So, here is it, the 4th of July 2009. This is a day that Americans celebrate their Independence from a repressive and hurtful monarchy. This is a day that Americans can take a moment to enjoy and appreciate their freedoms that so many citizens on this vast planet Earth do not have. As I attempt to do that, I have never felt more enslaved as a citizen. I cannot even celebrate by shooting fireworks without fearing that I will be disobeying some ordinance. Yes, that is a minor thing but if I were truly "FREE," I would be allowed to show my appreciation in any way I felt necessary and share my joy in any form of my choosing. Wake up Americans!!!! You are not free at all. You are all bound by jobs, taxes, laws, and, even worse, a virtual plethora of self-made bonds. In our "pursuit of happiness," we have tied ourselves so tightly to the constraints of this world that there is likely no escape (outside of death itself, and then you get taxed for dying).
I still believe that as of this date, the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth and I am grateful for the civil liberties that I am afforded. However, I give credit to God for these liberties and opportunities that I so often take for granted, not a current president, not a senator, and not the "founding fathers." God alone deserves the credit and someday His reasoning for choosing this nation, these people, myself and family to enjoy these liberties will be revealed. Until then, all credit goes to Him. It is Christ who is my Independence and in my study of scripture (man I wish I could put "daily" ahead of "study of scripture") I am reminded that since Christ has died for me, everyday of my life is my Independence day. I am free of past sins, free of man's judgment, free of legalism, and free of any dependence on man to learn the will of God. Everyday in my life should be a celebration and recognition of the day in which all mankind was given the unalienable right to receive Independence. Christ set us all free through His willingness to die on the cross.
Sadly, as I sit and evaluate the Christian landscape in America, I see many people proclaiming Christianity who don't seem to be living in the same freedom which I do. These are the people who are tied to a set of ideas that they are no longer living independently. These people have chosen to bind themselves to the thoughts of men and movements that remove all Christian liberty from their lives and who now are afraid to step in their own directions toward Christ without first checking with those who are part of the same ideology. They may no longer feel bound by sin but rather they are bound by ideologies. Conservative or liberal, republican or democrat, nationalist or fascist, the list is long . Of course, these are large ideologies but off hand you can probably think of several small or grass-root ideologies that are around you currently.
It is not my place to say which ideologies are right and which are wrong. They all seem to have one common denominator: In order to be a part of that movement you will have to abandon something you held to be true or, and even worse in my opinion, someone who does not agree with your new thinking. That is fine in all aspects but one. If you are forced to abandon true and sound Biblical teaching in order to fully consider yourself a "devout" member of that ideology, then you are headed for trouble. If you find yourself having to internally argue with yourself over whether scripture really supports those thoughts or beliefs, you are abandoning the Independence given you by Christ. If you catch yourself checking scripture with a man's teaching rather than the opposite, you have tied yourself to an ideology outside of Jesus. If you, as a man of a house, are allowing others to tell you how to run that house, then guess what, you aren't the head of your house, some other man and his ideology is. If you find yourself supporting race over grace, I am praying for you. If you find yourself insulting or hurting the innocent or hear your "leaders" doing likewise, then what you espouse steps out of Christianity and you can deem yourself an ideologue. If you find the only way to support your beliefs lies solely in the life and laws of Moses and not in the life and grace of Christ, turn toward Christ's freedom. Sadly, and most importantly, if you catch yourself wondering if you have done enough for Christ (regardless of who has told you that you might haven't), then you have now swallowed exactly what Satan wants you to and you. Freedom gone.
Paul, once an ideologue who believed that what He was doing would be deemed worthy by God, had staunch words for those who allow themselves to be tied to legalism. He wrote in 2 Corinthians 3: 12Since we have such a hope,"we are very bold, 13not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, THERE IS FREEDOM (emphasis added). 18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
I thank God that the veil of ideology and Mosaic law has been lifted from my face and that I am so invited to dwell in Christ's gift of freedom that He has bestowed upon me. I thank God that there is no ideology in scripture, only freedom that comes from trusting in God's atoning sacrifice of His son and that I can boldly live my life by the truth that has been placed inside of me by God through His scripture. I need no man to interpret it for me. I need no man to tell me what I have read is right. I am free. Happy Independence day to me and to all my fellow Christians who are trusting not in man and self but in Christ's blood.
