Thursday, January 21, 2010

Nothing's changed, yet everything needs to!



Installation at Lehmann Maupin, New York. Private Collection.
Photo courtesy Lehmann Maupin, New York


Nothing's changed, yet everything needs to!

Yeah, that is a play on Brian McLaren’s book Everything Must Change, and to a degree this is about that book… but more this is about correcting a few things that have been stated lately about me.

I have recently decided to make a more conscience effort to reach out and accept Gay people. Gratefully, I have been able to do an interview with a controversial figure, and it seems that interview marked me as “embracing sin”.

My issue with all this is that nothing has really changed in my views. I still believe that one must be saved through Jesus Christ and that the Holy Spirit changes a person from the inside out. I still believe that the core issues are acceptance and identity. Yet, I find some stating awful things about me. Nothing's changed.

I define sin as “anything that comes between a person and God that keeps them from having a close, intimate, loving relationship with Jesus.” This may include being gay when the person’s conscience is not free of guilt. Yet, (and this is the sticky point) a person may be gay and God has other things He is working on of MORE importance. Does this mean a gay person will change their sexual attraction? Sometimes… but not always. Yet, if same sex attraction does not go away and the person still confesses Jesus as their savior… and fails or maybe gives up trying to change in “that” way, what are we to do with that person. Some say cast them out… yet… is it their failure or ours? And then there is this...

We accept all sorts of “sin” in the church. Divorce is a sin… yet there is the same amount of divorce in the “Christian” world as there is in the rest of the world. Yet, there are not many who will stand up and denounce a couple who were divorced and have remarried someone else. (I would not either to tell you the truth). The Bible clearly teaches that if this happens, adultery has happened… and get this… most churches let unrepented divorced adulters attend their church, serve in the church and sometimes…. even pastor a church! Again… for some reason most will fall back on grace for that sort of thing, yet why “Grace” for unrepentant divorced remarried couples and not for struggling or non-struggling gay people? Does grace stop at some point? I hope not… otherwise it is not grace, but works. If God only accepts us by grace then what I think about someone who is gay does not matter… God accepts them, loves them, and wants the best for them… and if I am a true imitator of Jesus, so should I! (Please understand this is an example of how there is a double standard concerning Grace, I am not condemning anyone who has divorced and remarried.)

The Gospel is the Gospel that gives life. In fact, if one confesses Christ and comes to faith, the bible is clear as to what happens.

Ephesians 1: 13. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14. who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.

Therefore, to not accept someone who believes in Jesus and is gay seems to me, misses the point of Grace…

So, now let us go back to the topic of sin. If someone is in sin, Paul tells us how to approach him or her.

Galatians 6: 1. Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Yet, it seems that depending on the type of sin, gentleness seems to not matter to some, let alone that we are to carry each other’s burdens. I might also add that there are many verses on patience and longsuffering, yet most also ignore these. If someone is in sin, most likely the already know it or have justified it or just keep themselves in denial. To tell them they are in sin will tend to make them hold on to that very sin even tighter. The only real way to free anyone from sin, is to have the Son set them free. This goes for ANY sin. If we spend our time focused on sin, then Jesus is not our focus. In fact, to focus on our sin is denying that the Lamb who was slain took our sin away. If someone must focus on sin, then it should be his or her own sin, yet even that is wrong! Paul states:

1 Cor 4: 3. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.

Even if we have a clear conscience, it does not mean we are innocent, so how we judge ourselves may not be accurate. We could see ourselves as right when we are wrong or wrong when we are just fine. We truly need to let Jesus be the judge and instead look to ourselves to make sure we are not falling victim to self-deception.

Finally, I want to ask those who disagree to at least agree with these words from Paul which are my prayer for you, me and anyone else who calls themselves followers of Jesus.

1 Peter 3: 8. Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

Ephesians 1: 2. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

It is not my job to diagnose and then try to fix anyone else. I cannot even do that with myself. It is my job though, to assume “the sick need a doctor” and that I too need that same doctor. We all need Jesus. We all need Jesus not just to get to heaven, but also to Live… To live now and for eternity. My job is simply to be one that needs the doctor who helps others who need that same doctor and walk side by side with them as they are being cured. Meanwhile, always remembering, I have not fully arrived yet, or totally healed and need help from the other person to walk at times. This is what needs to change in our thinking about anyone different from us. Jesus removed the “other” from the Christian vocabulary and changed it to brother (and sister of course ) = ) This new life is no longer about separation, but reconciliation... and that we now walk supporting each other as we become more like Christ and walk in God's Kingdom come to earth.





