I have a few fans, probably not enough to have to take off my shoes to count them. That is unless one counts persons related to me by blood or marriage. Most of them seem to be more or less on my side most of the time. Then we get into some impressive numbers. I tell you that because a couple of those few fans refuse to let me go to seed. They insist I continue doing some of the things I used to do before I became distracted with the things of life. That said, I have no idea where we were in this blog and without re-reading major portions of it, I may very well repeat myself, just so you know. However, speaking of repeating myself, that might do us all some good.
If you are like me, you rarely find much to disagree with in these writings. To be sure, you may be challenged or perhaps even offended. At my age, I am fairly confident that I am not the one doing the offending. If you do not understand that concept, you are likely also affected with the Laodicean spirit (Revelation 3:14-22, but especially see verse 17). Hey, I am not writing this to make friends. As I said, I already have a handful. My disclaimer, of course is, if the shoe fits you can always throw a fit before accepting the fact that your feet need the extra support. (If anyone understands that, please leave a comment. It is intentionally oblique--I think.) Seriously folks, I have a good imagination, but some of this stuff surprises me when I read it.
So, more about the religious spirit. Occasionally I have a flash of revelation and sometimes my mind is still sharp enough to grasp it. For those of you who think there is no longer revelation given, get over it. We do not have time for a Greek lesson here, but there are two words translated, "knowledge" in the New Testament. One of them means things we have learned, or experiential knowledge. The other is things we simply know. The latter speaks of things given directly by the Holy Spirit. To be clear, if you did not learn a thing, but you know it, it came to you by revelation. Hopefully your revelation comes from the Holy Spirit and not from what Yoda would call, "The dark side of the force."
James 3:13-18 are often, incorrectly lumped together with the previous verses in the chapter. However, if one looks closely, the thought changes so the end of the chapter stands alone.
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
A pastor friend once told me that he felt impressed to preach from the book of James in his Sunday morning service. The message just would not seem to come. By Saturday he was almost in a panic because he still was not sure how to formulate his sermon for the following day. He walked onto the platform Sunday morning and suddenly realized all he was supposed to do was read the text as his sermon. He explained that he knew preaching from James would offend people because they would be convicted about their thoughts, actions, and lifestyles. He had no desire to offend anyone.
A wonderful thing about the Word of God is that it does not need any help to convict people. In fact Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Word of God is a sword that separates spirit and soul. Depending on one's perspective, it is either very freeing to have the spirit liberated from the soul or very painful to have soul trying to function without the spirit. That is to say, I am not going to give any further commentary on the passage from James above, at least not now. Meditate it if you dare. Pay careful attention to the phrases, "meekness of wisdom" and "bitter envy and self-seeking." Those are either or propositions. We all fall into one of those categories. Put on the shoe that fits and determine if you need a new pair. God willing, the next installment will not be so long in coming. God bless!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Let Me Build My Kindgom First, Part 3
"So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods." (Luke 12:18)
What is wrong with this picture? This man seems to be making a good business decision given that God had blessed him with such abundance he had no place to store it. The problem is, nothing in the teachings of Jesus indicate we are ever to store things on earth. In fact, to the contrary, we are told, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth..." (Matthew 6:19) This is why the only scriptural mentions of a storehouse are in the Old Testament--well, except when Jesus teaches the birds do not have one. (Luke 12:24) The whole concept of the storehouse is largely misunderstood to be a place where things are brought and stored for sometime in the future. The storehouse of Malachi is actually the pantry for the people who have need of the things stored there, first for the full-time ministers, the Priests and Levites. By God's word the Isrealites were to care for each other as, and also strangers among them as needs arose. Note that the storehouse received "things", the offerings of food and goods that were used in worship. The monetary offerings were taken to the treasury rather than the storehouse. This is just another scriptural teaching that has become polluted and diluted down through the Church age.
If the previous concept has not caused enough of a rub in your theology, consider Ephesians 4:12 which tells us succinctly what the job of the "professional clergy" is. Their sole responsibility is, "...equipping the saints for the work of the ministry." What is the salary these professional clergy men and women are to receive? (No answer is forthcoming here. Since this is Easter week, if you go on a search and find the answer let us know.) God's intention is that every Christian be working full-time in the ministry regardless of his or her occupation. To be sure, the workman is worthy of his wages. (1 Timothy 5:18) Would it not be better to, "Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches."?
