never too late

There’s something going on. Something potentially big. Something good … wonderful really, and we need to consider being a part of it.

I’ve been watching. I’ve been a part of ‘it’, although I didn’t know it existed as such. I’ve read, and thought, and soul-searched and wandered, and wondered … and found myself in the company of like-minded Jesus people, albeit a surprise to me. And it keeps coming, like a fresh tide.

There’s a context, of course. The context is human history; the immediate context is the last few hundred years, beginning around the time of the Reformation with Zwingli and Luther and Calvin and … so on.

For a long time the Christian religion had been state-sanctioned; the two sleeping in the same bed, birthing children, rearing families, ordering societies, breathing their blend of morality, branding the ‘immoral’ as outlanders and punishing them, often severely, sometimes with torture and death. Both had their reasons, their agendas, and they apparently were better able to realize those agendas through their licentious relationship.

Most of the ‘christianized’ world lived under the reign of Roman Catholicism – suffered under it really. For a long time. Then Luther erupted and others followed suit, and a rebellion ensued; a good rebellion for the most part. It overturned the sickening rule of the RC church and started a move back to Scripture, back to the roots, driving back the wickedness, the abuse, the horrors, and opening new doors for liberated people, at least those who dared to follow. Much of it was good. But the overriding error is that the Rebellion took along a bag when it left the ruling church instead of leaving all the junk behind. To envision that bag look at the Anglican Church (Episcopalean) and compare it to the RC church. There are many similarities. Way too many. And that extends throughout Protestantism to one extent or another. They too hoisted their flags, climbed into this or that bed, and enacted their own rule-of-law, punishing the offenders just as their forefathers had done. Sick! Why don't we learn?

Why on Earth did they have to pack that bag?? They should have burned the whole thing, and re-started, from scratch … I think, anyway. And ever since Christianity has struggled between the apparent need to govern its people and the Spirit’s cry of “freeeedommmmmm ! “, reminiscent of William Wallace’s agonizing cry as his innards were ripped out in Braveheart. For God invites freedom in the Spirit, and dismisses regulation by law. Jesus, bless his name, put an end to that – he burned the bags; all of them. A L L.

Some Christians began to wonder at the rules and the straightjackets and shackles … “Aren’t we supposed to be free of these things?” Free. Ruled by the Spirit of God, not the commandments of men, or so Scripture seemed to say anyway. And some of them began to speak out, to question, to re-search the Scriptures, to rethink and reboot – reframe the box that christianity had been shut-up in. The movement was small, and often elicited cries of ‘blasphemy’. But it hasn’t stopped. It thrives. And I, for one, am blessed. Thoroughly. I grew up in a regimented rules-driven religiosity. I wore the shackles.

I found myself questioning and always wondering why this was so onerous. Why? Is it supposed to be like this? It’s hard. I’m always under condemnation, mostly my own. I feel constantly judged, under this huge burden of guilt … kind of how Luther felt, I guess, and why he beat himself with a whip every night, thinking that would atone for some of his sins…

I had been raised in a Protestant church, American-styled Fundamentalist Baptistic like. And the Scripture was the basis for everything. And the teaching was mostly very good, and motivated by right-seeking preachers and teachers. Why then the guilt, the whip? I had become a Pharisee. I lived according to the rules and regulations of religion, and the bylaws of my church. And I suffered dreadfully under the load. My fault. Noone else’s of course. And it hurt like hell. I castigated myself for my sinful self, and caused myself much disappointment, depression, failuremindedness … dread. I dared not die, for God would surely judge me to the full extent of the Law. Branded.

And all that time I portrayed myself in public as some good Christian person, by default righting all the wrongdoers, pointing out the right way – the lonestar Christian bible-slinger, ready to draw at the hint of error, and draw from either hip at that. I never meant to be that. it wasn't like i was trying to be deceitful, speaking with forked-tongue, fooling people. I never set out to purposely offend people or judge them. It wasn’t my intention to be the shooter. I was simply trumpeting truth. It just came with the territory, and I bit the bullet and rode the trail. I turned myself into God’s defender … ha! .. me, sinner of sinners.