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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Brian McLaren: the pain of division over gay issues



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYl6hbBYvqo

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The ooze.com Brian McLaren and Spencer Burke

I should be getting the book soon... I hope.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiAiFt_dLFk

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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Haiti: Beloved Chldren of God

Thanks to Jesse at The Trailblazers blog for pointing this out. This video brings some sanity after the words of Pat Robertson and others rather sick theology that God is punishing Haiti for their sin.



Also, I recieved great news from Luceanna at Oasis for children, an orphanage in Haiti. She wrote:
(Luceanna if you do not want me to print this I will remove this) Please help in any way you can. There is a donation button at the site.

GREAT NEWS FROM HAITI; AFTER MANY CALLS, TEARS, AND WORRY, WE FINALLY GOT A CONNECTION IN HAITI AND THEY FINALLY DID CONFIRM THAT THE CHILDREN IN THE ORPHANAGE ARE ALL STILL ALIVE. I WAS TOLD THAT IT IS A MIRACLE HOW THEY MANAGED TO COME OUT OK.


THE ORPHANAGE, THE CHURCH, AND THE SCHOOL WAS DESTROYED SO THE CHILDREN HAVE BEEN STAYING OUTDOORS. WE HAVE TO STILL BE IN PRAYER BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO ACCESS TO WATER AND FOOD HAS JUST ABOUT RUN OUT COMPLETELY.

OUR NEXT CHALLENGE IS TO SOMEHOW GET TO THE CHILDREN WITH WHAT THEY NEED. WE ARE BUSY WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK LOOKING, MAKING CALLS, AND TRYING TO GET THROUGH TO SOMEONE THAT IS ALREADY ON GROUND TO GO BRING THE CHILDREN FOOD AND WATER UNTIL I CAN GET THERE. I'M STILL HAVING TROUBLE GETTING INTO THE COUNTRY. MY GOAL IS TO GET THERE AS SOON AS I AM ABLE. I PRAY THAT WHEN I DO GO THAT I AM ABLE TO GO WITH ENOUGH FUNDS TO TAKE CARE OF THE CHILDREN.

GOD IS STILL GOOD! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY AND I ASK YOU TO PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION, WE ARE CERTAINLY GOING TO NEED IT IN A BIG WAY.




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Gov't Mule: I shall return

I am not sure what Warren Haynes means by these lyrics, but for some reason they are hauntingly prophetic to me. In a way they seem like the words of Jesus as they speak of dying yet returning. Personally, it speaks of resurrection...

The first video is the song with just the lyrics. The second one is Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule performing the song. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mySJ3PDUjM4

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQMPEzb4hpU

I shall return

As this wheel goes 'round and I search to find my way

Struggle just to hold on through an ordinary day
I do believe I'm slipping away

But I shall return though I'm losing myself
I shall return
I shall return from the depths of my own hell
I shall return

Fate should not have blinded me
For your beauty steals my eyes
and what good is my wisdom
when there are no words to say
How I feel everyday

But I shall return though I'm losing myself
I shall return
I shall return from the depths of my own hell
I shall return

Daylight finds me sleeping dreaming of my youth
But darkness calls my name out loud
And I answer to the truth

But I shall return though I'm losing myself
I shall return
I shall return from the depths of my own hell
I shall return

Oh, I shall return though I'm losing myself
I shall return
I shall return from the depths of my own hell
I shall return


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Friday, January 15, 2010

CRI article on Saint Augustine



I have written or mentioned quite a lot on Augustine and his Platonist influence that I believe influenced Calvin and scores of others into a "soft Gnosticism". Now I am not saying Augustine is not worthy to be read, on the contrary I believe him to have added some great thoughts to the historical Christian dialogue that continues even today.

Yet, many who push Augustine miss he was a Christian Mystic and influence many, including St. John of the Cross. Not only this but that Augustine was heavily influenced by Plato which could have gave a Gnostic twist to the Gospel.

Here is an article by Gordon R. Lewis at Christian Research Institute, (not to be confused with those whack job wannabees) which goes deeper into these ideas.

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Monday, January 11, 2010

Gabba Gabba Hey!