Although we would be loathe to admit it, we usually consider kingdom building here on earth to consist of lands and buildings supported by hundreds and thousands of people who bring their freewill offerings to those buildings on the appointed days to be used primarily for the maintenance of those buildings and to pay the salaries and benefits of those who work there full-time. Before you argue with that statement ask yourself who was the last person you heard say it is about people, not buildings, from a small building. We do buildings like almost any earthly business does. Do we not? (This is getting ugly.)
Admittedly, much of what is being done in and by churches needs to be done to fulfill the great commission of Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Church buildings do provide places for the necessary services to congregations and communities such as facilitating worship, fellowship, and teaching. They can be used as bases for sending ministers out to do their work, feeding the poor, housing the homeless, and providing emergency relief. Even in that partial listing we see that most churches do not do all those things.
In his 1986 book, Biblical Eldership, Alexander Strauch suggests a church with minimal paid staff--and no professional clergy. Shortly after the book was published, a pastor friend confided in me that he wanted to throw the book across the room when he first read it. In contrast, about the same time, I also met a man who attended a church which decided Mr. Strauch was onto something and was staffed by volunteer clergymen. To each his own, as the saying goes.
The nagging and uncomfortable question remains as to whether we, as The Church, are building the kingdom of God or building something for ourselves? We could go on and on and on and... We will not, knowing that some will chew on these concepts and some will discard them out of hand. Some will wonder as to our intention in pointing them out. That is the intention--to point them out. Period. God bless.
What is wrong with this picture? This man seems to be making a good business decision given that God had blessed him with such abundance he had no place to store it. The problem is, nothing in the teachings of Jesus indicate we are ever to store things on earth. In fact, to the contrary, we are told, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth..." (Matthew 6:19) This is why the only scriptural mentions of a storehouse are in the Old Testament--well, except when Jesus teaches the birds do not have one. (Luke 12:24) The whole concept of the storehouse is largely misunderstood to be a place where things are brought and stored for sometime in the future. The storehouse of Malachi is actually the pantry for the people who have need of the things stored there, first for the full-time ministers, the Priests and Levites. By God's word the Isrealites were to care for each other as, and also strangers among them as needs arose. Note that the storehouse received "things", the offerings of food and goods that were used in worship. The monetary offerings were taken to the treasury rather than the storehouse. This is just another scriptural teaching that has become polluted and diluted down through the Church age.
If the previous concept has not caused enough of a rub in your theology, consider Ephesians 4:12 which tells us succinctly what the job of the "professional clergy" is. Their sole responsibility is, "...equipping the saints for the work of the ministry." What is the salary these professional clergy men and women are to receive? (No answer is forthcoming here. Since this is Easter week, if you go on a search and find the answer let us know.) God's intention is that every Christian be working full-time in the ministry regardless of his or her occupation. To be sure, the workman is worthy of his wages. (1 Timothy 5:18) Would it not be better to, "Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches."?
Although we would be loathe to admit it, we usually consider kingdom building here on earth to consist of lands and buildings supported by hundreds and thousands of people who bring their freewill offerings to those buildings on the appointed days to be used primarily for the maintenance of those buildings and to pay the salaries and benefits of those who work there full-time. Before you argue with that statement ask yourself who was the last person you heard say it is about people, not buildings, from a small building. We do buildings like almost any earthly business does. Do we not? (This is getting ugly.)
Admittedly, much of what is being done in and by churches needs to be done to fulfill the great commission of Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Church buildings do provide places for the necessary services to congregations and communities such as facilitating worship, fellowship, and teaching. They can be used as bases for sending ministers out to do their work, feeding the poor, housing the homeless, and providing emergency relief. Even in that partial listing we see that most churches do not do all those things.
In his 1986 book, Biblical Eldership, Alexander Strauch suggests a church with minimal paid staff--and no professional clergy. Shortly after the book was published, a pastor friend confided in me that he wanted to throw the book across the room when he first read it. In contrast, about the same time, I also met a man who attended a church which decided Mr. Strauch was onto something and was staffed by volunteer clergymen. To each his own, as the saying goes.
