Monty Python - Spam
Grace Roots Blog
Friday, February 23, 2007
Thursday, February 15, 2007
The record of the court
The first part of this post is funny. The second part of this post is LIFE. :)
Part 1 - Things actually said in court
ATTORNEY : When is your birthday?
WITNESS : July 18th.
ATTORNEY : What year?
WITNESS : Every year.
____________________________________
ATTORNEY : What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS : Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY : How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS : Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
ATTORNEY : How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS : Forty-five years.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY : The youngest son, the twenty-one year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS : Uh, he's twenty-one.
________________________________________
ATTORNEY : Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS : Would you repeat the question?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS : All my autopsies are performed on dead people.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS : Oral.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS : By death.
ATTORNEY : And by whose death was it terminated?
______________________________________
______________________________________
Part 2 - I have died
I know, I said Part 2 is about LIFE. And it is about Life. But the last court example above reminded me of what had to happen in order for us to have real LIFE.
Since the attorney above is talking to the alive person, it should be obvious to the attorney that that first marriage was terminated by the death of the alive person's spouse. :) BUT... when it comes to our life in Christ, it was just the opposite, according to Romans 7. And this is the beauty of grace.
We were married to Mr. Law. Mr. Law was good, holy, pure, perfect. Have you ever known anyone who thought they were "it." Don't ask my wife that question, please. ;) But I mean, someone who is "perfect" and "wonderful." And this person is always pointing out how you lack perfection and how your life is not so wonderful. The problem with that person is that he or she is just as imperfect as you. That person, in reality, is a hypocrite. However, when it comes to Mr. Law, the perfection is perfectly perfect! Mr. Law can never be a hypocrite, because Mr. Law is truly perfect and good. Mr. Law is so perfect and good, that we really do love Mr. Law. Mr. Law truly represents God's perfection.
However... since Mr. Law is perfect, and we're not, the only thing that Mr. Law can do is to point out how imperfect we are! Mr. Law stands in full judgment of us because we have fallen very short of his perfection. Mr. Law points out all our imperfections, but the problem is that Mr. Law can do absolutely nothing to actually make us perfect! He is powerless to help us. Mr. Law can never say to us, "job well done" or "I approve." What his purpose in our lives amounts to is death and condemnation (2 Cor 3:7-9). He can never give us LIFE.
So... as great and wonderful as Mr. Law is, if we remain married to him, the end result is death and condemnation, because we will never live up to his standards. The reality is, if we want to find LIFE, we have to find a husband who is perfect, but who will never condemn us. That husband, of course, is Jesus.
But there's a little problem.
If we're married to Mr. Law, we can't just up and leave him! According to Mr. Law's holy standards, the only legal way to be free of this marriage is for one of the parties to die.
And guess who's not going to die. Ever. You got it. Mr. Law is not going to die. So if we're to get out of this marriage, the only way is for us to die.
And that's exactly what happened, in order for us to come to Jesus!
Rom 7:4,6 Therefore... you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another — to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God... now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
One thing that mankind could never, ever conquer or overcome, is God's holy standard as represented in the Law. But isn't God's plan so much better than we could ever come up with! God wasn't going to kill the Law. But He killed us so that we could be raised again with Jesus!
Gal 2:20-21 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."
Let it be stated in the new record of the High Court:
ATTORNEY : How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS : By death.
ATTORNEY : And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS : MINE.
Part 1 - Things actually said in court
ATTORNEY : When is your birthday?
WITNESS : July 18th.
ATTORNEY : What year?
WITNESS : Every year.
____________________________________
ATTORNEY : What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS : Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY : How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS : Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
ATTORNEY : How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS : Forty-five years.
_____________________________________
ATTORNEY : The youngest son, the twenty-one year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS : Uh, he's twenty-one.
________________________________________
ATTORNEY : Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS : Would you repeat the question?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS : All my autopsies are performed on dead people.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS : Oral.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY : How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS : By death.
ATTORNEY : And by whose death was it terminated?
______________________________________
______________________________________
Part 2 - I have died
I know, I said Part 2 is about LIFE. And it is about Life. But the last court example above reminded me of what had to happen in order for us to have real LIFE.
Since the attorney above is talking to the alive person, it should be obvious to the attorney that that first marriage was terminated by the death of the alive person's spouse. :) BUT... when it comes to our life in Christ, it was just the opposite, according to Romans 7. And this is the beauty of grace.
We were married to Mr. Law. Mr. Law was good, holy, pure, perfect. Have you ever known anyone who thought they were "it." Don't ask my wife that question, please. ;) But I mean, someone who is "perfect" and "wonderful." And this person is always pointing out how you lack perfection and how your life is not so wonderful. The problem with that person is that he or she is just as imperfect as you. That person, in reality, is a hypocrite. However, when it comes to Mr. Law, the perfection is perfectly perfect! Mr. Law can never be a hypocrite, because Mr. Law is truly perfect and good. Mr. Law is so perfect and good, that we really do love Mr. Law. Mr. Law truly represents God's perfection.
