The answer is always B - 4/30/08 - "Tutorage"

What is the correct wording of Galatians 3:24-25?

A. "Therefore the law is our tutor that keeps us in Christ, that it might help us to live right. After faith has come, it helps us all the more."

B. "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor."

C. "Let's listen to a couple of songs from Tenpole Tudor!"

(This was a band formed in the 70's who had a few popular hits in Britain. These two songs came out the year we moved back to the States, and the songs have stuck in my head all these years.)

Tenpole Tudor - Swords of a Thousand Men


Tenpole Tudor - Wunderbar


Gee golly I just don't get why this band never became as popular as other bands from the British Isles, such as U2 and The Police. (Hmmmm) (???) :) All I know is that as a 12 year old boy, I really dug 'em.

Jesus is Not a Religion - Part 3

"Christianity is one of the great religions of the world," or at least so say many well-meaning people. But no matter what anyone has previously thought about Jesus, or how they've previously understood Him, what I'm attempting to do in this series of posts is simply to point out that the scriptures, which tell about Jesus, do not point us to some religion called "Christianity," but they point us to the very Person Himself, Jesus. My hope as I lay out what the scriptures reveal about Jesus, is to show how they reveal a Person who is personally, intimately involved with us (individually and corporately), and to contrast this with the idea of "religion."

"Jesus is the way" was the subject of Part 2, and I'd like to carry that out just a little more. Specifically, I'd like to discuss why a "way" was needed in the first place (and why religion is not the way).

God did not create mankind for religion. When we read the creation account in Genesis, we don't see God creating Adam and Eve and telling them, "Ok, now, worship Me and follow a prescribed set of religious rituals and precepts. My goodness! We see Him creating them "in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." (Gen 1:27). We see Him setting them in a garden paradise and giving them free reign. In the next few verses we see God blessing them, telling them to "be fruitful and multiply." We see Him giving them dominion "over every living thing that moves on the earth." We see God giving, giving, giving to man, blessing him. No signs of religion. No signs of man working at trying to earn anything from God. Mankind was blessed and had a free and trusting relationship with God.

It wasn't God who created religion. It was man. Although what I'm about to say is obviously my opinion with no exact scriptural wording to back up my point, in the end the result is the same. In the beginning, Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with God, but when presented with a different option, they chose religion instead. God gave them all things, and they were never meant to die, and they walked with God freely and openly. In the midst of the garden was the Tree of Life (to which they had free access) and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (which was the only thing forbidden to them). Note, it wasn't simply the "tree of the knowledge of evil." It was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Well, they "saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise..." (Gen 3:6), and they took of its fruit and ate. And a dramatic change took place. Their eyes were "opened," and for the first time ever they knew that they were naked, and they covered themselves with fig leaves. Before eating from this tree, they had free and perfect fellowship with God. They had Life. They had no religion. Now suddenly they knew good and evil and also for the first time ever, they hid from God (Gen 3:8). God did not create man to hide from Him! His purpose for them was Himself and His creation - and Life. His purpose for them was not the religion tree (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), but we do see that by setting the forbidden tree there, He did give them a choice.

(Let me just point out that in the culmination of things, as revealed in the book of Revelation, we find the Tree of Life "in the midst of the Paradise of God" (Rev 2:7, 22:2, 22:14) but we find no tree of the knowledge of good and evil).

We see the result when they at from the forbidden tree. The curse began. (Gen 3:17-19). "Death reigned." (Rom 5:14). "Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned." (Rom 5:12). Man became alienated from God (Col 1:21).

As I set out saying, my purpose in spending some time here talking about Adam and Eve is to set up the understanding of why a "way" was needed in the first place. Because of sin - which spread to all of mankind - man was cursed and had no chance of eternal life. Ever since that time, man has tried to find various ways to reach out to God and "find" Him. Many people, for various reasons, think they have found Him through various methods, religious practices, feelings, emotions, strivings to live right, law, rules, meditation, etc.

But the same scriptures that reveal the above problems (the "bad news" of sin, death, separation from God, etc) also reveal that the answer, or the antidote, or the "way" is never going to be found in man's attempts to find God or reach out to Him. "Doing good works" is not the way to God. A "feeling" of love or happiness is not the way to God. Religious activity - which can be defined in all kinds of ways - is not the way to God. Many of these things may feel good or seem right, but a person can do all of those things and still remain separated from God! The issue, as the scriptures tell us, isn't a matter of whether we're good or evil. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the problem! Through that tree came death, and mankind was separated from the Tree of LIFE. It doesn't matter how good your good is if you're still eating from that tree! The issue is that man needed LIFE.

God so loved the world that He gave Jesus. Through Jesus, all who believe are restored to Life.