The nagging and uncomfortable question remains as to whether we, as The Church, are building the kingdom of God or building something for ourselves? We could go on and on and on and... We will not, knowing that some will chew on these concepts and some will discard them out of hand. Some will wonder as to our intention in pointing them out. That is the intention--to point them out. Period. God bless.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Let Me Build My Kingdom First, Part 2
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33) It seems like such a simple concept, which is probably why most of us do not give it a lot of thought. After all, does that not just mean to put God first when we make our decisions? In some sense perhaps it does. We do have to decide what we are going to do. However, if you read my last few sentences carefully, you noticed the phrase, "we make our decisions." In order to do that properly we would have to understand the entire plan of God for our lives. How would that even be possible? In fact, we are not to be making our decisions. If you have had as many of your decisions go wrong as I have you may have come to realize there is a lot of responsibility in doing so. Have you ever thought, "I just wish someone else would tell me what to do?" If that is you, I have some great news for you!
So what does it mean to seek God's kingdom first? Simply put, it means that His business is more important than our business. Jesus said He only did what He saw the Father doing. (John 5:19) Jesus understood that He had to put God's kingdom above and before anything else--including Himself and His desires. He was God in human flesh. He came to be our example of how to live and by extension, how to seek the kingdom of God first. We cannot do any less if we expect to see God's kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)
Possibly the best example we see in the Bible, outside Jesus Himself, of seeking the kingdom of God first is recorded in the Old Testament. It is an excellent example of the rewards of putting God's business above one's own business. In 1 Kings 3, we have a record of a conversation between God and King Solomon. You can read the account in 1 Kings 3:5-14 if you need the refresher, but space does not allow us to reprint the whole passage here.
God appeared to Solomon in a dream. Do not let that be a problem to you. Remember, the Holy Spirit had very limited ministry during that period of history. God told Solomon to ask Him for whatever he wanted. Whatever he wanted? Read it for yourself. There are no limits in God's instruction. God almost seemed surprised--and definitely pleased--when Solomon asked for an understanding heart and discernment to judge the people rather than asking anything for himself. God said he gave Solomon what he asked and because he had not asked for anything for himself, He also gave him riches and honor. In fact, the passage is very clear that God made Solomon the wisest, most discerning, and the wealthiest man in the world. Solomon put God's business first and everything else he could have wanted was added to him as well. If it worked in the Old Testament, it will work for us now even better. So how do we do that?
I am coming to understand how God wants me to put His kingdom first. First, He wants me to ask Him what I should be doing before I make decisions. We are not going to bother God by asking what His will is in any given situation. Secondly, it means listening for the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit all the time. These are things we should be doing intentionally, but often sort of back into. Even when we get it wrong--or do not get it at all--God causes all things to work together for our good. (Romans 8:28) I got a little lesson about that just hours before I sat down to write this. I was walking to the store. About a block from home, I had to turn back. Trust me. I had to, but it would be in bad taste to tell you why. When I finished at home the thought came that I was delayed for a reason. When I got to the store, a friend I have seen only a couple times in the past several years was there. He had forgotten his wallet and needed $1.00. I was able to give him one. We also exchanged some information that might be important. Had I not been delayed, I would not have seen him.
The things above are a few of the things I have come to understand about putting God's kingdom first. I trust and believe that as I get better at that, there will be many, many things added to me as well. I have no idea what that means exactly, but it is going to be good. What I cannot tell you is what you should be doing to put God's kingdom first. I am quite certain none of us thinks I am the Holy Spirit. Seek God and follow His directions. If you just do not hear anything, open the manual (Bible). His whole will is revealed right there. God bless!
So what does it mean to seek God's kingdom first? Simply put, it means that His business is more important than our business. Jesus said He only did what He saw the Father doing. (John 5:19) Jesus understood that He had to put God's kingdom above and before anything else--including Himself and His desires. He was God in human flesh. He came to be our example of how to live and by extension, how to seek the kingdom of God first. We cannot do any less if we expect to see God's kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)
Possibly the best example we see in the Bible, outside Jesus Himself, of seeking the kingdom of God first is recorded in the Old Testament. It is an excellent example of the rewards of putting God's business above one's own business. In 1 Kings 3, we have a record of a conversation between God and King Solomon. You can read the account in 1 Kings 3:5-14 if you need the refresher, but space does not allow us to reprint the whole passage here.