Then crisis hit my life, and it brought wakeupsy; massive soulal heart attack. In my crisis I began to search like never before, looking earnestly for the god of the bible. I challenged my assumptions, my presuppositions, my Christianity, my theology, my salvation, my entire spiritual life. I was in search of me, and in search of the God I knew was there. Everything was loseable. Nothing was sacred. Everything could be dumped on the table to be shuffled, sorted, inspected, cut-up, discarded, filed, or re-confirmed and treasured as I reexamined every piece of me, my beliefs, my life, my heart, my God.

There are others like me out there. Maybe not many as bad-off as I. Maybe not as poor. Maybe not as destitute. But they struggle in their own way, in their own world, under whatever rules them, looking for release, for redemption, for the ‘easy yoke’, the ‘light burden’ – for freedom in the presence of Jesus.

I admit that I have reservations about the teachings of some of these new theologies, new Bible-think. I admit to questioning and looking to see how they get where they are on this or that issue. But I am in. I have bound myself to a journey that leads i-don’t-know-where for i-don’t-know-how-long .. till I get there, I guess. I just know that back there is death, and i have to move forward. I travel light. I grasp lightly the things of this world – they are mostly a drag on my trek, an added burden. I carry a small pack with a Bible, and a staff, and have a bushy-tailed companion who reminds me that life is for racing around the next turn, lots of tail-wagging and smileys, each new day dawning in anticipation.

I walk now without the whip, holster trashed, away from the old Christianity, headed into a life of freedom in God Spirit, available to be used by him if ever he has any task, and always thankful for it, thankful that he would even consider using such a one as I.

I think mostly he just wants me to help someone here and there as I trek. Nothing big, nothing notable; just bit by bit, as I see someone in need, helping out if I can. And that smells like the Kingdom to me, and the scent is flat-out rejuvenating, fresh as a sea bath to my soul.

Surely there are the stresses, there is the ongoing madness igniting and exploding all around me, and I have to run for cover from time to time, get some r-and-r, re-centre, balance. But that’s all part of walking this road, ‘cause there’s another accuser out there (besides my self) who wants me dead dead. I respect that Accuser – he’s a wily and powerful foe, not to be taken lightly or underestimated at all. But I also have a committed brother-friend that has his eye out for me who (more often that I am aware of, I’m sure) gets my back.

I relish it. Vastly different from what was. Life. Life with passion. Life with vision and purpose, with verve, freeness, unencumbered by the things of this Worldsystem. Headed along the Kingdom road, whistling, looking at the flowers, listening to the birds, looking for the next place to lay my head, the next neighbour in need.

Join me … you’ll never go back.

shalom

i love the sun

Watching the sun come up on this cold day, reminds me of how much I appreciate the sun... and makes me think of the contrast: the cold, and the potential heat from that rising sun.

It makes me think too of the Son, that when we see him the contrast with this world is turned up. The world feels colder and looks darker, because we see the Son, and we know the Son. We know the effect he has, the warmth he brings, the light he is – he is surely capable of reversing the madness we live in, the cold, the dark, and bring light to the contradiction.

This is Jehovah, incarnated as Jesus (he had to be made like them, fully human in every way [Heb 2.17]), suffering, dying, rising from the death-tomb, ascending from this Earth system to represent us to God against the accusations of the Accuser, the Satan. It is this Son of whom I speak, to whom I look, on whom I gaze. And that gaze fires my soul, warms my heart, and I can see the truth, I can see the way, I can walk in the life of that Son … and the cold darkness recedes as he rises, it leaves in his presence.

Question .. Am I seeing? Am I gazing? If I know the principle, and have experienced the reality of it … do I?

There is so much hope there. Where are we to go for hope but here? Where indeed.

If I am in the Son, if I live in the Son, if I move in the Son, if I walk in the Son, through his Spirit, I can walk in light, even though all around is dark. I can be warm when everything is dreadfully cold.