"God... who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel..." (2 Timothy 1:9-10)

I'm sure we'll delve further into "Jesus is the Life" in the future, but for now I hope it's been made at least somewhat clear as to why a way was needed and why Jesus is the Way and why there is no other way.

It's me, it's me, it's Joel B!

Warning: There's absolutely nothing to see here. It's just me. Being me. Watch at the risk of your own boredom. You've been warned.

- Rated G for Golly this man needs a life
- 5 dreadfully long minutes

(Inspired by Matthew Daylon Daelon Dailon, Daolon, Daulon at Somewhere in my Memory)

Bizzy weak

Wow... what a week! It's been so busy that I forgot how to spell "busy" and "week" in the title of this post! He he.

Water in the basement, electrical problems (not related), kids running all over, me running all over... LOL... it's just been one of those weeks! I finally got to relax a little bit on Friday night and Saturday morning, but it was back to getting stuff done the rest of the day yesterday.

So... I've had no desire to sit here and write anything. I usually LOVE writing (if anyone couldn't tell), but with both my mind and my body fried, I just haven't felt like doing much of it this week. The nice thing about a casual blog like this is there's NO PRESSURE to perform (no deadlines) :D I'll get to it when I get to it.

My good buddy Matthew over at Somewhere in my Memory inspired me last night by recording a video blog. I had been thinking about doing something like that yesterday but got on with other things, so maybe I'll do that later today.

Anyway... as always I'm praying for everybody! Grace and peace to you.

God Incorporated

Steve McVey's video today (Lie #99 It's Better To Burn Out For Christ Than To Rust Out) goes somewhat along with a song I listened to today. It's a song from the 90's by one of Rich Mullins' original Ragamuffin Band members, Rick Elias. I've searched but I'm sorry to say I can't find a video or an audio sample of the song on the internet, except for a short sample on one site that doesn't do the song justice. If you can find a download of it somewhere, it would be well worth the purchase price!

It's a tongue-in-cheek song called God Inc., from Elias' "Blink" project. I've always loved this song, from the first day I heard it way back when! When we played it on the radio, some people (who perhaps only paid attention to the chorus and not necessarily to the rest of the lyrics) actually took the lyrics seriously. "That's right... we work for God Incorporated!"

Anyway, I remember the record company sent a paper weight to the radio station when they were promoting this song. On it, some words were printed that said something like, "In Christ, there are no corporate ladders."

Amen!

Rick Elias - God Inc.
Well ain’t life grand when you hold all the aces
And there ain’t no time for those friends and places that you once knew, but you outgrew
You add a pinch of ambition and a little dash of power
Mix it up with opportunity, and there you are, you’ve got the man of the hour
But what happened to you?

Chorus:
He’s a company man, he works for God Incorporated
Got his future planned and boy it sure looks bright
He’s a company man, he works for God Incorporated
Hang on boys it’s gonna be a wild ride.


He’s taking care of business that can’t be ignored
See him curse the opposition behind closed doors
He’s got a job to do, but he’s depending on you
Don’t take it personal, baby, this is just how it goes
He’s gonna pull those strings
You’re gonna dance and sing in his puppet show
Now get down to it.

Chorus:
He’s a company man, he works for God Incorporated
Got this party planned, it’s gonna be a long night
He’s a company man, he works for God Incorporated
Hang on, boys, it’s gonna be a wild ride.


Oh, he’s a company man, he works for God Incorporated
Got his future planned and boy it sure looks bright
He’s a company man, he works for God Incorporated
Hang on boys, it’s gonna be a wild ride

He’s a company man, he works for God Incorporated
Got this party planned – no, there’s no use in fighting
He’s a company man, he works for God Incorporated
Hang on boys it’s gonna be a long night.

:)

Matthew West - More

Superchic[k] - Barlow Girl

Once upon a time there were three sisters (last name - Barlow) and they made such an impression on a band that the band wrote a song about the three sisters.

Superchic[k] - Barlow Girls
Video embedding disabled - Video here.

We met these sisters
Barlow's their last name
Ordinary girls they don't live in the fast lane
They don't rate with the guys that score
Cause they don't flaunt what the boys want more
They don't date, they won't date
They wanna see how they're gonna grow up
Who they're gonna be
But in the meantime they might feel unloved
When all the girls around them are hooking up
But I know for sure it's never popular to be pure
And while some guys might be passing them by
I think they've caught someone's eye..

All the boys in the band want a valentine from a Barlow Girl
Boys think they're the bomb
Cause they remind them of their mom

Everyone needs to be loved
Everyone needs their own teenage fan club
Any attention can feel like a good thing
Dress to impress can be oh so tempting
You can get noticed with your body
Sexual hypnosis by being hottie
You might feel like public property
You might you might, you shouldn't be
No girl should feel she has to trade
Her body for love or be an old maid
And yes there are guys who are willing to wait
Ask a Barlow girl on her wedding day


Well, the three Barlow sisters ended up becoming a band. Here's one of their songs.