God appeared to Solomon in a dream. Do not let that be a problem to you. Remember, the Holy Spirit had very limited ministry during that period of history. God told Solomon to ask Him for whatever he wanted. Whatever he wanted? Read it for yourself. There are no limits in God's instruction. God almost seemed surprised--and definitely pleased--when Solomon asked for an understanding heart and discernment to judge the people rather than asking anything for himself. God said he gave Solomon what he asked and because he had not asked for anything for himself, He also gave him riches and honor. In fact, the passage is very clear that God made Solomon the wisest, most discerning, and the wealthiest man in the world. Solomon put God's business first and everything else he could have wanted was added to him as well. If it worked in the Old Testament, it will work for us now even better. So how do we do that?
I am coming to understand how God wants me to put His kingdom first. First, He wants me to ask Him what I should be doing before I make decisions. We are not going to bother God by asking what His will is in any given situation. Secondly, it means listening for the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit all the time. These are things we should be doing intentionally, but often sort of back into. Even when we get it wrong--or do not get it at all--God causes all things to work together for our good. (Romans 8:28) I got a little lesson about that just hours before I sat down to write this. I was walking to the store. About a block from home, I had to turn back. Trust me. I had to, but it would be in bad taste to tell you why. When I finished at home the thought came that I was delayed for a reason. When I got to the store, a friend I have seen only a couple times in the past several years was there. He had forgotten his wallet and needed $1.00. I was able to give him one. We also exchanged some information that might be important. Had I not been delayed, I would not have seen him.
The things above are a few of the things I have come to understand about putting God's kingdom first. I trust and believe that as I get better at that, there will be many, many things added to me as well. I have no idea what that means exactly, but it is going to be good. What I cannot tell you is what you should be doing to put God's kingdom first. I am quite certain none of us thinks I am the Holy Spirit. Seek God and follow His directions. If you just do not hear anything, open the manual (Bible). His whole will is revealed right there. God bless!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Let Me Build My Kingdom First, Part 1
This is my confession. We have to start here so everyone knows I am not simply casting stones.
I just ended a five-day fast. Praise God! (Both for the five-days and for the end of it.) Anyone who knows me knows about the only thing I have ever gotten out of fasting is hungry. I am what some have called a "slow faster." For about the past two years I have stuck to the only diet plan that has ever really helped me lose weight. I made it up myself, but it is not copyrighted so you can use it too. It is really quite simple. Cut down on sugar intake. Then only eat when you are hungry and quit eating when you are satisfied. It worked for me to the tune of about twenty pounds over that time. It also enabled me to eat just one hearty meal a day and something more like snacks three or for times a day and feel satisfied. That is just to say, going from there to a total fast is not as difficult as if one were eating three square meals a day. However, unaccustomed as I am to fasting, and advancing in years, it still hurt by the third day--and did not get any better. I did learn some things and broke a bondage or two which is the purpose of this series of posts.
Jesus told us to, "Seek first the kingdom of God..." (Matthew 6:33) That is the subtitle of the next post, but we should start thinking about it now because it really is the essence of the entire series. I am going to guess that most of us are in the boat together in that we have no earthly conception of what it means to seek God's kingdom first. Now, before you get outraged by that statement, take a breath and tell yourself what it means. selah If you were able to do that, you are not in the boat with us. You can stop reading now if you want to. You might still want to read the next post, however.
Like most of you, I have read Jesus' words about seeking God's kindgom first many times and have heard several teachings on them over the years. In fact, I would probably say I thought I was seeking God's kingdom first. After all, I go to church every week (sometimes my wife makes me) and I give more than ten percent of my income to Christian ministries. I even do daily devotions and am reading a chronological Bible that will get me through the whole Bible in a year. What else can I do?
Seeking God's kingdom is not a matter of what we do. Although who we are is of the utmost importance to God, it is not even about that. It is a matter of priorities. Some readers were just hit with a jolt of revelation. That is what happened to me as well a couple nights ago. How have we (I) missed things like that? When we are told to seek something first, that indicates the top of a priority list. That in turn indicates there are other things which must not be at the top of the priority list--like everything else.
My confession is that I am a soul-first individual and I have only just realized it. In worldly terms we would say I was ignorant. Spiritually speaking, we would say I was deceived. Of course I would like to put all that in the past tense--and hopefully will be able to do that soon. The soul-first individual says to God, when confronted with the words of Jesus we are discussing, "Let me build my kindgom first." He does not usually even say "please."
See if any of the following quotes correlate with your experience:
"I have to finish my education first."
