Dont call me brother

Don’t call me brother….

I am not sure how to respond, or even if I should to the people who seem to think God is killing those whom in their own eyes are heretics.

I think Kyle Lake was far from a heretic.

Now, what I do see is this.

There are some whom seem to have placed themselves as the Judges of not just sinners but of fellow Christian brothers and sisters. Then they use, or rather misused scripture to back up their twisted belief system.

John in his epistles tells us

1 John 2

1. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
2. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
3. We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.
4. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
6. Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
7. Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.
8. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
10. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.
11. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

For those of you who claim to take the Bible literally, (which I find most say they do but really don’t and weirdly I seem to more that most who claim they do), notice again what John says,

“9. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
10. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.
11. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

I find it sad that so many of these self-appointed watchdogs of the faith, miss this. I could name names, in fact I have in other posts, but fellow souljourners, will that bring back Kyle Lake?

First off I do not want to give the impression I knew Kyle. In fact I can’t remember hearing about him until this tragic event happened. I almost let it slide by until I came across some anti emergent people mocking his passing and claiming God was getting those emergent heretics. This left me stone cold. How can a brother be so filled with hate that they rejoice in another’s pain and sorrow? Jesus even taught to pray for our enemies, and yet, these people claiming Jesus, laugh and seem to rejoice in a brother in Christ’s passing.

Hate is not a Christian value, nor is it a Christian anything. Yes, we are called to hate evil and sin; yet, these are not people, let alone fellow believers. How do we hate evil and sin? By LOVE!!!!!!!!

We overcome evil and sin by the Power of God’s LOVE!!!!

Yes, judgment is coming and the wicked will be dealt with, yet for now we are to bring the love of Christ to the world in hope of their redemption.

I am sick of the Ingrid’s and Paul Proctors of this world who to me are hatemonger’s and stand on nothing but their own self righteousness and judgmentalism. I am sick of people like Pat Robertson who condemn entire cities in the name of Jesus, and forget He died for their sin as well as PR’s.

I admire Brian McLaren and how he can respond to his detractors in love and not react. I pray someday I too can be more like that.

Christianity Today has an article I thought interesting. It is about how Kyle Lake might explain his own death, by his own theology. Does Electrocution Happen for a Reason?

To summarize this all and tie it together I will quote the last paragraph of that article taken from Kyle’s book Understanding God's Will: How to Hack the Equation Without Formulas:

“…I would interpret Romans 8:28 as saying this: "Disappointment, failure, and suffering are simply facts of life. But for those who are actively following God, He can turn disappointment and tragedy into new life."

My prayers are with the congregation at University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. May Kyle’s life be an example of Christ that one can cherish and carry as one grows in faith.

My prayers are also for those who preach hate, that the true Light of Christ be found and the hate in your hearts be displaced with the LOVE of Christ for God first then for your brothers… but until then, don’t call me brother. (John 18:19, John 8:42-45)

Luke 6: 35. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
36. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
38. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
39. He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
40. A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
41. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
42. How can you say to your brother, `Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
43. "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
44. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.
45. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
46. "Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?
47. I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice.
48. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
49. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."



I still have a lot to learn. Yet, I would rather be called a heretic than to spew hate from Hell and call it God’s Will.

Blessings,
iggy