him.  So, knowing who I am in Christ, how is it that Jesus is best seen in me?  How is Jesus best seen in someone with the knowing of Jesus in them?  Would we know Him if we met Him?  How is someone I've neither seen nor even met best seen in me?  Jesus tells us to let our "light" shine so brightly before men that they will see our good works and glorify the Father for them {Matthew 5:15-16}.  We've all met people in our lives who have a extraordinary heart for others.  Their thoughts are not about personal gain, but about showing kindness to those around them?  They let their light shine before others.  These believers are easy to spot in a crowd, as they are already allowing Jesus to be seen in and through them.  But what about the rest of us?  How is Jesus best seen in me?  Obviously, if my own heart is focused on others instead of myself then Jesus will become visible.  Others will look upon me knowing that I am a follower of the Lord.  The trouble is, there are times where my focus is not on others, but on me.  Is Christ still in me?  Of course, that never changes.  

The other disciples then said to him, "We have seen the Lord!"  Yet he said to them. "Should I not perceive in His hands the print of the nails, and thrust my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will by no means be believing."  And after eight days His disciples were again within, and Thomas was with them.  The doors having been locked, Jesus is coming and stood in the midst and said, "Peace to you!"  Thereafter He is saying to Thomas, "Bring your finger here and perceive My hands, and bring your hand and thrust it into My side, and do not become unbelieving, but believing."  And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"  Now Jesus is saying to him, "Seeing that you have seen Me, you have believed.  Happy are those who are not perceiving and believe."

John 20: 25-29, Concordant New Testament

Have you ever felt like poor Thomas before?  You know full well who Jesus is.  You have the knowing that He is in you.  Yet you continue to look for proof to validate what you already know in your heart.  I get it, I've been there.  This question of how Jesus is best seen in us gave me fits for a few days as I struggled to articulate a good answer.  Yet one piece of advice kept coming back to be...be Jesus.  That's it...just be Jesus.  Just be yourself.  After all, if Christ is in me then when I am being myself who else can be exemplified but Jesus Himself?  Seems like a no brainer, but for those who have not realized the revelation of who they are in Christ it can be a tough question to handle.  We may force ourselves into good behavior, having been told by one pulpit pounder or another that "being like Jesus" is a good thing.  I have news for you, this is NOT a heart for others.  Only when our thoughts for the good of others become second nature is our heart for others revealed for all to see.  Does this mean that Christ is not in you?  Absolutely not.  It simply means that you may not recognize who it is that you truly are inside.  Again, I've been there.  For me, my own revelation came at a moment of bad conduct on my part.  What better time for Jesus to introduce Himself.   

~Scott~  

Top Down Religion

 "Now you may not be called Rabbi, for One is your teacher, yet you are all brethren.  And 'father' you should not be calling one of you on the earth, for One is your Father, the heavenly.  Nor yet may you be called preceptors, for One is your preceptor, the Christ."

Matthew 23: 8-10, Concordant New Testament

Have you ever noticed that there is a certain hierarchy to that  which we know as Christianity?  Step in to any church and you will see evidence of this structure.  We have pastors and assistant pastors, worship leaders and Sunday school teachers.  It seems that we have quite a crowd to administer and oversee the gospel to the church of Jesus.  I would see them every Sunday morning, sitting in the reserved seats in front of the congregation.  It was understood that these church leaders were to be respected and revered.  Yet what are we to learn from the words of Jesus, who proclaims that we are not to call people 'Rabbi, teacher or father'{Matthew 23:8-10}?  Jesus made no exception for certain people in the church, for certain leadership in the church.  We are not to refer to anyone as teacher, for our true teacher in Christ Jesus.  Nor are we to refer to anyone as father, for our one true Father is in heaven.  Yet there they are every Sunday, the church hierarchy front and center before the congregation.  Is this a flagrant violation of the words of Jesus, or simply a part of that man made quagmire known as religion?  For it is through religion that we have raised up before us the leadership of our churches.  Even the so called organic, grass roots gatherings of our home groups are not immune to this idea of leadership.  Everywhere Jesus is taught, there need be someone in charge of teaching.  And if you have a teacher, you will need a assistant teacher as well.  The issue we get into with this kind of organizational religion is that there need be 'approved' venues where people can gather and worship.  I recall many times that I skipped a Sunday service in order to stay home and enjoy the Lords presence...big mistake.  I was quickly told that to be in the presence of the Lord I needed to be in Gods house on Sunday.  

Now selecting elders for them according to the ecclesia, praying with fastings, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 

Acts 14: 23, Concordant New Testament 

If someone were to tell me someone such as the apostle Paul would openly advocate for overseers in the church of the risen Christ I would have considered it blasphemy.  Yet there it is in scripture.  Paul advising that there should be elders in the church {1 Timothy 3:1}.  Paul calls for deacons in the church {Philippians 1:1}.  Is this double speak by Paul?  Was he somehow trying to undermine the church of the Lord he was struggling to build?  I doubt it.  We must realize above all else that this man Paul whom Jesus called on the road to Damascus...was still human.  Being human, Paul was indeed still influenced by the world around him as well as his past experiences.  What were Paul's past experiences?  Being raised up in the top down hierarchy of the Jewish faith.  Therefore, I'm not at all surprised that Paul would resort to a similar model as he worked to grow the early church of the followers of Jesus.  As far as church building, this is what he knew.  Was he off the rails?  No.  I believe that he was simply building the early organized church the best way he knew, drawing from his experiences.  In everything else we read from Paul, he continues to hold fast to the gospel.  Is this Paul contradicting himself?  Perhaps but, then again, this is Paul doing what he knows how to do.  It is here that we see the human side of the apostle.  What was his reason for appointing overseers in the early church?  I believe it to be for the benefit of building up the body of Christ, the church {Ephesians 4:12}.  In my opinion, Paul's desire was not to set up a ruling church hierarchy.  That had already been accomplished in the synagogues of the day.  

~Scott~