"I have to get a job first."
"I have to get married first."
"I have to have some money first."
Now again, if you are not guilty of any of those things you may stop reading. Where are your priorities? It was the last one that got me. Of course, then again, I have all the others, sort of.
If this has been as much fun for you as it has for me, look forward to doing it again soon. Part 2 coming up. God bless.
I just ended a five-day fast. Praise God! (Both for the five-days and for the end of it.) Anyone who knows me knows about the only thing I have ever gotten out of fasting is hungry. I am what some have called a "slow faster." For about the past two years I have stuck to the only diet plan that has ever really helped me lose weight. I made it up myself, but it is not copyrighted so you can use it too. It is really quite simple. Cut down on sugar intake. Then only eat when you are hungry and quit eating when you are satisfied. It worked for me to the tune of about twenty pounds over that time. It also enabled me to eat just one hearty meal a day and something more like snacks three or for times a day and feel satisfied. That is just to say, going from there to a total fast is not as difficult as if one were eating three square meals a day. However, unaccustomed as I am to fasting, and advancing in years, it still hurt by the third day--and did not get any better. I did learn some things and broke a bondage or two which is the purpose of this series of posts.
Jesus told us to, "Seek first the kingdom of God..." (Matthew 6:33) That is the subtitle of the next post, but we should start thinking about it now because it really is the essence of the entire series. I am going to guess that most of us are in the boat together in that we have no earthly conception of what it means to seek God's kingdom first. Now, before you get outraged by that statement, take a breath and tell yourself what it means. selah If you were able to do that, you are not in the boat with us. You can stop reading now if you want to. You might still want to read the next post, however.
Like most of you, I have read Jesus' words about seeking God's kindgom first many times and have heard several teachings on them over the years. In fact, I would probably say I thought I was seeking God's kingdom first. After all, I go to church every week (sometimes my wife makes me) and I give more than ten percent of my income to Christian ministries. I even do daily devotions and am reading a chronological Bible that will get me through the whole Bible in a year. What else can I do?
Seeking God's kingdom is not a matter of what we do. Although who we are is of the utmost importance to God, it is not even about that. It is a matter of priorities. Some readers were just hit with a jolt of revelation. That is what happened to me as well a couple nights ago. How have we (I) missed things like that? When we are told to seek something first, that indicates the top of a priority list. That in turn indicates there are other things which must not be at the top of the priority list--like everything else.
My confession is that I am a soul-first individual and I have only just realized it. In worldly terms we would say I was ignorant. Spiritually speaking, we would say I was deceived. Of course I would like to put all that in the past tense--and hopefully will be able to do that soon. The soul-first individual says to God, when confronted with the words of Jesus we are discussing, "Let me build my kindgom first." He does not usually even say "please."
See if any of the following quotes correlate with your experience:
"I have to finish my education first."
"I have to get a job first."
"I have to get married first."
"I have to have some money first."
Now again, if you are not guilty of any of those things you may stop reading. Where are your priorities? It was the last one that got me. Of course, then again, I have all the others, sort of.
If this has been as much fun for you as it has for me, look forward to doing it again soon. Part 2 coming up. God bless.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
The Religious Spirit is the Spirit of the Law, Part 2
It is amazing that anyone could believe there is not a religious spirit over the Santa Maria valley. We have talked with many people over the years who have spiritually discerned the presence of a religious spirit. Evil spirits are masters of disguise, but one does not even need spiritual discernment to know the church in the Santa Maria valley is not The Church God intends for it to be. We are coming up woefully short of God's best. Let me be as fair as I know how here. Maybe the church is being The Church somewhere in this valley. Please do not keep it a secret any longer. Let us know where you are. (Read the rest of the post and use it as a checklist before making that claim.)
Some mistake the religious spirit for a controlling spirit. Certainly the religious spirit exhibits many forms of control. We have frequently written about that in these pages. The best way to distinguish the two is probably to say that a controlling spirit works through people to control other people whereas a religious spirit works through religious systems to accomplish the same end. In both situations, the end result is to coerce the rank-and-file to do what the leadership thinks they ought to do. That has more in common with law than grace. In the context of the church, this eliminates the possibility of the church truly being Holy Spirit led. The Holy Spirit does not check with the powers that be in the church before He moves. In fact, it seems the Holy Spirit takes great delight in surprising people--in a good way of course.
