The best and the worst of the church. I suppose this could be a book title, or perhaps the title of a graduate thesis, but let’s get to the point much more quickly. Jesus came (comes) to set the captives free, which they desperately want(ed), and as He did (does) so they began (begin) to revert to “going back to Egypt.” Only the names have changed …

The whole concept of Freedom in Christ is so fantastic that we cannot fully comprehend it with our world-infected minds, but we yearn, none-the-less, for this freedom. The Good News of Jesus Christ is, in fact, this freedom He has won for us and offers us today, every day. From the atonement to reconciliation, from forgiveness to redemption, all of our Doctrine about Jesus Christ leads us to learning more about our freedom in Him, because of Him, through following Him, believing in Him, etc. This is the Christian faith- that Jesus Christ saves us, and sets us free from sin and death as He leads us to eternity with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The “followers of the way” were how the believers in Christ were first identified, and then they got called Christians, in Antioch (Acts 11:26). It’s interesting to me that what they meant by “followers of the way” included all of what we call the Good News, resulting in our understanding of salvation. In other words, Jesus was the way to salvation. As this began to sink in, as further teaching by the Apostles spread, they came to understand that this wasn’t about “head knowledge,” but about a living, dynamic relationship! Christ IN you, the hope of Glory (Col 1:27). Thus the word Christian, which was a compound word for Christ-one, or, better yet, one in whom Christ lives.

So the Church of Jesus Christ grew rapidly and spread over the entire world! The entire world was and is hungry for this Freedom He brings, even if they don’t have a vocabulary to express it the way we do.

Enter now the contrast- the leaven. Leaven is “an element that produces an altering or transforming influence. ”( Webster) The leaven of the Pharisees was their attempt to regain control of the people they had lost to the new faith in Christ. This is what religion is, an attempt to be in control. Andrew Farley, in his book “God Without Religion” defines religion as “a return to bondage,” from the compound Latin re ligare. It is easy, here, to see the similarity between the Israelites of old in captivity to the Egyptians to what is going on today in much of what we call Christendom. In the “days of old” it was a problem for the Jews. Today it is a problem in the organized church.

As soon as we organize, for all kinds of good purposes, we begin to control one another. We can’t help it. I suppose it is part of the brokenness we have in our DNA from “the fall.” We want to do good things, so we organize into churches and begin to facilitate good works, building both subtle and not-so-subtle control mechanisms into our assembly. After all, we don’t want error to slip in, and we’ll be sure we structure things so it can’t. Riiiight.

The best of the church is Christ at work in us, with us, through us, for others. The worst of the church is our attempt to control the very Freedom Christ brings to us by His Holy Spirit. We pray for Revival, and then tell God how to do it! We pray for gifts, and then determine how we will recognize them, train them, categorize them and use them. We pray to be followers, and then tell Jesus where we are willing to go. I think you get the idea.

The answer is not that we get rid of the church. We can’t do that. Jesus Christ is building His Church, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it! The answer is not that we dis-organize the church, or attempt to live independent from the church, out of fellowship.

The answer is that we pray for and allow Jesus Christ to have His way with us; to read His Word every day so we get the food we need for spiritual sustenance, and to remain in fellowship with one another so that the gifts Jesus distributes among us can be fully utilized.

Perhaps we cannot do this without some form of human control, but we CAN do this with a minimum of control of others. Self control seems to be what is most needed, which seems to be brought about by what we call “death to self.” The old saying “let go and let God” seems appropriate, especially today.

God Bless you as go deeper into the fantastic voyage of Following Christ.

Let’s talk about balance. It’s very important. If you are not “in” balance, you are “out” of balance, and about to “fall down”. Discernment is not judgmentalism; it is the application of wisdom. We can’t “get right with God” if we refuse to ask what God wants, and then refuse to go where He leads.

A Christian can be a believer and not be a disciple. The disciple is the one who is walking in the victory of the faith in Christ; a follower. A believer may just be hanging on for eternity, and messing up all the time prior to its unfolding in his or her life.