However... since Mr. Law is perfect, and we're not, the only thing that Mr. Law can do is to point out how imperfect we are! Mr. Law stands in full judgment of us because we have fallen very short of his perfection. Mr. Law points out all our imperfections, but the problem is that Mr. Law can do absolutely nothing to actually make us perfect! He is powerless to help us. Mr. Law can never say to us, "job well done" or "I approve." What his purpose in our lives amounts to is death and condemnation (2 Cor 3:7-9). He can never give us LIFE.
So... as great and wonderful as Mr. Law is, if we remain married to him, the end result is death and condemnation, because we will never live up to his standards. The reality is, if we want to find LIFE, we have to find a husband who is perfect, but who will never condemn us. That husband, of course, is Jesus.
But there's a little problem.
If we're married to Mr. Law, we can't just up and leave him! According to Mr. Law's holy standards, the only legal way to be free of this marriage is for one of the parties to die.
And guess who's not going to die. Ever. You got it. Mr. Law is not going to die. So if we're to get out of this marriage, the only way is for us to die.
And that's exactly what happened, in order for us to come to Jesus!
Rom 7:4,6 Therefore... you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another — to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God... now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
One thing that mankind could never, ever conquer or overcome, is God's holy standard as represented in the Law. But isn't God's plan so much better than we could ever come up with! God wasn't going to kill the Law. But He killed us so that we could be raised again with Jesus!
Gal 2:20-21 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."
Let it be stated in the new record of the High Court:
ATTORNEY : How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS : By death.
ATTORNEY : And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS : MINE.
Monday, February 12, 2007
"Blessed are the Uncool"
Hehe... I saw this title to a book and I thought it was, um, Cool. :)"Blessed are the Uncool." I only saw the title and a short description of the book in a magazine, so I don't know the true substance of the book, but the implication really fascinates me, especially in today's "cool" culture.
I didn't try really hard to be "cool" when I was growing up, but I do remember that I did try at least a little, and sometimes I felt bad about myself because I just wasn't one of the cool kids. The photo here is from almost 20 years ago. I was mimicking a friend who really thought he was the stuff. :) I grabbed his hat, rolled up my sleeves, unbuttoned an extra button and turned my collar up. I don't know if you can see it, but there's also a toothpick or straw in my mouth. Do I know how to act cool or what!
Or what.
But that's cool, you see. Today's pop culture, and even today's Christian music culture, is based a lot on having a cool image. And that's alright. It's all fine and dandy. To reach the youth of today, whether you're doing it for good or for evil, you have to speak their language and/or appear larger than life to them. I get it.
And I know that if I were to be put in that kind of position, I would totally be faking it!
And I'm much more content when I'm living a life in which I don't have to fake anything. My closest friends - those who know me and love me --- and LIKE me - do not like me because I am cool. I don't say all the right words at all the right times or in all the right ways. I don't go out of my way or spend any money on trying to look cool. When it comes to coolness, I have two left feet.
And I don't want to say there's anything inherently wrong with being cool. I have a friend who recently told me that she is the "cool" aunt to her nieces. She's not out to turn them into little heathens, but rather by being there for them and not judging them and by listening to them and speaking their language, she can have some influence in their lives.
But what I'm saying here is that if I have act like something that I'm not in order to get people to pay attention to me and like me, then I want NOTHING of it! I want my life to be "what you see is what you get." I have close friends and relatives on both extremes of "legalism" and "licentiousness" and everywhere in between. In my day to day life, I communicate with people from all kinds of backgrounds, cultures, creeds, beliefs, social status - and levels of "coolness." Do you know what a juggling act it would be if I had to always act like someone different depending upon who I was around???
Well, if I was completely honest, I'd have to say that I still do my juggling act here and there. Lord, get me out of the circus and lead me deeper into your grace where the only thing that matters is that I'm accepted in the Beloved (Jesus), based upon no act whatsoever that I've put on for Him!
Cheryl's Story - Accepted in the Beloved
I've heard bits and pieces of Cheryl's story before, but never to the extent in which she writes about it in her own words. Who's Cheryl? Cheryl is someone who went from faithfully serving the Lord with her husband, to having some circumstances in which they lost everything they owned, to blaming God for her circumstances, to losing her husband to another man, to declaring war on her enemy (God)! In her story there are times of feeling abandoned, unwanted. Her story includes rape and rejection. But her story is a wonderful story of God gently and faithfully restoring her.
Cheryl's Story
Cheryl's Story
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Down Below Those Dandy Clothes
This is a follow up to my last follow up of a previous post!