So then …. why on Earth wouldn’t I? 

do I ? …. ..

shalom

read ye all of it

I made a private commitment last year to push Scripture-reading whenever I had the chance. From time to time I am reminded of this - there is the nagging reality of the Biblical illiteracy that exists today, even within the ‘Bible Belt’. We are a far, far cry from ye olde churched community. And then too I am shocked at the ‘take’ on theological positions by those studied in the field, with their doctorates and masterates, often asking myself ‘how on Earth do they go to Scripture and come away with that?’. (Not that I am any expert on the Scriptures by any means – what I have learned is from a 30-year ‘pastime’ of mostly private Biblical and theological study. I stand ready to be accused of heresy and misinterpretation, as I assume the experts are.)

On that note, there’s a thought I’d like to pass on. Maybe you can get something out of it.

About 2/3 of the Bible is ‘Old Testament’. I tend to run from the word ‘old’ for the very reason I write this: it leads to, at the very least, a subconscious relegation of that portion of the Scriptures to the proverbial shelf. We treat it as old, not currently relevant, no real use to me in my spiritual life, defunct.

However, the fact is … the very thing I just said: it makes up 2/3 of the Bible. How then can we push aside such a large portion of Scripture as if it means nothing to us? Chew on that a minute. Because of that mentality, we neglect it, and don’t read it. Maybe we read the early chapters of Genesis, run to the Psalms when we’re in trouble or depressed. Sometimes we go to other parts to bolster some theory, exposit on some theme.

Maybe we should start here: the person that gave us the Scriptures is God. That’s … God. The Creator. Master-of-the-Universes God. That person. If he gave them, and has preserved them for us all this time, how should we regard them … all of them? If we don’t go there, then 2/3 of his written communication to us is negated, relegated to the proverbial shelf to dust along with the knick-knacks.

The first Testament serves a historical purpose. That is, it provides context for human history (a context, by the way, ridiculed and considered to be mere lore, or myth, more and more often by theologians themselves). Where did we come from? How did we get here? How did we get where we are today? How did we get so screwed up?

It also serves a wisdom purpose. The first Testament puts in context who God is, and who we are, and provides the contrast necessary to humility and reality. It is the wisdom of God in human language.

It serves a teaching purpose. If we know something of who God is and grasp somewhat of who we are and how we got here and why we’re here, we can learn from that understanding. In addition, we are encouraged to use the experiences of Israel for our instruction on how we should live. Hebrews speaks to this, as does apostle Paul in the Corinthian letters.

It serves a kingdom purpose. God’s intention is to be ruler again, and he actively pursues that intention, in part through the submissive cooperation of his subjects, his people, beginning with Israel, and continuing in the Church. One day Jesus, Lord of lords, King of kings, will have reconciled all things, things in Earth (and under the Earth) as well as things in Heaven, and God will be all in all. The kingdom of God will then be the norm. We see in the first testament the progression of God’s movement in that direction, through Israel.

The first Testament serves a Messianic purpose. It locates the Messianic promise of that Testament in the person of Jesus. The kingdom has come. Israel’s Messiah has arrived on the scene and initiated the kingdom of God. He did it in a most unexpected way, ‘tis true, but he is clearly the ‘seed of the woman’, Isaiah’s Servant, and the one of whom he says,  a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.  The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.

In that regard, it also serves a locating or rooting purpose. The New (Second) Testament reveals to us today that the Church, Messiah’s Body, is rooted in Israel. It is a continuation of what God has been aiming at all along. Believers are grafted in to the vine, Israel (Romans 11). We are rooted in God’s original creation of the nation Israel.

It serves a warning purpose. God is still God. The beginning of wisdom is found in fearing him. He has gone to unfathomable lengths to accomplish his purposes in the Earth and in the Heavens, and it would do us well to take his warnings to heart. The communication to the Hebrews contains several warnings to Jesus’ friends ... and roots those warnings in the things that happened to Israel.

All in all, the first Testament serves a contextual purpose. It provides the context for all that now exists, and all that will follow from here on.

How then are we so glib with regards to that 2/3 of Scripture? We say, “Oh, that’s the OLD Testament”, as if to say it holds nothing worthy of my time. Really? Absolutely not so.