Barlow Girl - Never Alone

Now teacher, don't you fill me up with your rules...

Some people who know me will know where I'm coming from with this.

Others who know me will know that I'm not necessarily coming from anywhere with this. ;)

As for me and my house... it's probably both. :)

I've had my computer down for a few days while doing a massive rearrangement of things in the ol' office, and while I'm planning on continuing with my "Jesus is Not a Religion" series tomorrow, I had other things on my mind tonight. Once I got booted up again, instead of getting caught up on important things... LOL... I spent some time looking at old Motley Crüe videos. :-D

Smokin' in the Boys Room

Missing the point!

Wow... I just spent a little time on the website of someone who invited me to be a Myspace friend, and all I could do was shudder as I looked up and down his site! His name is Michael, and he was formerly with a band called Barren Cross. He seems to be a nice enough person, but MAN does he miss the point when it comes to God's love and grace, and salvation!

According to his website, God's love is not unconditional. Also, you must not only trust in Jesus, but keeping the commandments is necessary for salvation. The things he says on his site, and his own answers to the questions he poses, are very much legalistic and are simply on the opposite end of the spectrum that I'm on. He uses a LOT of scripture, but MAN is it out of context!

For example, in answer to his own question, "IF A MAN HAS LIVED RIGHTEOUS, AND THEN IS IN SIN WHEN HE DIES, IS HE STILL “SAVED”?, he quotes from Ezekiel 33:13. “When I say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trusts in the fact that he’s been righteous, and commits iniquity, ALL his righteousness shall NOT BE REMEMBERED; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for it.”

As far as I can tell, that's the final answer, as far as this guy is concerned. But that's not all. If you can stomach it, take a look at as many of his 17 questions and answers. And then thank God for the New Covenant and grace!

Anyway, I haven't even begun to mention all the things on this website. I'll just say that by quoting from the Old Covenant in order to make points about sin and salvation, and quoting New Testament scriptures out of context, he is missing the point of what life in Christ is about! I normally wouldn't spend much time at all with this, but this is just very obviously a great example of legalism at it's "best" and it's a great contrast to the gospel of God's unconditional love and grace.

The 17 questions are found on the bottom of the page here.

Jesus is Not a Religion - Part 2

Jesus is the Way
When the Apostle Paul was in Athens, he "stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, 'Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.'" (Acts 17:22-23)

What's interesting is that, even though Paul perceived these people to be"religious," he neither affirmed their gods nor the objects of their worship. He did not say, "Hey, that's great. I'm just glad that you are worshipers and that you've found some sort of religion. All ways lead to God, anyway."

Rather than going along with and affirming their ignorance, Paul went on to proclaim to them the One True God. He said, "Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God who made the world and everything in it..." For the sake of time, I won't get into Paul's entire speech, but he ends up by saying, "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." (Acts 17:30-31)

There is no doubt that Paul, instead of succumbing to a tolerance of all religions, was proclaiming Jesus Christ to them.

Paul was referring to the One who had said of Himself, "I am the way, the truth and the life." Here is a larger portion of the conversation that Jesus had with his disciples in which He spoke those words:

Jesus is speaking:
"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know."

Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."

Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."

Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. (John 14:1-11)

The question asked of Jesus was, "How can we know the way?" Jesus' summarized response: "I am the way."

Again, along the lines of what I previously said, is Jesus being haughty or arrogant or condescending when He makes this claim? Far from it! Let's remember what scripture says about Jesus! From Colossians 1 - "He is the image of the invisible God." "By Him all things were created..." "He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." "For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell." From Philippians 2 - Jesus, "being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God..." He "made Himself of no reputation, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!"

Out of His love and out of His grace... Jesus did all this for us! Jesus is the Way because out of His love and grace He made Himself the Way. "No one comes to the Father except through Him" because He has graciously and lovingly given Himself up for us.

More on "Jesus is the Way" coming up...

Jesus is Not a Religion - Part 1

As I share my thoughts about Jesus and religion, I realize that this will amount to much less than an exhaustive account. However, I do hope to cover some things that I think are of significant importance. Mainly I want to point out the stark contrast between Jesus and religion. As I said in the introduction, God didn't give us a religion. He gave His Son. I hope to show how Jesus is much more than simply some great historical figure and much more than some spiritual or religious leader.

There is indeed a lot to know about Jesus! But just because He is "big" and the reality of His being covers more than we'll ever know, that doesn't mean that everything that people think about Him is true. There are a lot of things that are not true about Jesus. Religion (and "non-religion") have cast Jesus in so many different ways that may or may not seem good and right, but either way are far off from what the scriptures reveal to us about Him. I personally don't want to invent my own "truth" about Jesus. I don't want to believe what I believe about Him just because it sounds good or feels good. In other words, I don't want to invent a Jesus who is suitable for me, but I want to look at what the scriptures actually say about Him.