Another line in the song "Kings of the Wild Frontier" by Adam and the Ants that stuck out to me, in relation to life in Christ goes like this:
And even when you're healthy and your color-schemes delight
Down below those dandy clothes you're just a shade too white
In case you haven't read the initial post, the song says "I feel beneath the White there is a Redskin suffering from centuries of taming." To me, this is the cry of an Indian Warrior stuck in "tamed" White-man's culture, dying to get out. In my mind, it's emblematic of anyone who knows that they're living in a box, and they're dying to get out and be who they were truly created to be. And to me in particular, I suddenly related to this one day as I was going through a process of realizing that God had created me for much more than the stuffy little box I was in, created by the religion of today's church culture.
To make it clear - I'm not down on Christians or true Christianity. I'm down on the religion of Christianity. I've been (and continue to be) set free, and I hope to help others to be set free.
And so the line above, about color-schemes and dandy clothes, to me speaks volumes about the state of the modern Christian religion. There are many people who indeed look "healthy," and whose outward color-schemes (appearances) look nice and dandy and delightful! But if you strip them down - down below their "dandy clothes" (removing outward appearances) - all you're left with is the nakedness of empty and dead religion!
Oh, God, that your people would truly live! That empty and dead religion, based upon rules and regulations, and the futility of self-effort, would cease and that the true identity that you've given us would thrive and would be the true clothes that are on display for the world to see! To God be the glory, and so may the so-called glory of our self righteousness die, and may Your Life in us take over!
Another line in the song "Kings of the Wild Frontier" by Adam and the Ants that stuck out to me, in relation to life in Christ goes like this:
And even when you're healthy and your color-schemes delight
Down below those dandy clothes you're just a shade too white
In case you haven't read the initial post, the song says "I feel beneath the White there is a Redskin suffering from centuries of taming." To me, this is the cry of an Indian Warrior stuck in "tamed" White-man's culture, dying to get out. In my mind, it's emblematic of anyone who knows that they're living in a box, and they're dying to get out and be who they were truly created to be. And to me in particular, I suddenly related to this one day as I was going through a process of realizing that God had created me for much more than the stuffy little box I was in, created by the religion of today's church culture.
To make it clear - I'm not down on Christians or true Christianity. I'm down on the religion of Christianity. I've been (and continue to be) set free, and I hope to help others to be set free.
And so the line above, about color-schemes and dandy clothes, to me speaks volumes about the state of the modern Christian religion. There are many people who indeed look "healthy," and whose outward color-schemes (appearances) look nice and dandy and delightful! But if you strip them down - down below their "dandy clothes" (removing outward appearances) - all you're left with is the nakedness of empty and dead religion!
Oh, God, that your people would truly live! That empty and dead religion, based upon rules and regulations, and the futility of self-effort, would cease and that the true identity that you've given us would thrive and would be the true clothes that are on display for the world to see! To God be the glory, and so may the so-called glory of our self righteousness die, and may Your Life in us take over!
A New Royal Family, a Wild Nobility
This is a follow up of sorts to my Kings of the Wild Frontier post from a few days ago. In addition to the one line of that song that unexpectedly affected me one day last year, there are a couple of other lines in the song that weren't written at all from a "Christian" perspective, but I think can relate to the Christian life.
The song starts out with a kind of rally cry: "A new royal family, a wild nobility, we are the family!"
A new royal family - How many times does the Bible mention the family of God as royalty! As children of the King, we are "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom 8:17). God has adopted us - He has taken away from us the bondage of the status of "servant" and "slave" and has made us full-fledged sons and daughters (Gal 4:1-7). Read those verses if you want to really know who you are!
A wild nobility - "Wild" is not a bad word! A friend of mine has borrowed (permanently, I think) my "Wild at Heart" book by John Eldredge. I may have to get a new copy, because so often I want to refer to Eldredge's descriptions of our "wild" God. I do remember that in the book he borrowed one description from a friend of my father. Walter Brueggeman's description of God: "wild, dangerous, unfettered and free." I'll just say this. When you read the Bible, pay attention to the things God does. And pay attention to the things that man, created in His image, does.
Also look around you at the things that little boys do in their expressions of their God-given wild hearts. Watch them as they grow, and watch the world as it tries to tame them! We Christians seem to be the best at quenching God-given wildness. It's sad. You know I'm not talking about flagrant sin. I'm talking about the true nature that God has given us. I don't believe that God created us to walk in the fleshly desires that we have. But I also don't believe that God created us for puritanism and religion! He created us with love. He created us with passion. He created us to live! We're not all the same, and His 'wildness' won't be expressed in us all in the same way, but we are all created in His image, not in the image of religion!
The song starts out with a kind of rally cry: "A new royal family, a wild nobility, we are the family!"
A new royal family - How many times does the Bible mention the family of God as royalty! As children of the King, we are "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom 8:17). God has adopted us - He has taken away from us the bondage of the status of "servant" and "slave" and has made us full-fledged sons and daughters (Gal 4:1-7). Read those verses if you want to really know who you are!
