Just a few things I want to say.  This is the tagline of this blog.  A tagline is a brief description of what a blog is about.  When I started this blog I really did not know for sure what direction I was going to take with it.  Was I going to try to teach biblical concepts?  Was I going to comment on the church?  Was I going to reflect on my personal walk with Jesus?  Was I going to be serious or sarcastic?  I decided to use the tagline I did because frankly, I was not sure.  But I did know that whatever I said here would be my own thoughts, my own opinions.  It is still that way.  It has not changed.  What I say here is not necessarily backed up by my wife, family, friends, church, or anyone for that matter.  I do ask the Holy Spirit for guidance but that is in no way saying for sure that God is okay with it either.  It is simply just a few things I want to say.  And so is the following.

I really don’t understand how so many people can read something and not have a clue what the writer was trying to say.  Take for example the last post that I wrote.  It was about the need for all of us to grow in our relationships with each other.  I used a real group in my church, The Bridge, to start it off but that was not the focus.  But some readers went no further than that.  Instead, someone, and maybe more than one, took it as another opportunity to see me in a defensive position, trying to take up for this new group.  They took it upon themselves to put into action some things that hurt at least two people.  Since these are supposed to be my family, also followers of Jesus, this simply saddens and amazes me.

I do not have to defend this fellowship of young adults.  The evidence that it is good and godly comes directly from the attacks that have been launched against it already.  It is evidently offensive in some way to others.  And Jesus warned us of these things.  So my question is simple.  Who exactly is trying to cause division here?  The Bridge has brought a couple of people back into the fold already yet the verbal attacks from others have almost sent a couple of members in my church fleeing.  Who is on track as far as the mission is concerned?

When are we going to stop feeling threatened by things that are outside of or do not include ourselves?  When are we going to realize that we have to sacrifice some things that maybe we are a little too dogmatic about to reach our kids and grandkids?  When are we going to realize that relevance is not synonymous with degradation as concerns the gospel?

I am at a fork in the road as it concerns my own future already.  There are some very important decisions that I am about to have to make: decisions about life, both secular and spiritual.  I wish that the people of God would not keep on adding to it like they seem to be at the moment.  I wish my “family” would make it easier instead of harder.

You may think that I just say this out of habit but it really is from the heart.  I…

Love you all

Tags: blog, Church, Holy Spirit, jesus, Love, mission, Personal, Relationships, Relevance

Divide and conquer.  I am sure you have heard the term.  It is a term for a tactic that is used to defeat an enemy.  The concept is that if you can successfully cause a group of enemies to turn on each other it is easy to sweep in and conquer them.  It is the oldest battle tactic of all.  The enemy used it in the beginning to divide the created from the creator and it has been used ever since.  And very successfully.

One aspect of using this tactic successfully is to deceive your enemy in a way that they do not always see the division.  Until it is too late.  Our adversary has continued to use this tactic since that first epic division with great results.  There are many that have entered into an eternity without God because of it.

I am following a lot of discussions and situations in the body of Christ that are causing dissension, distrust, confusion, and anger between the participants.  It seems most are not even aware or concerned with the harm that is being done or how the arguments over things that are either not essential to the mission or just blatantly wrong are helping to divide us.  When I try to determine essentials as it concerns the Gospel I actually see it as rather simple.

Joh 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Mat 22:37-40  And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Mat 28:19  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

These three things are the essentials.  These three are all we really need to know to stay on mission.  The rest of the bible can be seen as instruction on understanding and learning to apply these three.

God loved us so much He was willing to become one of us in the person of Jesus so He could rescue us from the clutches of the enemy that we had allowed to enslave us, then He instructs us to love Him and each other, and finally to go and tell all about this great love of His and to show them how to spread it also.  So the real essential is the mission of spreading love.  And nothing else.

I see more dissension being sown than love being spread as I look at the body of Christ.  One of my main objections to God even existing for most of my life was that I saw very little love, hardly any sacrifice, and only token agreement within Christianity.  This is a historical and a present reality even now.  I am a part of the body now and still see the same things.

