Religious Towers & Sniper Rifles

I try to stay away from the tower now. Over the years I spent much time in that tower with my religious spotting scopes & binoculars peering at leaders of ministries or politicians... just waiting for them to slip up and say something dumb, theologically incorrect, or just plain mean. Then I would send up my religious flares pointing out the indiscretion screeching wide eyed as if expecting the judgement of God to crush them in front of my eyes.

What a waste of time.

This tower has cob webs now. My religious rifles are no longer polished, locked & loaded. While I can love on people, I cannot change them. I am not the Holy Spirit. I still get all worked up from time to time, but instead of flying to into some sort of religous frenzy I feel burdened... in the end so greatful that God is sovereign.

Currently flares are going up all over the place... Driscoll said something again. I have to laugh. If more time was spent loving on the people in my life (neighborhood, work, church, gas station, etc) and less time writing letters to church elder boards about what their pastor said.... well, you finish the sentence....

 

Clarifications:

-I do not appreciate everything Driscoll says, but I am neither his accountability partner nor savior.

-I do feel there is a time/place for the 'flares' to be set off. But I believe it should be saved for a serious situation, not every little "Enquirer" tid bit of news that comes along.

 

 

 

 

One of those moments...

We all have them from time to time. I had one yesterday. We moved from Idaho to California yesterday and I had just turned south on highway 95 past Burn's Junction... I was listening to Rhapsody in Blue performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.

I was driving the moving truck, and the kids had chosen to ride with my wife and her mom. Taking advantage of being alone I had the ol' 1-70 air conditioning cranked! (one window down doing 70mph). Snow covered mountains to my right, sun bathed high dessert rolling hills to my left... and I had just crested a hill as the crescendo of the song hit. Wow! I literally yelled...

God, thank You for beautiful creation: sunshine, mountains, music, and so much more!

To or from

In my line of work I am in many different vehicles. A few weeks ago I drove a Ranger with two giant white bumper stickers on the tailgate talking of salvation and Jesus' death on the cross. As I got in the pick-up I noticed a Bible on the passenger seat as well as about a dozen Bible tracts in the driver's door.

I don't find any fault with these things, but I wonder sometimes if we, as Chritians, are trying to save people from hell..... or to God. I see it as two totally different things with a single common thread.

I believe Hell to be a real place and I find the idea of it to be terrifying. However, in our efforts to get people 'saved' are we just trying to squeeze one more soul onto the salvation lifeboat, or do we want to actually introduce people to a real, relational God who can be their saviour?

 

Guilty by denomination

    “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world..."

    “...Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels..."

Matthew 25:31-34, 41

Chilling scene. This is more than enough to make me hit my knees and thank God for His grace... for saving me. It also creates in me an angst for those not (yet) 'washed' in the blood of Christ.

(side note: How do you suppose Rob Bell interprets v41? Honest question...)

So I think we can agree that Jesus is to take priority... as is our neighbor. Mark 12 finds Jesus aswering the religious leaders of the day:

"...And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Now, I am not a scholar of the Greek language, but I don't think Jesus said anything about being Baptist there. Nor was there anything about adopting a young earth creationist mentality. Oh, and I'm pretty sure He didn't mention anything about anti-war activism.

Love God. Love people. Simple.... until we, in our humanism, start dragging in all the rules, regulations, committees, conferences, & petitions into the mix. God saved me! I am not a Christian because I DO or DON'T DO certain things. I am not the Holy Spirit, and despite my intentions I cannot expect to bring a non-Christian to faith in Christ by forcing them through some denominational equation and then hand them a 46lb binder with 6 appendixes full of christianese. It is God's kindness that is meant to bring us/them to repentance (Romans 2:4).

Now, I know the rules & regs people are experiencing panic attack because this mentality has had a strangle hold on the American church for decades. There are 'do's & don'ts' in Scripture, but I do (or don't do) these things BECAUSE I love God, NOT to earn salvation or gain His favor and/or recognition. When we stumble (and we will stumble) this is where we experience God's grace,mercy, forgiveness, and love.