I encourage you, by this fumbling blog, to reconsider the significance of the ‘Old’ Testament, and then to take it up and read it. Skip the detailed lineage passages, the incredibly specific legal passages (as in the construction of the Tabernacle) if you must. Maybe you will get back to them at some point. But read what you can of it. And read with anticipation and excitement!

God wrote it for you.

… for you.

peace 

what will it be like .... ?

I don’t mean to be morose… one day I will die.

And when I do I will find myself in the presence of Jesus, whatever precisely that means.

I ask myself what that will be like … I have thoughts, probably not very theological.

I see myself somehow being able to see him, even though I’m prostrate. I can’t take my eyes off him. It’s like he’s the friend I never met eye-to-eye, and the most beautiful person I ever saw, and I just want to hug him and hold his hand, and hug him some more. And I see us walking along some gorgeous path, alone. And all is quiet – we don’t speak. And then he says something, and I don’t even know if my voice will work … and we talk a while. And we stop, there, by that tree, and sit on the roots, leaning against the trunk.

And he asks me stuff .. some I am slow to answer because I’m ashamed. “What made you do that instead of this? How could you, my friend?” Like that..

There’s no pressure on. But the pressure is huge, it just comes from myself, my own mind, my conscience. And it builds as he reminds me of things, tells me motivations I was hiding from myself when I convinced me that I should do this or that, and I knew I shouldn’t. Things like that.

I always thought I’d be standing in this huge, great, white hall, and that everyone in the universe (particularly Christians) was able to look on. My name is called, and I am led before the incredible throne that stands at one end of the room. My head is down, my gaze at the rock floor as I walk. When he addresses me, I fall immediately, face down, and begin to shake as I wait for him to speak. He has books and causes them to be read, and they detail … me. My entire life is laid out and I shudder in shame and filthy-feelings as the universe watches …. . ..  …. .. . . .

Not now.

Although my dream above may have drifted too far in the other direction, I am not so ‘afraid’ anymore. I fear, in a way, but I long to see him, and that longing unhinges the rest of me; the fear is secondary. The love is predominant, out there, everywhere. I simply cannot wait to see him, and that envelopes everything, eclipses everything else. I shall see him …

Face-to-face… eye-to-eye… …. .

My master. My Lord. My Saviour. My friend.

The Love of mine. The strength of mine. My faith, my hope. My energy. ….. my redemption, and my sin-sacrifice.

By the time our chat is finished, I am simply staring out into some distant place, numb, I guess, from the sheer force of his lovingness. He simply got up and walked off, leaving me there to melt in my own dis-grace. I had hurt him. So many times. Many many many. It was almost overwhelming just listening to him, and watching some of the scenes drift before me, memories, regrets, …

And then he thanked me. He did. I was rather taken back by it. He said that he was proud of me when I did this or that, said something that pleased him, had him in mind when I gave someone in need a help .. . My demeanor shifted as I listened. Some of the things I hardly remembered. Some were hard to do, to say, and yet, somehow I did it, said it, for Jesus’ sake, and took the fallout. We chatted a while like that, and his smile warmed everything.

Finally he got up, said he loved me, and invited me to this huge meal he was having - lots of celebrating and happy times, seeing old friends and loved ones I longed to see, eating with people I always wanted to meet – my heroes.

But as he walked back, I just sat there. My heart was on fire, but it was a pleasant feeling. I was absolutely more alive than I had ever been. I sat a long while, thinking over the stuff we discussed, feeling very mad at how foolish I had been, how detrimental to the kingdom initiative, how ignorant of the depth of the love of this man for me .. for me.

Those mixed emotions played out for a long time. I walked this trail, that path, stopped here or there to listen to some bird or animal, to gaze at the wonder of the rocky mountain just over there, mirror-lake at it’s foot. I just hung out. A long, long time .. thinking.

By the time I had found my way back to the path, I was a different man. I was .. .. . settled. Balanced. I knew me. I knew who I had been all along, and who I was. I knew me. And I was ok with that. Jesus was ok with it .. and who was I after all to disagree with him J ..

I’m ok now. I’m safe. The scent of love absolutely pervades this place. It’s more beautiful, more colourful, more vivid and alive and scentual and … peaceful.

shalom… home … where the heart is.

i am complete .. .

love wins, every time

I am concerned about the state of marriage. 