Luther, Calvin, Arminius; no agreement there.  Spurgeon, Moody, Wesley, Finney; no agreement there.  Piper, Wright, Pinnock, Conn, Spong; no agreement there.  Baptist, Episcopalian, Catholic, Pentecostal; no agreement there.  COG member and another COG member; no agreement there.  Not only is this sad, not only is this divisive, this is dangerous.  Hatred is being spread, intolerance is being observed and souls are being lost.  The mission is not being done because we are too busy telling the other how wrong they are.  We must wake up to the tactics of enemy that is walking among us.

The arguments and the view of essentials in my own denomination and even my own church are very disconcerting to me.  Tongues as initial evidence, alcohol consumption, missional or Pentecostal, and a misplacement of love are just a few areas where lines are being drawn and the enemy sits back laughing while watching us pound on each other.  I am sorry but I can’t even find the scripture where Jesus spoke in tongues, I can show you where He drank wine, His focus was wholly missional and relational, and He point blank told us who to love.  Take notice where our love is supposed to be applied.  It is to persons and not things.

Instead I am reading declarations of steadfast love for a denomination while those same advance no attitudes of love or outreach for the ones outside the Kingdom.  In fact, some of the things they are arguing against in their unyielding traditional, denominational defenses cause those we should be reaching from even giving us a chance to spread the love we are supposed to be spreading.

The Church of God is an institution, an organization, a denomination; and I do not love it.  I love the people in it.  I also love the people in the Assemblies of God, the Baptists, the Methodists, the Catholics, the Muslims, the Hindus, and the list goes on and on to include even the agnostics and atheists.

We have people that won’t accept anything but the style of preacher that they want, the music that they want to hear, the order and method of service they grew up with, and even the times the services must be done.  When are we going to wake up to the machinations of our enemy?  When are we going to realize the necessity of unity even if it means sacrifice?  When are we going to discern our own self-centeredness?  When are we going to apply our misplaced love appropriately?

If the lost in my community want to sing reggae, country spirituals and this will keep them in church long enough to become disciples, then shouldn’t we be willing to throw out the hymnals and praise choruses?  If the lost in my community want to sit on couches with the lights turned down a notch and have a spiritual discussion instead of a pulpit pounding, corn shucking, belt jerking, spittle spewing preacher yelling at them, then shouldn’t we be willing to give it a try?

Mat 28:19  Go therefore to church, sit on the pews, sing only what you like, keep a pastor and stand behind him only if he preaches to you and only if he does it the way you want him to, and do not in any way suffer the person that does not agree with you, in the name of (insert your own name). (Self-centered interpretation)

This is how we read this commandment today for the most part.  Isn’t it time we went to war, got back on mission, and at least tried to do what Jesus said?  It will take sacrifice.  But He sacrificed Himself so you could sit there on that pew and be wrong.

What if that lost person that won’t come to church because of your self-centered requirements is your grandchild?  Will you sacrifice then?

I love you all (and hope you can still love me)

Tags: atheist, Body of Christ, Calvin, catholics, Christianity, Church, Church of God, Creator, dissension, Enemy, eternal life, Eternity, Holy Spirit, Love, muslim, Pentecost, piper, Self

As followers of Christ and workers in His kingdom we all have a job to do.  A lot of us are more behind the scenes but what we do is as vital to the Kingdom as those in the forefront of ministries.  There are so many “superstars” in the body of Christ in this country that everyone knows of at least one.

We have also all heard of at least one that has fallen due to some sin issue or other.  Many have been ministering for long periods of time while secretly living lives that very likely grieved the Holy Spirit within them.  There was even some evidence of fruit while many of them were leading these double lives.

My question today has to do with this fruit.

If a person is blatantly, but secretly, living a double life, such as preaching while having an affair, or evangelizing while partying and drinking, or beating their wife while pastoring a church, etc., are they really able to do the work of the Kingdom?  Are they bearing any good fruit?