A Christian disciple, therefore, will have discipline. Spiritual disciplines he is pursuing, and that are active in his life! These disciplines yield the fruit of righteousness, and peace.

7 Disciplines:

1. The Word of God
2. Bible reading
3. Bible study
4. Prayer- fasting, intercession, and worship
5. Giving
6. Meditation and confession
7. Work- ministry, acts of kindness
8. Rest- retreats, the Sabbath, pilgrimage
9. Journaling- what do you say to God? What does God say to you?

If you were to do a self-evaluation of these 7 disciplines, how would it look? Are you consciously pursuing each one, even if some more than others? If not, why not? What can you do to change?

I write this for your benefit, and for your family, even though I don’t like the subject very much. Pay attention, please!

We recently lost to death a dear member of our church family, which always gets our attention. In addition to the grief we share, there are some practical “shepherding issues” that I’d like you to pay attention to.

Do you have a current will?
Do you have a current trust?
Do you have a current POLST? (Physician orders for life-sustaining treatment)

Do you know what these are, what their limitations are, and why you should have them or not have them?

Do you have any preparations at all for your possible demise or untimely prolonged illness?

Do you want your family to suffer not only your possible sickness or death, but also the potential legal hassles of probate? Do you know what probate is? Do you know why you don’t want it, and how to not have to have it?

The Nov 2012 issue of Money magazine has a terrific article on the dangers of abuse among the funeral-home industry, and how bereaved families spend so much money on questionable services. Do you have an arrangement with a funeral home locally? Do you have a funeral plot? Have you decided about burial vs. cremation? Have you ever heard of “green burial”?

Do you have a family attorney?
Do you have a financial advisor, other than a neighbor, or a child, or in-law, or someone who wants your stuff!!!????

While this looks daunting, it really comes together quickly and quite orderly once you put your mind to do it! There are wonderful professional people available to help in every area, and having a complete set of instructions and plans will put you at ease and save your family from potentially disastrous broken relationships.

Someone recently said to me that they didn’t care about this stuff because they would be dead, meaning in Glory with Jesus, and wouldn’t be worried about anything any longer. “Heaven is a wonderful place” the song goes. But for those left behind, dealing with what YOU should have dealt with, well, earth isn’t so wonderful this way.

As your pastor, I rejoice at the thought of doing your memorial service, knowing that you would be with our Lord. But I don’t want to have to face the family issues that might come up because you didn’t do some simple planning. Ok? Ok. And now that I’ve exhorted YOU this way, I know I have to get my own house back in order, and update a bunch of documents. Let’s get it done!!!

Ok, I’m compelled to respond to yesterday’s ruling, partly because people are asking, and partly because the discussion needs it.

The Court has responded to a National issue from a purely legal position, and people with moral values are very upset, when, in fact, it is moral values that are in conflict. Let me explain:

The controversy contains multiple issues; marriage, rights, rule of law, Christian doctrines, and money. Probably more, but these are the big ones. Examined carefully, I think it’s the last one that is driving this thing, and here’s why. Why do gay people want the “right” to marry? Money. Why is money this problem? Because they have to pay more than married people, so it becomes a “rights” issue.

Americans believe in equal rights, so I think the Court may have gotten this one correct, in that people living together not married are financially disadvantaged, so they are discriminated against, and we’re opposed to discrimination as well. The issue isn’t really “marriage” as much as it is equality, and by this word they mean money! The Court is trying to achieve equality, a Constitutional protection.

This ruling will prove very expensive for the government, as it will cost billions of $$$ to provide all the benefits to gay couples that the married ones get. Money benefits, that is.

The solution is very simple, and will SAVE billions. Even better, it will GENERATE billions, if not trillions, to the budget, which is desperately needed. Instead of giving MORE benefits to MORE people, the government should remove the benefits now given to marrieds. Equality doesn’t have to mean more benefits from the treasury, it just means equal benefits. This probably wont happen, but it is a solution.