Showing posts with label Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christ. Show all posts
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
KEEP My Commandments
How often do we forget the price that Christ paid for us? How often do we forget that in all actuality, Christ did not spend His time burdening man with laws and statutes but rather He spent His time traveling, healing and teaching love. As I stop and look around the Christian landscape today, both close to me and in distance places, I no longer see Christ in His church but rather I see Moses.
One of the arguments I have recently heard to justify attempting to live and teach a life of legalism came from John 14. In this chapter, Christ makes the comment to His faithful follower Philip "If you love Me, you will keep my commandments (15)." That is what the apostle John saw, heard, and recorded for us. So, there we have it. Christ tells us that in order to show Him we love Him, we must keep His commandments. It is because of this verse that if you look through many Christian's Bibles today, you will find every scripture of law from Genesis to Revelation highlighted, underlined, or posted on their refrigerator. Strangely enough, in these Bibles, the portions that have the red lettering do not have that many highlights. I will allow you to deduct the meaning of that for yourself.
A closer look at the scripture though reveals something interesting. Christ's statement to Philip was not a commandment to follow every law set forth. Did/does Christ's father demand perfect obedience to the law? Yes. Hence the need for a Savior. So what was this Savior's point then?
I contend that people who read this passage as a commandment to strictly adhere to the law are misguided and even worse, victims of flawed, if not irresponsible teaching. I support that statement by pointing to the Greek language that John was first written in. The verb "keep" in John 14:15 is the Greek "Tereo." Both Thayer's and Strong's define this word as meaning to attend to carefully, to take care of, or to guard and believe it is akin to the verb "Theoreo" which means to be a spectator of or to look at or more simply, to see.
So Christ is saying in this verse, see and take care of my commandments. He then makes this point again in v. 21 when he uses the verb "Tereo" in discussing keeping his commandments. Christ was asking Philip to guard his few commandments from what? False doctrine?
To look deeper into John 14, Christ says in verse 15 that if we love Him we will see, guard His commandments and then HE (not we) will ask God to give another Helper (counselor, advocate) to assist us. What does this Helper do?? It leads us to a deeper knowledge/understanding of the commandments? For what??? To be able to guard/keep them??? Why?? v 26 says so that we can better remember them??? For what??? To save souls/fulfill the great commission. We are led to and assisted by the Holy Spirit to guard God's word and pass it on unadulterated so that more souls can be won. Not of our own doing, but wholly of God's. That is the power of God's word. We read and are taught it and we are convicted by the Holy Spirit to have a love for Christ that makes us want to dive deeper into His word at which point we are given the assistance of the Holy Spirit to understand it more so that we can be led to produce fruit through TEACHING THE WORD alone. Christ's law = keep my teachings pure. Instead, we have allowed it to be taken hostage by people who want to use it to make law. Apostasy defined.
Read it, be given understanding, keep it pure, teach it. All this is done through us, not by us. Not my opinion, that is the teaching of Christ.
Quickly think about 2 John 1. Look at what John is rejoicing in (v 4). The fact that they are guarding the word from false doctrine and abiding with one another in love (a fruit of the prior). How do we know this, because John tells us so when he states 'For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. 9Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
He is happy that they have kept (guarded, taken care of) the true gospel message. That message being the gospel message of Christ. Note, this isn't a one time warning against such and is actually a common theme in the Epistles (Rom. 16:17; Gal. 1:8; Gal. 1:9; 2 Thess. 3:6; 2 Thess. 3:14 to name a few). John goes as far in 3 John to commend their remaining solid in the word and not allowing the Gentiles to add to their teaching. Teach the word, not the law. Guard Christ's words and teachings in their purest forms. I challenge you to make a list of the "commandments" that Christ made. You will find they are few. Perhaps that's the way he wanted it...
One of the arguments I have recently heard to justify attempting to live and teach a life of legalism came from John 14. In this chapter, Christ makes the comment to His faithful follower Philip "If you love Me, you will keep my commandments (15)." That is what the apostle John saw, heard, and recorded for us. So, there we have it. Christ tells us that in order to show Him we love Him, we must keep His commandments. It is because of this verse that if you look through many Christian's Bibles today, you will find every scripture of law from Genesis to Revelation highlighted, underlined, or posted on their refrigerator. Strangely enough, in these Bibles, the portions that have the red lettering do not have that many highlights. I will allow you to deduct the meaning of that for yourself.
A closer look at the scripture though reveals something interesting. Christ's statement to Philip was not a commandment to follow every law set forth. Did/does Christ's father demand perfect obedience to the law? Yes. Hence the need for a Savior. So what was this Savior's point then?