I have been taking a beating so far in my view on what must be done to reach the gay community. It is heartbreaking to have a friend stab you in the back with false accusations of “embracing sin”… as it is frightening to have some come and encourage me as I know I may not fully agree with their view either. My only hope is to encourage all to a closer, loving, and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

There is so much baggage cast out against someone who is gay. I have already met parents with gay children who can hear what I am saying and are finding hope. They understand what I mean as they process the horrible isolation someone who faces same sex attraction must go through. They understand why their son or daughter does not come to church or see why Jesus would not accept them. And that is core to the issue. Acceptance. If one comes to understand he or she is accepted by God, great and wonderful things begin to happen. New Life begins and they change! Yet so often we stand in the door to heaven and keep thinking we are ushering in those Jesus is drawing to Himself, yet instead we are blocking those Jesus drew out. We set on them a higher standard than God set on us. Often we just do not see this yet; there is a type of favoritism in the church that needs to be driven out.

You see this is the issue... when we look at proving one side or the other we either have tempers raised and accusations tossed out... or we have the attempt to legitimize sin (Again I define sin as anything that comes between you and a close intimate, growing, relationship with God.)

Instead, the focus of our faith is and should NOT be sin, but Jesus. For no one can change someone else. I can take a bottle of booze from a drunk but then he is a sober drunk... I never changed them. Instead, we clean the outside of the cup but Jesus cleans the inside. Therefore, it is the same with anything that could come between a person and their relationship with God. When we focus on Jesus, then we no longer see sin! For Jesus was the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world... yours and mine. We then can see a beloved brother or sister that Jesus died for and gave new life to.

Therefore, it is in no way the acceptance or embracing of sin... it is the embracing of Jesus for all His Resurrected Life that is imparted to us. It is embracing the abundant Life. It is letting all we are that is not Christ fall away and God become all in all of you as a person.

If this is heresy then burn me at the stake. All I am saying is if we focus on sin, it should be our OWN. Yet, even with ourselves, we should face Jesus and not our sin for only Jesus takes sin away. If we are facing our sin we are not facing Jesus, it is like when we face the sun.... We do not see our shadow, but if we turn away from the sun, then we see a distorted view of our self in the shadow.

Even to tell someone he or she is a sinner is futile most the time. A person can rationalize their position and sere their conscience. Only the Holy Spirit can convict a person to change. Only God can corner someone with a question that can only be truthfully answered. If we try then we are making someone settle for less than the inner workings of the Holy Spirit…

We can walk with someone through his or her struggles and pain, his or her joy and success and accept the person unconditionally with the same love God accepted us. So all I can say to those who feel outside is something that was coined by the Ramones. "Gabba Gabba we accept you! One of us!"

To those of you who understand what I am saying or even if you do not, pray for me.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BBfybCPkjA




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Saturday, January 09, 2010

Interview with Adele Sakler: Gay Christians


Reposting this interview as it is this month's iggytalks show.


This was a fun interview. Adele Sakler is funny witty and this interview could have gone on for hours. We cover many things from fear of gay people, to how we can move beyond focusing on "sin" and focus on Jesus.

Download this episode (71 min)





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Thursday, January 07, 2010

Of this I am certain (An ongoing conversation)




Is certainty the enemy of faith? Does being certain mean that mystery is no longer allowed? I run into those who seem to teach that we must be certain in all things of faith yet I just don't see how that can be. I see that living in doubt leads one to fear, yet faith leads us to certainty and courage... so how does this all fit? I see this as a bit of a false dilemma made by those who cling to certainty and do not allow awe and mystery... or see that someone that simply trusts in God and does not need to know with certainty the answers... but knows that God IS the ANSWER.

Just on a personal level I have not issue with certainty... yet to me that does not mean all knowledgeable. The issue that I see is that many base their certainty as the basis of their fiath. Yet, Jesus stated, "Even more blessed are those that believe and have not seen."


So I am certain that the bible is authoritative, not because I can prove it is infallible or inerrant, but that Jesus stated it was authoritative. Modernism seems to gut faith out of the bible and bring all of Heaven into the realm of man's logic and reason. God is so far beyond us that to do so is to declare God is made in our image and results in God becoming vain human imagination.

So certainty can have mystery in it as we grow. One can be certain as to what God has taught them, and yet acknowledge there is so much more (an infinite amount of knowledge) to learn. This take humility which some lack as they make human logic and reason their certainty and believe they have arrived. They reduce faith in Jesus to believes and base salvation not on Grace or that the "Just shall live by faith" to salvation by believes and living by logic and reason.

