Are We Upside Down?

And if we aren't, then why not?

As a follower of Jesus—and I use that word "follower" intentionally . . . not just someone whose thrown out some profession of faith, but someone who is truly following Jesus, and allowing Jesus to lead—are we a people totally foreign to, and upside down from, the world? And if not, then why not? He was.

My last post talked about the messiness of ministry. How those comfortable with the world will be uncomfortable with ministry (either their doing it, or with us if we are doing it). This morning, as I am reading through Matthew, a few more things popped out. In Matthew 10:24–25 Jesus tells (warns!) His followers, "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household." He then goes on to tell them He didn't come to bring peace, but basically to even turn members of a household against one another.

Jesus came into this comfortable world and totally rocked it, ripped it up, and turned it upside down. He talked about turning families against each other, but then talked about the new family of believers and how their love for one another would be so strong it would be sacrificial, and a defining mark of our identity as ones who love Him. He tore apart the physical "laws" of our world—multiplying fish and bread, calming stormy seas. He tore down the biological barriers we believed "solid"—raising the dead, and reversing irreversible diseases. He shattered the hold of darkness over the world, casting out demons who had held men in bondage and agony, and causing them to beg Him for mercy. He tossed about the values and "wisdom" of the world—telling us it is better to give then receive, to love our enemies, that the blessed are the servants and least, that the last would be first, and to not store up treasures on earth but to store them up in Heaven. He offended the "righteous" and gave hope to the "scum"—calling religious leaders broods of vipers and whitewashed tombs, and telling a thief on a cross they'd be together in paradise that night.

When Jesus came He blew into pieces all expectations about Himself—leaving an earthly kingdom in captivity and a few decades away from destruction, but declaring a Kingdom of God that was eternal. He declared Himself a King, but said nothing in His defense and submitted Himself to whips and spit and jeers and a crown of thorns and death. He made an instrument of execution for criminals a sign of adoration for God. He was born from a no account town, laid as a babe in a feed trough for animals, and welcomed by shepherds. 

We could go on and on with examples, but it is safe to say that Jesus came into this world and blew apart everything about it that was normal, safe, and considered "solid." He turned it upside down . . . and He now lives in believers, desiring to live through believers. He has given us His name, He has given us His presence, He has given us His authority and His power. He turned this world upside down and that leaves me with a haunting question: Am I upside down from this world?

It is a legitimate question. If He is in me, living His life through me, then why am I so much like this world when I should be completely upside down from it? Why am I so comfortable with this world, and maybe even a better question, why is it so comfortable with me? There was nothing comfortable that the world had with Jesus. He made it very uncomfortable. He made it squirm. Those comfortable found themselves wanting to get rid of Him. And those least and broken and lost and rejected found in Him love and acceptance and hope.

Am I upside down? And if not, why not?

Greetings

Greetings to any and all who might read this! I know that I haven't posted since early December, but things have been really busy and I never want to force a post simply for the sake of posting. I hope that you had a joyous, God-filled Christmas and that this year is beginning filled with a deep sense of His love for you!

Dream and the girls in our "arena" with a metal cross we
were given when a neighbor passed away.

Happy girls!

Last year was a very good one for our family, but one in which were were heavily invested in, and surrounded by, many, many lives that were hurting very deeply. It was a year of seasoning in ministry that was probably one of the hardest, but most growing I've ever had. I feel honored and privileged to be used of God in other people lives, and I hope I never resent or grow weary of that. I found seasons in which I found religion deeply unsatisfying if in any form that it substituted for Jesus Himself. He alone is the deep well we must drink from and the life we must let flow through us. Anything that doesn't point us to Him, but substitutes for Him, will never satisfy or sustain. Yet . . . how easy it is to replace Him with things about Him, to let things meant to be a means to Him as the end become instead an end in themselves. Jesus—He is life . . . yet it is easy to miss that in the busyness of our world, or even in doing things about and for Him.

One of the neat things that happened for our family in the later days of 2013 (in addition to the amazing trip we were able to take that I've already posted about) was being given a horse. The girls named her "Dream" as she is their dream come true, and we are blessed by the instruction the couple who gave her to us have been giving us. She is about 8-years-old, and an Appaloosa pony. We are very excited to have her in our family, but desperately needing rain to get the grass growing we need to supplement her feed.

I look forward to sharing more of our life and some things God has been showing me with you in the weeks and months ahead, and I thank you for sharing in my life. The body of Christ is fully the body when it is interconnected one with another, and I love hearing from you as well. May God bless you in the coming months and may we all grow in a never ending awe of Him and His holiness, and joy at our adoption. Blessings   —Erick

Note: This blog began, and remains, as a place for me to share slices of my life, thoughts, things God is showing me, etc. If that description ever ceases to be something you are interested in please feel a freedom to unsubscribe using the link on your email. In this day and age of constant electronic bombardment in many forms we must be careful in what we choose to read and invest our time in, or one day we may find that while we are surrounded with things about God, we are empty and dry in God. If you enjoy hearing about our life, great! If my posts play some small part in drawing you closer to God or encouraging you, great! And if not, please have God help you find things in your life that better serve to draw you to Him. I understand, and encourage you in that direction.

Faith-Changing Truth Found in Simple Words

I am reading through the Bible from front to back with the hope of starting over when I am done and continuing this practice until the day God takes me home. I am also seeking, in a separate practice based on the advice of George Muller in his autobiography, to take a single verse or even just a few words in a verse and chew on them and meditate on them with the sole purpose of beginning my day seeking food for my soul (not with the aim to teach, or to get answered prayers, or even to pray—but simply to feed myself and nourish myself so that the rest of my day, and everything in it, comes from this place of being spiritually fed). With that introduction . . .

I was so affected by something the Spirit showed me (reminded me?) yesterday in Ephesians that I shared it with the youth last night. Basically, I had begun Ephesians as my meditation book and was, by familiarity, blowing through verse one (the greeting) to get to the "good stuff." In verse one Paul says, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:" Moving rapidly past that to verse two I was struck by the thought that I wasn't meditating and chewing on it or giving God time to feed me with it, but rather "throwing it away." So, I went back to it and . . . I never got past the first six words!

Now, in what I am about to share my guess is that every Christian reading this already "knows" what I am about to say. But, maybe, it will be a refreshing reminder, or something not for you but for another. Or, maybe it is just for me . . . At any rate, whatever God does with it for you, I was struck by how Paul didn't say, "Paul, a Christian" or "Paul, a teacher of Scripture" or "Paul, a follower of The Way" or anything like that. Rather, his calling was directly tied into the person of Jesus. "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus . . ."