So, if we resolve the money issue, the rights issue, and the rule of law issue, that leaves “marriage” and Christian doctrine as the stumbling blocks. So, what should Christians think and do? Just because we have a faith in Christ doesn’t mean we get to define what marriage is for non-believers. We can’t resolve moral issues with laws, which we’ve proven throughout history. Christians should be proclaiming Christ, and following Him, and living out their faith regardless of what non-Christians think and do. STOP:

It is right here that Christians lose the conversation. Right now your mind is whirling with all kinds of “answers” to my points. Right now your are drawn to an argument, and this isn’t Christ!!!

Let the government do what it does. And let the Christians do what they are supposed to do — Love. And pray. And follow Christ. You cannot follow Christ for another person, only for yourself, so, like me, you have a full-time job that should keep you busy!

You might want to take out a piece of paper and write down all the things you think “following Christ” includes, and then try to match those against the marriage issue, as well as your own walk with Him. Personal evaluation is always a good thing.

I woke up today (3/14/13), mind filling with all sorts of thoughts about the day and what I must do. Something didn’t seem right, so I determined to pray- to enter my prayer closet- to orient my mind to God instead of the world. And God spoke to me, about Communion. About the Sacramental nature of this Holy time we share.

I found myself almost immediately repenting. Apologizing, if you will, to God, for being so worldly minded and so consumed with all that is temporary. I told Him I was weak, and easily distracted from Him, and that I was truly sorry, and that I needed His strength to even keep this conversation going.

I rebuked the devil, and commanded his spirits and influences to leave me, using Jesus’ Name as my authority, with a strong Amen to end. Immediately I was praying in the Spirit, and found that my whole system relaxed and became at peace. I love to pray in tongues because it is so freeing.

Free from the games the mind plays, where we try to determine an outcome by our own will, rather than allowing God’s Will to be done. Free from concerns about how “right” the prayer might be, or how my thoughts might conform to correct doctrine. Free from external pressures of time and place, and free from all the other voices that compete for our attention, whether human or spirit.

And then, almost interrupting my prayer, came another voice, as it were, but such that it wasn’t offending but rather so important that I just naturally stopped to listen because I knew, somehow, that it was important now to listen. Whether this was totally new information, or an actual interpretation of the tongue I had been praying I don’t know. I’m ok with it being either, and not bound by some regulation that says my conversation with God Almighty has to conform to anything I even think I understand. It’s just wonderful, that’s all, so I stopped praying and began listening, with no struggle.

As I listened, I heard familiar words; words that I knew somehow. And I began to whisper, along with the Voice, in unison. As I did so I began to realize “we” were praying together the Apostle’s Creed, which I had learned as a child. As this sort of tapered off I was impressed again, not so much by a voice as by a thought, about Communion. And the words “Remember Me” were prominent, almost as if I was being instructed to focus upon them.

It was as if The Wonderful Lord Himself was showing us how to keep remembering Him; by repeating the creed. This is not now a time when we institute a new element of liturgy, but rather visit an old one, time tested, proven, even given to us by God Himself. The purpose of reciting a creed is that it helps us focus on what we believe, and brings us together in worship, unifying all our backgrounds and doctrinal preferences into a … Communion, as we fulfill the instruction to “Remember Me.”

On January 11, 2013, Skip and Carol watched the movie The Way, starring Martin Sheen, about the Camino de Santiago. While we’d never heard of it before, we were definitely struck by something, which I’m calling unction, especially since we both felt the same about it at the same time. We learned about an ancient pilgrimage through Spain and immediately planned to go. At first we planned on going in 2014, but after about two weeks confessed to one another that we’d like to go this year, and again we agreed immediately. This is not normal. But this is surely awesome. When married folks are in such unity it is indeed wonderful, and thus the plan was hatched. If you would like to follow their adventure go to pilgrimage.banksdayspring.org.