To me I am certain in many things God has taught me... yet I am open to being wrong. Yet, often I confess God must bang my head against the wall to change my mind... but usually God hits my heart and then m mind follows. Then again, I may be wrong...



Peace.
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Sunday, January 03, 2010

What's on my reading list this year?


Currently reading Thomas Merton's Contemplative Prayer and realizing that some of the critics of contemplative prayer are rather... stupid and ignorant... Just saying... I am trying to be nice about this... really.

I plan on read all of the writings of Maj W Ian Thomas this year. I finally have them all... or at least most of them.

I have three books by Watchman Nee to read this year. I have read The Normal Christian Life before, but now since I also have Love Not the World and Sit, Walk, Stand I think reading them all together will be fun.

I need to finish John Stott's book on Ephesians (not pictured) but thought that I should also read his Basic Christianity to get a feeling for his theological positions.

I am throwing in Charles M Sheldon's In His Steps (Where the phrase WWJD came from) as well as the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. It looks interesting.

Paul Tillich's book (not pictured) The New Being is also yet another book I am hoping to get read.

I am also reading through the bible this year. I am using The Daily Message Hardback: Through the Bible in One Year in hopes to keep it "readable" without distracting me from reading. Don't worry, I will also have a "study time".

I do have some other books on order and will add them as I get them. But this should be an interesting book year.
So... what's on your reading list this year?


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Just part of a conversation I am having this week.



To me, faith is beyond science. It is the infinite trying to express the eternal. It cannot be done adequately with the limitations we now have. Can we now walk through closed doors as Jesus is said to have done after the resurrection? No. yet according to Paul we will be like Jesus and apparently will be able to do such things. The limitation of things like gravity and even the elements of this planet will bow to us... remember how Jesus walked on water and commanded the storm to stop?


In the story of Elijah and Elisha Elijah opens the eyes of his servant and reveals a whole other world happening that Elisha never saw. I see that the Kingdom was, is and ever will be... on earth as in heaven... in the physical as it is in the spiritual... It is the melding of the two no the dualism you keep asserting on these ideas. That is the real issue I see in this conversation is that you keep asserting modernist scientific views on the bible instead of allowing it to speak in its historical context. Personally, I could never understand where people state the bible teaches the earth is flat and the sun revolves around the earth I read in Job and Genesis how God created the universe for the earth to light it, but not that everything revolves around it... It may be the center of the story, but not the literal placement.

If one asserts a modern view then one begins to have the many issues you are having. That is why modernism is so wrong to push on the bible. It begins to gut it of its glory. If we dissect the bible like a frog, we kill it as we do the frog... to experience a frog one must go to a pond and watch the frog in his world. I see some value in the sterile ideas of dissection... one can understand the language and then the ideas better, but to just use the scientific method on the bible kills it. Just as just using the post-modern ideas of deconstruction. Both modernism and post modernism are great tools, but both lack the value and instruction of the Holy Spirit, which gives life to us, and the text of scripture.

I am very honest of the cosmology of the bible. I see it as it is and acknowledge there is much I do not. Yet, the things I do not know are the wonder, awe, and mystery I have chosen to embrace along with what God began in me many years ago.

To ask if Jesus literally flew in outer space during the ascension is a rather silly question to me. It is assuming that Heaven is a physical place... like the earthly realm... it is not... it is beyond what we have here. Heavenly things are so far beyond what mere words cannot express what it is. It is like expressing the body soul and spirit. We get the body and how it works... we somewhat understand the soul/mind and how it works, but we do not have any grasp on how the body lives... or how the spirit works. We can weigh someone at death and witness mysterious loss of 21 grams which they claim is the soul (I think it is the spirit). We just know that without the spirit we are dead.

The cosmology of the bible is not "literal" but expressions of the intangible... they are to allow us to grasp what is beyond what we understand and see... and bring us in. If you ever read Revelation you will see words such as, "It was like..." It appeared as..." which give indication to what I am saying.

