Be a Man

A good summary of the "Vast Sea of Grace" series can also be found in this song from Tony Vincent, especially in the chorus. (I gave the details for sampling and purchasing the CD last time). I honestly cry tears of desperation and hope for people I know sometimes when I hear this song. Sometimes the tears are for myself, as I continue to grow in grace. By the way, if you're a woman it goes without saying that this is for you too. :)

Tony Vincent - Be a Man

His daddy told him when he was five
Real men don't cry
The whole world sold him this pack of lies
Real men don't cry
So his tender heart turns colder
As the days turn into years
He's erasing all the traces of his tears

He wants to be a man
He wants to be strong
But it's hard to know exactly what to do
‘cause he can't be the man
He's meant to be
'till he can be a man
Who finds himself in you

He's building walls and they're ten feet high
Real men don't cry
As deep within him his spirit dies
Real men don't cry
Oh, embrace him, Man of Sorrows
Show him what a man can be
'till there's nothing left to prove and he is free

He wants to be a man
He wants to be strong
But it's hard to know exactly what to do
'cause he can't be the man
He's meant to be
'till he can be a man
Who finds himself in you


--------------------------------------------------
Entire "Vast Sea of Grace" Series:
Prelude: Just follow the Word, right?
The Vast Sea of Grace: Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3 -- Part 4
Summaries: So close but yet so far -- Far Cry -- >Be a Man<

Far Cry

All of this talk during the past few days about love, obedience, etc has reminded me of a song from Tony Vincent. Matthew's (Daelon), in his comments in "The Vast Sea of Grace - Part 4," brought up a part of the famous "love chapter" of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13. I won't copy the whole chapter here, but it's always worth a read. A summary of it would be, "I could do all kinds of great and wonderful things, but I'm nothing without love."

An even better summary comes from the lyrics of a song from Tony Vincent's self-titled CD from the mid 90's. This CD is a MUST HAVE for anyone who appreciates the grace of God. It's available in the store at tonyvincent.com, and song samples can be heard here. (Underneath where it says "select an album," click "more..." and then click where it says "Tony Vincent." Start with "Out of My Hands" and see if you don't want to hear more)!

Tony Vincent - Far Cry

I could speak with the tongues of angels
I could speak with the tongues of men
I could whisper the language of heaven
Like a chiming of bells in the wind

But it's a far cry from love
It's a far cry from love

I could open the doors of a mystery
Turn all the shadows to light
Keep faith when the odds are against me
Believe when I'm losing my sight

But it's a far cry from love
It's a far cry from love
It's a far, far cry from love

All my passion, my tears, and my blood
Sacrifice will never be enough
If I don't have a heart of love
I am nothing more
Than hollow fading words
Nothing without love

I could open my arms to the hungry
Fight to keep flesh on their bones
Surrender my body for burning
Lay down everything that I own

But it's a far cry from love
It's a far cry from love
It's a far, far cry from love
It's a far cry from love


--------------------------------------------------
Entire "Vast Sea of Grace" Series:
Prelude: Just follow the Word, right?
The Vast Sea of Grace: Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3 -- Part 4
Summaries: So close but yet so far -- >Far Cry< -- Be a Man

So close but yet so far...

I really could keep on posting in the series called "The Vast Sea of Grace" forever because that's really what I love to write about all the time anyway! I think a summary of it all would be that we need to be rooted, grounded and established in God's love and grace before we can begin to expect any true godly fruit to come forth out of our lives.

A branch on the vine doesn't simply figure out what kind of plant it is and then look at the vine for instructions on how to bear fruit and then simply go about producing fruit. The branch "rests" (remains, abides) in the vine and draws all life and sustenance from the vine, and eventually (not immediately nor forcibly nor due to compulsion) the branch bears the fruit that the vine itself produces. It's a natural process, and if the branch tries to "help" the vine (such as when Abraham and Sarah tried to help God fulfill His promise that they would bear a son), the fruit that is produced is not God's natural fruit, no matter how lovely it might appear.

The rich young ruler was perhaps thinking that his "fruit" (keeping the commandments) was more than adequate to justify himself in front of a holy God. Jesus, by pointing out just how far short this man fell, caused him sadness as he realized he wasn't nearly as close to the kingdom of heaven as he thought. He went away sad, because just a few moments before he had considered himself close to the kingdom, but he now realized he was a lifetime away, because he hadn't realized that in order to come to God, he must give his entire life away.

IF ONLY he'd received the revelation that the Apostle Paul would eventually receive. (And perhaps one day he did receive this revelation). You not only have to give your life away, you have to die. But this death, of course, is not a death in which you physically give your body or your possessions away. It's a spiritual death, in which you give up any and all notions that anything you do - any of your law keeping or giving away of your possessions - will bring you even one step closer to God. You must die and be born again.

This can never happen through any of our own efforts. Out of this death - in which God places us on the cross with Jesus - comes a resurrection with Christ and the born-again life of a New Creation. The problem with the rich young ruler wasn't really that he had failed to sell his possessions and give to the poor. Let's just say he'd heard Jesus' words and said, "OH, YEAH! THAT'S WHAT I'M MISSING!" and then went and sold all he had and gave to the poor. Let's just say he then came back to Jesus, thinking that now he could truly justify himself in front of the Lord. Could he? Would he now be justified? Would Jesus say, "Well done my good and faithful servant, now you can enter into the joy of your Lord?"

NO! He still hadn't died to his self-efforts. If Jesus' point about the true depths of loving your neighbor as you love yourself hadn't driven this man to grace, perhaps Jesus could have then given the man an even bigger scenario about loving the Lord your God with ALL your heart, ALL your soul, ALL your mind and ALL your strength. No matter what, I think Jesus would keep giving the man more and more and more of the Law until he would finally get the point that he could never do it.

I guess you could say that this man was "so close but yet so far away" from the Kingdom of God. Far away, because to him it was still about what he could and couldn't accomplish. But oh so close, because perhaps his next step would be to realize that all of his self-effort was DUNG and all of his self-effort was RUBBISH (see Phil 3:4-9), and if he would only chuck it away and come into the Kingdom by grace alone, then he would truly give his life away and then be given new spiritual birth - a new life as a new creation, joined to the Vine, joined to God and one with Him, and now finally able to truly begin the process of bearing godly fruit.


--------------------------------------------------
Entire "Vast Sea of Grace" Series:
Prelude: Just follow the Word, right?
The Vast Sea of Grace: Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3 -- Part 4
Summaries: >So close but yet so far< -- Far Cry -- Be a Man

The Vast Sea of Grace - Part 4

Well, Part 3 was going to be the end of this. But I "accidentally" came across some of my notes from September 5, 2001 that sort of go along with this, so I thought I'd add some more. I was actually in the process of looking for something completely different, for a completely different reason... and a wireless notebook accidentally popped open to these notes from 2001. I curiously began reading what I'd written back then, and my jaw fell wide open as I realized how much it related to all of this. I thought maybe I'd simply type up those notes verbatim, but the way I take notes can generally only be interpreted by me, so I'll attempt to give the gist of it!

My notes started off like this (and this is verbatim):
"Instead of only focusing on trying to be obedient to God, it's good to have a good foundation of 'why.' It's one thing to know what He wants us to do, and often that's all we know. But to have a foundation in the Heart of God will shed perhaps a better perspective. To know 'do unto others as you'd like done to yourself,' and to do it only because of obedience, might get the job done, but not with the right heart."