    "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
        his mercies never come to an end;
    they are new every morning;
        great is your faithfulness.
    “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
        “therefore I will hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24

So here is what I need to remember. Its great to be passionate about certain things, but people will not see Jesus through me just because:

-I vote a certain way

-don't drink wine with dinner

-believe the earth is thousands of years old as opposed to millions

-I protest any sort of war

-etc

What people will take notice of is how I love God and how I love those around me. Time to take inventory...

 

 

 

 

Untitled

From a statistical perspective I have been a Christian for 30 years. As that number has gotten larger over the years, it used to be something I was proud of. How dumb is that? God saves me by His grace, and I'm stuck on a number...anyway in an effort to make my way out of this religious forrest I have to take out one tree at a time.

The following verses deal with women and ministry:

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
(1 Timothy 2:8-15 ESV)

From there, chapter 3 goes on to talk about qualifications of an overseer/pastor/elder, and it's obvious that this position is supposed to be filled by a male.

I recently heard a sermon from a Nampa pastor that really made me think. Statistically, women outnumber men 11 to 1 on the foreign mission field. So if there is a woman in south American village doing God's work, and people are getting saved can she 'pastor' that local church or should she stall until a man steps up to fill that role?

Is this a major issue, or a minor one?

Five hours past 6pm

I've poked fun at Harold Camping for several years. He used to be on late-night TV in California answering questions from callers about the things of the Bible. I never took him seriously, and I imagine after today there will be many more people that won't take him serious. 

My heart goes out to those who bought into the false prediction. There was an article on ChristianPost.com about a couple who quit their jobs, a retired man who invested his savings of $140,000 on advertisement for this May 21st 'doomsday', and I'm sure there will be similar stories reported.

To be honest, I see this things are secondary. Reactions will vary, I am sure, but what haunts me is the fact there will be those who (may) blame themselves somehow. I can imagine the gentleman in the article linked above standing there on the street corner... the clock reading 6:01pm... and his face is blank. Traffic moves in a blur around him as he grapples with this new, unexpected reality. His statment reads: "I don't understand why nothing has happened. I did what I had to do. I did what the Bible said. I obviously haven't understood properly, because we're still here."

So take action. The pastor at Calvary Bible Church in Milpitas, CA did. In an effort to reach out to those who follow Camping he put out a statement of encouragement and an offer to help (this is also part the linked article above). What can I do? Besides prayer, avoiding sarcasim and maintaining an attitude of hope through Christ is where I need to start. 

After all this isn't it amazing to sit back and think of God's grace. His forgiveness. He as our refuge:

    The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
        my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
        my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Ps 18:2

In spite foolish things we do God still offers His grace. Hope. Forgiveness. Love. Wow...

rethinking traditional

There is a concept that goes along with being a missionary outside the US that I think is extremely interesting. A missionary does not bring their American lifestyle to a foreign group of people and expect those people to adapt to them. The missionary adapts to the culture they enter. If we, as Christians (or followers of Christ to be more specific), look at our blocks, streets, neighborhoods, and cities as a mission field to which we need to adapt.... how would things change?

Now, all the religious people need to breathe. That last question may have sent all the *King James Bible quoters into a frenzy! (I'm poking fun, here.... relax.) But I honestly believe there is a danger to a traditional mindset that has seemed to rule in much of Evangelicalism (churches, denominations, organizations that claim Jesus as Lord). This mindset seperates 'us' (Christians, saved by grace) and 'them' (those outside faith in Christ). One part of this 'mindset' is a vicious tornado of controversy that never ends... it may go away now and then, but it will always return. And this is the Romans 12:2 "...do not be conformed to this world..." issue.

{I call it an issue because of all the division and destruction that has been left in the wake of a bunch of well-intentioned people.... (along with some knuckle-headed, arrogant ones) that have preached a seperation gospel. With the idea that I said "the prayer", now there is a list of things I don't do.... don't cuss, don't drink beer, no tattoos, no rated "R" movies (unless their about the crusifixion of Christ), etc. No doubt the seperation gospel has led many to believe themselves better, or holier than others... I've been there myself.}

This is the area where Christians have earned the 'intolerant' label in a big way! **Is it any wonder the homosexual community hates or shuns the 'Christian' community? We concentrate on their actions and forget about their souls.... not to mention Westboro Baptist Church (this the 'god hates fags' church in Kansas). And this is just one example.