I am one that still takes much literally/historically but I also understand that often the story is more important than the literalness. Was it a whale or great fish that swallowed Jonah? Who cares... that is not the point of the story. Therefore, I focus on the teachings and important things instead of trying to prove that the bible can be proven by modern scientific standards... I accept that sometimes it cannot as it is beyond the limitations of modern science... and man's mind or even imagination. “For the eye has not seen or the mind conceived what God has in store for us.” I embrace that God is God without limitations and I am a mere creation with great limitations. I embrace that mystery that was, is, and yet is to come.



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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Around the Blogosphere: Just some things I noticed



Excerpt: With everyone writing obituaries and whatnot for the emerging church movement, and with myself coming across more and more as a critic, I feel a personal push towards taking a time-out to recollect some positives and praise for a movement, that while mixed, and in many ways losing momentum and splintering, has been significant for me in my journey.



Brian McLaren writes about Five Special Gratitudes for 2009

Excerpt: Five Special Gratitudes for 2009

As I look back on this year, yes, there have been some trials and disappointments, but five blessings have far outweighed them in 2009:







Andrew Jones gives us the Tall and Skinny on Avatar:
Excerpt: I watched Avatar last night with my family. Good flick from James Cameron. Part Tarzan, part Pocahontas with a hint of LOTR Revenge of the Forest People on the Wicked Machines. Romanticism meets pantheism. And an Avatar figure to save the day who just happens to be tall and skinny [yeah!] rather than a mountain of towering muscle.




My good friend David Foreman who posted on the contrast between the Law and Grace in his post called  It Doesn’t Get Much Clearer Than This

Excerpt: The law is “all or nothing,” pass/fail: Gal. 5:3, James 2:10

(There is no “try harder.”)
Those who try, but fail to keep all the law are cursed: Gal. 3:10
The law breeds sin: Rom. 7:5,8
The law brings death: Rom. 7:10
Where law increases, sin increases: Rom. 5:20
The law leads us to Christ: Gal. 3:24


And finally to wrap this up is another good friend Rob Witham who has returned to the blogosphere. Hey Rob! Welcome back.

 
 
 
 
 
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Sunday, December 27, 2009

The God of Show and Tell… or is it Tell and Show?

The God of Show and Tell… or is it Tell and Show?




The other day my Kids had “show and tell”. You know, when they take something important to them to school to share with the other kids… like when my daughter Ciana brought her silver jewelry box to school and was so excited to show it and tell how her Auntie gave it to her. I began to think about God and what He showed us through Jesus. God did not just “tell” us how to live, rather God told us and then through Jesus showed us… thus, God is the God of show and tell… or rather, Tell and Show. In fact, if you get right down to it, Through the bible we see God telling us how to live and then through the incarnation of Jesus, showing us how to live, and died… and then live again. With this, we have a model of how we are to live, die and live again.

Now many people just view this as living now, dying now and living again later, but what is happening is that we are doing all of this “now” for “later”. We live now to die not for death’s sake, but for Christ’s sake so we may live again in abundant life. This New Life in Christ starts “now” and for those who are “in Christ” continues into the “later” or New Creation, which is the fulfillment of “on earth as it is in Heaven.”

Rob Bell, in his book Velvet Elvis talks about the idea that we live either in or for heaven “now” or in and for hell “now” which then is part of the decision as to where we spend eternity later. This is not about works salvation, but whether one lives out the New Life that comes in us from Jesus or we keep hold of the old life. In the bible, (Matt 25: 31-46) there is the parable of the sheep and goats who hold to their “beliefs” to save them. Yet the sheep find they are the ones that did the things that God desires. The rub is that those who held to “believism” did not enter into the Kingdom, while those who did the work of the Kingdom now, entered in the Kingdom for eternity. This is scandalous if you think about it! Those who believe “rightly” are punished? Why are they punished? They were just tellers of the Word but not, “Show and tellers” of the Word. (Now I know technically it is Tell and Show, yet I am not about to set in stone some formula as I find God sometimes has one show others the Gospel so they can earn the right to tell the “other” the Gospel, so for now the idea of “show and tell” is interchangeable.)