I realize a wide variety of people may be reading this. Whoever you are - it's up to you whether or not you believe what the Bible says. But if we can at least agree that the Bible does say a lot about Jesus, then we at least have a common denominator to look at in order to get our information about Jesus. If I'm simply preaching to the choir here, then I hope you'll enjoy and find great encouragement here as we're reminded of just Who our Savior is! And if you're someone who has somehow come up with your own preconceived notions about who Jesus is (as opposed to actually looking into the scriptures) or if you're someone who hasn't really given Jesus much thought, then I think you'll be quite surprised to hear what the Bible actually says about Him!

Jesus is I AM
Let me start by pointing out that Jesus didn't simply appear on the scene 2,000 years ago! We all know the Christmas story, and how Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit and gave birth to the baby Jesus. That was simply the beginning of Jesus' 33 years on earth as a man. Any religion can make the claim that their leader was born as a human being!

But can any religion make this claim about their leader? "...Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." (Phil 2:6-8)

There is so much to draw out of the above passage of scripture, but the thing I want to point out is that if Jesus was in the form of God before He came in the likeness of man, that means that Jesus existed before He came in the likeness of man. Before He was born as a baby, He already "was."

And let me tell you, it gets even better than simply knowing that He "pre-existed." There are many scriptures that show us that Jesus was and is more than just a man, but let me highlight just a few.

When Jesus was being questioned by some Jews about who He was (as recorded in John 8), they said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?"

Jesus's response to them was, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."

That might sound like a strange answer, but it might make more sense in light of an experience Moses had. When Moses had asked God who he should say was sending him to the children of Israel, God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM... Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you." (Exodus 3:14)

That might start to give a picture of who Jesus is. But how about this:

In Isaiah 44, the LORD YHWH (Yahweh) reveals Himself, saying, "I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God."

Then in Revelation 1:18, Jesus is speaking to John and He says, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore."

This same voice (Jesus) had just finished saying, in Revelation 1:11, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last." Later, in Revelation 21:6-7, God is speaking and He says, "I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End... He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

Are there two Alphas and two Omegas? Are there two Beginnings and two Ends? Are there two Firsts and two Lasts? How can both YHWH and Jesus refer to themselves as all of these things? It's pretty simple. The two are one. It makes quite a lot of sense that Jesus would say, "I and My Father are one." (John 10:30). Again, Jesus is not a religion!

The last bit of biblical evidence that I'll share that shows that Jesus is more than a mere man is found in Colossians 1:15-17. This is perhaps what would amaze people the most, who don't already know this about Jesus:

Speaking of Jesus, this passage says, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

You want to know who created all things? You want to know for whom all things were created? You want to know who holds all things together? It's in the above passage. Jesus!

Jesus is not a religion. Trusting Him or believing in Him is not a matter of being religious or following a religion. It's a matter of knowing the One who is the Creator. God didn't create us for religion. God created us to know Him. (More on that later). Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Are Christians being exclusive or intolerant or self-righteous or arrogant when they claim Jesus is the way to God? Of course not. They are simply pointing to the good news of the One who was alive and then died and then is alive again forevermore! He is the One who provided the way (who is the way) for anyone and everyone who will simply trust in Him to have eternal life.

Jesus is Not a Religion - Introduction

I'm beginning a new series here. The hardest part of writing this particular series was coming up with the title! I had originally planned on simply writing about who Jesus is, and to somewhat contrast Him with what religion teaches, but as I thought about it and prepared it, I found myself in "contrast" mode more than I thought I would. So I thought of titles such as "Jesus vs. Religion," "Jesus is not a religion," Jesus contrasted with religion," "Who Jesus Is," "Who Jesus Is Not," "Who is Jesus?" and so on and so forth. In the end, I guess I cover quite a bit of stuff here, so I couldn't settle (in my mind) on one title!

I've done a lot of thinking this past week on all of this. I've read a little bit about what people think about various religions (as well as "non-religion"), in comparison with the "religion" of Christianity. I also received an email from an atheist, asking if I wanted to take part in a podcast in which an atheist and a Christian discuss things pertaining to Christianity and atheism. That's not quite my bag, particularly, so I'm not going to do that but it added to my thinking about religion and religious mindsets. Particularly, my thoughts have focused on the reality of who Jesus is (what the Bible reveals about Him), as contrasted with who people think Jesus is and what the "religion" of Christianity is all about. To some, Christianity is simply that - a religion that is not too different than any other religion. To some, all ways lead to God. To some, Jesus was a great teacher and a prophet, but is not "the Way."