I think what I was trying to say is that "just doing what the Word says" (as if it were that simple) might yield some results, but that doesn't mean obedience came from a heart of love, which has been built up over a period of time as a result of growing in grace.

I went on to write about "loving your neighbor as yourself" being not simply a command that God gave just for the sake of giving a command, but it truly is a reflection of the reality of who He is. I gave an example of that in Part 3 of this series, from 2 Cor 3:8, where it says that Christ who was rich became poor so that through His poverty we might become rich. That really is who God is. To love our neighbor as we love ourselves isn't something we can do to make ourselves more righteous. Rather it's a reflection of God's very nature.

And the only way for us to even begin to reflect God's nature is by His grace, not through obedience to commands. We seem to often have it backwards. The only way that I can even begin to have such love for my neighbor that I would do even one little thing for him (from a genuine heart of love) would be to first understand the value of that person apart from anything he's ever done to earn that value and apart from anything evil he's ever done. I would also have to understand who I am as someone who is in union with God Himself.

Again, I could go about my life, trying to obey commands, and even have some success, and still not have one ounce of love. Let's even take it this far: I could hear Jesus' command to love my neighbor as myself, and understand that to be truly obedient to that means that I sell all my possessions and give to the poor, and therefore in an effort to be obedient, I do actually sell all that I have and give to the poor. But yet I could do all this and still have absolutely no love. It would be obedience based upon... obedience... rather than doing it because I've grown in grace and I'm naturally reflecting God's love. I could say, "Lord, Lord, look what I've done in your name," and He could reply, "Depart from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you."

Which brings us back to the vast sea of grace! As we swim around in it and as we become rooted, grounded and established in it, over a period of time, we find more and more that "His commandments are not burdensome... for whatever is born of God overcomes the world... and this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith." (1 John 5:3-4). I believe the reason we end up finding that His commandments are not burdensome is because it ends up not being us who performs them. His love working in and through us, by His grace, is what is doing it all along. But if it's up to our own attempts to walk in anything that comes from the Word of God, then we bind ourselves to a heavy burden that we can never bear!

Grace, grace and more grace! What we need is to lay down our burdens, unshackle our hands and feet from the bondage of the law and legalism, and swim freely in the vast sea of grace!


--------------------------------------------------
Entire "Vast Sea of Grace" Series:
Prelude: Just follow the Word, right?
The Vast Sea of Grace: Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3 -- >Part 4<
Summaries: So close but yet so far -- Far Cry -- Be a Man

The Vast Sea of Grace - Part 3

The sea of grace is very vast and expansive. Yes, finally I'm getting to 'grace' here. :) When we finally realize and understand our utter helplessness and insufficiency at "doing" the things of God, through the words of the Law and through the words of Jesus Himself, we're finally in a position to understand, open up to, receive and embrace the complete sufficiency of the grace of God!

As always, I'm fully open to discussion on all of this. I believe that once the Law has truly convicted us of how unrighteous we are, we can never look at the Law again with the thinking that its purpose is to help us to know what to do nor to give us the power or motivation to go and do what it says. In saying "truly convicted," I'm talking about a conviction that is so deep that we realize we just can't do it. I'm not talking about what I believe is a shallow, so-called conviction that says, "Ok, I realize I've fallen short so I'll try harder now." The Law's purpose wasn't to convict us so that we'd try harder and harder until we actually did it. Its purpose was to stop our mouths from justifying ourselves in front of a Holy God! In the process, we then turn to the grace of God.

In exactly the same way, I believe that many of the words of Jesus were spoken for the same purpose. You know, I would love to have such love for my neighbor that I wouldn't even think twice about selling all I had and giving to the poor! I would love to love God and to love people like that. After all, that is the love of God. Jesus demonstrated it to the max. "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." (2 Cor 8:9). Man, I want to imitate that! I truly desire that!

But here's what I've really been trying to get to all along here. If I look at the words of Jesus, such as "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," and if I therefore say to myself, "well, Jesus commands it so I need to go do it," there is absolutely NO power found there to just go do it! When Jesus is asked, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?" and Jesus replies, "Seventy times seven," it's not at all as simple as saying, "well, Jesus commands it so I need to go do it." Again, I want to love my neighbor as I love myself. I truly desire to forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive, just as the Lord has forgiven me in Christ!

But if I just look at the words of Jesus and take them at face value, and then go out and try to apply them, I'm sunk before I even get started! The good news is that I can sink... or dive... deep below the words on the surface and swim in this vast sea of grace in which all the sufficiency for life and godliness is found. Never again can it be as simple as saying, "just do what the Word says." Life in Christ - life in the vast sea of grace - is so much richer and deeper than that!

What if someone sins against me, but in my heart I don't want to forgive that person or for some reason I "find it hard" to forgive. Well, the only option found in the conventional way of thinking is to remember Jesus' command to forgive, and His words "seventy times seven." As I said in the last post, I'm not in any way attempting to ignore or spit upon Jesus' words! But if my heart is in a place that can't muster up forgiveness for even one times one, then "seventy times seven" isn't going to help me one iota!

And so what we're left with is the option to go beneath the surface of the commands and submerge ourselves deeper and deeper into the vast sea of grace.

Paul tells us that he is what he is by the grace of God and he says that all his labor in the Lord was not really him... it was grace (1 Cor 15:10). He says that the sufficiency in all things and the abundance for every good work is found in the fact that "God is able to make all grace abound toward you" (2 Cor 9:8). And here's what is so very important. This makes all the difference in the Christian life. The heart grows when it's submerged in grace, and more importantly for this discussion, the heart grows in grace in a way that it can never grow through simply trying to be obedient to the Word of God. In fact, as the heart grows in grace, obedience to God becomes more and more of a natural outflow of the heart rather than something the heart desperately tries to conjure up.

Hebrews tells us that it is good for the heart to be established in grace (Heb 13:9). Peter tells us to grow in grace (2 Peter 3:18). I love putting these words together with Psalm 92, which says:

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the LORD
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing.
Ps 92:12-14

Isn't that wonderful! Tell me, can all or any of this be accomplished by anything less than grace?

Growing in grace is a process. It takes time and it can't be forced. It goes deep into the heart, and believe me, it sometimes involves growing pains! But I'd rather go deep below the surface and have those growing pains that lead to true growth and maturity of the heart than to live in the bondage and fruitlessness of trying to live by the face value of commands.


--------------------------------------------------
Entire "Vast Sea of Grace" Series:
Prelude: Just follow the Word, right?
The Vast Sea of Grace: Part 1 -- Part 2 -- >Part 3< -- Part 4
Summaries: So close but yet so far -- Far Cry -- Be a Man

The Vast Sea of Grace - Part 2

I very much recognize that "The Vast Sea of Grace - Part 1" didn't have a whole lot of grace in it! That was intentional. I think that in order for anyone to truly appreciate and appropriate grace, they must first truly understand what they look like apart from it. And even though I meant to go deep in regards to how far man really falls short of the glory of God, in and of himself, I really only scratched the surface.

Just think about the life of the rich young ruler. All his life, he had tried to keep the commandments of God and I think it would be an understatement to say that he seemed pretty pleased with his own performance. I can imagine him approaching his fellow Jew - this "good teacher," Jesus - with the attitude in his heart of, "Look at how well I've kept the commandments. Isn't that impressive?" He must have lived a life in which he was very happy about his performance before God and in which he thought God was pretty happy with him. I can imagine him yearning to get to talk to this man Jesus, so he could lay out his credentials and walk away feeling happy, having justified himself.