In God’s telling and showing, we learn that what one believes is not enough. We see this in how Jesus confronted the Pharisees for their “correct” belief, yet their doing or showing was inadequate. They would tithe the smallest of amounts even down to the spices they had, and meanwhile let someone starve in their city. They would pass by someone they deemed “unworthy” or less worthy of God’s mercy and grace as they saw them “unclean” and if touched would defile them. They clung tightly to their own righteousness…

Paul Tillich writes about the Pharisees “righteousness”… (To be honest I am still sorting this out in my own heart and head) Jesus fully acknowledged the Pharisees as “righteous”. Tillich states that the righteousness of a Pharisee was a very high standard; even Jesus stated that one’s righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisee to get into Heaven! To be clear, there is no argument allowed to claim the Pharisees as being unrighteous. Yet, by whose righteousness do we get into the Kingdom of Heaven? The Apostle Paul makes it clear that it is only by the righteousness of Christ we make it in to the Kingdom. Rom 1: 17. For in the gospel righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." It is not our own righteousness that gives us life… For all the righteousness of the Pharisee, the Law could not give them eternal life for the Life is in the Son. (John 3:36; 1 John 5: 10-11) One must have life to live… forgiveness is not enough… I like how Luke puts it in Acts 1:1

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach

Jesus came to tell us and show us how to believe and live and that is our challenge… to allow Jesus to do that today in and through us. We are now called to let Jesus live His life in and through us today and forever and to tell and show others of The Way, the Truth, and the Life of Jesus.



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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Changes and choices

Changes and choices



The last few weeks have been tough. School has been a challenge as once again I am taking math, which has never been a strong point for me. Last week I ran a red light and took out another car. Praise God no one was hurt though the car I hit had some real damage. It was surreal in a way as I slid into the other car that was also the same make, color, and model as my own! It was like hitting my self. The young girl was driving her mother’s car. I was thankful she was a sweet girl, as it took excessively long for the police to arrive and take our info. I was on the way to pick up the kids from school so had to call the lovely TES to arrange to get them. A coworker of hers was able to get them as she lived a few blocks away.




On top of all this, math class and Psych class are out of sync. One started a week earlier than the other did so I have to think on terms of one class being in week 1 and the other in week 2. This already has caused me confusion as I did week 2 assignments for Psych which was in week one. The teacher, (who found me on Facebook and we are now friends) was gracious. It turns out that she is also a graduate from a Baptist college. The class is on positive psychology so it should be interesting as I balance my theological views with the psychological views. It is nice to know that the teach is a believer as she will understand my struggles… and even better that she is a friend as she will see me on a more personal level.

Now, all last week I was thinking about all the reading and writing I was going to do this week and get caught up on things like adding Christmas music to my radio station…. Moreover, when Monday came, I was burned out! It is now Thursday and I am finally starting to begin to think on terms of writing. Today will also be the day to decide if iggyROCKS! will play Christmas music or not. Usually I upload a show and just repeat it the whole day so I am thinking that is what I will do again this year. I found last years show so I may just upload it. I am not sure why it is so hard to get the Christmas show going each year but it seems to be a chore every year.

I did finalize my decision to step down from leadership at Vineyard. I am just overwhelmed with school and other things. There are a few personal reasons, yet I will not go into those here. I am thinking on terms of starting a study at one of the coffee houses in town that is open to anyone. I am praying that God will direct me in this. Some of you may already know what direction this ministry is heading, and I need your prayer as many people will find this very controversial as well as not udnerstand what I am doing. I am also asking you to pray and consider helping me out in other ways as God leads you.

Other things I am attempting are trying to find a way to help get funds to some ministries in Africa. It seems PayPal and other such online businesses blacklist Africa. The only way to send money seems to be through Western Union yet even that is limited. I am doing a ton of research on all this, and think I may have to set up a PayPal account here in the states. Then I can send the donations to the ministries as people donate and designate which one they want. I am not that happy about handling the money but see no other way to get the donations to these that need it. I jokingly stated to Ivan who is the director at Afayo Foundation Uganda, that those Nigerians really screwed things up for the legit ministries in Africa… and he stated, “Yeah they have cause real problems for us.” (I am speaking of the Nigerian email frauds that have been going on for years now). If anyone knows of any other way, please let me know, otherwise I guess I will become an Unincorporated Association or Donor Advise Foundation.

On a personal note, it seems my gastric bypass surgery is still in the hands of the insurance company. There was a change in policy that now makes it that I need 6 months of weight loss management (WLM). Of course, the local WLM did not know of this change in policy so resubmitted my medical claim again. I should know next week if I would need to wait longer or not. I feel a bit in limbo over all this. For those of you who see this as new news, I decided that for health reasons I am going forward. There seems to be a lot of success in helping diabetes with the Gastric Bypass surgery as it seems to through the body in shock a bit and when is stabilizes things seem to kick in and work better. Since my condition with insulin resistance is not only making me fatter, but also hurting me in other ways, I decided to take the drastic measure to improve my health.