To me, there is no such real thing as a religion called "Christianity." What I mean by that is, God so loved the world that He gave His Son, not the Christian religion. Some have turned this into a religion, but when we read the New Testament, as well as the Old Testament prophesies regarding Jesus and the New Covenant, we find it pointing to a Person, not a religion. The things that the scriptures reveal about this Person are fascinating! But one thing I want to do here, apart from simply talking about this fascinating Person, Jesus, is to present Him not as a religion or as a set of rules and tenets and principles, but as the Person who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Christianity is not the way, the truth and the life. Religion is not the way, the truth and the life. The law is not the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

A friend's blog - Layers

My very good friend in Fresno posted a Myspace blog the other day about her experience this past weekend at a Women of Faith conference, and I asked her if I could share it on my blogs. First, a little background - Carianne and I have been friends for a long, long time. To borrow a phrase from Mark Lowry, we go "way on back back, waaay on back!" In fact out of all the people I know in this entire world (aside from relatives), she and I go back the farthest. We had lost contact for a few years but then we reconnected a few years ago. At that time, Carianne was in a sad, sad, pathetic shape, spiritually speaking, and I single-handedly nursed her back to spiritual health through some hard hitting "get your act together" emails and some intense "how long must I put up with you" phone therapy sessions! Just kidding, Carianne! :)~

But seriously, back in the old days we never shared any type of connection as far as consciously sharing our life in Christ, but it's been very cool to see each other now, even 2000 miles across the country, grow in our relationships with Jesus and with our families. I know Carianne has been through a lot in her life, and I can see how she has grown over the years and how she continues to grow, as evidenced by her blog post about this past weekend - which sounds like it was a weekend that will be remembered for a long time to come. I'm sure we can all relate, in one way or another, to the often painful process of peeling back the layers of our souls in order to find renewal and healing from the Lord through His grace.

Here are her own words:

AMAZING, INSPIRATIONAL, UPLIFTING, TEARFUL, JOYFUL, INSIGHTFUL, AND WONDERFUL...are just a few words that can be used to describe the Women of Faith conference that I attended this weekend. The women there were full of texture, layers, honesty, purity, and the list goes on.

Their stories were often my own stories. Their struggles, their hardships, and their pain, reflected mine. I could relate to these women. And the good news is...well, it's God's good news...that none of these experiences are important anymore. He has showered us with his divine GRACE...his infinite GRACE. We have been cleansed by his grace. Whatever we have done, whatever has happened to us, it's all been erased in God's eyes. He sees us only as the beautiful, yes, I said beautiful, and flawless women He CREATED us to be.

Our own history, and the pressures we allow to be put on us by society, have tainted the vision we have of ourselves. If there was one thing I took from this experience it is that the ONLY thing that matters is what God sees in me. Yes, I have to live among many in this lifetime, and I will tend to care what they think and say, because I am human...but at the end of the day, when I am home, and in my quiet place with God, I will ask him to wash away those negative thoughts and restore in me the only thoughts that matter....HIS!

The woman that touched me most was Sandi Patti. She has a story to tell and she tells it well. She is probably the one I related to the most. She has a book called, LAYERS. As she spoke about some of the things she tells more deeply about in her book, I was struck between the eyes. I know about layers...I got a lot of them. We all have layers I think. Not to get too into it, you would need to read her book, as I have in 24 hours, but I realized that I have layers upon layers of shame, guilt, regret, abandonment, pain, and this list too goes on and on.

What Patti shared was how she peeled back those layers, a very painful process, and then allowed herself to be cleansed and renewed in God's GRACE. What a beautiful image! So because of this weekend, I am now working on peeling back my own layers and replacing those feelings of shame, guilt, etc., with God's infinite Grace. I'm replacing the negative views of others, and myself, that have been layered on me, with God's perfect view of me.

In closing, I'll just mention the amazing and beautiful Nicole C. Mullen. Look her up when you can. Her voice is so angelic and her music powerful and moving. Her music is for God, that we just get to enjoy. You must listen to "When I Call on Jesus". This song will move through you. Enjoy! There will be a new Women of Faith next year, in Sacramento. You may want to consider heading up there for it. You won't regret it. And the time away, focused on God will be worth the time and money! Blessings


By the way, Ogre's have layers, too! (I couldn't resist).

Big Difference 5 - We have been forgiven

It's been almost a month since my last "Big Difference" post so I guess it's about time for a new one! This one was sparked by thoughts from Steve McVey's video from today (see below), as well as yesterday's blog post from Darin Hufford entitled "Going for the Worship." Both men mentioned how things changed at the cross. As Hufford puts it, "God hasn't changed from the Old to New Testament, however THINGS have."

In case anyone is new here and is not aware of where I'm coming from, I'll just state that I think it's of utmost importance that we Christians understand what the Old and New covenants are and how they are not the same and how there are huge differences between them! Also, that we are not living in a mixture of the two covenants, but we are under the New Covenant alone. The Old Covenant was a precursor to the New Covenant, and with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, everything changed dramatically! We entered into the era of the New Covenant.