As I reflected on this and skipped around to his other greetings I found this to be his consistent theme (and in case you are thinking that Paul was just insecure and defending himself, James and Peter do the same thing). Paul begins Philippians, "Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, . . ." and Romans, "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, . . ." These are just a few examples, but they all show the same thing—Paul, and Peter, and James, and likely Timothy, were all completely tying their identity and calling into the person of Jesus, not into religion or a way or even a book like the Bible.

This may not sound like much, but it is huge! Somewhere in our faith walk it seems like there is such a temptation to follow Christianity, or the Bible, or what we "ought to do" or "ought to be" because it is what a Christian does or is . . . and Jesus seems to slip out of the picture. We see a person in need and think we "ought" to help them, or we feel we "ought" to stand against abortion, or _____ (fill in your blanks). But, Christianity or the Bible can't ask us to do anything, they aren't a person. It is Jesus, who died for us, who loves us, who has prepared eternity for us, who gave up all His rights as God for us, who is asking. He is the One who says, "Hey, see that person over there? Would you please go love on them for me?" Quiet time isn't a religious obligation or duty, it is a time we set aside and meet with the lover of our soul, our bridegroom, and I believe He values that time and looks to it as well. When we say "no" to that time we aren't saying no to a Christian duty, but to the One who waits for us and loves us.

On the flip side (and this is so exciting!), when we are crying out for help, when we are in trouble, when our needs overwhelm us, we aren't relying on Christianity, or the Bible to save us. It is Jesus who does. It is not Christianity or the Bible that says it will never leave us or forsake us, He does! In this nation Christianity may soon be throttled and restricted and legislated into a state approved faith that restricts what we can say, or we could be in a country where Bibles are illegal, but He doesn't change and He doesn't leave us. Everything is about Jesus. In Colossians we are reminded, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent." (1:15-18)

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, an apostle of Christ Jesus. All Christianity could fail. All Bibles could be burned. All church leadership, and all church goers, could be corrupted and fleshly and caving to the world. All freedom of religion could be lost. All laws and legislation could go against the faith and its values. But who Paul was would not change because his identity, and obedience, and dependence were in Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Jesus said the king receives everything done unto the least of these as done unto Himself. May we never forget that. Nothing we do is in a vacuum, and nothing is ever simply religion, though we may not realize that fact. May we never substitute for Jesus things merely about Jesus. May we never make the means to the end the end in themselves.Everything points to Jesus, and any stop on the journey short of that is missing the whole point. We may be saved. We may believe He died for us. But if we ever begin to serve (or depend on) a religion or Book instead of the Person they are about, we will lose the joy and the confidence and the faith, because only He can never fail, and only He is real. Everything else is just the shadow or revelation pointing to Him. Everything else can be taken from us. Everything else can fail us. He never can, and never will, and of all those things, only He alone can love us—and He does.

Walking in Another's Shoes

It is so easy to be judgmental of others (though we can make it look OK and call it "discernment" or simply "noting an area in another to pray for"). We can look at how someone acts, responds, reacts, lives, the choices they make, etc. (whether in life, in church, or wherever), and make our judgments and assessments. At times I'll see such snobbery in Christians as they look at someone "less polished" and "less proper" and maybe "not as refined" and I may have some real (but confidential) insight into the judged person's life and want to say, "If you knew how far they've come from where they started you'd realize that they've probably grown a lot more as a Christian than YOU have!" . . . but, then I'm starting to judge and let roots grow in me that aren't Godly, either.There is absolutely a Biblical place and call for discernment, etc. I am not writing against Godly, Spirit-led insight or leading. There is also a Biblical call to live holy and consequences for poor choices. But, what I am talking about is judging someone for how they react or respond to things, having never been in their shoes. (Again, some things are just plain wrong. I am not talking about calling them OK just because of someone's past. I am talking about our heart toward the person.)

Recently I had an experience that really rattled me and in gave me an insight I never would have had without it. I was at a function and someone asked me how I was feeling. I was a little confused because, as far as I knew, I was feeling fine and had been. When I expressed my confusing the person insisted they'd called me the day before and I said I was fighting a bad cold. I thought they were joking at first, but they were dead serious that they had called and talked to me in person and that I said I was really sick.

After I realized they were serious I got this sickening pit in my stomach. There were, it seemed, only two possibilities. Either I had absolutely zero recollection of something the day before—something in which I hadn't even spoken truth . . . or this person had really a major problem and they are a wonderful friend and I didn't know what I would tell the person's wife. The thought that I might have done and said something the day before that I didn't have the slightest remembrance of was really, really scary.

Suddenly I believe the Holy Spirit gave me a nudge and I thought to ask if he'd called from his cell phone. He had and we went back through his calls and he'd called a friend with the same first name when he'd seen it pop up in his cell phone directory. The friends voice was so bad he couldn't tell it wasn't me. The problem was solved . . . but I gained an insight into how people must feel who realize they don't remember things they've said and done, and I will, hopefully, never talk or work with or judge those people the same way again.

Another time we had a medical crisis and no health care and I needed to apply for help to get a family member some treatment. The process of sitting in front of some twenty year old and having to tell her almost every detail of our personal life as she nonchalantly entered it in to some computer which would spit out a decision on whether or not we could get help was so humiliating I left there filled with anger. Mary Ann suggested to me that God could use this and I realized she was right and we prayed and it completely changed how I'll counsel someone in the same situation. I used to be matter of fact telling about aid that is available, and now I do so with great compassion, knowing what the person has ahead and how hard it is to hold your dignity through it.

The wonderful thing is, on the other side, if we are the one judged by people who have no sense of what it is like to be in our shoes, is that Jesus understands it all and we don't have to spend hours trying to "catch Him up" on what we've been through—He's been through it all with us, and He's tasted it Himself. Hebrews tells us, in Hebrews 4:15, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." In John 4:6 it records, "Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour." and, in Luke 19:41 it says of Jesus, "And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it." 

Tempted. Weary. Weeping. He understands. He is your best friend if you've put your life in His hands. He understands you when nobody else does. He's been there. This doesn't mean that no matter what you choose to do He's OK with it. But it does mean that He knows your fears, your pain, your past, and He loves you and is prepared to stand with you and beside you into the future even when nobody else believes in you or is ready to go the mile with you. What a beautiful truth!