But to the contrary, after Jesus had a very short talk with him, "he became very sad..."

What's up with Jesus here? Didn't he come to embrace everybody and make them feel comfortable and to feel good about themselves? Doesn't God want us to do good? Why didn't Jesus congratulate this man for his stellar performance!? Why did he let this man go away sad?

Well, lest we start chalking up our good deeds like the rich young ruler, and presenting them before God as if to justify ourselves by what we do, let's remember that the only way to truly do that is to "be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matt 5:48). That's another statement that should make us feel happy about ourselves, right? :)

I know, I know... there's still no grace here in what's supposed to be talk of the "Vast Sea of Grace!" I'm getting to it. I thought two parts would cover this, but maybe three will be needed. Again, grace really means nothing to a person who doesn't think they need it, and I guess I wanted to establish that a little more. I believe that Jesus said a lot of what He said to people, not with the thinking that if He would tell them what to do, then the light bulb would turn on in their heads and they would go start doing it... but rather I think He really turned up the heat and applied more and more pressure so that the light bulb would turn on in their heads and they would finally understand just how far short of "doing it" they really are, and realize their need for full dependence upon grace.


--------------------------------------------------
Entire "Vast Sea of Grace" Series:
Prelude: Just follow the Word, right?
The Vast Sea of Grace: Part 1 -- >Part 2< -- Part 3 -- Part 4
Summaries: So close but yet so far -- Far Cry -- Be a Man

The Vast Sea of Grace - Part 1

In my last post, "Just follow the Word, right?", I simply listed several words that Jesus said and then surmised (rhetorically and sarcastically), "We just need to follow the Word and do what it says, right?" In the comments section, some of you added some more words of Jesus and also mentioned biblical words from others such as James, Paul, John, etc. This is not meant at all to spit upon or ignore any part of the Holy Word of God, as some might wrongfully infer, and while the point is probably obvious to many, for some reason it remains a hard thing for some people to understand that the point here is that walking according to the Word of God is not quite as simplistic as reading the Bible and simply doing what it says.

Let's take one of the "big" ones as an example. One of the top two commandments, not only from the Law but from the mouth of Jesus, says "You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself."

Ok, great... I now have some instructions and I therefore know what to go and do, right? I'll just go and show some love to my neighbor. And so in churches - even churches that teach a lot of grace - we hear that what the Christian life boils down to is simply loving God and loving people. "It's really that simple..."

I know this might sound strange, but is the easy yoke and light burden of Jesus really that simple? His yoke is easy and His burden is light. But what I'm asking is, is that easiness and lightness arrived at by simply reading the Word and going and doing it? After all, the Word itself says, "Be doers of the Word and not hearers only." But is it really that simple? Is it really as simple as hearing it and then going and doing it?

Well, if we have the courage to dive below the surface of it all, it would appear that our Lord Jesus pointed out that the commandment to love others as you love yourself is really far more complicated and involved than simply showing a little love to others around you. After being asked, "And who is my neighbor?" by a man who "wanted to justify himself" (Luke 10:29), Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, which in the end points out that the definition of the man's neighbor isn't just those he has an easy time with, but also includes his enemies. The man who was beaten by thieves was a Jew, and the Good Samaritan was... a Samaritan, an enemy of the Jews at the time. So not only does the definition of "neighbor" include your enemy, but Jesus said, "Go and do likewise," in regards to the good that the Samaritan did for the Jewish man.

As Bino pointed out in the comments of the last post, in Luke 18 Jesus revealed on a much deeper level the "doing" aspect of loving your neighbor as yourself. He revealed what it really means to love your neighbor as yourself. In short, the rich young ruler had claimed that he had done a good job of keeping the commandments ever since his youth (Luke 18:21), at least in his own eyes. Well, let's just say that he really had kept them all (as if!). Believe it or not, that still wouldn't be enough to satisfy a holy God! "You still lack one thing," Jesus told him. "Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me."

Let's just say you've never stolen. Great! (Although, of course, as Ray Comfort points out, stealing even a paper clip still means stealing, and that makes you a Law-breaker). Let's say you've never committed adultery. Wonderful! (Although, of course, if you've ever look at someone with lust, you have committed adultery). Let's just say you've never murdered. Fabulous! (Although, of course, "whoever hates his brother is a murderer." - 1 John 3:15). But let's just say you've not broken those laws whatsoever. Have you truly "done" what the Word says? Have you truly loved your neighbor as you love yourself?

Loving your neighbor as yourself doesn't just mean helping your friend put on their new roof or helping out at the potluck or going down to the homeless shelter to feed the poor. Yes, those are great, loving things to do. But to love your neighbor as you love yourself really means emptying yourself completely - dying to yourself - and giving your entire self over to someone else in the same way that you would do it for yourself.

Pretty easy, right?


--------------------------------------------------
Entire "Vast Sea of Grace" Series:
Prelude: Just follow the Word, right?
The Vast Sea of Grace: >Part 1< -- Part 2 -- Part 3 -- Part 4
Summaries: So close but yet so far -- Far Cry -- Be a Man

Just follow the Word, right?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.

Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Do not worry about tomorrow...

How many times should I forgive my brother? Seventy times seven.

Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

If anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.


All of these things are pretty easy to follow, right? We just need to follow the Word and do what it says, right?


--------------------------------------------------
Entire "Vast Sea of Grace" Series:
Prelude: >Just follow the Word, right?<
The Vast Sea of Grace: Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3 -- Part 4
Summaries: So close but yet so far -- Far Cry -- Be a Man

Place in This World and Face in This World

The original and the parody...

Smitty's looking for his place in this world...


Mark does Smitty's voice pretty good, but will he find his perfect face in this world?

Reason

I kind of wish this brother-sister duo (Philip and Natalie Larue) would have kept recording together. I like their vocals. One moved to the west coast, one to the east coast. I guess it's kind of hard to sing together like that. ;)

Larue - Reason


Then I see You there
Your arms around me, arms around me
And I have no fear
You're all around me, all around me

You mean peanut butter isn't green?

"Rightly dividing" and "correctly handling" the word of truth has been a subject I've been dwelling upon a lot lately. There's been a great conversation over at Grace in Flood on this, and I've posted here a few times on this in the past few weeks. In the comments at Grace in Flood, a newsletter article from Grace for the Heart was shared, and I wanted to share it here (click link below). In short, the basis of the article is that if you go into something with a preconceived notion, you'll interpret everything else according to your preconceived notion. It's a great article, and there are lots of other goodies there too for anyone who wants to be established in grace.

Newsletter Article: "P is for Perspective."

More Rich quotes...

Here's more from Rich Mullins' "Pursuit of a Legacy" video from 1994. Incidentally, I found out that it was re-released as a DVD in 2003 as well.

Rich Mullins on leaving a legacy:

"I hope that I would leave a legacy of joy. A legacy of real compassion. Because I think there is great joy in real compassion. I don't think that you can know joy apart from caring deeply about people - caring enough about people that you actually do something.