It's also important to note that just because Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are accounts of the life of Jesus and are placed in the section of the Bible that we call "The New Testament," that doesn't mean that it's all New Covenant teaching! Again, it wasn't until the cross that things changed. Let me make a hopefully obvious point: Jesus' life as a man on the earth was all lived before the cross! The New Covenant came into effect at Jesus' death (i.e. the cross).

Jesus came into the world, "born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law" (Gal 4:4). And we know that "the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor" (Gal 3:24-25). For the past few weeks, I've been working on a series of posts that will delve much deeper into all this. But for now let me just say that in many, many cases, Jesus was speaking words that were aimed at those who were under the Old Covenant/law.

Jesus, before the cross (still under the Old Covenant) masterfully used the law as a tutor (as it was meant to be used), digging deep into the real meaning of the law (not simply going around citing the Ten Commandments), penetrating the hearts of those who perhaps only had a surface view of the law. I should also add that Jesus also spoke a lot of New Covenant talk, and it's of utmost importance that we learn to distinguish the difference. Much has been revealed to us in the New Testament epistles about the reality of the New Covenant in which we live. If you ever read something in the epistles that seems to contradict anything that Jesus said, please note that none of it is wrong or contradictory! The words simply represent two distinct covenants. As you read and learn, please remember which one you are under!

One of the things Jesus said (before the cross, speaking to those under the Old Covenant) is the conditional promise of God, "if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt 6:14-15).

IF these words are meant as a condition that Christians, under the New Testament, are to heed, then I'd like to suggest that there are a lot of people in the church who are not forgiven! Do you know what that implies??? Have you ever thought through the ramifications of teaching this Old Covenant teaching in the church?! I've heard it taught time and time again. What's sorely missing if we look only at the face value of Jesus' words, is the truth of the New Covenant teaching that with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ we have been forgiven of all sins! In fact, our sins have been taken away.

IF this forgiveness condition is still in effect, then did the cross really change much of anything?! Were sins really forgiven? Was sin really taken away?

There are so many New Testament verses that testify to the fact that in Christ we've been forgiven, not based upon the condition that we forgive others, but based upon what Jesus accomplished on our behalf. I refer you to this excellent, scripture only post from Bino last year. Here are just a couple of examples:

"And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Col 2:13-14).

(Again, where did things change? The cross.)

"I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake" (1 John 2:12). (I might add that these words from John, as well as other words from him and other NT writers, are part of the reason I hold a different view than many of John's previous words in chapter 1, vs. 9 about confession and forgiveness... but I'll save that for another day!)

In the end, please hear me correctly and please don't get me wrong. I take all of the Bible seriously. I take all of Jesus' words seriously! But again I think we must learn to discern which of His words apply to New Covenant Christians and which of His words apply to those who were still under the tutor of the law. There's a big difference!

Here's Steve's video from today.
"Lie #92 If You Don't Forgive Others, God Won't Forgive You."


*For an explanation of this Big Difference series, see the original post.*

That Oprah video

The video's been going around for a little while now. Maybe you've seen it, maybe you haven't. Although there are many things in the video that fascinate me and that are worth discussing, it simply isn't something that I've personally wanted to discuss on this blog, so I've left it alone.

However, over at Life on the Blade, LivingSword has posted the video about Oprah and the "A New Earth" book. The video covers a wide range of things, including Oprah's thoughts that there are many paths that lead to what various people may or may not call 'God.' "There couldn't possibly be just one way," she says. Anyway, LivingSword says that he is open to discussing anything in the video, but he wanted to concentrate on one thing in particular, and this is actually the very thing that had originally caught my attention when I first saw the video. In her days in the Baptist church in her late 20's, Oprah says she was fine with some of the preaching, but when it came to talking about God as a "jealous" God, something about that didn't "feel right" in her spirit.

I've known for a long time that the Hebrew word that's translated as "jealous" in a few specific cases is a different word than the word that means "envious." Well, LivingSword did some homework and he has provided, through several sources, what I consider to be a great explanation of what God means when He says He is a "jealous" God. And so I refer you over LivingSword's post entitled "Oprah and other false gods: The Jealousy of God" on his Life on the Blade blog if any of this interests you! To be clear, I bring this up here, not because I'm wanting to diss Oprah. To me, this is more about understanding biblical truth rather than disrepecting anyone who has a different view. And again, my purpose isn't to begin a discussion here but I wanted to pass this particular blog post on to anyone who might be interested in seeing the video and perhaps discussing it with others who are discussing it. There are already some pretty good comments there. Hope you don't mind, LS. :)

Do you trust Jesus to make them whole? (Part 2)

In Part 1 I talked about various behaviors and issues of people who Christians tend to have judgmental dispositions towards, and I asked the question, "Do you trust Jesus to make these people whole?" I then asked if it's possible for us to look beneath the surface and to see the need for love in others and also to be, or fulfill, the need of love in others.