Basically, do you think a person can live knowingly in sin and the Holy Spirit work through them?

Let me know what you think.

Love you all

Tags: bearing fruit, Body of Christ, Holy Spirit, Kingdom, Sin, superstars, town hall, Tuesday

And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:25

When God first created Adam and Eve He did not furnish clothing to them.  There was no need.  They were made in the image of God and walked in relationship with Him that you and I just can’t comprehend.  They had been created as adult beings but were actually children in the eyes of God.  They were innocent and they were good.

One of the things the Fall brought about was the loss of innocence.  This was an innocence that not only allowed them to have a perfect relationship with God; they actually perceived no difference between themselves and God.  They did not even realize they were naked.

The serpent exposed them to self-centeredness and one of the results was that loss of innocence that kept them from even realizing that they were different in ways that might need covering.

Just look at children.  All children start out with this same innocence I am talking about.  You can bathe most two year olds, whether the same sex or not, in the same bathtub and they will not notice any difference between them.  This changes in every kids life at a different age.  It changes when they are taught the differences.  A kid will ask certain questions and we give them certain answers.  Our answers will be based on our own notions about our differences.  Some kids can maintain a level of innocence longer than others because some parents are not as anxious about those differences themselves.

Another area where kids are innocent is race.  A small child can play with or have friends of different races and just never perceive any differences.  Again, this usually ends when questions are raised and the answers the adults give start a child along the path to what they think of their differences.  Innocence lost.

I heard a white evangelist say that if he could preach as well as T D Jakes, he would not mind having Jakes color of skin.  He also said at another time that he would not preach at a church that did not welcome blacks.  This actually happened to him and he followed this conviction.  My question is, why, if he does love people of color, doesn’t he see that his first statement is blatantly racist?  I know many “Christians” that are much more vocal in their racism also.

Don Imus went through a lot of strife for statements about “nappy headed” basketball players but insisted it was not meant as a racial slur.  And what about our presidents statement about a black being articulate.  He also said, or people said for him, that nothing was meant.  And even closer, I know white “Christians” that would have their children marry a white atheist rather than a black Christian.

Racism is alive and well in America in 2009.  It is not as bad as it was at another time, but it is far from gone.  And not only is this a white problem, it is also a black problem and a Hispanic problem and many others.  But what really saddens me and has to grieve the Holy Spirit is that the church is not exempt.

Even the best of us have to describe people like this.  “He was a very dynamic black preacher.”  Or, “She is a very beautiful black woman.”  Or many other racially charged descriptive.  What is wrong with just saying he was a dynamic preacher or she is a beautiful woman?  Why do we continue to see everyone as so very different than we are?  Aren’t we all God’s children with no differences between Jew and Greek, male or female, black or white?

I know that everyone that uses the divisive words for descriptions is not using them in a racially motivated way.  But we have to begin to see all people as the same, even with the obvious differences.  All people are worthy of our love because God loves us all.

We are going to inaugurate a man for president tomorrow.  It will be a historic moment because he will be the first “black” president.  Or at least it is being hailed that way.  Actually his racial identity is more along the lines that we all should be.  He has more than a few distinctive racial markers in his makeup.  But yet he is a man with one body.

The church is supposed to be one body.  We need to start acting like it.

Tomorrow will be a historic day and I for one am proud of this nation in this one thing.  This was not even thought possible just fifty years ago.  I doubt when Obama was conceived that any of his family foresaw this day.  Now we need to move on, tearing down more walls in our society, our culture, and our lives.  One day a “black man” will be elected president and we will just say that a “man” was elected president.  Or this is my prayer.

One day we are going to be with God.  I read that we will be clothed in white robes.  But I wonder if maybe we might just once again, be naked before God.  Innocence found.

Love you all

Tags: America, Church, Culture, evangelist, Holy Spirit, image of god, loss of innocence, Love, naked, Prayer, relationship, self centeredness, t d jakes