Dear Church,

I’ve just been watching the opening segment of The Bible on the History Channel, and I am struck by one profound truth. I’m sure there are many more, but this one stood out for me: Promise. After all the debate one could have about how God works and why, it is clear that what He promises, He achieves. We may not know the why’s of it all, but we can trust in His Promises. This certainly sets our God apart from other gods, who can deliver nothing, and no one.

Some of you did a further study on the I AM, and what the Word of God says about you. Good for you; it’s not too late for the rest to also dig deeper into these, because they are promises. What God says, He can achieve, and our part seems to be cooperating with Him. Praise God for His great Love for us, and for helping us to trust Him and follow His Word.

God Bless you,
Pastor Skip

“…for the Lord our God is holy!” Psalm 99:9

We know the Lord is holy; the Bible says so in many places, and the Old & New Testament each provide many stories of His holiness in demonstrated action. He is Awesome. He is Powerful. The word “God” is what we use to try to convey the meaning of His power and righteousness and attribute it all to His Being!

The more one studies the holiness of God the more one shrinks. Not in fear, as in cowering, but in pure awe and surrender. Well, that is, “if” one surrenders. The more we try to get our mind around the holiness of God Almighty the more we perceive our own failure or weakness or inability to “be perfect as He is perfect.” (MT 5:48) If we’re not careful, this entire “study” of an attribute of God can lead us to negative feelings about ourselves, and be used by the enemy to pull us away from the very relationship God wants for us, Himself.

Here it is! A mystery revealed! We can say with certainty that God wants us, and He wants us to be in relationship with Him in such a way that we would call it “personal.” When Jesus spoke that the Kingdom was at hand He didn’t mean in the future, He meant right then, right there, and right now. Adam had a personal relationship with his Creator that was broken by sin, causing a great separation, such that God has been working to restore this relationship with His Creation ever since. Jesus offers that. Jesus Christ isn’t trying to create a new religion on planet Earth. He is offering Himself to restore what was lost, and He makes it personal.

Herein we find a problem, with us, not with Him. The saying “familiarity breeds contempt” is proved out all too well in our relationship with a Holy God. In our “familiarity” with Him we tend to bring Him down, rather than grow ourselves up. We try to make Him be like us, instead of our being transformed into His likeness. One author has said it this way: “God is not a big one of us.” He is, after all, and I do mean all, God Almighty. Sometimes we are subtle, often not so much, in our attempts to manipulate Him to do our will, answer our prayers, lead us where we want to go, provide for us what we want, etc. We even try to use His Words, which we quote back to Him, as if to persuade the God of Heaven to do for us what we feel is best. The creation telling the Creator a this or that! Imagine!

A friend of mine likened it to a lion behind the fence at the zoo. He is ferocious, powerful, and not a bit tame. We stand behind the fence as if we were stronger, somehow better, because we seem to control the relationship. The Lion of Judah from the Old Testament is ferocious, powerful, and not a bit tamed by us, yet He becomes the Lamb of God, as Jesus Christ, and removes the fence without destroying us. Rather, He offers us the opportunity to follow Him into the wonders of a real life of joy and victory. I realize any illustration like this is somehow incomplete, but the point is clear. We cannot approach the Holiness of God from our side of the fence, with us in control. We cannot “get” holy by being separated from Him.

Isaiah saw the Lord, and declared “Holy is He”! “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips.” He got it. He understood the depth of his dilemma. And the Lord worked a miracle upon Isaiah and said “Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.” (Isaiah 6: 3,5,6) The Lion was certainly able to walk through the bars of separation and devour the man, but instead He became the Lamb and saved him. This is Jesus Christ. And, if you can possibly wrap yourself around this last truth, it’s a gift!

The mother of a family of 5 children asked the father to help with getting the kids ready for bed. Dad thought that his 6-yr old son would do well to take a shower this night, so began helping him get that done. Just before stepping into the shower the boy says “Dad, did you know you can talk to God even though you can’t see Him?” Not knowing exactly where this came from, or why, and not really prepared for a thorough father/son theological discussion, with a 6-yr old, the task at hand was to get the boy clean, so the father replies “Of course, son, you can talk to God at any time,” and pulled the curtain as the boy entered the shower.