It's seemingly an impossible task for us... but yet we are indwelled by a God of love with whom everything is possible... so I believe it's possible. I want to offer a few suggestions (and ask for yours, too) as to why we, who have been embraced with such great love even in our deepest sin, seem to be quick to shrink back and/or be judgmental rather than embracing others with the love of God.

First, I think we don't trust Jesus to make others whole. We look at their behavior and that's as far as we go. We begin and end with outward appearances, and we drop all hope right there. We don't want to get too close or too deeply involved with them until their behavior changes. Instead of reaching out to them with the love of Jesus, just as they are, we "wait" until their behavior is suitable enough, and then we'll accept them. Or we try to force their behavior to change by setting up rules, prohibitions, laws, boundaries, etc. In many cases Christians have gone to court, and gone to their lawmakers, and gone to rallies and marches, and held up signs, and protested the sick, evil, twisted, demented behavior of others, thinking this will get their nation on the right track. We somehow think the key to everything is rooted in controlling behavior!

In doing all these things, even in the "name of Jesus," it's very possible that we actually leave Jesus completely out of the picture. Jesus didn't say, "go into the world and get everyone to start behaving morally, and then bring them to Me." Jesus' word to us, I think, is more like, "Just as you, like sheep, had gone astray, and you were not righteous, no, not one of you, but I came looking for you just as you were... go and find others who were just as you were, meet them right where they're at, accept them and embrace them. Love them unconditionally." And then as with the words of the song, Jesus tells us, "Bring them unto Me. I will make them whole, I can set them free."

Your rules, your laws, your looks of disgust, your protests... will never make them whole and will never set them free! JESUS makes people whole and JESUS sets people free. He really does!

Which leads to my second thought. I think the reason so many Christians don't trust Jesus to make other people whole and free is because they themselves, in their Christian experience, are not whole and are not free - at least as far as their soulful and mental wellbeing is concerned. And I believe that one major reason for this is because our own focus in our own lives continues to be a mixture of both our own flawed behavior and our own self-sufficiency. Our focus is not CHRIST, but rather our focus is our behavior, both 'good' and 'bad.'

We can never be made whole if this continues to be our focus, because controlling our behavior is not the way in which Christ makes us whole. Christ makes us whole by His love and grace. God has accepted us, and continues to accept us, not based AT ALL upon our behavior, but fully and completely based upon the life of Christ in us. Until we get that through our thick skulls and deep into our hearts, we'll never experience the wholeness and freedom that we truly have in Christ. And we'll never be able to embrace others with God's grace and unconditional love, and bring them to Jesus so HE can make them whole and set them free.

I just want to end by saying that we are all growing in this, in one way or another, and none of us have "arrived" in living out this life of wholeness and unconditional love. At least, I've never met anyone who I believe has fully experienced this and fully lives it out moment by moment! Also, this is not my attempt to bring shame or guilt upon anyone for "talking about the love of God but judging those who need Him most." I simply hope to be an encouragement to the body of Christ to grow in God's grace and unconditional love, so that we can experience the wholeness and freedom that is found only in Christ, and then go out and bring others to Christ so He can do the same for them!

Do you trust Jesus to make them whole? (Part 1)

"Do You Feel Their Pain" by Steve Camp is probably one of the most powerful songs I've ever heard. I don't say that lightly. Tears and tears have fallen as I've listened to this song that was written, if I remember correctly (can anyone substantiate this?), as an appeal to the church to respond in love to those affected by the AIDS crisis that was still in its early stages in the late 80's. The song also played a powerful part in my own life as I began the process of dismounting my legalistic high horse and began to see all people as souls Christ suffered for.

I found a site that has the lyrics of the song, and also a site where you can listen to the song. This song is definitely on my you-must-listen-to-this-song list!

Along with mentioning this song today, I want to ask two serious questions.

My first question is, "What's your beef?"

That is, as a Christian in today's world, what issue(s) are you so against that it keeps you from seeing others as Christ sees them - as souls He suffered for? What behavior(s) are other people involved in that keep you more focused on their outward appearance rather than what's going on in their hearts in regards to their need to be loved?

Is it homosexuality? Is it abortion? Is it the political persuasion of others? Is it their alcohol use? Is it drugs? Is it a certain cause that others don't agree with you on? Is it abuse? Is it injustice? Is is skin color? Is it their tobacco use? Is it their foul mouth? Is it their lewd behavior?

The issues themselves are endless. It just seems to me that the church today is known more for what they're against than they are known for actually loving and putting their arms around those for whom Christ died.