I contend that people who read this passage as a commandment to strictly adhere to the law are misguided and even worse, victims of flawed, if not irresponsible teaching. I support that statement by pointing to the Greek language that John was first written in. The verb "keep" in John 14:15 is the Greek "Tereo." Both Thayer's and Strong's define this word as meaning to attend to carefully, to take care of, or to guard and believe it is akin to the verb "Theoreo" which means to be a spectator of or to look at or more simply, to see.
So Christ is saying in this verse, see and take care of my commandments. He then makes this point again in v. 21 when he uses the verb "Tereo" in discussing keeping his commandments. Christ was asking Philip to guard his few commandments from what? False doctrine?
To look deeper into John 14, Christ says in verse 15 that if we love Him we will see, guard His commandments and then HE (not we) will ask God to give another Helper (counselor, advocate) to assist us. What does this Helper do?? It leads us to a deeper knowledge/understanding of the commandments? For what??? To be able to guard/keep them??? Why?? v 26 says so that we can better remember them??? For what??? To save souls/fulfill the great commission. We are led to and assisted by the Holy Spirit to guard God's word and pass it on unadulterated so that more souls can be won. Not of our own doing, but wholly of God's. That is the power of God's word. We read and are taught it and we are convicted by the Holy Spirit to have a love for Christ that makes us want to dive deeper into His word at which point we are given the assistance of the Holy Spirit to understand it more so that we can be led to produce fruit through TEACHING THE WORD alone. Christ's law = keep my teachings pure. Instead, we have allowed it to be taken hostage by people who want to use it to make law. Apostasy defined.
Read it, be given understanding, keep it pure, teach it. All this is done through us, not by us. Not my opinion, that is the teaching of Christ.
Quickly think about 2 John 1. Look at what John is rejoicing in (v 4). The fact that they are guarding the word from false doctrine and abiding with one another in love (a fruit of the prior). How do we know this, because John tells us so when he states 'For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. 9Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
He is happy that they have kept (guarded, taken care of) the true gospel message. That message being the gospel message of Christ. Note, this isn't a one time warning against such and is actually a common theme in the Epistles (Rom. 16:17; Gal. 1:8; Gal. 1:9; 2 Thess. 3:6; 2 Thess. 3:14 to name a few). John goes as far in 3 John to commend their remaining solid in the word and not allowing the Gentiles to add to their teaching. Teach the word, not the law. Guard Christ's words and teachings in their purest forms. I challenge you to make a list of the "commandments" that Christ made. You will find they are few. Perhaps that's the way he wanted it...
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Removing A Speck
Luke 6 tells us as Christians that we should not be hypocritical in our admonition of man but to make sure that we can see and remove the speck from our own eyes. This is very difficult to do but if we are truly followers of Christ then we must obey this commandment He gave to us. When we pray to Christ to make us into Christian examples we often don't remember that there are things that we must do in order to be such and many of those things seem difficult if we continue to think that our flesh is more important than that of our Savior. I had an incident happen in my life last night that I know was God giving me an opportunity to be a Christian without being a hypocrite in my own life.
School is soon to start back and having two young sons I worry about throwing them into that environment where the filters we have at home are removed. Ethan will be going to 2nd grade and Luke will be starting kindergarten. The night before Ethan's first night of kindergarten I sat down with him, just the two of us, and had a very meaningful conversation with him regarding what it meant to be a leader and not following the crowd. I will not go into the details at this time but I intend to have the same conversation with Luke on the eve of his schooling.
I can think back and remember that a funny thing happened to me the day that Ethan started school. I remember that I went to the driving range that day during my lunch to relieve some tension as I was worried about Ethan and how he was doing. While there, I was approached by a young lady who was the girlfriend of a boy I had grown up with and who I knew had been in and out of rehab and jail for drug related charges. As the two of us began to have a conversation I came to find out that the boy, now a man, was in the local jail awaiting to be sent to a more secure and structured facility. As I was talking to this girl God placed it on my heart that I needed to go to the local jail and apologize to this young man for not being a better example for him as we grew up and to let him know that I was there for him and could relate to what he is going through. I actually talked with my wife about this and made plans to go. Plans that I never followed through with before hearing that he had been moved to another location. A wasted opportnity to do what I had talked to my son about the night before. I was no leader and asking my son to do so was beyond hypocritical of me.