A wild nobility - "Wild" is not a bad word! A friend of mine has borrowed (permanently, I think) my "Wild at Heart" book by John Eldredge. I may have to get a new copy, because so often I want to refer to Eldredge's descriptions of our "wild" God. I do remember that in the book he borrowed one description from a friend of my father. Walter Brueggeman's description of God: "wild, dangerous, unfettered and free." I'll just say this. When you read the Bible, pay attention to the things God does. And pay attention to the things that man, created in His image, does.
Also look around you at the things that little boys do in their expressions of their God-given wild hearts. Watch them as they grow, and watch the world as it tries to tame them! We Christians seem to be the best at quenching God-given wildness. It's sad. You know I'm not talking about flagrant sin. I'm talking about the true nature that God has given us. I don't believe that God created us to walk in the fleshly desires that we have. But I also don't believe that God created us for puritanism and religion! He created us with love. He created us with passion. He created us to live! We're not all the same, and His 'wildness' won't be expressed in us all in the same way, but we are all created in His image, not in the image of religion!
Saturday, February 03, 2007
...or rather be known by Him
I love getting to know God. I love learning about Him and I love growing in my relationship with Him. As I said in my previous post, Jesus said that this is eternal life: that we know God.
But have you ever found that the more you learn about God, and the more you grow in your relationship with Him, the more you realize how little you actually know Him, and about Him? :-) Each opened door seems to open up so many more doors with so much more to explore!
That shouldn't stop us from seeking Him and desiring to learn more about Him, and knowing Him more intimately. But in one little Bible verse, Paul opens us up to a completely different perspective that you don't often hear about, but that I believe is grounded fully in what the gospel is all about, and is vastly covered in the "love letter" that is the Bible. It's a short phrase that could very easily be missed, but when its reality sets in it could be of great help to us in understanding that there's far more to our relationship with God than us knowing Him.
Paul writes: "But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God..." (Gal 4:9a)
My own paraphrase: "Sure, you know God now, by faith. But what it's really all about is that God knows you!"
God's love letter has always attested to this truth:
Isa 43:1
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
Ps 139:1-16
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me,"
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
We are known by God! I chose just a couple of the many scriptures that reassure us that we are known by God... fully & completely... and that it's a good thing! Many live in fear, and avoid the thought that God knows them, because of all the "bad" things they know they've done. But God knows us in such a way that He rejoices over us (Isaiah 62:5), He sings over us (Zephaniah 3:17). He knows us intimately and LOVES US DEEPLY! There is nothing about us that is hidden from God. We are fully exposed to God. And since He has placed us in His Son Jesus, by faith, He is very pleased by what He knows about us and that He knows us!
But have you ever found that the more you learn about God, and the more you grow in your relationship with Him, the more you realize how little you actually know Him, and about Him? :-) Each opened door seems to open up so many more doors with so much more to explore!
That shouldn't stop us from seeking Him and desiring to learn more about Him, and knowing Him more intimately. But in one little Bible verse, Paul opens us up to a completely different perspective that you don't often hear about, but that I believe is grounded fully in what the gospel is all about, and is vastly covered in the "love letter" that is the Bible. It's a short phrase that could very easily be missed, but when its reality sets in it could be of great help to us in understanding that there's far more to our relationship with God than us knowing Him.
Paul writes: "But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God..." (Gal 4:9a)
My own paraphrase: "Sure, you know God now, by faith. But what it's really all about is that God knows you!"
God's love letter has always attested to this truth:
Isa 43:1
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
Ps 139:1-16
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
5 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me,"
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
We are known by God! I chose just a couple of the many scriptures that reassure us that we are known by God... fully & completely... and that it's a good thing! Many live in fear, and avoid the thought that God knows them, because of all the "bad" things they know they've done. But God knows us in such a way that He rejoices over us (Isaiah 62:5), He sings over us (Zephaniah 3:17). He knows us intimately and LOVES US DEEPLY! There is nothing about us that is hidden from God. We are fully exposed to God. And since He has placed us in His Son Jesus, by faith, He is very pleased by what He knows about us and that He knows us!
Thursday, February 01, 2007
That I may know Him...
A friend and I are teaching a class at our church entitled "Who Are You - Identity Revealed."
Someone asked me the other day if this class is similar to the "Purpose Driven Life." I really hadn't thought of it that way. The reason for that is... it has nothing to do with being driven in this life by purpose. :)
As you can probably tell by the title, our class is about God's grace, and our identity in Christ, which are inseparable. Knowing our identity is crucial to what we "do" in this life. I know... I know... it's true. So many of us looooong for purpose. We think we'll be fulfilled if we can find our purpose in this life, and then live out our purpose. And it's true that God has given each of us "purpose." Each 'member' of the body of Christ has a purpose within the body (see Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12).
But what if you're going along your day one day, and you don't really feel like you're living out the purpose that you feel that God's given you within the Body? What if this lasts for more than a day? A week? A year? Or more???? Have you ceased to be a member of the Body of Christ? Of course not! Has God forgotten about you? NOOOO!!