But I have a feeling... if my life is motivated by my ambition to leave a legacy, what I'll probably leave as a legacy is ambition. But if my life is motivated by the power of the Spirit in me - if I live in the awareness of the indwelling Christ - if I allow His presence to guide my actions, to guide my motives, those sorts of things, that's the only time I really think that we really leave a great legacy.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. My ambition to be "a good guy" is a fleshly ambition. [Inserted by me: Can anyone say, "John Eldredge - Wild At Heart?"] And when Christ calls us to take up our cross and follow Him, a lot of us think that what that means is we're supposed to lay down our vices and we're supposed to cling to virtues. But I think that unless Christ is Lord of our virtues, our virtues become dangerous to us and dangerous to the people around us.

I think that when Christ calls us to take up our cross, what He means is you must die not only to whatever vices are in your life - which He will eventually kill out - you must die to whatever virtues are in your life. Your life is not valuable because you're an articulate speaker. Your life is not valuable because you're a generous person. Your life is not valuable because of any of that.

If we empty ourselves of everything and allow God to be present, then it's no longer us. It's Him. Then it becomes a spiritual thing. And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. And that's when I think Christianity really begins to make sense."

Rich quotes...

It's a play on words, but not lacking in any truth whatsoever... I'd like to share some rich quotes from Rich Mullins.

This morning, after taking my kids to school, I came home and popped in my Rich Mullins video from 1994, "Pursuit of a Legacy." The 30-minute video contains 4 music videos from Mullins' album, "A Liturgy, A Legacy & A Ragamuffin Band," as well as some very candid and refreshing talk from Mullins. The use of the word "ragamuffin," by the way, was inspired by Brennan Manning's book, "The Ragamuffin Gospel," and in fact that's Rich sitting in front of the church on the cover of the book.

I'm not sure how much I can comfortably fit in this post, but I'll just get right into it and see. Rich says so many things on this video that are worth sharing that I want to share it all! If you can get your hands on a copy of this video... it's WELL worth it!

Rich starts out talking about how a hitchhiker sees a thousand cars pass him, but then when the one car stops and picks him up, that one act of compassion and grace makes him forget all the other drivers who just passed by, having no compassion on him. He compares this to the act of grace we receive in Christ. He also talks a little bit about how the "house of God" is people and not buildings. This first part of the video is very refreshing.

But it gets much better. He recalls a time when he was at a train station in Amsterdam with his friend Beaker. He says that in their conversation, he became "keenly and uncomfortably aware... of how, you know, you think you're getting somewhere, you're growing as a Christian, that kind of thing, and all the sudden you're in a situation where you go, 'I'm just as susceptible as when I was 16.'"

I mean, Rich was probably in his late 30's when he said that - which is where I'm at right now - and he was a big "Christian music" star, and here he is sharing his struggles openly and honestly. He was being very real, and I like that. No masks, no plastic smile. No faking that he's got it all together or that he's living some pious, extra-holy life.

He goes on to say that in their conversation at the train station in Amsterdam, they were talking in "explicit detail about the nature of our temptations." If you can picture this, here's a man and his friend who most likely wouldn't be easily recognized in public in Holland, speaking candidly and explicitly (in English) about their temptations, thinking nobody would even care enough to translate what they're saying. And a man leans over and says, "Excuse me, are you Rich Mullins?"

Wow...

He says he had to stop for a minute and think if he really was Rich Mullins! Then he concluded, yep I am Rich Mullins. Whether I like myself or not, that's who I am.

Rich goes on to talk about how people judge each other, and He compares this to God's view of us. He talks about "the realization that people are going to judge you and there are I think actually people who look for excuses to say bad things about you. But God doesn't look for those kinds of excuses."

Amen!

His next sentence actually made me break down in tears a few years back when I was watching it. I had given myself over to grace. I had crossed over the fence into Grace Land after having lived with the fear that maybe giving myself over to pure grace (trusting purely in grace and not in my own efforts to keep myself clean) would lead me into more sin rather than less sin. And here comes Rich with life-affirming words:

"And I think the conclusion of the matter for me was that I think I would rather live on the verge of falling and let my security be in the all-sufficiency of the grace of God than to live in some kind of pietistic illusion of moral excellence."

Yeah, I had to rewind that part several times to let it sink in...

"Not that I don't want to be morally excellent," he continues, "but my faith isn't in the idea that I'm more moral than anybody else. My faith is in the idea that God... and His love... are greater than whatever sins any of us commit."

I'm forever joyful for the legacy of Rich Mullins... and I will truly get into his own words about "legacy" in my next post (like I said I would do in my last post). Believe me, it's not your typical "Christian legacy" talk. :)

Rich Mullins, Oct 21, 1955 - Sept 19, 1997

Today, September 19th, 2007, it's been ten years since the passing of Rich Mullins, who died at the age of 41 due to a car accident. He and his friend Mitch McVicker were on their way to a benefit concert in Kansas when his Jeep flipped over. Both men were thrown from the vehicle. A passing tractor-trailer swerved to miss the Jeep and ended up hitting Rich. Just two or three days prior to this, they were in my town, Waterloo, Iowa, and I sincerely regret not having gone to see them.

There are so many ways in which my life has been impacted and inspired by Rich. It's mostly been through his music, but also through the things he's said and done. Many people, if they haven't heard his name, at least know him through his writing and performance of one of the most popular songs in the modern church, "Awesome God." Another popular song of his is "Sometimes By Step."

When I first began hanging around Christian friends in 1992, they gave me four cassette tapes. A David Meece tape, a Petra tape, a tape from a local artist named Steve Shapiro and Rich Mullins' tape, "Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth." I became a Rich Mullins fan right off the bat, and these days I have almost all of his music scattered around my house. I've sung at least 3 or 4 of his songs in church over the years. "Creed" is probably my favorite one to sing, and I love listening to the accompaniment track all by itself because it's such beautiful music. His expert playing of the hammered dulcimer added a lot of beauty to many of his songs, and to the songs of others as well. Off the top of my head I think of "Praise Song" by Third Day. A beautiful, beautiful song.

I have some favorite quotes of Rich that I'll share in another post, but I just want to say that Rich came across as one of the most authentic people I've ever seen. He seemed very open and honest about who he was, struggles and all. And he cared genuinely about others, in word and in actions. One of the things that strikes me about him is what he did with all the money he made. He obviously received royalties from his album sales and he made money from concerts. The short version of all this is that from all this money, he took a small salary and the rest was given away to charity.

Rich lived his last couple of years living in a hogan (example of a hogan on the left) at an Indian reservation in New Mexico, teaching music to children.

Rich's legacy lives on, and I'll post his own humble words about leaving a legacy in my next post.

(Photos from Wikipedia)

Destiny

This song was a great encouragement to me in the 90's as I battled with thoughts of not being worthy and as God built me up in Him being my sufficiency.

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil 1:6)

"For we are His workmanship..." (Eph 2:10)

"He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it." (1 Thess. 5:24)

"It's your destiny." (Petra)

I not only love the encouragement found in the lyrics, but for the first time today I saw the video and I was very moved by the theme of a video, as it shows the progression of life as a baby becomes a boy who becomes a man who becomes a father and eventually a grandfather.