Turning Our Sin and Inadequacies to Praise

I have been struck recently by the wonderful opportunity we have to turn even our sin and our inadequacies into praise that glorifies the Son. Take, for instance, a sin I commit. There are two main possible responses. One focuses on my sin, my shortcoming, how bad I messed up, how lousy I am, etc. The other stands in awe that God forgave my sin, that He saw it before the earth was formed and created me anyway, that He loved me so much He would erase it with His own blood, that He has completely separated me from it, etc. One puts the eyes on me, the other the eyes on Him.

I tend to think the Biblical response is to dip quickly in and then out of the first, “Father, I’m sorry. I blew it," and then to dive and swim in the latter, “Oh, but thank You so much, Father, that you knew I’d do that before You even formed me yet you still did! I love you, Father. Thank you, precious Lord Jesus that you bore that sin on the cross for me! Thank you that I am completely forgiven of that sin and separated from it! Thank You that You will never leave or forsake me despite my mistakes! Thank you that you are so awesome and holy and wonderful that You love me with a love so vast and so deep and so wide! Thank You that sin matters to You, that you are purely good! Thank you that I matter to You, that You want me with You! Thank You! You are so wonderful and amazing! I praise You!” It strikes me that this is the pattern we see in Paul—he spent a bit of time, now and then, acknowledging his shortcomings, but the bulk of his time was spent praising God and God’s love and God’s complete sufficiency and provision and forgiveness in the face of his shortcomings.

What a difference a shift of focus can make! Our inadequacies can follow the same pattern. Either, “I am so inadequate to do this or that. I fall so short. I do so lousy at this or that,” on and on, etc., etc. Or we can say, “I praise You, Father, that though I alone am so weak at this or that, You are not, and Your grace is sufficient for me, and You are with me, and You will never leave me or forsake me, and that with You nothing is impossible, and that You are faithful to complete the good work You’ve begun in me, and that You both put Your desires in me and You work in me to bring them to pass! You are awesome and amazing and I love You and I praise You!” etc.

It’s about the eyes of our heart and mind. Are they on Him or on us? One path will take us down into the mucky pit and mud of self-focus, self-bashing, negative expectations, bitterness, depression, gloom, and darkness. The other will lift us beyond our shortcomings and into a place of praise and love and awe that stirs in us faith, positive expectancy of the future, and a longing to go on, to get closer to Him, and to glorify Him more. It has never been about us—we couldn't do anything to be born again (except faith) and we can't do anything to lose it. It is not about us, it is all about Him and what He has done. The enemy wants our eyes on us and our work (or lack of) so that we never fully understand the magnitude of the work Jesus did on the cross and our utter and complete forgiveness and acceptance before God, and the position we hold in Christ. God wants us to focus on His Son and the work His Son did, from love, on our behalf so we might walk from our position in Christ—completely forgiven, accepted, adopted, righteous, and with authority over the demonic. May we choose the latter and may all we do point to, and glorify, the Son! He alone is worthy!

Light and Darkness, Part 3

I highly encourage you to read Paul Ellis' 8/16/11 post on his Escape to Reality blog called "12 Infamous Examples of Walking After the Flesh in the Bible." This post dovetails beautifully with my prior posts in this series—in which I shared how "darkness" and "wicked deeds" are not defined by our moral measuring stick, but by God's presence in them or not (and how this realization affects our understand and sharing of the Gospel, especially with "good" people). The comment I left on his post was: This is one of the best posts I have ever read. Thank you for teaching and reminding us that even our “good” ideas and leadings, apart from Him, are sin. I have been finding in my recent studies and teachings such an amazing revelation in Jesus’ talk with Nicodemus. When He tells Nicodemus that the light comes in to the darkness but men love the darkness because of their wicked deeds I shared with our church how this applies even to our friends and family who don’t do “bad” things, but even do charitable things and “good” things. Clearly, Jesus defines darkness and wicked deeds differently than we are tempted to do with our moral measuring stick. The conclusion I have come to is that darkness and wicked deeds are anything separate from Him. I really, really appreciate this post. I am going to share a link to it on my blog. I hope that is OK.

Lessons from Hummingbirds . . .

I will return to my "Light and darkness" series in the weeks ahead, but I wanted to share here a few thoughts I had yesterday while sitting in our sitting area and taking a little "be still" time. As I was out there I had the pleasure of watching hummingbirds coming to the feeder we have hanging above our vegetable garden. They are fascinating to watch and incredible evidence of a Creator, and I noticed a few things while I did:

1)   Without the hummingbirds, the feeder was "dead": Hanging there, with no birds around, there was no beauty in the feeder itself. It was made for something, and when it wasn't used for that purpose it held no attraction. But, when the birds came to it, it suddenly became the center piece of beauty and part of drawing my mind toward God. We, too, are created for a purpose and a relationship. We find our purpose and meaning and beauty in our relationship with God, when He dwells in us and finds us a surrendered vessel for His presence and will. Then, we are vessels that bear His image and through us others' eyes are drawn toward Him.

2) Two things disrupted the beauty and purpose of the feeder: The first was when one bird chased off another. Suddenly, when they weren't united, the peace and beauty of the scene was lost in conflict. Though there are four holes on the feeder to drink at, often one bird would chase others away from it. There was plenty there for them all, but they not only prohibited others from drinking when they acted that way . . . but they couldn't drink themselves when they were doing it, either. How many times Christians chase others away from drinking deep of Him by their pettiness, criticism, self-focus, judgment, jealousy, lack of faith which makes them self-preserving, etc. And, of course, when those things mark us, we can never drink deeply ourselves as our fellowship with Him is broken by our actions and attitudes which grieve His Spirit and keep love from flowing—and He will not be where love is not, since He is, Himself, love. The other thing that disrupted the purpose of the feeder and the beauty of it was a Yellow Jacket trying to get something from the feeder. They are small next to even the tiny hummingbird, and yet the hummingbird fled from its charge each time it did so. How many times, I wonder, do we allow an enemy we have authority over, and whom Jesus has defeated, rob us from what God intends for us? I can't help but think that, if the hummingbirds could just see themselves from our perspective, they'd realize it is the Yellow Jacket that should flee from them and not the other way around. We, too, must remember that the thief (Satan) comes for nothing but to steal, kill, and destroy, but the promise to us is that if we resist him he WILL flee.

Just some thoughts, and maybe some lessons, from the hummingbird . . .

Light and Darkness, Part 2

Note: Please be praying strongly this week for this history-cookbook project I am wrapping up. We are very, very close and I am really struggling with the  "closer" (Gospel) page which shares how our region is not a slice of Heaven (it is a wonderful place!), but a shadow of Heaven. Then, last night, Mary Ann and I were up until 11:30 trying to fix a corruption in the file---the first time this has happened, and the night before we were to print proofs. I can't figure out what happened, and yet I know that God is bigger than it all, and that this book will be finished and bless our community, our youth, and glorify God!