Is it possible that you can live your life in Christ without regards to PURPOSE?
I believe so.
And that's because I believe the purpose of our lives are not to have purpose... but to know God.
Again... we all have purpose within the Body. But I don't believe that our day to day lives are meant to be driven by purpose.
Can't we just...
KNOW Him?
In your relationships with people... Do you feel you have to have purpose at every moment? Can't you just be friends, and know each other, and love each other - with no particular agenda?
True... in your relationships you like to DO things with people. Many times there is a particular purpose for you to spend time together. But one of the great things about true, close friends, is that they often don't need to find a purpose in everything they do. Maybe you've just gotten old. I don't mean your age, but your way of thinking. In order to be "mature," you've got to have a reason (a purpose) for everything you do. But think back to your childhood friendships. You didn't always get together because you had some wonderful purpose in mind for your time together.
Ok, I think I've made my point. :)
I think I have a special "part" within the Body of Christ. I think we all do (see previously mentioned scriptures). He lives and moves in us, and we have our entire being in Him... and sometimes that means an obvious expression and movement of the 'body part' that we are. As He works in us, our "purpose" is fulfilled.
But yet the essence of our lives is not purpose. The essence of our lives is that we know Him. The apostle Paul had counted all things as LOSS, including his Jewish heritage and status, his godly zeal, his righteousness, and I think even his own perceived purpose in this life... "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings..." (Phil 3:10).
When defining Eternal Life, Jesus didn't speak of us finding our "purpose in life." He said, while praying to the Father, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
We all have desires... we long for purpose in this life. I don't think there's anything wrong with seeking God to fulfill His purposes in us. But there is something so much greater... something that in our day to day life supersedes, and is so much more important that purpose. It's "that I may know Him."
Again, the question...
Can't we just KNOW Him???
Someone asked me the other day if this class is similar to the "Purpose Driven Life." I really hadn't thought of it that way. The reason for that is... it has nothing to do with being driven in this life by purpose. :)
As you can probably tell by the title, our class is about God's grace, and our identity in Christ, which are inseparable. Knowing our identity is crucial to what we "do" in this life. I know... I know... it's true. So many of us looooong for purpose. We think we'll be fulfilled if we can find our purpose in this life, and then live out our purpose. And it's true that God has given each of us "purpose." Each 'member' of the body of Christ has a purpose within the body (see Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12).
But what if you're going along your day one day, and you don't really feel like you're living out the purpose that you feel that God's given you within the Body? What if this lasts for more than a day? A week? A year? Or more???? Have you ceased to be a member of the Body of Christ? Of course not! Has God forgotten about you? NOOOO!!
Is it possible that you can live your life in Christ without regards to PURPOSE?
I believe so.
And that's because I believe the purpose of our lives are not to have purpose... but to know God.
Again... we all have purpose within the Body. But I don't believe that our day to day lives are meant to be driven by purpose.
Can't we just...
KNOW Him?
In your relationships with people... Do you feel you have to have purpose at every moment? Can't you just be friends, and know each other, and love each other - with no particular agenda?
True... in your relationships you like to DO things with people. Many times there is a particular purpose for you to spend time together. But one of the great things about true, close friends, is that they often don't need to find a purpose in everything they do. Maybe you've just gotten old. I don't mean your age, but your way of thinking. In order to be "mature," you've got to have a reason (a purpose) for everything you do. But think back to your childhood friendships. You didn't always get together because you had some wonderful purpose in mind for your time together.
Ok, I think I've made my point. :)
I think I have a special "part" within the Body of Christ. I think we all do (see previously mentioned scriptures). He lives and moves in us, and we have our entire being in Him... and sometimes that means an obvious expression and movement of the 'body part' that we are. As He works in us, our "purpose" is fulfilled.
But yet the essence of our lives is not purpose. The essence of our lives is that we know Him. The apostle Paul had counted all things as LOSS, including his Jewish heritage and status, his godly zeal, his righteousness, and I think even his own perceived purpose in this life... "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings..." (Phil 3:10).
When defining Eternal Life, Jesus didn't speak of us finding our "purpose in life." He said, while praying to the Father, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
We all have desires... we long for purpose in this life. I don't think there's anything wrong with seeking God to fulfill His purposes in us. But there is something so much greater... something that in our day to day life supersedes, and is so much more important that purpose. It's "that I may know Him."
Again, the question...
Can't we just KNOW Him???
Kings of the Wild Frontier
(I've been wanting to share this for a long time. I do not apologize for the length of this post. :) God's creation is vast, to an extent that is unimaginable. We are part of that creation, and our lives are meant for so much more than a daily struggle to "live right." --- As of today (2/1/07), I have the song mentioned here as my song on myspace. That is subject to change, but I do also have a video for the song there, and that will be there for a while).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I feel beneath the white
There is a redskin
Suffering
From centuries of taming
I first heard the song “Kings of the Wild Frontier” by Adam and the Ants about 25 to 30 years ago! I was probably about 10 years old. I’ve been a huge Ant fan ever since. (I don’t believe I admitted that!). Well, I was a boy living in England at the time, and the Ants were popular!