Petra - Destiny


Words by Bob Hartman
Based on Romans 8:28-30

Time is a gift on loan
Fate is already known

It's your destiny to make it to the end
It's your destiny to go against the trend
Heavenly destiny, destiny

Plans are already laid
Debts are already paid

It's your destiny, your place
Within His will
It's your destiny, you alone can fill
Heavenly destiny

When you gonna see you're meant to be
You're chosen out of history
No one else can take your place
The one and only in the human race
One of a kind
When you gonna see He has a will
For you and only you fulfill your destiny

The steps of a righteous man
Are led by a Master's plan
It's your destiny, don't forsake the call
It's your destiny, a stone within the wall
It's your destiny, no accidental call
It's your destiny, you were meant to be
It's your destiny, only you can see
Heavenly destiny

The Major

I keep forgetting to write about this... About a month and a half ago (August 1, 2007), Major W. Ian Thomas "went to be with the One Whom he loved, served and about Whom he couldn’t stop talking." Not enough can be said about the man, but I guess he's known best for his dedication to the teaching of the "Exchanged Life" and "The Indwelling Life of Christ."

In the foreword to Bob George's "Classic Christianity" book, the Major wrote about those who "sincerely try to live a life they do not have, substituting religion for God, Christianity for Christ, and their own noble endeavors for the energy, joy, and power of the Holy Spirit," as well as "those who have a life they never live." You can find these quotes and many more on this website.

Also read his story and read dedications that people have written (or write your own) at www.majorianthomas.com.

Latest MOG TV video posted

I've recorded a few videos for Movement of Grace New Covenant Web TV, and my latest, "Mephibosheth," is now posted on my video blog. I've been doing this since May, and I've only recorded 7 programs. I hope to get my act together and record more frequently. :) There's a 50/50 chance that I may or may not do that...

Rightly dividing

About a week ago, I wrote about a particular issue that's never too far from my mind that has to do with reading the Bible in context (including, and even especially Jesus' words), and "rightly dividing" (or "correctly handling") the word of truth, as Paul reminds Timothy to do in 2 Timothy 2:15. I've had a few "real life" (person to person) conversations about this, and many online conversations as well. I wasn't necessarily going to visit this again here for a while, but I just thought I'd make mention of two other blogs on which this has come up recently.

In a blog post over at Grace in Flood that started out on the topic of Tithes and Offerings, the topic of 'rightly dividing' and 'correctly handling' was brought up in the comments section. See the post entitled, "This weeks question."

A blog post from Steve McVey today directly tackles this as well. Steve tells of how he handled a recent situation in which a man questioned him on all of this. The man told him he was twisting the words of Jesus, but I love how Steve skillfully turned it right back around through what I believe is the rightly dividing of the word of truth. See his post entitled, "Rightly Dividing The Word."

I always love to exchange thoughts on this subject. Any thoughts on all this?

How do you "obey" the gospel?

Paul's words in Romans 1:15-17 are probably my favorite explanation of the gospel and what is contained in it.

Rom 1:15-17
15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

So much is said here in such few words! Why is Paul not ashamed of the gospel of Christ? Because it (the gospel) is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes! The gospel is God's power to save people! And it only gets better! Paul goes on to say that in it (the gospel), "the righteousness of God is revealed." The gospel is the revelation of God's righteousness! Following Paul from 1:18 to 3:20, he speaks in great detail about the unrighteousness of man, including a great explanation about how it was the law's purpose to point that out.

With Paul making such a huge case for man's unrighteousness, the contrast becomes exceptionally clear between it and God's righteousness. In chapter 3:21 he brings it right back around to his original point in 1:17... "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed..."

So... two essential things here. 1. The gospel is God's power to save people. 2. The gospel reveals God's righteousness (contrasted greatly with man's unrighteousness). If it wasn't for the gift of God's very own righteousness, we would all be toast!

Later, in Chapter 10, Paul quotes from Isaiah as he talks about those who preach the gospel:

Rom 10:14-15
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!"

What Paul says next has always intrigued me, and it brings up a question that I think is worth discussing. In verse 16, Paul says, "But they have not all obeyed the gospel." We all know how to obey instructions and commands. But how do you "obey" the gospel? I've heard plenty of explanations of this that I don't agree with... Such as, "to obey the gospel is to obey God's commandments or Jesus' commands." Or "to obey the gospel means to do all the stuff that the scriptures tell us to do." You know, stuff like that. I'm sure many of you also disagree that that's what it means to obey the gospel! Given all that's said above about the gospel, and all the thoughts that have been shared about the question, "what is the gospel," what do you think? How does one "obey" the gospel?

God's gospel

I love talking about the gospel! It's been truly invigorating to read what you've all said about "What is the gospel?" in the comments of the last post. I've actually blogged about that question in the past, at least twice, but I truly wanted to open it up so we could all encourage each other with the truth of "the gospel!" You're still welcome to comment, any time.

Depending upon the version of the Bible, the actual word "gospel" appears around 100 times in the New Testament! And you can bet that gospel "talk" occurs many times over even when the word itself isn't actually used.

Some of my own thoughts on this come from Luke 2. And for me, this just gets things started!

At the birth of Jesus, we find an angel of the Lord appearing before some shepherds who were keeping watch over their flock by night. Luke 1:9 says that they were "greatly afraid." This is probably not a sight you see every day! But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people." The angel goes on to tell them of the birth of Christ the Lord. Then suddenly there was "a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!'" (Luke 1:13-14).

This story shouldn't just be told at Christmastime! This is a year round "gospel" story! Good tidings of great joy... Peace, goodwill toward men...

I like to point out that it says, "goodwill toward men." Not that there's anything wrong with people having goodwill toward each other, but I so often think that the world misses the point here. This is good news because it's all about God's goodwill toward mankind!

What is the gospel?

We hear the word "gospel" all the time. We all know the word means "good news." But what exactly is the gospel? What is the good news? What does the gospel teach us? How does it benefit us to know what the gospel is? Why is it good news? What about it makes it good news?

These are some great questions for discussion, I think. Perhaps in a small group or in a casual conversation with friends, or wherever you may have an opportunity to chat with others. What do you think of when you hear the word "gospel?" What does the Bible say about the gospel?

We could also discuss it here as well, if anyone's interested. What is the gospel?

The Law and Chocolate

From my "Internet Quick Hits" daily email from today:

If you're jones'n for some chocolate just give in. New research shows the more we try to fight off a chocolate craving, the more we desire it.

I don't agree one bit with the "just give in" statement, but doesn't this sound an awful lot like the power of the law at work!?

"The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law." (1 Cor 15:56)

Jesus was made sin, we were made righteousness

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us , that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor 5:21)

I can barely comprehend this.

I can think it. I can say it. I can tell it to others. But does it sink in?

Jesus became sin for us.


Jesus knew no sin, yet...


Jesus became sin for us.


And not only that, but...

We became the righteousness of God in Him.

We...

became the righteousness of God in Him.

(The word "might" in the phrase "might become" isn't the "maybe" type of "might." It literally means "to cause to be" or "come into being.")

God made Jesus sin and God caused us to be righteousness.


Jesus never sinned. And yet He was made sin.

We never did one righteous thing. And yet we were made to be righteousness.


Blows the mind...

But the spirit gets it. :)

Self effort, changed behavior and love

Some of my notes from early 2000.

1/00 God doesn’t change your behavior to make you suitable for salvation. God doesn’t change your character or behavior to comply with the law so that you now are able to live according to the law.

2/00 Law doesn’t change the heart. Adherence to it may change behavior (temporarily) because a person might fear punishment or consequences - but changed behavior does NOT mean a changed heart.

3/00 All of our self effort - added up and accumulated - comes nowhere close to even an ounce of grace. You have to let go of self effort and rely on God’s mighty hand and grace.

2/00 Love behaves naturally. If you have to force yourself to do something, it’s not real love.