Light and Darkness, Part 2: One of the starkest contrasts the Bible presents between the Kingdom (reign and rule) of God and the reign and rule of Satan is that of Light versus dark. The Bible makes it clear that the world is in darkness. Now, anyone that has ever been sunburned knows we have a very big light above us half the day, so something else is meant in the following passages:

Matt 4:12-17   Now when he [Jesus] heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. . . . so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ". . . the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned." From that time Jesus began to preach, saying,  "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Acts 26:15-18   And I [Paul] said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. . . . for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, . . . to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

Clearly, darkness is the default condition of man and the world, and clearly He means a spiritual and mental darkness. This ties in to the theme of blindness, also in the Bible describing the lost:

2 Cor 4:3-6   And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. . . . For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

So, just what does God mean by this darkness? It is a critical understanding to understand the Gospel, and it especially speaks to the heart of "good people" (of which I spent many years thinking I was, because I wasn't "as bad" as many around me). I believe the clue to God's meaning of "darkness" comes in John's encounter with Nicodemus in which Jesus (who calls Himself the Light of the World) says to him:

John 3:19-21   And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.

Those who refuse to come to the Light (Jesus) are those who love darkness because of their wicked deeds. But, we all know people who, compared to others, are really "good" people and don't do "wicked" deeds (as long as man, and not God, is the standard). And yet, the Bible is clear they are lost and, tragically, going to Hell. So what are their wicked deeds? Why is the darkness they so love? It is the absence of God. He is the Light. Apart from Him is darkness. So wicked deeds are not just things like murder and drugs and adultery, but any deeds done in the darkness, done from self-rule and not God's rule (hence Kingdom). They are us, loving ourselves more than Him and others, and being our own Lord of our life. That is the ultimate tragedy and trap of the enemy, to get us to think that there is any good apart from God. When we love to rule our own life more than loving God and others and His rule in our life we are separated from Him, not walking in faith, and separation from Him is darkness. A great lie of the enemy is that it has to be "really bad" things, when He is so good that anything apart from Him is bad, and tragic.

I'll write more about this in the next post (God willing), but I encourage you to reflect on it. It is changing the way I share the Gospel and the concept of sin and darkness, and I truly believe that if "good" people understand this they will understand the Gospel better—people who don't do murder and the such and struggle to understand what is so dark about their life. This understanding of darkness elevates our eyes from others around us, and their lives, to Him. Until then, God bless, and don't hesitate to send your feedback. I treasure hearing from you!

The Darkest Day . . .

You wake up and, for a moment, feel like you’ve had the worst dream of your life . . . and then you realize it wasn’t a dream. You lie there and hope, and go over the day before, but then you realize, that hope as you might, yesterday really happened. Yesterday you watched them beat and mutilate and mock and kill the One you had thought was God’s Son, the One you had left everything to follow, the One you had endured hostility and persecution to walk behind, the One who had maybe cast seven demons out of you, or had healed you of a crippling disease . . . the One who had offered you love and hope and peace with God when others condemned you and judged you and looked at you with contempt and cast you out.

Yesterday, after the earthquake and the darkened sky and the rumors of dead people walking around Jerusalem, you had hoped, waited, for something to change. You’d seen Him die, there was no doubt about it, but didn’t the signs in the sky mean something? Weren’t the Heavens displaying their anger—and He was going to awaken on the cross, or right after Joseph took Him down, and display your justification, and destroy your enemies, and prove He was God?

You’d waited, and waited, and hope had begun to die, and slowly fear, and numbness, and uncertainty, and hopelessness had crept in. You had watched evil win, and goodness die . . . but was He even good if He had lied and deceived so many of you? Yesterday, every secret knock on the door as you hid from the Jews, every rushing person past the window, awakened a hope. You sat up, crying in your heart for someone to tell you it had changed. But, eventually, somehow, exhausted and drained and broken and racked with sorrow, you’d fallen asleep and awoken this Saturday morning, hoping it had all been a bad dream, but the dirt on your clothes from last night where you’d fallen to the ground sobbing shatters even that hope and testifies that yesterday really happened. Jesus is dead—and He didn’t even defend Himself! He didn’t even DO anything to stop them! Anger at Him mixes with your sadness in a horrible soup in your soul. Two days ago you life had purpose and meaning and direction—you were a follower of Jesus! Today He is dead, and you have . . . nothing! Even worse, you have nowhere to go back to—you are alienated from all that you left, and there is no place for you any longer. Two days ago you had dared to believe that even your life might be redeemable before God . . . but today, you realize you are without hope of redemption at all.

Today is the darkest of days. The Jews continue their celebrations and feasts, and the One who offered you freedom from the law and religion and guilt and fear of God continues to lie in the grave. All of the ones who warned you about Him, and who threw you out for following Him, were right and you were wrong. Now what? You’ve left everything, for what? For a lie? Now, each footstep outside the window brings fear. Are you the next one to be arrested and crucified? Are all the promises and hope and love and acceptance He offered you now a mocking memory that laughs in your face? Clearly the Jews and your family and neighbors were right—and it only rips open the wounds His love and acceptance had begun to heal, and pours salt into them.

What about the power He displayed, the authority He spoke with, the way your religious leaders had backed down before Him, the healings He performed? What about them? Were they a show? No! You don’t want to believe that! You know what you were before He touched you, and how different you are now! But . . . what about the miracles? Was He a necromancer or sorcerer? He clearly had power, but your religious leaders had condemned Him. You’d thought He was good. You’d thought He was from God—but maybe they were right. Maybe you laughed with, and believed in, and ate with, and helped, a man working miracles by the power of Beelzebub as the religious teachers claimed. While He was beside you as they accused Him there was no way you could believe it—He was so good! You felt such pure love, for the first time ever! But now, He’s dead, and they’re still alive and in charge. Could you have been wrong? How could something so good have been so deceiving . . . and what now? What was next?