There’s never really been anything about “Antmusic” lyrics that turned me on. In fact, I really don’t understand the lyrics most of the time! And when I do understand the lyrics, it’s often a little too… sensual… for my tastes. But I really dig the sound! There’s something about the way the music and vocals are arranged that really gets into my soul like no other music does. And that’s why I listen to it.
But a year or two ago I was listening to ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier,’ and there was something in the lyrics that suddenly did made sense to me, and it really HIT ME right where I was. It was an amazing time. Lots of pent up frustration was released as God spoke to my heart about my true identity through this song, and He set me free.
In the song, it’s as if Adam is saying that beneath his modern day white man’s skin, there’s an Indian Warrior hidden deep inside, dying to get out, but yet he suffers because he’s been tamed by many years of white man’s culture (some of the early Pirate/Indian/Warrior imagery and music style of the Ants came under the direction of their manager). For years, I'd really had no clue what the song was saying. :) But on this day, it all became crystal clear to me as God was revealing the identity inside of ME that has been suffering because of the culture in which I live.
The culture that I’m speaking of is today’s Church culture.
Let me back up, and get a bit personal, just for a moment. About 2 1/2 years ago, my wife and I had some marital problems. I had been having some doubts about my love for my wife. I won’t get into all the details, but I’ll say that we ended up seeing a counselor. He was great. He listened, and asked questions, and listened some more, and asked more questions. This is truly, truly a very, very condensed version of the story, but the main thing is what the counselor revealed to me about myself.
My problem was not that I didn’t love my wife. I really did (and still do, very much) love my wife. But in trying to be all that I could be as a “good Christian husband,” I wasn’t being the man that God had really wired me to be – who He had truly made me to be as a New Creation (2 Cor. 5:17). If you listen to (or watch) much of today’s Christian media, or go into many of today’s evangelical churches, so much of it is focused on self-improvement, being a better person (being a better spouse, parent, child, coworker, etc), striving to “do” all the do’s and “don’t” all the don’ts.
Many people think that if we can just get our behavior in line, then life will be better. Maybe you don’t disagree with that statement! But I found that the more I tried to get my behavior in line (for example – to be a better husband), the more I felt like a failure because I just couldn’t live up to it! Believe me, I tried for years and it was a roller coaster ride of success and failure, but mostly the ongoing nagging feeling that I just couldn’t do it. I don’t need to go into great detail here. Either you relate to this or you have the Christian life down pat. :) But here’s a personal example: I would be in bed, or driving somewhere, or listening to a sermon or Christian talk radio, thinking and praying about something that I really wanted to change in my life. And I would get all excited as I thought about how I would go about making this change. But then came real life… and the failure to change… and then guilt, despondency, and the feeling that I would never change. It was a vicious circle… a roller coaster ride as I said.
And the thing is… for 12 years now, I’ve been growing in my understanding of living by God’s grace – not my own efforts to change, but His work in me, which is sufficient. “We are His workmanship” (Eph 2:10). “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thes. 5:23). “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13).
New Covenant life is about counting our self-efforts at pleasing God as dung (rubbish) (see Phil 3:3-11). I know this. I can tell others about it. And for the most part, I live it. Rather than trying to establish MY life (in the flesh) as one that is pleasing to God, I have let go and I live my daily life by faith, trusting in Him to do anything and everything in me and through me by His own doing. If you just let go, and put your trust in Him and not your own efforts, you will see that He is completely faithful to work the works in you and make the changes in you that He wants to.
Think about it… if we are God’s workmanship, and yet we try to make our lives out to be our own workmanship, even if we think we’re doing it “for” God… we are really making ourselves out to be GOD.
And so my problem is… sometimes I try to be God. In my marriage, I was trying to be God. I sincerely wanted to be a "better husband," but instead of letting Him work His wonderful works in me, in His way and in His timing, I was trying to do it. In a sense, I was really just going through the motions of being a good husband. It may have even had a great outward appearance from time to time! But on the inside, I knew I was FAKING it. My “good” efforts to be a better husband were really a work of the flesh. They weren’t coming from my union with God. I had sincere desires, but the efforts were not of God.
And so… I began to think that I didn’t love my wife. All my best efforts, as I said, were just me “faking” it. What I came to find out is that I was faking holiness. I just didn’t realize it at the time. But anytime you try to be holy or righteous by your own efforts, you are FAKING the real thing. The “real thing” is God’s workmanship, His life in union with ours. Our flesh can't compete with that! And our spirit knows it, but our flesh still wants to try. So, what I was confused about was this: how could I have such sincere desires to please my wife, and yet all my efforts were making me fall flat on my face? This confusion led me to think that I didn’t love her.