You won’t live like a child of the King unless you have confidence in who you are in Him... unless you are sure of who you are. You gain this surety, not by what you do, but by what you believe (in whom you trust). What you do comes out of this trust. It's a result of this faith.

Any thoughts on any of this?

Why Should the Devil Have all the Good Music

Even though I spent 11 years in Christian radio (at a Christian Hit Radio station), I'm really not one who draws lines between "Christian Music" and "Secular Music." To me, "Christian Music" is more of an industry term that helps define a "genre" of music that gives listeners and buyers a better idea of the lyrical content. "Secular Music," however, is a not an industry term, but rather is a term coined by Christians to define all other music that's not recorded by "Christian Artists" with "Christian Content." While I'm sure this is helpful for people who want only specific lyrical content in the music they listen to, I've grown away from using these terms and criteria when it comes to deciding what music to listen to.

The Holy Spirit has spoken to me too many times through so-called "secular" music that I simply can't keep my musical and lyrical criteria in a box. I do love a lot of "Christian" music, and I certainly won't throw out all the music created by my brothers and sisters in that industry. But I guess what I'm getting at is that just as "life" covers all kinds of things, I enjoy lyrical content in music that covers all areas of life. I don't go around saying "God" and "Jesus" in every sentence that I speak throughout each day, because plainly and simply, my entire life is in Christ. "His Name" defines my entire life, whether I say it or not and whether I have my hands in the air praising Him or whether I'm watching my St. Louis Cardinals lose four straight games when they're in a pennant race at the end of the season!

Sure, there's some pretty nasty stuff out there (lyrical content in music) that I just don't have the time of day for. Not to mention that there's plenty of legalism in "Christian" music that I steer clear of as well! Anyway, having thought of all this for a long, long time over the years, there's plenty more I could say here. If anyone's interested, we could certainly start a discussion.

I really began writing all of this simply as my own introduction to this video! Now on the one hand, you could take this song to be the antithesis to all I've said here (!), in that it could be interpreted as saying that all music that's not "Christian" is of the devil. On the other hand, I really think the song was written in 'rebellion' against those who say that all rock 'n roll music, in and of itself (even with "Christian" lyrics), is of the devil. That was a much bigger issue back in the day. Either way, Larry Norman (the "Grandfather of Christian Rock") has a lot of fun with this song, recorded live. I've seen him live in concert, and he often forgets lyrics or spends time jumbling through papers trying to find certain songs, but he has a lot of fun with it. He seems to not take himself too seriously, which I believe is something we could all grab a hold of!

Why Should the Devil Have all the Good Music

Rock This Town!

Just for fun!

I'm not exactly what you'd call a country music fan... but this song rocks perfectly for me! Ricky Skaggs, Brian Setzer (of the Stray Cats) and Marty Stuart have fun with this classic from the 80's (originally done by the Stray Cats of course). If you don't at least tap one toe to this song, there's something wrong with you!

Jesus always spoke truth, but...

Question: When did the New Covenant begin? When did it go into effect? What we commonly call the "New Testament" begins with Matthew Chapter 1, Verse 1. Does that mean that right off the bat, after we're done with the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, and begin with Matthew, we're now completely in "New Covenant" territory in everything we read from that point on?

Hebrews 9:16 reminds us of the fact that "where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator." My conclusion, after reading this and the rest of that chapter, is that the New Covenant began with the death of Jesus. ("...not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood." "This is the blood of the Covenant..." "...without shedding of blood there is no remission." Etc). The shedding of the Blood of Jesus, and His death, marked the beginning of the New Covenant. Therefore, much of what is written in Matthew through John refers to a time period that was before the New Covenant.

Jesus, while alive in the flesh, came ministering under the Old Covenant. (Many of Jesus' teachings were from the Old Covenant). He often taught Law. My question is, then... Since Jesus is the one Christians call God and Messiah, are all His teachings from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, therefore, teachings for Christians to follow?

Jesus always spoke truth. God always speaks truth. But yet there is much that God has said, spread all throughout the Old Testament, that Christians do not follow. Obvious examples include animal sacrifices and purification rituals. We also pay no attention to God's Old Covenant words in Leviticus, to "not sow your field with mixed seed" and to not wear a garment of mixed linen and wool. Why do Christians find it so easy to not follow these various Old Covenant words and commands of God and yet we insist that everything Jesus said is God's word to Christians?

Remember again that Jesus lived before the New Covenant began. Many of His teachings were Old Covenant teachings. That said, He did speak and teach a lot about the New Covenant, too. This is where I believe it's very important to "rightly divide the word of truth." All of what Jesus said was truth. But in what context? Just like all of God's word is always truth, we have to understand the context in order to understand the proper application.

Here are several questions to ask when reading the Bible, including Jesus' words:

- To whom are the words spoken?

- Which Covenant is represented in the teaching?

- What is the overall point being made?

Jesus sometimes was speaking exclusively to Jews. At other times, His audience was exclusively made up of Gentiles. Other times it was mixed. Sometimes His words were aimed toward humble people and sometimes He spoke with proud people. All of this brings up even more questions. If He's speaking exclusively to Jews, is He teaching the Old Covenant or is He teaching them about the coming New Covenant? If He's teaching the Old Covenant... what's His purpose in doing that? If He's teaching the New Covenant... why is He doing that? Did Jesus ever talk "law" with Gentiles? Was His approach to the humble different than His approach to the proud? In any given teaching, is He talking "Christian" doctrine?

Some of the answers here may be easy and some may be more complicated. And there are many more questions too! But the point I want to make is something that some Christians seem to have a hard time with. You can't simply take all of Jesus' words at face value. There, I said it! You're free to go now, or tear your clothes, or call me a heretic. But I mean what I said.

We must look at all of Jesus' words in context.

Here's one example that I've heard all too often in the church. It's said that "Jesus taught the tithe, so the tithe is a Christian principle." Well, it's true that Jesus "taught" the tithe in Matthew 23:23. But following my three questions from above... To whom are the words spoken? Jesus is speaking to Jews, and more specifically to self-righteous, proud Pharisees. Which Covenant is represented in the teaching? The tithe Jesus refers to is unmistakably from the Law. All those listening to Jesus knew He was referring to their Law. What is the overall point being made? Jesus points out lots of things in Matthew 23, including the self-righteousness, pride and hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Verse 23 is part of His whole diatribe. Sure, they've faithfully tithed, but they've ignored other things. Jesus calls them on their hypocrisy and tells them they should keep "the weighter matters of the law," as well as the tithe!

So, should we regard this as Christian doctrine? Should we "pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin" and keep the weightier matters of the Law too? I would answer that this is obviously not New Covenant teaching! We (Christians) have died to the Law in order to be joined to Christ. Jesus' whole diatribe to the Pharisees was a matter of showing them just how unclean they really were, even though they might have had the "appearance" of being clean. (He called them "whitewashed tombs").

As I talked about in The Preaching of the Law - Part 1 and The Preaching of the Law - Part 2, there is a place and a purpose for Law teaching, but it's not for Christians! Its purpose is to condemn, stop mouths and ultimately lead people to Jesus. I believe Jesus used the Law very skillfully for all its rightful purposes, and more to the point of this post, I believe He didn't use the Law in ways for which it was not intended. That is, He didn't use the Law at any time as a matter of teaching Christian doctrine. Again, in this specific example, He showed the Pharisees that they stood condemned because they hadn't really been the wonderful Law-keepers that they supposed themselves to be. And His teaching stopped their mouths. After this, they had two options (in general). Try to prove themselves as righteous by trying harder to keep the Law, or to give up on their efforts and turn themselves over to the grace of God for salvation.