You thought yesterday, watching Jesus be beaten, mocked, “tried,” and crucified, was the worst day of your life . . . but today promises to be even worse—the darkest day of your life—because at least yesterday, up to the end, you’d clung to hope . . . but today there is no more, and without hope we perish. Yesterday you kept hoping that He’d finally say, “Enough!” and defend Himself. Yesterday you’d hoped that maybe He’d just fainted . . . but, seeing His mutilated body, and the blood and water pour from the spear hole, you knew deep down inside that He was really dead. Yesterday you’d hoped the Heavens would open and He would open His eyes and wrong would be made right. But today . . . He really is dead. It’s not a dream. And He is now wrapped in burial clothes and in a tomb with a massive stone in front of it, guarded by soldiers. If anything was going to happen it would have been yesterday, or last night, but today it is too late. Any hope that you had clung to is gone, and your life lies around you—shattered, impossible to fix. Yesterday you saw evil win, you saw evil have its greatest victory . . . but now you don’t even know what is evil and what is good anymore. Today is going to be a very long and dark day—if you even live through it . . .

Little do you know that tomorrow morning the knock will come, and the words will fly to your ears, “He’s Alive!” Little do you know that within a few days all the Scriptures you’ve known for years, and all the mysterious things He said, will suddenly make sense, and that you will realize that while you thought evil was working its greatest victory, and the wicked were going to prosper, God was in fact turning evil against itself and He was working His greatest victory! Little do you know that, within a few weeks, you will have touched the risen Jesus, been taught by the risen Jesus, watched the risen Jesus ascend into Heaven, and been filled with a fire, and the Spirit of God, and a sense of purpose and destiny that will carry you around the region declaring His truth, demonstrating His power, and proclaiming His name until you, too, joyously go to join Him!

“Today,” may look like the darkest of days, upwelling with hopelessness, doubt, fear, or frustration; seeming to scream out that darkness reigns, and that God must be either dead or uncaring or not real—but “tomorrow’s” cry of, “He’s Alive!” reminds us that, even when we don’t see it or understand how, God is always at work and on our side—and hope, peace, joy, eternal life are ours today, because He lives!

Kingdom Teaching

I hope that this finds each of you having a wonderful end to a wonderful week filled with reminders of God's amazing love and power. Tomorrow morning at church, God willing, I will be giving the sixth teaching in a series on the Kingdom of God that began, in my heart, many, many months ago—if not a year ago or more. I can not describe to you how much this teaching is impacting me as I study this subject, this "gospel" of the Kingdom that Jesus and the early church declared. There is no way I can even begin to put a fraction of the insight and background and evidence in this blog, I can only offer the audios of it. I put them on the website of the church I pastor by the middle of the week following each teaching. They are in mp3 format, between 40–45 minutes each, usually about 20 MB each, and totally free! There is a link to our fellowship's audio resources page below, and you'll find them listed, in reverse order, under the "Current Series: Kingdom of Heaven" section. (Kingdom of Heaven Audio Teachings)

I know that we are all busy, and that God may be leading each of you to other topics or places of study, but I say with all humility that, if you are able, I believe you will be blessed by starting at the beginning and following this series through. I am finding that the "Kingdom" lens, or "glasses," has changed the way I read the epistles and understand the parables. It was the message John the Baptist declared, the message Jesus declared, the message He sent the disciples to declare, the message He taught them between His resurrection and ascension, and the message taught throughout Acts, including in the last verses of Acts with Paul in prison. The epistles were written to people who had been taught about the Kingdom of Heaven/God . . . and Jesus, the disciples, and Paul were very familiar with its immediate power implications in the here and now, as well as its simultaneous realities of being both a future event and also a place called Heaven now. The study I am giving is focusing mainly in the third aspect of the Kingdom—the part Jesus said was in our midst now, the part Paul walked in knowledge of and had confidence in . . . and Jesus said that it was the gospel of the Kingdom that would be preached to all the world before the end would come.

I believe that the presentation of the Kingdom good news changes the entire focus of the Christian life from simply an emphasis on getting saved and to "Heaven" in the future, to living a life submitted to a King now. It changes the way we see ourselves, and how we carry ourselves as Christian. As we understand the war our Kingdom is in against a kingdom of darkness, as we understand the power both kingdoms bear (and which is superior!), and as we understand the reality that receiving Jesus as Lord means submitting the entirety of our lives to His Lordship, I believe that we will find our Christian life rocked. I believe that lukewarm Christianity finds its antidote in the Kingdom understanding, and that it is the true understanding we must have. When Colossian 1:13 tells us that, through Jesus, God has, ". . . delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son" it is telling us about much more than a future reality of Heaven, but also about a present reality of being born again as citizens, soldiers, and ambassadors of one Kingdom, now here in the midst of another kingdom with which we are at war.


I could go on for pages upon pages about why I feel this is important, and why I feel it is true, but I will just trust God to move you from here in the direction He has planned for you. I am excited about the study, and I covet your prayers and feedback on it. I have no interest in pursuing it for "gee whiz" knowledge, or simply for the sake of theology, but rather that I may grow in my walk with the Lord, and I would welcome any prayerful thoughts and insight you may have, as well as any questions. May we all grow together closer and closer in to His image, that He may more fully display Himself through us. May He bless you and keep you and pour His Spirit upon you.

Kingdom of Heaven Audio Teachings

It's Not about Them and Me . . .

Over the last few months I have been studying and teaching on Jesus' commands to love our neighbors as ourselves—and, as He says in another verse, to love others as He has loved us. As I have studied this I am more and more coming to realize that my loving someone else is not about me and them, but about me and God. This is hard because (especially when someone has hurt me) I want to justify my love or response or action (or lack of any of these) toward them by their action toward me. But God doesn't give me that room. . .

The more I read through the New Testament the more I see the solitary nature of this love and how verse after verse basically says that if I love God, I will love them. I want to cry out to Him, "But God, don't you see how they are acting, or how they don't even admit their wrong, or how they will take it for granted, or . . .?" It is like He says, "Yes. I do. Now, do you love me?" When I answer, "Yes, I do," He says, "Then love them."

"But . . . , but . . ." to which I again hear, "Do you love me?" to which I answer, "Yes," and to which He then, again, says, "Then love them."

This is both freeing and constraining at the same time. Freeing in that I can love someone who is very unlovable because I am loving them for Him, not them. Constraining in that I can't use their actions to justify not loving them—I can't give myself that way out.

The more I spend time on this, the more I realize that it can't be any other way. When I love another the way He calls me to it is costly, sacrificial, not about my rights, not about their action, not about their response . . . and that is exactly how He has loved every one of us. He FIRST loved us. He loved us when we were still His ENEMIES. He forgave us when we were unrepentant. His love cost Him everything. He laid down His rights to love us. He humbled Himself to love us. He has met our needs at every level—spiritual, emotional, and physical—He didn't just "pray for us" and wish us well.