But this low point in our marriage led to a great discovery that would forever change us! We saw the counselor together one time, and then we saw him individually. In my time with him, as I said, he asked a lot of questions and really listened to me. And then he told me what he thought. He said quite a bit, and it was all great stuff, but only one word stuck out to me. Here is what he said: “Blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah IDENTITY blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. :) (The "blah blah's" aren't meant to discount or demean the other great things that were said; only to emphasize the importance of the one word).
The whole problem was that rather than living out of my true Identity in Christ… the New Creation that I truly am… I was trying to be all the things that I thought I was supposed to be for my wife. Again, you may not have much to disagree with about that method of living! Why shouldn’t I try to be the best spouse I can be? The reason is that I (my flesh) can't! The key to everything here is that if you let go, and if you find out who you really are – your true identity in Christ – you won’t have to fake anything. You won’t have to “fake it till you make it.” You won’t have to “try” to be a better spouse (or a better Christian) because God is faithfully at work in you all the time, and He will work the works in you, as He pleases, to make your outside behavior match the New Creation (your identity) that you already are.
I believe the reason there are so many dysfunctional Christians out there is not because we’re failing to get our acts together and start living right. It’s because we are trying to get our acts together and start living right!
My counselor recommended the book “Wild at Heart” by John Eldredge, which I didn’t actually start reading until about a year ago. For the sake of the fact that this is already long, I’ll just say that the gist of the book (at least to me), is getting out of our small, metal, inflexible, rigid, religious boxes that we’ve place ourselves (and God) into… and getting out into God’s world and being who HE created us to be! It's an understatement to call God "wild." Just look at His creation. And look at yourself - created in His image.
Today’s Christian culture has created a lot of these small religious boxes for people - and has kept them from experiencing the fullness of who God created them to be. You don’t know the freedom I experienced when I finally broke free from my little box! “I feel beneath the white there is a redskin suffering from centuries of taming.” I know that the core of who I am – my spirit – has always been longing to get out and to be who it is created to be! My counselor put that in perspective for me 2 1/2 years ago. And then that day – the day I heard those Adam and the Ants lyrics for the thousandth time – my heart cried out to God as the truth hit me in such a way that I knew I could never, ever get inside that box again!
Popeye put it this way: “I am what I am and that’s all that I am.” And God’s word tells us that all that we are is a truly wonderful creation – a work of God that can’t be kept in a religious box and that can never be faked!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I feel beneath the white
There is a redskin
Suffering
From centuries of taming
I first heard the song “Kings of the Wild Frontier” by Adam and the Ants about 25 to 30 years ago! I was probably about 10 years old. I’ve been a huge Ant fan ever since. (I don’t believe I admitted that!). Well, I was a boy living in England at the time, and the Ants were popular!
There’s never really been anything about “Antmusic” lyrics that turned me on. In fact, I really don’t understand the lyrics most of the time! And when I do understand the lyrics, it’s often a little too… sensual… for my tastes. But I really dig the sound! There’s something about the way the music and vocals are arranged that really gets into my soul like no other music does. And that’s why I listen to it.
But a year or two ago I was listening to ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier,’ and there was something in the lyrics that suddenly did made sense to me, and it really HIT ME right where I was. It was an amazing time. Lots of pent up frustration was released as God spoke to my heart about my true identity through this song, and He set me free.
In the song, it’s as if Adam is saying that beneath his modern day white man’s skin, there’s an Indian Warrior hidden deep inside, dying to get out, but yet he suffers because he’s been tamed by many years of white man’s culture (some of the early Pirate/Indian/Warrior imagery and music style of the Ants came under the direction of their manager). For years, I'd really had no clue what the song was saying. :) But on this day, it all became crystal clear to me as God was revealing the identity inside of ME that has been suffering because of the culture in which I live.
The culture that I’m speaking of is today’s Church culture.
Let me back up, and get a bit personal, just for a moment. About 2 1/2 years ago, my wife and I had some marital problems. I had been having some doubts about my love for my wife. I won’t get into all the details, but I’ll say that we ended up seeing a counselor. He was great. He listened, and asked questions, and listened some more, and asked more questions. This is truly, truly a very, very condensed version of the story, but the main thing is what the counselor revealed to me about myself.
My problem was not that I didn’t love my wife. I really did (and still do, very much) love my wife. But in trying to be all that I could be as a “good Christian husband,” I wasn’t being the man that God had really wired me to be – who He had truly made me to be as a New Creation (2 Cor. 5:17). If you listen to (or watch) much of today’s Christian media, or go into many of today’s evangelical churches, so much of it is focused on self-improvement, being a better person (being a better spouse, parent, child, coworker, etc), striving to “do” all the do’s and “don’t” all the don’ts.