There are so, so many other words of Jesus that are taught in the church as Christian doctrine that really aren't directed towards Christians! Oh, but yes there are many Red Letters (I just remembered that I've written about this before) that are words of life to Christians, too! I pray for wisdom for the church to sort all this out skillfully!

Incorrect sayings from a man after God's own heart...

The other day I said I'd mention some things that people said in the scriptures that, when held up in the light of truth, simply either aren't true OR need to be looked at in context.

One huge example of incorrect words that sticks out to me is David's words in Psalm 119 (the Psalm is attributed to David by many scholars, and I agree with their reasons but I won't get into that here). In this Psalm, David seems to have a pretty high view of his keeping of God's law.

Quick examples:

34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;
Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
For I have hoped in Your ordinances.
44 So shall I keep Your law continually,
Forever and ever.
45 And I will walk at liberty,
For I seek Your precepts.

55 I remember Your name in the night, O LORD,
And I keep Your law.
56 This has become mine,
Because I kept Your precepts.

92 Unless Your law had been my delight,
I would then have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget Your precepts,
For by them You have given me life.

Wow! This could end up being a very long post, because there's so much to discuss just in those few verses! I'll try to be brief. And I'll just say that the main reason I bring all this up is because I hear Christians quoting verses such as these and using them in Christian teachings!

First off, let it always be known that the Law is holy, just and good (see Rom 7:12). The Law is from God. It's God's word. We can never speak bad about the Law. What's always in question is man's keeping of God's Law!

David thought that if God would just give him understanding, he would be able to keep His Law. In fact, he said he would observe it with his whole heart. He thought that hoping in God's ordinances would result in him keeping God's Law "continually, forever and ever." David thought he would walk in liberty by his keeping of God's precepts. One sentence that really sticks out to me is when David says, "by them you have given me life."

If we were to bring all of this into our Christian churches and teach all of David's words to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, my question is... would there be a lot of "Amen's?" Would the church today see anything wrong with David's words? Do they know how to sort through - and "rightly divide" - the word of truth?

The Apostle Paul, after years of thinking like David had thought in all of this, ended up coming to a completely different conclusion. Paul taught the church the opposite of what David had written, and of what he himself had previously thought! That's what I'm getting at here. Just because a highly credible person said it (David was "a man after God's own heart"), it doesn't mean he was correct.

Contrast the above verses with these New Covenant revelations:

Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Rom 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. (See also verses 8-11, in which Paul says that the Law, which he thought was to bring life, actually brought death, and see 2 Cor. 3:7-10 in which Paul calls the Law the ministry of death and the ministry of condemnation).

Both David and Paul had thought that they received life by the Law. The old thinking was that true liberty was found in law-keeping. But the "yoke of bondage" that Paul talks about in Galatians is the Law! He says stand free in Christ and don't get caught up in the bondage of Law-keeping.

There is no amount of seeking God, seeking after understanding, meditating upon Law, delighting in the Law... etc... that will ever enable any person to ever keep the Law. David, although having somewhat of an understanding of mercy and grace, didn't have the full revelation of the New Covenant that we have today. He spoke from deep within his heart... but his heart and his understanding was simply not correct.

I'm not picking on David. My aim is to point us all in the direction of the New Covenant (which is not "Old Covenant, Part 2"). Whenever we read the words of the scriptural characters, we have to always keep this question in mind: "Is this the truth of the New Covenant?" Just because it's in the Bible, doesn't mean it's true and it doesn't mean it's a Christian teaching. And even if it's a word spoken by someone in the "New Testament," that also doesn't mean it's a Christian teaching. I'll get into that next.

Grave Robber

Petra - Grave Robber


There's a step that we all take alone
An appointment we have with the great unknown
Like a vapor this life is just waiting to pass
Like the flowers that fade, like the withering grass
But life seems so long and death so complete
And the grave an impossible portion to cheat
But there's One who has been there and still lives to tell
There is One who has been through both heaven and hell
And the grave will come up empty-handed that day
Jesus will come and steal us away

(Chorus)
Where is the sting, tell me where is the bite
When the grave robber comes like a thief in the night
Where is the victory, where is the prize
When the grave robber comes
And death finally dies

Many still mourn and many still weep
For those that they love who have fallen asleep
But we have this hope though our hearts may still ache
Just one shout from above and they all will awake
And in the reunion of joy we will see
Death will be swallowed in sweet victory

When the last enemy is gone from the dust will come a sound
Those asleep will be awakened - not a one will be forsaken
He shall wipe away our tears - He will steal away our fears
There will be no sad tomorrow - there will be no pain and sorrow

It's one or the other, brother...

Rom 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

Some things in the inerrant scriptures aren't true!

You read the title of this post right! The God-inspired, inerrant, infallible scriptures contain lots and lots and lots of statements and actions from people that are simply false and wrong!

Now, I know that if my posting of a Marylin Manson & Alice Cooper video the other day didn't drive anyone away, my above statement probably did! But if you know me well enough, you'll hopefully stick around long enough to see what I'm talking about. :) This is sort of a follow-up to my last post (It depends upon what the definition of "this" is...) and some comments that were left there.

I'll start with a true story. In a newsgroup one time a certain man from Australia told of how he'd ordered some merchandise from overseas. His mailing address included "NSW, Australia." I'm not sure what country he ordered from, but the person in that country who packed his order took the liberty of interpreting "NSW." This person probably didn't even think twice about mailing the package addressed to "North South West, Australia." That would make sense to him, according to his preconceived understanding of the meaning of those letters.

But look again and think about it. Does it really make sense? Can you look at a map (any map, not just a map of Australia) and point to a location known as North South West? It makes no sense whatsoever! Fortunately, when the package arrived in Australia, the postal workers there were keen enough to find and correct this error. They probably got a good laugh out of it as they changed "North South West" to "New South Wales." :)

The point is that we often bring our preconceived notions and ideas into our "interpretation" of the things of life... including our Bible reading. I mentioned one example in my last post. ("This is the day the Lord has made"). Another example, which I mentioned in the comments of that post: We rip Job's words right out of Job 1:21, "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away," and we even sing a song about it. Now, we do read in the following verse, "in all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong," but... even though he didn't sin nor charge God with wrong, were his words correct? In all of Job's afflictions from Chapter 1, was it God who took away?

James B. Richards has a very interesting and insightful message on all of this. This link will take you to a MySpace page on which you can hear the message, "Don't Blame God." In this message, Richards talks about how this passage in Job has been grossly misused in the midst of tragedy in the lives of people. I won't get into the full content of the message, but early on he says, "How many of you know there's things in the Bible that are not true?" He goes on to reassure, "I believe in the inerrancy of the word of God..." But here's the thing: Just because someone in the Bible said it, doesn't mean it's the truth!

How about if we took any or all of Job's words and built doctrines around them? After all, it's in the Bible, and the Bible is the inerrant word of God, so whatever Job declares must be true! What's more, Job "was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil." Wouldn't that add to his credibility? But in the end, after Job has complained, and upheld his views of his own righteousness and integrity, and made a huge, essentially self-righteous speech before God and man, "the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind" and rebuked him for all his foolish talk! The Lord says, "Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it."