When we look at the costly love He calls us to love others with, and when we read about the love the early church had for one another in Acts and the Epistles, we realize that this amazing level of love is simply a love He has already loved us with. He is simply calling us to love others the way He loved (and loves) us. So, it really has to be that way if we want to be the image and fragrance of Christ. Everything He did for us—salvation, healing, deliverance—all came from, first, love . . . and He reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13 that we can have all the spiritual gifts and Christian charity, but if we don't have love we have nothing. But, when we operate in love toward friends, and enemies, we truly take up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow Him. We truly become His fragrance and I believe that He comes in all over that and loves hanging out in the presence of love.

I understand, and need to state, that a persons response to our love may dictate and affect our physical expression of that love—and that situations may require withdrawing from an environment that is, say, abusive—but the heart side of love is not about them, it is about us and God. He reminds us that even the lost love their friends . . . it is the fragrance and presence of Christ to love an enemy and it is that type of love the world desperately needs to see if it is going to recognize Jesus. The world has enough of itself—it needs something out of this world—and the love of Christ, through us, that is radically contrary to its ways and values, is where it all begins.

No Room For Middle Ground . . .

Josh McDowell’s book More Than a Carpenter makes the case that Jesus was either Lord, liar, or lunatic. There is no middle ground for calling Him a “good man” or a “good teacher.” His claims about Himself were to extreme. Either He told the truth about who He was—God—or He was a liar or a lunatic, and we wouldn’t call a liar a “good teacher” or a “good man.” In fact, a man who knowingly lied would not be a good man and we’d be fools to call him such.

This morning I taught on why we can trust that the Bible is the literal Word of God, and I made a similar statement about the Bible. It doesn’t give us a middle ground to just call it a “good book.” It claims that the commandments upon which it is written and based were written in stone by the literal finger of God, and it claims very clearly that it is the inspired, breathed Word of God, directly from God through men, profitable for instruction and Godliness. A mistake-laden book would not be a book profitable for instruction! Either the Bible is what it claims to be—the literal Word of God—or it is a book that lies, which would not make it a good book at all. There is, again, no middle ground. Either embrace it as the foundational revelation of God and build your life upon it, or get rid of it.

It is amazing that even atheists sometimes get the line in the sand claims of our faith better than many “Christians” do. So many Christians try and water it down, and meet in the middle, and blend the secular teaching with God to arrive at some lukewarm mesh that allows them to feel good remaining right where they are, but is actually a mockery to both sides. This is made so “case in point” clear by an interview of atheist Christopher Hitchens by Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell in the Portland Monthly Magazine. (I have not read the entire interview, but if you want to you can read it by clicking here.)

In this interview Marilyn asks: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

In an amazing example of how atheists get the defining, distinctive core of our religion better than even some people professing our religion, Christopher replies: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

A little farther in to the interview Marilyn says: . . . I still consider myself a Christian and a person of faith.

Christopher, again with keen insight, says: Do you mind if I ask you a question? Faith in what? Faith in the resurrection?

Marilyn answers: The way I believe in the resurrection is I believe that one can go from a death in this life, in the sense of being dead to the world and dead to other people, and can be resurrected to new life. When I preach about Easter and the resurrection, it’s in a metaphorical sense.

Wow! I’d say that while Christopher openly rejects our Christian faith, he truly gets the “fall on your sword” defining tenets of it better than Marilyn does, who claims to be of it. Boy, are things upside down, or what?

The Surrender in Christmas . . .

Hello All! I hope that this finds you well and your hearts being prepared more and more each day for the amazing day we call Christmas. We had a nice couple of days last week visiting Mary Ann's family in the Los Angeles area for a homeschool trip we took with the girls (and, yes, rest well, I was able to spend some good time studying in a coffee shop near her mom's house). We got to visit the La Brea tar pits (the outside grounds because there was a power outage and the museum itself was closed) and the Griffith Observatory (our family must have looked pretty funny counting to three and then jumping up and down as hard as we could to try and get the seismograph to register our movement!).

I put a few pictures here from our trip for you to enjoy it with us. They are: 1) The girls in front of the La Brea "lake" display, 2) Mary Ann and the girls at the observatory model of the size of some stars—our sun would be the size of one of the tiny yellow dots straight above Abigail's head if the large yellow and red balls represented some of the giant and super giant stars out there, 3) Me next to the scale that informed me I would weigh over 500 pounds on Jupiter (I think I'm staying home!).

Christmas is almost here, and as I shared with our fellowship yesterday, I just can't grasp or wrap myself around the fact that the God who breathes out stars and holds the universe in His hand is also the baby in the manger . . . that the baby in the manger is also the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the One before whom demons tremble . . . that God is surrounded on the throne by the multitudes of angels and hosts of heaven worshiping Him in the glory He deserves and yet He came to earth, laid in a manger, greeted by shepherds, hunted, mutilated, murdered—by choice, for us, His rebellious creation.

I can't grasp that. Any words fall so short of its majesty and love. But one thing that I do grasp about it comes from Philippians 2:5-8 which says: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Surrendering our rights is a hallmark of Christianity and the only true way we can, I believe, reflect Christ's image and truly model the heart that made Christmas. It is not easy in a society that prides itself on individual rights, but that is probably why it stands out as such contrast from everyone else when it is done. It is hard because, by the very nature of the word, they are our rights. But Jesus, who had every right as God, didn't hold on to His rights but surrendered them and came to earth as one of us to be subject to our same temptations and limitations and dependence on the Holy Spirit. He who had every right to judge us, to stay in heaven where He was worshiped and recognized, to obliterate His attackers, gave it all up, by choice, of His own free will, in love. He laid His rights down at His Father's feet that His Father's will might be done and His Father glorified.

I don't think we can truly capture, or model, the heart of Christmas until we capture, and model, the heart of surrendered rights. Yes, we have a "right" to be apologized to, a right to freedom, a right to be acknowledged, a right to be heard, a right to be comfortable, a right to justice when we are wronged, a right to . . . but until we are willing to lay our rights down at the Father's feet we will never live as Jesus lived. This doesn't mean, say, as parents that we contradict other parts of God's Word that tell us to be heads of our home and to train up our children, or that we contradict other parts of His Word, but it does mean that if we are to truly show the world Christ, and Christmas, we have to be willing to say, "Yes, that is my right to ____, but I chose to surrender that right and humble myself, in love, for my Father and for another." It is only when we let go of our tight cling to this life and its comforts and "rights" that we will truly live a life focused from heaven, to earth, as Jesus did. The only way to show heaven to earth, and to show the Father's heart to man, is to live as in heaven and as the Father, and that is modeled, in Christmas, with surrender.