Those of us saved by God through the death and resurrection of Jesus are on mission to our immediate environements: where we work, eat, buy food, worship, live, etc. Jesus commanded his disciples in Matthew 28, better known as the Great Commission, to go and make disciples of all nations. He did not say to go and create cliques or personal bubbles to hide in... only to come out and throw a Bible verse at the 'world' like an olympian would throw a javelin.

So what sort of missionary are you and I?

 

*I have no issue with the King James version of the Bible. I own one and believe it to be the inspired Word of God.

**I do not condone or defend the homosexual lifestyle. I believe Scripture is clear about that lifestyle, but I am concerned that other sins, such as gluttony, are ignored for the most part.

 

 

 

test

 

 

 

<p>LOVE WINS. from Baas Creative on Vimeo.</p>

Cardboard signs... a follow up

Its raining today. I'm sure you and I know what its like to be out in the rain and the relief you might feel as you duck into a store, or fumble with your keys to get your front door open to a dry & warmer atmosphere.

As I set my windshield wipers to a certain delay setting do I stop and think about that person who, is holding a cardboard somewhere, is gathering their precious few belongings just to get underneath a bridge...

I take a lot for granted.

Maybe when it rains I should get in my car and go find someone stuck in the rain... someone I can buy a warm cup of coffee, and hopefully offer some Hope.

"...as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." --Jesus

Cardboard signs

On my way home from work last night I had to stop and fuel up my car. Getting off the freeway I was sitting at the light and noticed the man in a winter jacket and beanie holding a cardboard sign that read 'have a nice day'. I wasn't there but a few seconds, the light changed, and I was on my way.... but I was thinking about what Jesus said in Matthew 25:

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
   I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
(Matthew 25:36-40 ESV)

I was thinking about some of the excuses I've heard (and I've used) for not helping one of these people that brave busy intersections.

-"He's probably just a con man. I heard about a study once where they found out some of these guys make like $60,000 a year!"

-"If I give them money, they'll probably just go buy booz with it."

-"Get a job, buddy."

There are plenty of religious reasons to not help these people, and if we're being real.... whats the difference between a panhandler buying cheap vodka with a few dollars given to him to support his habbit and me buying coffee, chocolate, beer, music, etc. etc. etc. to support my own habbit? Just because I have a job doesn't justify money spent.

So I have an idea that I will keep some sort of 'care package' in my car. Not sure exactly what all will be apart of this package, but it will be something like gift card(s) to local fast food places, some water bottles, and maybe some sort of protein bars. I will also arm myself with knowledge of community centers and church/ministries that provide temporary shelter, clothing, and meals for people. And I would imagine some genuine conern and a few kind comments would go a long way!

So next time I see the cardboard sign, maybe I can look through it to see an person (with a soul) created in God's image who could use a little help. Who knows what providing a burger, a solution to a temporary need, can do to point a person towards Christ?

 

 

 

 

Fear

Francis Chan is a church leader that I respect and admire very much. He has a video series called Basic (BASICseries.com). I watched the first one in that series this morning called Fear God. He talks about how people (he mentions Isaiah and the apostle John when he see's Christ in His glorified state) react when seeing God... Isaiah feared for his life, John litterally fell on his face....

The modern church has watered down this idea of 'fear'... deluding it to more of a 'respect' or 'in-awe-of' type of idea. As Chan says, this is not the type of fear we read about see in the Bible.

So what kind of fear of God do you have?

Do you fear Him at all?

Is the idea of 'fearing' God beneath you? Do you feel this is more of an Old Testament thing?

Do you feel God is your 'friend', therefore you dont' have to fear Him?

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
        all those who practice it have a good understanding.
        His praise endures forever!
 (Psalm 111:10 ESV)