Job's response in the end: "Um, duh, doh, uh, uh, um..." (Or as the New King James Version words it, "I have uttered what I did not understand.") (Job 42:3)

There are other things in Scripture said by credible people that are worth questioning... or at least worth taking a look at in context. In saying this, I don't mean to imply that I've got a handle on it all, but what I'm trying to do is point towards the direction of thinking about things and not just soaking in everything we hear or that we've been taught. This type of thinking and scrutinizing doesn't come automatically, but I believe the Holy Spirit is faithful to give us wisdom. Perhaps this can be something to pray about often.

I'll bring up a few more of these scriptures in an upcoming post, including David's many words in which he seems to put a lot of hope in his faithful keeping of God's law, and Jesus' words that I believe always need to be understood in context.

It depends upon what the definition of "this" is...

Ps 118:21-26
21 I will praise You,
For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation.

22 The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This was the LORD's doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.

25 Save now, I pray, O LORD;
O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!
We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.

"This" is the day the Lord has made. What is the day the Lord has made? What's being referred to as "this?" Sunday? Each new day?

I've heard many well-meaning people rip this line right out of context. In fact, I've heard some great theological-types, who take great care with the exegesis of the Bible, stand there and proclaim that "today" (whatever new day it may be) is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in "today."

I have NO PROBLEM celebrating today! But is that what this particular scripture is really talking about?

Look at what it says...

"The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone."

"This was the Lord's doing."

"This is the day the Lord has made."

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."

This prophetic Psalm isn't talking about just any other ordinary day. It's pointing to one day in particular. What was the Psalmist thinking? "Hmm, right in the middle of this prophecy, I think I'll just thrown in quick props to God for "today." Not. :)

Remember what the people were shouting when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, a week before His crucifixion?

Matt 21:9
"Hosanna to the Son of David!
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'
Hosanna in the highest!"

This was in preparation for that great day that the Lord had planned from the beginning.

"This was the Lord's doing." Right in line with another prophecy, this statement tells us that "this day" and its events were planned and executed by God Himself. Isaiah 53 says quite a lot about this great day. Isaiah prophesies of Jesus, "The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6). Isaiah goes on to say, "It pleased the Lord to bruise Him. He has put Him to grief." (Isaiah 53:10). This was all the Lord's doing. We didn't put Jesus on the cross. God did.

"The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone." Matthew, Mark, Luke and Peter all reference this prophecy. (Matt 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, 1 Peter 2:6). The "stone," of course, is Jesus. I've preached a handful of "sermons" in my life (perhaps one for each finger on one hand), and one of them was around Christmastime, eight or nine years ago. I taught a little bit on the "chief cornerstone" and the "rock of offense." I'll see if I can dig up my notes from that.

What it all boils down to is this. This is the day the Lord has made: The day the stone the builders rejected became the chief cornerstone. The day God became our salvation. The day the sacrifice was bound with cords to the horns of the altar. (Psalm 118:27).

If we're to give praise to God and rejoice and be glad in a certain day... let it be that day! Let it be a continuous celebration of that day!

Learning to trust

This started out as a response to a comment from Matthew (Daelon), but I saw that it was getting long so I decided to make it a regular post. This will also allow me to elaborate a little more on some points.

Even having grown up "in the church" and having had a close walk with Jesus for almost 16 years, I'm still in the process all working this stuff out, in regards to God's discipline and working in the circumstances in our lives. :) And I plan to be in this process for a very long time.

My underlying thought on this is that everything in life is part of our relationship with God. In Him we live and move and have our being. The bottom line, as I see it, is that we're in a growing process to match our thinking and behavior with the reality of our true spiritual identity in Christ. This process is ongoing.

Here's a question to ask about all of the trials, temptations, struggles, etc, that we go through. Is the confusion, sin, doubt, etc, of God? The Bible says God is not the author of confusion. God tempts no one. He says "don't doubt, don't worry." He tells us that His perfect love casts out all fear. And so on and so on.

What I'm getting at is that in the midst of our circumstances, if our thoughts, emotions and wills are working contrary to faith and trust in the true God, it's not that God is causing us to think like that or to behave a certain way as the result of our faulty thinking. Rather, these are a result of thinking according to the flesh, and the good news is that we can see these as opportunities for us to renew our minds and to trust more and more in God. They are opportunities for us to grow, and until we "arrive," we can expect this to keep happening. I know of no one who's arrived. :)

I do believe that God Himself can and will "turn up the heat," but in doing so He will never be the cause of our sin, doubt, confusion, etc. People say, "The Lord won't put any more on you than you can bear." But that's not what the Bible says. It says He won't let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. So right there I see that He isn't the cause of our doubt, fear, sin, etc. If we give into temptation - as we all do - it's not God that caused it. He was there all along, providing the way out.

So when He "turns up the heat," it's not a matter of Him tempting us or causing us to fear, worry or sin, but rather I believe He will allow the circumstances of our lives to be more than what we can bear in our own strength, so that we will run to Him - the One who Himself bears our burdens.

The Sweet Tea example has two parts to it. The first part is spiritual. The second part is soulful. When a sinner repents of the one sin that keeps him from God - unbelief - he comes to Christ by faith and God makes him a brand new creation, spiritually speaking. The spirit is our identity - it's who we are. "Who we are" becomes a new creation, joined as one with God's spirit.

The growing part, I believe is soulful. Our spirits don't become more and more one with God. To me, that's like saying red and blue become more and more "one" with each other to make it "more" purple. But our souls (mind, will, emotions) haven't been "born again" (made into a new creation) and they don't quite take hold of the reality of what's happened in our spirits. That's where the lifetime of growing takes place, I believe. Our soul, which thinks, feels emotions, makes choices and decides our will, needs constant renewing to the truth of God's word. "God's word" can mean "the Bible," but it can also mean the ways He speaks to us in and through our circumstances, and through other people, etc.

My son just turned 9. He's old enough to have already made plenty of foolish decisions in life. :) However, he is my son no matter what. I believe I've gained a certain amount of wisdom in this life, and I want to pass it on to him. So I talk to him, teach him, lead by example, etc. Sometimes I set up certain circumstances in his life on purpose in order to help him grow in wisdom. One easily relatable example that comes to mind is swimming lessons. He has always been afraid of "going into the deep end" of pools. His fear is unnecessary. But he has struggled with learning to swim, so we're paying for swimming lessons. In order for him to learn to swim, he has to get into the pool. He has to follow the instructions of the swimming teacher and he has to trust the swimming teacher! He need not fear the deep end, but until he goes through this process, he will fear the deep end. He already has all the "tools" needed for swimming (simply put: a healthy body), but he needs to learn how to use them.

There are other areas of his life in which I will sit back and watch him make foolish mistakes! Sometimes I'm tempted to step in and "save" him, but if it's not a dangerous situation, I'll often let him make mistakes. And he'll have to learn from them. This is usually after I've already taught him the truth. He'll then (hopefully) see the wisdom of his dad, and not continue to make the same mistakes. But he might just have to make the same mistakes over and over again! And he'll still be my son.

The point in all this is that just as I want my son to grow in "my" wisdom (which is far from perfect - and he's even taught me a thing or two), and I'll use all sorts of circumstances in life to teach him and help him to grow, I believe our Father does the same for us, with perfect wisdom. He knows when to turn up the heat and He knows when we simply need to cuddle up on his lap. But He'll never cause anything in our lives that goes against His nature. I think that His "aim" (which is never off) is to lead us into trusting Him more and more.