Note: Please still consider answering my request to you in the post: So, You've Been Given the Pulpit . . . Christmas. I would truly treasure your answers, and I believe others would be blessed by them as well as you being blessed by the prayer and thought it would require.

Atheists Say It Better Than I Do . . .

(Note: If you haven't read my Tuesday, Oct. 20th post, "Where's the Fall?" then you should read that first as it is the context for this post. Also, I would value a few of you trying out the comment feature at the bottom of this post. If you have subscribed to email notifications of new posts and you are in the email viewing this you need to click on the post title, "Atheists Say It Better Than I Do," to get to the web page to be able to comment. Someone told me yesterday that they tried the comment feature and it didn't work. I value your comments and thoughts and insight and knowing you are out there. I need and grow from your thoughts and comments as well, so I would like to test the feature and make sure it works. Thanks bunches!)

I made my post on Tuesday evening about the critical difference between evolution and Creation (as recorded in the Bible). The thrust of that difference is that evolution (whether accident or God initiated) removes the Fall, hence the need for a Savior, and ultimately undermines the whole Gospel message.

Literally just a few hours after making that post I curled up in bed and started leafing through Dennis Petersen's book Unlocking the Mysteries of Creation. On page 75 he writes, "Can an atheist understand the battle better than most Christians? Note what one wrote:". He then goes on to quote from a 1978 American Atheist periodical which says the following (punctuation, spelling, and capitalization are exactly as quoted):

Christianity has fought, still fights, and will fight science to the desperate end over evolution, because evolution destroys utterly and finally the very reason Jesus' earthly life was supposedly made necessary. Destroy Adam and Eve and original sin, and in the rubble you will find the sorry remains of the son of god. Take away the meaning of his death. If Jesus was not the redeemer who died for our sins, and this is what evolution means, then Christianity is nothing.

Christianity, if it is to survive, must have Adam and the original sin and the fall from grace, or it cannot have Jesus the redeemer who restores to those who believe what Adam's disobedience took away.

What all this means is that Christianity cannot lose the Genesis account of creation like it could lose the doctrine of geocentricism and get along. The battle must be waged, for Christianity is fighting for its very life. (Note from Erick: Geocentricism is the belief that the sun orbits around the earth.)

This atheist said it better than I did! I found it fascinating to stumble on this just hours after sharing (far more clumsily) what I had about exactly that same point. We can't afford to doubt the Bible, nor can we afford to say, "What does it matter if it is a literal six days or figurative?"—and we don't need to say it. Literal, Biblical Creation is dependable, supported, and true.

Perspective Matters: Seeing from God’s Eyes . . . Part II

First: Thanks to Amy for her comment on my first “Perspective Matters” post (you can read her comment, and comment yourself if you want, by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of that post). I, too, rejoice in God’s mercy and gentleness with me!

I have found my mind drawn repeatedly back to my first post on perspective since I did it a few days back (can you tell whose eyes I used in that picture?). It seems like even in what I read since then I find things that make me think about it, or more examples of it. So, a few more comments about it and examples. As more come to me, maybe I’ll even do another post on it!

If you are reading this you likely are one who wants God to direct your paths. I believe I am. One of the keys that Proverbs 3:5-6 gives to God directing our paths is to lean not on our own understanding. Proverbs 13:15 says, depending on your translation, that good understanding brings favor. Clearly the proper understanding is critical to our Christian walk and growth and God’s favor on our life, and it can only begin with proper seeing, which begins with proper perspective.

So often, it seems, that we initially read a Bible story from our own perspective or framework of experience, emotion, background, etc. But then, if we can rotate 180 degrees around the event, and see it from God’s eyes we see it totally differently. As we see through His eyes we start to develop His mind and perspective, and we see the full and real picture of things. This allows us to operate from a true reality, and not an illusion. If we can practice this in Bible events, I believe we will become better at doing it in our daily events as well. I know this seems to help me, at least!

So, a few more examples of perspective:

1) The woman in Bethany pouring perfume worth a year’s wages over Jesus. Man’s perspective: a waste. Could have been used to feed the poor. Foolish. Unwise. God’s perspective: an act of worship without compare. Jesus said of her: “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. . . . Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” Wow! What a difference! Foolishness to the world is beautiful worship and recorded eternally to God. If we want to bless the Father and do the things that are beautiful to Him we better think like Him and not the world!

2) Paul’s conversion. Man’s perspective: lost everything—reputation, wealth, status. God’s perspective: all that he lost is dung compared to the riches of the glory of what He gained—Jesus and eternal life! Wow! How do we rank the relative worth of things? I remember someone saying to a family member of ours, upon hearing what Mary Ann and I were now doing, “What a waste, with the education they have.” Wow! And we finally knew we were doing something of true meaning! What a different mindset and perspective. Only one is right.

3) Five thousand hungry men plus probably thousands of hungry women and children. Man’s (disciple’s) perspective: impossible. “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” God’s perspective: not a problem, not an impossibility, “Who is willing to make themselves and what they have available to Me and be the one I use to make the impossible a reality?” This carries to a much bigger theme—what we consider impossible is not impossible, but an opportunity to God. May we see those things that way as well, and live in faith and greater expectancy and availability! May WE be the ones available and willing for God to use to make the impossible a reality!

4) Mary getting the news she would bear Jesus. Man’s perspective: a stigma of unwed pregnancy for life, possible rejection by family and friends, disbelief by even her fiancé, possible stoning (I understand). God’s perspective: the privilege of carrying the Christ-child, Savior in to the world. Through one set of eyes it is a cost, and a great one. Through the other there is no cost that could remotely compare to the privilege it offered. This, also, ties in to a much bigger issue. The cost of truly following Jesus, and the effort required to truly seek greater and greater measure of His face and presence, is, in worldly standards, great (rejection, scorn, loneliness, earthly pleasures, etc.—even from other Christians if we love and seek and worship God in abandoned ways they aren’t comfortable with or that challenge their own walk and hunger). But, when we consider the gain—the face and presence of God—the cost is, truly, so, so small if we can maintain the proper perspective.

These are just a few more examples that have come to me of issues of perspective—the world’s possible view on something versus God’s view on something. Our battle is, truly, to see through God’s eyes and heart and not ours, because, usually, the two are radically different and one spawns from the father of lies, and the other the God of the cross—our Creator. It is time to start thinking like citizens of heaven, with a perspective from God, rather than like citizens of earth.

Perspective Matters: Seeing from God’s Eyes . . .