It just occurred to me that many of you readers have no idea what the Church is supposed to look like. In which case, you might be inclined to think the church in Santa Maria is doing as well as can be expected. Let us ask ourselves a few questions to see how we measure up against scripture.
Do we love one another and demonstrate that love so that people know we are disciples of Jesus? (John 13:35) One need not look far in this valley to find people who are hurting because they have been abused by leaders in one church or another. Strike one! Do we see signs following those who believe to the extent people are being physically healed wherever they go? (Mark 16:18) Oh, we do see healings, but it seems to be more accidental than intentional most of the time. Call that strike two. Is the Lord adding to the church daily? (Acts 2:47) Maybe. Does the church have all things in common? (Acts 2:44) Oh please, The Church gets together once a year, one Thursday in May for the national day of prayer. We all fit into the smaller exhibit hall at the Fair Park. That is the best we do. Strike three!
To say it plainly, we have a long way to go if we want to truly be The Church Jesus came to save from an enemy who seeks only to steal and to kill and to destroy. (John 10:10) Never mind even getting to the last part of the verse and having an abundant life. We know people who would say they have an abundant life. Most of those people are meeting in rented buildings or buildings with mortgages on them. Some do better, but they still have to ask for special offerings for special needs. Moses had to stop the people from bringing gifts for the building of the tabernacle.
There is still room for improvement. There will always be room for improvement while we live on the earth. Do not allow the enemy of our souls to deceive you any longer into thinking what you see in this valley is as good as can be expected. God is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all we can ask or even think. (Ephesians 3:20) We have a long way to go. We just have to get out of our own way and quit trying to be the Holy Spirit to other people, telling them what they should and should not be doing. Do what you are supposed to do! If we can just get out of our own way and do that, we will be amazed by what God will do.
Some mistake the religious spirit for a controlling spirit. Certainly the religious spirit exhibits many forms of control. We have frequently written about that in these pages. The best way to distinguish the two is probably to say that a controlling spirit works through people to control other people whereas a religious spirit works through religious systems to accomplish the same end. In both situations, the end result is to coerce the rank-and-file to do what the leadership thinks they ought to do. That has more in common with law than grace. In the context of the church, this eliminates the possibility of the church truly being Holy Spirit led. The Holy Spirit does not check with the powers that be in the church before He moves. In fact, it seems the Holy Spirit takes great delight in surprising people--in a good way of course.
It just occurred to me that many of you readers have no idea what the Church is supposed to look like. In which case, you might be inclined to think the church in Santa Maria is doing as well as can be expected. Let us ask ourselves a few questions to see how we measure up against scripture.
Do we love one another and demonstrate that love so that people know we are disciples of Jesus? (John 13:35) One need not look far in this valley to find people who are hurting because they have been abused by leaders in one church or another. Strike one! Do we see signs following those who believe to the extent people are being physically healed wherever they go? (Mark 16:18) Oh, we do see healings, but it seems to be more accidental than intentional most of the time. Call that strike two. Is the Lord adding to the church daily? (Acts 2:47) Maybe. Does the church have all things in common? (Acts 2:44) Oh please, The Church gets together once a year, one Thursday in May for the national day of prayer. We all fit into the smaller exhibit hall at the Fair Park. That is the best we do. Strike three!
To say it plainly, we have a long way to go if we want to truly be The Church Jesus came to save from an enemy who seeks only to steal and to kill and to destroy. (John 10:10) Never mind even getting to the last part of the verse and having an abundant life. We know people who would say they have an abundant life. Most of those people are meeting in rented buildings or buildings with mortgages on them. Some do better, but they still have to ask for special offerings for special needs. Moses had to stop the people from bringing gifts for the building of the tabernacle.
There is still room for improvement. There will always be room for improvement while we live on the earth. Do not allow the enemy of our souls to deceive you any longer into thinking what you see in this valley is as good as can be expected. God is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all we can ask or even think. (Ephesians 3:20) We have a long way to go. We just have to get out of our own way and quit trying to be the Holy Spirit to other people, telling them what they should and should not be doing. Do what you are supposed to do! If we can just get out of our own way and do that, we will be amazed by what God will do.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
The Religious Spirit is the Spirit of the Law, Part 1
Each new post now seems as though it might be the last in this blog--at least for the time being. Perhaps the church elder who said we have not done a very good job of raising awareness of the religious spirit in the Santa Maria valley was right after all. There are just 16 followers of the blog, although more than that read it from time to time. Our Facebook group, Sunrise Ministries, has 27 members, but several of them have only a curious interest in what we are doing. In any event, we have been faithful to our calling, and we are not quite done.