With all this being said, I don't mean for this to be confession time. :) My purpose here isn't to try to get people to "come out" publicly about various issues that they've been judgmental about. You can perhaps deal with those things in your own heart. Not that I mean to belittle or neglect any of these issues - I know how deeply penetrating some of these subjects can be. But my purpose here isn't to start a discussion on any specific issue. I simply listed a few issues that tend to be areas of contention in Christian culture today.

What this really leads up to is my second question. If you personally know and admit that, like me, you are lacking in love (whether often or from time to time) toward people who display certain kinds of behaviors, then this question, which I've asked myself a lot of times and continue to ask myself, is for you.

Do you trust Jesus to make these people whole?

My question is derived from part of Steve Camp's song:

Oh empty eyes, and lonely souls
Starving for love and crying for hope
And Jesus said, "Bring them unto Me.
I will make them whole, I can set them free"

Is it possible for us as the church - the body of Christ - to look beneath the surface of the outward appearances and behavior of others, even when it manifests itself in its filthiest and most detestable forms, and not only see the need for love, but be (fulfill) the need for love in others?

Your thoughts? I'll address this question and the subject of trusting Christ to make people whole in Part 2.

"Happy is he who does not condemn himself..."

"...in what he approves."

My friend Mike and I talked a little bit about Romans 14 on our latest Growing in Grace program (April 6) as we discussed the subject of what it means to be weak in faith, and we'll be discussing it a little more on our next program too.

To briefly sum up our thoughts from Romans 14, we pretty much both agree that those who are weak in the faith are those who are relying on external works to maintain their salvation, or who at least carry some sort of belief that in their life with God they are still subject to certain religious standards or observances. Paul's examples in Romans 14 include those who believed they can eat all things vs. those who were weak and believed they could only eat vegetables (for religious reasons). Another example is those who consider a certain day as more sacred than others vs. those who consider every day alike. These days we may or may not deal with some of the specific examples that Paul gave, but yet I think his overall point stands... which is: "Accept him whose faith is weak" (v.1). Also, "The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him" (v.3).

Those who are strong in faith, and who know they are not restricted to religious regulations should not judge those who are weak, and vice versa. "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand" (v.4). Paul talks a great deal about this, and then in the end he says, "Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves" (v. 22).

(Side note: I used to think that those who were "weak in the faith" were those who drank, smoked, chewed, went to the bars, fornicated, etc. But it's clear that that's not what Paul is talking about here! Those who are weak in the faith are those who are stuck on religion and fleshly works).

The reason I bring all this up is because the sentence in bold above has been on my mind a lot lately. The main reason is because I personally have learned a lot of things in the past dozen or so years that have really freed me up in regards to the grace of God, and I've also been learning a lot of things in the past few years that have really been freeing me up in regards to what "church" is and what "the body of Christ" is. I've shared a lot of this stuff on my blog and I've discussed it with many of you on other blogs and forums.

As I learn and as I grow in freedom, I need to constantly remember that those who aren't on the same page as me are still standing before the very same Lord, and He has accepted them just as He has accepted me. Man, oh man, I will still come against the spirit of legalism in a very strong manner! I will stand up for the truth of grace and will proclaim it boldly! But I must be careful to not judge the people who God has accepted. If someone, just as an example, is fully convinced that they must "go to church" on Sunday, or even that there's really such a thing called "going to" church, which to me is not how I look at it any longer, because I see that "the church" is people, not a place, and I want to meet together "with" the church (the people) whether or not it's at a "church building"... then I must understand that the Lord still accepts those who I see as "weak" in that regard, and even much more than that, I am not their judge. If I go about acting as if everything that people do is worthy of MY approval or disapproval, then all I am really doing is heaping condemnation on myself, because I'm standing before the same Lord.

I don't want to confuse this "condemnation" with the condemnation or punishment of God, which no Christian is any longer subject to. Using this term in this way simply means that if I am distinguishing myself as "better" than anyone else because of what I do or don't do, or because of what I approve of or don't approve of, I'm really distinguishing myself as a hypocritical judge.

In re-reading what I've just written, I see that it might appear as if I'm coming across as a little "heavy" here. :) I seriously do not have that type of disposition as I write tonight! I just mean to say that I want to be serious about not judging anyone who I might see as weak in the faith simply because they don't have the same freedom I have. As I stand up for freedom and grace and as I stand against legalism and bondage, the temptation can be to look down on others, and I simply don't want to be that way!

Be who you are as you follow Christ

I was recently listening to a message from Bob George and he made an application from certain words of Jesus.

First, the passage of scripture:

17 Jesus said to him (Peter), "Feed My sheep. 18 Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish." 19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."

20 Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?" 21 Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?"

22 Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me."

23 Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?" (John 21:17-23, emphasis mine)

In short, Jesus was forecasting Peter's future. And His direction to Peter was simply "Follow Me."

But Peter did