I have been struck in my study and prayer over these recent years about how important it is for us to be able to rotate around to the back side of an event in the Bible to see it from God’s eyes and not just from our own point, or frame, of reference. I believe that as we practice this in studying events in the Bible we will become better at it in events in our life as well.

I believe that we, by our nature, tend to see events through our eyes, laying over them our feelings and faith and experiences. This is natural—what we would expect—but it doesn’t always give us the full picture we need to grow. Let me list a few examples, stating how we might see them from our perspective in our initial reading of them:

1) Israel at the Jordan the first time: Ten spies have come back with stories of how formidable the enemy is. You are not soldiers, you have been slaves up until recently. It is easy to relate to their fear and doubt and decision to not invade.

2) Abraham sacrificing Isaac: Possibly the most difficult, horrible event in the Bible from a parent’s eyes. How could God ask that or even put Abraham in that position?!? We think that we could never do it, and we struggle tremendously with it.

3) The cross: From the eyes of those watching Jesus die—those who had left everything to follow this man they thought was God and who now was dead—it was possibly the darkest moment of their life.

4) Death of a Christian: We miss them. It is an end. We won’t see them again on earth. We hurt and grieve.

5) Peter on the Water: The waves are big, the wind is strong. I’d be afraid too. I’d feel fear. I’d probably sink also. I am he of little faith as well.

Now, like the earth going around to the back side of the sun, let’s rotate around these five instances and see them as God might see them—and see how seeing them that way can really increase our faith and give us a whole new perspective. Remember, seeing the full picture—the physical and spiritual side of something—is to finally see actual reality and not just our cropped version of it. Only in knowing actual reality can we truly understand and evaluate something.

1) Israel at the Jordan: We get a huge clue how God sees this when He asks Moses, in Numbers 14:11, “How long will this people despise (reject in New King James) me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?” What we see, and excuse, as simple and natural fear if we look through our/their eyes is, to God, rejection of Him and unbelief because He has given them His promises to deliver the land to them and to go with them in to it. Wow! Suddenly we see this a whole different way when we realize that what we see as simply fear in face of a promise is, through His eyes, unbelief and, ultimately, a lack of trust in God which He sees as a rejection of Him.

2) Abraham sacrificing Isaac: I know how wonderful I feel when my girls express love and trust in me, so I can’t imagine the joy and pleasure God must have felt when Abraham demonstrated the love and trust and faith in God he did by being willing to immediately do this for Him. From God’s eyes what we consider one of the hardest chapters in the Bible may be one of the most beautiful!

3) The cross: The darkest moment through our eyes, were we there, was the moment God worked His greatest victory and defeated the work of darkness and brought the redemption of His precious Creation in to reality! Though we couldn’t see it, standing at the foot of the cross, it was from a spiritual framework a moment of huge victory!

4) Death of a Christian: From God’s eyes, He has brought home a precious child out of the pain and suffering of this world to His perfect world and place He has prepared for them where they can enjoy His presence without hindrance and He can fellowship with them without the obstacle of sin.

5) Peter on the Water: I wrote about this on May 28, 2009, in my post, “God Rocked My World This Morning . . .” In a nutshell, what we see, and excuse, as natural fear is actually, down deep, I believe, a reflection of what we believe about God’s character. I believe we see this event as, “Who wouldn’t be afraid? I guess I don’t have enough of this thing called faith.” I think, that to Jesus, it was a question, “Peter, who do you think I am and what do you think My character is? Do you really think that I would call you out onto the water and then turn My back and let you drown?”

So often we stop at our natural feelings, and we excuse and justify them and allow ourselves to remain in them, saying, “It’s natural.” But, from God’s eyes, I believe that He looks deeper than our feelings to the core and sees what they really reflect about what we think and believe about Him and His character and Word and trustworthiness and love. The examples I stated above are not to say that our feelings aren’t real, but to bring perspective and alternatives to them so we can begin to take them captive and see our minds transformed into the mind of Christ, that we might see and operate more in His image than in ours. As long as we remain in the place where our feelings and perspective drive us then we won’t grow or be a force for Kingdom work. But, I believe that in some way when we can begin to see, and be led by, the mind of Christ, we will start to move toward that place that Jesus was in where He did what He saw the Father do, and said what He heard the Father say.

I Had To Laugh . . .

I had to laugh.

Last Monday I posted the entry "Carrying the Presence of God" from a coffee shop in Monterey. I ended it with, "God has chosen not a building, not an organization, but YOU (if you have given your life in faith to Him for Lordship and Salvation) as His chosen vessel to carry His presence in and through the world . . . to show and represent Him to those around you . . . in all of His love and compassion and power! It is an awesome thought, and an awesome privilege. Just thought I'd share that with you---I hope it speaks to you like it did to me." Probably not 10 minutes after I finished posting that---feeling good about it (and about the coffee) I closed up my laptop and headed out the back door to the parking lot. There, right in my path, was an older man pushing a shopping cart, alone, with an oxygen bottle in his shopping cart and oxygen tubing in his nose. Right in front of me. No missing it. No pretending I didn't see it.

I walked past.

I don't like to admit that, but I find the theology of representing a kind, loving, healing Jesus far easier than the reality. The farther I got from him the more unsettled I got, and the angrier at myself and my fears.

It is amazing how much you can think about in a relatively few short steps. I found myself rehashing my own words which I had sent to some people telling them about my blog in which I said that I hoped this blog would be, "... a place where we can meditate, grow together, and that draws us in to deeper thought, growth, and, ultimately, a deeper relationship with God and a stronger walk and brighter light. I am not interested in knowledge for knowledge's sake, but in growing as His child and disciple and friend and ambassador."

Well, I laughed at myself. You can type about wanting to walk it out . . . but what do you do when it is right in front of you? Oh, how much easier it is to type!

Well, I got half way across the parking lot and realized I would be a hypocrite to not turn back. So I went back and told the man that I felt God had wanted me to come back and let him know I would be praying for him and that I had passed him and felt, "That's not right! That's not God's heart." and I came back. He was caught off guard, but I did get a thumbs up from him and a thanks.

I left feeling like I should have just asked if I could pray for him right then and there, but glad I had at least done what I had done. It was a step in the right direction. The more I thought of the whole thing, the more I chuckled. As I was writing grand words God was setting up an encounter that would test those grand words to see if they were just that, words, or if they were really my heart. Thank you, Father, that you love me so much that you will continue to draw me out of the comfortable zone where I depend on myself, and in to that awesome walk of faith where I completely depend on You as I seek to draw closer to you and represent and carry Your presence in to the world!