Needless to say this grieved my heart and I have spoken to the young man's grandmother about this and requested that she keep me informed of this young man's status. As I have given thought to what I will tell my yopungest son about being a leader before he starts kindergarten I have been reminded of the incident described above several times and it has continued to weigh on me. Strangely, last night I spoke with the young man's grandmother and she told me that he was out of jail and soon to have a child. I asked her for his phone number and called and left a message. To my suprise, he soon called back. God presented me with not only an opportunity to say what He had put on my heart two years ago, but also to be able to minister to this young man for a short time. Also, and to my benefit, I was allowed to remove a plank from my eye so I can openly and honestly discuss leadership with my youngest son now with no remorse. When I finished this conversation and hung the phone I was literally on cloud nine. I felt wonderful despite the fact that it was ten at night. Thank the Almighty God for his presence in my life.
If there are people in your lives that you feel you need to make things right with, let me say it is great. I felt like a million bucks last night and all I did was what I should have done two years ago. If you have planks you need to remove so that you can be a minister of truth to your family, friends, or others that God sends to you, remove them. It may seem hard to think about but it really is not. Christ died for you so that you can have these opportunities.
School is soon to start back and having two young sons I worry about throwing them into that environment where the filters we have at home are removed. Ethan will be going to 2nd grade and Luke will be starting kindergarten. The night before Ethan's first night of kindergarten I sat down with him, just the two of us, and had a very meaningful conversation with him regarding what it meant to be a leader and not following the crowd. I will not go into the details at this time but I intend to have the same conversation with Luke on the eve of his schooling.
I can think back and remember that a funny thing happened to me the day that Ethan started school. I remember that I went to the driving range that day during my lunch to relieve some tension as I was worried about Ethan and how he was doing. While there, I was approached by a young lady who was the girlfriend of a boy I had grown up with and who I knew had been in and out of rehab and jail for drug related charges. As the two of us began to have a conversation I came to find out that the boy, now a man, was in the local jail awaiting to be sent to a more secure and structured facility. As I was talking to this girl God placed it on my heart that I needed to go to the local jail and apologize to this young man for not being a better example for him as we grew up and to let him know that I was there for him and could relate to what he is going through. I actually talked with my wife about this and made plans to go. Plans that I never followed through with before hearing that he had been moved to another location. A wasted opportnity to do what I had talked to my son about the night before. I was no leader and asking my son to do so was beyond hypocritical of me.
Needless to say this grieved my heart and I have spoken to the young man's grandmother about this and requested that she keep me informed of this young man's status. As I have given thought to what I will tell my yopungest son about being a leader before he starts kindergarten I have been reminded of the incident described above several times and it has continued to weigh on me. Strangely, last night I spoke with the young man's grandmother and she told me that he was out of jail and soon to have a child. I asked her for his phone number and called and left a message. To my suprise, he soon called back. God presented me with not only an opportunity to say what He had put on my heart two years ago, but also to be able to minister to this young man for a short time. Also, and to my benefit, I was allowed to remove a plank from my eye so I can openly and honestly discuss leadership with my youngest son now with no remorse. When I finished this conversation and hung the phone I was literally on cloud nine. I felt wonderful despite the fact that it was ten at night. Thank the Almighty God for his presence in my life.
If there are people in your lives that you feel you need to make things right with, let me say it is great. I felt like a million bucks last night and all I did was what I should have done two years ago. If you have planks you need to remove so that you can be a minister of truth to your family, friends, or others that God sends to you, remove them. It may seem hard to think about but it really is not. Christ died for you so that you can have these opportunities.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
A Confession
Those of you who read this know that at the first of last month that I was going to do a better job of listening to the whisper of the Holy Spirit in my life and acting upon it. You can read that post here. Well, it has not taken me very long to slip in this effort and my heart is very pained over my failure.
Let me explain. I was called by a dear friend last Monday morning on my way in to the office. To make a long story short, my friend was confiding in me that he has lost control of his life due to a battle with alcohol and Rx drugs. This friend is at the point where he realizes he needs help and that he is in danger of losing those around him who he loves. I talked to him and told him that I would be there for him socially as I can not ethically offer him professional assistance other than referrals. I also told him what every "good Christian" would say: "I'll be praying for you." I did pray for him too, several times. I have invited him to some church functions and spoken with him two times since then and he reports positive progress but I continue to be worried about him.