The boy then began, to the father’s amazement, wonder, and delight, a conversation with God.

We have questions, right? What did the boy say? What did God say? What topics did this conversation with God cover? Certainly not about World politics or National crises of any kind. Certainly not about how to solve the fiscal cliff! What could a small child possibly have to talk to God Almighty about?

They probably talked about the more important things. Perhaps the boy asked “God, how are you today?” or “God, my sister’s sick. Please make her well” or the boy may have said to God “Christmas is coming. Can I get you anything?”

I know this 6-yr old boy. I see him almost every Sunday, and I can assure you he simply believes in Jesus, and believes that you can talk to Him, about anything. The Love they share, this boy and Jesus, is available to each of us. Jesus is ready to talk with you about anything, so ponder what you might want to say to Him, and then begin…

Take a break for a few minutes. Relax. Let your mind’s eyes see something wonderful, and real. Just because we can’t see it with our natural eyes right now doesn’t mean it isn’t real. You can imagine all sorts of things, the well-spring of hopes and dreams.

For now, let your imaginer loose into the pages of the Bible. John is telling us about incredible things to come, almost too amazing to comprehend, but things which are true none-the-less. Our task is to read about them and ponder them and allow the Holy Spirit to Bless us as we do. This is good stuff.

We read that one day we will have new bodies. I don’t know what they will look like, but I know Who made them, and that’s enough for me to be excited about it. We’ll have a new name; a new identity, if you will. Again, we can’t say much about how all this works, but we know Who is working it out, and that is enough to prompt us to dreaming about it. Imagine!

This coming realm is so fantastic that we risk all sorts of errors just trying to think about it, as we try to understand the future in terms of the now, or the past, both of which have failed so badly we should welcome dumping them both for the glory of what is coming. We know this in our spirits.

So put yourself there, right now, in this new realm of what God has promised those who believe in Him. Imagine that you are happily engaged in doing something. What that might be I can’t say, but I’m sure we will be on assignment, not just sitting around bored.  You’ll probably be doing something, custom designed by Jesus just for you to do, which will use whatever gifts and powers He has given you for that task. Whatever you need He will give you. If you need others to help they will be there. Whatever power or gift or talent- whatever- He will provide it all, to accomplish His will through you. Cool, huh?

There we are, in Heaven, or the Heavenlies, where ever in Creation He wants us to be, doing whatever He wants us to do, completely fulfilled and full of awe and wonder each moment. No worries. No tears. No anxieties, fears, or doubts. There may be troubles, but that’s probably why we are there, to deal with them according to His Will. Very cool, indeed.

Now imagine this: A voice of some kind is heard. It’s probably not the voice of God, but of one of His agents; maybe one of us, or an angel. Or some other created being. Wow. We all hear the voice at once, in the same way, understanding what is said perfectly, without any confusion of any kind. We know exactly what is being said, and we know exactly what to do, and we respond with joy and willingness, because we so desire to serve the Lord and obey His Word to us. In fact, the emotion of anticipation builds to a crescendo as the voice calls to us.

Then, whether all at once, or in some kind of divinely ordered distribution of time, we hear it. The Word is instantly familiar to us, because we’ve heard it so often, both here, in Heaven, and before, in our former lives, the ones you’re living now. We no longer wrestle with the Word, as we did before. We don’t reject it for some other pleasure. We don’t neglect for some other perceived duty. We don’t ignore it because we’re doing something we value more importantly. Immediately we respond, properly and completely, because we really WANT to, because this is more important than ANYTHING else we might do.

Because we can now see our past so clearly, we see all those times we heard this Word before. It adds to our joy. All through the ages the Church of Jesus has begun its service with…..and now in this present future we still hear this Word….a call to worship. The very first thing God wants is for us to worship Him. We stop everything to worship Jesus Christ, because we WANT to. We are filled with wonder and awe, again and again, as He reveals more and more of Himself to us, throughout eternity. Imagine, if you can, the worship of God Almighty.