I have been for some time. And many others, including those in Christianity, have been for decades, and have taken various steps to remedy or at least stymie the dread downhill of it all. Applaudable, for there is hardly anything more significant to humanity than marriage and the family that erupts thereby.

In fact, I figure God generously gave us that unique relationship to teach us love in all its fleshed-outness. That way, we get a first-hand, lived-out understanding of what He wants our spiritual relationship with Him to be like.

That’s just my take on it. But just suppose I’m in the ballpark on that …

My concern in this blog entry is this: the ‘church’ has contributed to a drastic misunderstanding as to lovers’ love.

The greatest commandment is this: to love the Lord God with all of my heart, mind, strength … all of my being. And the second is just like it: to love my neighbour as my self. Note: it doesn’t say to love my neighbour as I love God. Important distinction, in my mind. It’s important because it’s not the same kind of love.

That’s where we’ve detoured in our theology. It’s not the same kind of love. To love a lover is a totally unique love. It’s not the same as the love I have for my dad or mum, for my son or daughter, for my neighbour. It’s a unique love, meant for one person only.

I hear ‘love’ being leveled across the board for any and everyone, as if it’s all the same love. It isn’t.

God wrote about it too. He inScripturated this lovers’ love. Check out Song of Songs. And what an apt name! The Song of songs. Kind-of-like Lord of lords, or King of kings. This love stands out, stands apart, reeks of total unity and of melting into oneness, of longing for togetherness.

Somehow I don’t hear much preaching/teaching on SofS. Very little. Go there. Read there. Ponder there, and consider that kind of love. Where do we see it? Did God make a mistake to have SofS written, and to preserve it for us? Is there a deeper meaning to the book? Should we ‘spiritualize” it, treat it as if it’s a symbolic of our love-relationship with Jesus, as many have done (and there’s good reason for doing that, as I said earlier)? (I believe the illustrious Augustine of Hippo is the main culprit, again.) Methinks the main point of the book is to illustrate the reality of the love God intended for lovers, and through that to point us to love for Him. Anything short of that is to miss the mark. That’s the bullseye right there. Go there. Understand there. 

Then, when you look for love in this life, look for this kind of love. When you think of marriage, a lifetime dedicated to loving a particular person, think Song of Songs. You’ll be on the right road.

If we would teach this, talk about it, counsel young marry-would-be's, we would be doing God justice in the matter, and saving a lot of people from a lot of hell. Really. 'Cause there's hardly hell-on-Earth like a messy, abusive, destructive marriage. It speaks to everything God is against. And it teaches the next generation to be abusive and un-loving.

If you don’t have this as you’re walking into marriage, forget it; you're missing the most significant ingredient of all. 

I’m blogging, I suppose, to Christians mainly, and so I take it for granted that the context of my comments is seen as God. I refer you to holy Scripture, SofS. I couch my thoughts in the person of God. This God is the author of that kind of love. You go to him for it. You refer to his wisdom when you look to marry, not your own. And you depend solely on him for this love as you walk life’s trail with your love-er, reflecting Jesus.

shalom

the truth, please

Just because a particular person said it doesn’t mean it’s true or not true.

We tend to classify people, and base our judgment on what they say according to where they fit on our classification. While there may be good reason to either doubt the person or trust what they say based on their reputation, truth is not defined by who says it. 

Truth is truth regardless of who says it.

That puts us in the place of having to bypass the truth-judging based on people’s talk.

We need a more sure word.

That’s where the brilliance of God comes in. He had stuff written down. Stuff he wants us to know. And he has kept those writings intact to this day, thousands of years after the fact. And it’s in our language. That means we can read what God had written 3,000 years ago through Moses, for example.

Wow.

Point is, just because this preacher or that teacher says something does not make it ‘gospel’ or make it error. What makes it so is the sure word of the God. And we have it.

Now then, since we have this word from God himself, let’s use it. Makes sense, ya? Read it. Regularly. Over and over, never quitting on it. If God’s wisdom is there, where on Earth else are we going to go, and why?

Take your Bible and read it. Please.                                               selah

Shalom