Here is where my heart has been convicted. Since having that conversation the Holy Spirit has placed the thought in my head several times (I think it's 5 times to be exact), to get my wife in the car and drive to my friend's house and pray with him and for him there. I don't know why I have been moved to do this or if anything will be accomplished by it, just that I should do it. Sadly, I have ignored this up to this point. I think that by ignoring this thought that could only come from that which is Holy was sinful and I am confessing of that sin. My reason for thinking this comes from James 2: 8-13. In this passage James is admonishing his readers about showing favoritism regarding who they worship with and who they offer the gospel message to. He points out that by doing this it makes you no better off than a murderer or adulterer because you did not show mercy and do what you have been called to do as a Christian. I had so many excuses not to go and pray with my friend, some of which being: “I need to finish cutting the grass,” “He wouldn’t want to be disturbed,” and even “What if he’s drinking when I get there?” How lame are those excuses? I should be there now as a matter of fact. I should have gone there as soon as he first called me, but I didn’t and I have not shown the mercy that God has had on me to this person that I call a friend.
I realize that before I can fully repent of this sin I must go there and offer to pray with him, not pray for him on my own time, but pray with him. I know in my heart that God can pull my friend from his despair, yet I am withholding the power of prayer that God has given to me. I am truly sorry and I will make this right.
If you are my friend that I am referring to in this writing please read this carefully: I love you very much. I can not help you professionally and I can only offer to you that which has rescued me from the same struggles that you are having. Christ is knocking at your door and he can pull your head above the water. Know that I have prayed for you and I am praying as I write this but all that I can do is show you how Jesus has loved me and tell you that He loves you the same and that He is waiting on you to make your decision to come to Him and lay this burden on Him. You are an answer to my prayers because I pray that God will send me opportunities to minister to people. I am sorry for not fulfilling my duty and I ask that you please forgive me and pray for me as well.
I also am praying that all of you who read this begin having a more active prayer life. I will write more thoughts on this in the coming days. Until then, have a blessed day.
Let me explain. I was called by a dear friend last Monday morning on my way in to the office. To make a long story short, my friend was confiding in me that he has lost control of his life due to a battle with alcohol and Rx drugs. This friend is at the point where he realizes he needs help and that he is in danger of losing those around him who he loves. I talked to him and told him that I would be there for him socially as I can not ethically offer him professional assistance other than referrals. I also told him what every "good Christian" would say: "I'll be praying for you." I did pray for him too, several times. I have invited him to some church functions and spoken with him two times since then and he reports positive progress but I continue to be worried about him.
Here is where my heart has been convicted. Since having that conversation the Holy Spirit has placed the thought in my head several times (I think it's 5 times to be exact), to get my wife in the car and drive to my friend's house and pray with him and for him there. I don't know why I have been moved to do this or if anything will be accomplished by it, just that I should do it. Sadly, I have ignored this up to this point. I think that by ignoring this thought that could only come from that which is Holy was sinful and I am confessing of that sin. My reason for thinking this comes from James 2: 8-13. In this passage James is admonishing his readers about showing favoritism regarding who they worship with and who they offer the gospel message to. He points out that by doing this it makes you no better off than a murderer or adulterer because you did not show mercy and do what you have been called to do as a Christian. I had so many excuses not to go and pray with my friend, some of which being: “I need to finish cutting the grass,” “He wouldn’t want to be disturbed,” and even “What if he’s drinking when I get there?” How lame are those excuses? I should be there now as a matter of fact. I should have gone there as soon as he first called me, but I didn’t and I have not shown the mercy that God has had on me to this person that I call a friend.
I realize that before I can fully repent of this sin I must go there and offer to pray with him, not pray for him on my own time, but pray with him. I know in my heart that God can pull my friend from his despair, yet I am withholding the power of prayer that God has given to me. I am truly sorry and I will make this right.
If you are my friend that I am referring to in this writing please read this carefully: I love you very much. I can not help you professionally and I can only offer to you that which has rescued me from the same struggles that you are having. Christ is knocking at your door and he can pull your head above the water. Know that I have prayed for you and I am praying as I write this but all that I can do is show you how Jesus has loved me and tell you that He loves you the same and that He is waiting on you to make your decision to come to Him and lay this burden on Him. You are an answer to my prayers because I pray that God will send me opportunities to minister to people. I am sorry for not fulfilling my duty and I ask that you please forgive me and pray for me as well.
I also am praying that all of you who read this begin having a more active prayer life. I will write more thoughts on this in the coming days. Until then, have a blessed day.
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