Many people think that if we can just get our behavior in line, then life will be better. Maybe you don’t disagree with that statement! But I found that the more I tried to get my behavior in line (for example – to be a better husband), the more I felt like a failure because I just couldn’t live up to it! Believe me, I tried for years and it was a roller coaster ride of success and failure, but mostly the ongoing nagging feeling that I just couldn’t do it. I don’t need to go into great detail here. Either you relate to this or you have the Christian life down pat. :) But here’s a personal example: I would be in bed, or driving somewhere, or listening to a sermon or Christian talk radio, thinking and praying about something that I really wanted to change in my life. And I would get all excited as I thought about how I would go about making this change. But then came real life… and the failure to change… and then guilt, despondency, and the feeling that I would never change. It was a vicious circle… a roller coaster ride as I said.
And the thing is… for 12 years now, I’ve been growing in my understanding of living by God’s grace – not my own efforts to change, but His work in me, which is sufficient. “We are His workmanship” (Eph 2:10). “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thes. 5:23). “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13).
New Covenant life is about counting our self-efforts at pleasing God as dung (rubbish) (see Phil 3:3-11). I know this. I can tell others about it. And for the most part, I live it. Rather than trying to establish MY life (in the flesh) as one that is pleasing to God, I have let go and I live my daily life by faith, trusting in Him to do anything and everything in me and through me by His own doing. If you just let go, and put your trust in Him and not your own efforts, you will see that He is completely faithful to work the works in you and make the changes in you that He wants to.
Think about it… if we are God’s workmanship, and yet we try to make our lives out to be our own workmanship, even if we think we’re doing it “for” God… we are really making ourselves out to be GOD.
And so my problem is… sometimes I try to be God. In my marriage, I was trying to be God. I sincerely wanted to be a "better husband," but instead of letting Him work His wonderful works in me, in His way and in His timing, I was trying to do it. In a sense, I was really just going through the motions of being a good husband. It may have even had a great outward appearance from time to time! But on the inside, I knew I was FAKING it. My “good” efforts to be a better husband were really a work of the flesh. They weren’t coming from my union with God. I had sincere desires, but the efforts were not of God.
And so… I began to think that I didn’t love my wife. All my best efforts, as I said, were just me “faking” it. What I came to find out is that I was faking holiness. I just didn’t realize it at the time. But anytime you try to be holy or righteous by your own efforts, you are FAKING the real thing. The “real thing” is God’s workmanship, His life in union with ours. Our flesh can't compete with that! And our spirit knows it, but our flesh still wants to try. So, what I was confused about was this: how could I have such sincere desires to please my wife, and yet all my efforts were making me fall flat on my face? This confusion led me to think that I didn’t love her.
But this low point in our marriage led to a great discovery that would forever change us! We saw the counselor together one time, and then we saw him individually. In my time with him, as I said, he asked a lot of questions and really listened to me. And then he told me what he thought. He said quite a bit, and it was all great stuff, but only one word stuck out to me. Here is what he said: “Blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah IDENTITY blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. :) (The "blah blah's" aren't meant to discount or demean the other great things that were said; only to emphasize the importance of the one word).
The whole problem was that rather than living out of my true Identity in Christ… the New Creation that I truly am… I was trying to be all the things that I thought I was supposed to be for my wife. Again, you may not have much to disagree with about that method of living! Why shouldn’t I try to be the best spouse I can be? The reason is that I (my flesh) can't! The key to everything here is that if you let go, and if you find out who you really are – your true identity in Christ – you won’t have to fake anything. You won’t have to “fake it till you make it.” You won’t have to “try” to be a better spouse (or a better Christian) because God is faithfully at work in you all the time, and He will work the works in you, as He pleases, to make your outside behavior match the New Creation (your identity) that you already are.
I believe the reason there are so many dysfunctional Christians out there is not because we’re failing to get our acts together and start living right. It’s because we are trying to get our acts together and start living right!
My counselor recommended the book “Wild at Heart” by John Eldredge, which I didn’t actually start reading until about a year ago. For the sake of the fact that this is already long, I’ll just say that the gist of the book (at least to me), is getting out of our small, metal, inflexible, rigid, religious boxes that we’ve place ourselves (and God) into… and getting out into God’s world and being who HE created us to be! It's an understatement to call God "wild." Just look at His creation. And look at yourself - created in His image.
Today’s Christian culture has created a lot of these small religious boxes for people - and has kept them from experiencing the fullness of who God created them to be. You don’t know the freedom I experienced when I finally broke free from my little box! “I feel beneath the white there is a redskin suffering from centuries of taming.” I know that the core of who I am – my spirit – has always been longing to get out and to be who it is created to be! My counselor put that in perspective for me 2 1/2 years ago. And then that day – the day I heard those Adam and the Ants lyrics for the thousandth time – my heart cried out to God as the truth hit me in such a way that I knew I could never, ever get inside that box again!
Popeye put it this way: “I am what I am and that’s all that I am.” And God’s word tells us that all that we are is a truly wonderful creation – a work of God that can’t be kept in a religious box and that can never be faked!
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