If memory serves, Colossians 2 has been referred to in these pages, but we did not get as far as verse 21 which reads, "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle." That is one of those verses of scripture that make little sense out of context. Space does not permit us to do the exegetical teaching on the whole chapter which would take us into Chapter 3, so we are simply going to cut to the lesson and give a few examples of how we have seen this worked out in some local churches. We do recommend Colossians as a good read for those of you who might be interested. (Yes, that was written tongue in cheek.)
Over the course of the 23+ years we have lived in this valley on this tour, we have been part of five different churches for varying amounts of time. At the first one we were, not so politely, shown the door. The last one we were more politely asked to not come back. The other three we left on mostly amicable terms. Recently, we have been attending a church outside the valley.
Those of you you know us might guess what churches these are, but do keep in mind you would only be making educated guesses. I have actually had to defend a church after I published an uncharitable comment and a person wrongly guessed which church it was. The intent has never been to detract from any church or ministry--only to point out the workings of the religious spirit in the valley. With that said, we can go on.
We were shown the door at a church because of a conflict over elders. We said variously that women cannot be elders, that elders do not judge prophecies, and that pastors do not choose elders who disagree with them. That last statement seems to be self-evident. The first two are found verbatim in scripture (1 Corinthians 14:29, Titus 1:5-6). The pastor and church council did not see it that way.
We were asked to not return to a church because this blog was "disturbing" to the pastor and elders of the church. This was also where one of the elders is the one mentioned in the first line of this post. That was seriously the primary reason given for their request although we were told the pastor was hurt by another writer's comment that was posted to this blog. In this case he correctly surmised the commenter was referring to him. Even then, it seemed we could have stayed had we agreed to take the whole blog off the internet. I wonder who (what spirit) could possibly have been behind that request? Maybe we actually did raise the awareness of the working of a religious spirit.
I was not told this would be a two-part post when I got up early to write it. I might have lobbied harder for more sleep. So much for this being the last post to the blog. Now I have add to the title and say, To be continued...
If memory serves, Colossians 2 has been referred to in these pages, but we did not get as far as verse 21 which reads, "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle." That is one of those verses of scripture that make little sense out of context. Space does not permit us to do the exegetical teaching on the whole chapter which would take us into Chapter 3, so we are simply going to cut to the lesson and give a few examples of how we have seen this worked out in some local churches. We do recommend Colossians as a good read for those of you who might be interested. (Yes, that was written tongue in cheek.)
Over the course of the 23+ years we have lived in this valley on this tour, we have been part of five different churches for varying amounts of time. At the first one we were, not so politely, shown the door. The last one we were more politely asked to not come back. The other three we left on mostly amicable terms. Recently, we have been attending a church outside the valley.
Those of you you know us might guess what churches these are, but do keep in mind you would only be making educated guesses. I have actually had to defend a church after I published an uncharitable comment and a person wrongly guessed which church it was. The intent has never been to detract from any church or ministry--only to point out the workings of the religious spirit in the valley. With that said, we can go on.
We were shown the door at a church because of a conflict over elders. We said variously that women cannot be elders, that elders do not judge prophecies, and that pastors do not choose elders who disagree with them. That last statement seems to be self-evident. The first two are found verbatim in scripture (1 Corinthians 14:29, Titus 1:5-6). The pastor and church council did not see it that way.
We were asked to not return to a church because this blog was "disturbing" to the pastor and elders of the church. This was also where one of the elders is the one mentioned in the first line of this post. That was seriously the primary reason given for their request although we were told the pastor was hurt by another writer's comment that was posted to this blog. In this case he correctly surmised the commenter was referring to him. Even then, it seemed we could have stayed had we agreed to take the whole blog off the internet. I wonder who (what spirit) could possibly have been behind that request? Maybe we actually did raise the awareness of the working of a religious spirit.
I was not told this would be a two-part post when I got up early to write it. I might have lobbied harder for more sleep. So much for this being the last post to the blog. Now I have add to the title and say, To be continued...
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