So please pray for me in all this as well as the regular family stuff and have a great Christmas!




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Sunday, December 20, 2009

Control and true freedom



Control and freedom are interesting topics in themselves. If one is in control is he free or reacting to what is happening around them to maintain that control? If one is a servant or slave, there is a sense of freedom from the responsibility of higher things others are controlling so one is free to pursue other thoughts, wants or desires. Yet, that person is still not "free" as they are subservient to the lord, master, or boss.

I do not believe we are at the mercy of others control, yet see this tension that holds these things in place. In a way, I see that we may be a slave to one thing, then free to others, yet also then become a slave to that other thing. Being free to me is more than the fulfillment of my want or desires. I see it as sort of surrender. I may be a surrender to something far superior than one's self that works hand in hand with trusting this superior "Being" which I believe has a person's best interest in mind.

To surrender one self to pursue this best seems a means of freedom to me that leads to higher freedom. It brings the ability to love in spite of hate, to give in spite of need, or to forgive when wronged. It is bringing one's self as not at the mercy or whim of one who wants to harm or does not have a person's best interest in mind.
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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Paul Tillich: What is Truth?



I have tried to avoid reading Paul Tillich for quite a while, yet I stumbled on The New Being which is a book of his sermons. I decided to read the chapter called "What is Truth?" and found much of it familiar. I had to laugh as I felt I was reading some of the stuff I have written on truth over the years. I always find it strange to read someone else (who is much more articualate then I am) explain what I have tried to express.

Here are a few excerpts from Chapter 8 of The New Being called, "What is Truth?"

"Twofold are the temptations to evade the burden of asking for the truth that matters. The one is the way of those who claim to have the truth and the other is the way of those who do not care for the truth. The first ones are called "the Jews" in our gospel. They point to their tradition which goes back to Abraham. Abraham is their father; so they have all truth, and do not need to be worried by the question which they encounter in Jesus. Many among us, Christians and secularists, are "Jews" in the sense of the Fourth Gospel. They point to their tradition which goes back to the Church Fathers, or to the popes, or to the Reformers, or to the makers of the American Constitution. Their church or their nation is their mother, so they have all truth and do not need to worry about the question of truth. Would Jesus tell them, perhaps, what He told the Jews—that even if the church or the nation is their mother, they carry with them the heritage of the father of untruth; that the truth they have is not the truth which makes free? Certainly there is no freedom where there is self-complacency about the truth of one’s own beliefs. There is no freedom where there is ignorant and fanatical rejection of foreign ideas and ways of life. There is not freedom but demonic bondage where one’s own truth is called the ultimate truth. For this is an attempt to be like God, an attempt which is made in the name of God."

"But those of us who dare to face the question of truth may listen to what the Fourth Gospel says about it. The first thing which strikes us is that the truth of which Jesus speaks is not a doctrine but a reality, namely, He Himself: "I am the truth." This is a profound transformation of the ordinary meaning of truth. For us, statements are true or false; people may have truth or not; but how can they be truth, even the truth? The truth of which the Fourth Gospel speaks is a true reality—that reality which does not deceive us if we accept it and live with it. If Jesus says, "I am the truth," he indicates that in Him the true, the genuine, the ultimate reality is present; or, in other words, that God is present, unveiled, undistorted, in His infinite depth, in His unapproachable mystery. Jesus is not the truth because His teachings are true. But His teachings are true because they express the truth which He Himself is. He is more than His words. And He is more than any word said about Him."

"The Church very early forgot the word of our Gospel that He is the truth; and claimed that her doctrines about Him are the truth. But these doctrines, however necessary and good they were, proved to be not the truth that liberates. Soon they became tools of suppression, of servitude under authorities; they became means to prevent the honest search for truth—weapons to split the souls of people between loyalty to the Church and sincerity to truth. And in this way they gave deadly weapons to those who attacked the Church and its doctrines in the name of truth. Not everybody feels this conflict. There are masses of people who feel safe under doctrinal laws. They are safe, but it is the safety of him who has not yet found his spiritual freedom, who has not yet found his true self. It is the dignity and the danger of Protestantism that it exposes its adherents to the insecurity of asking the question of truth for themselves and that it throws them into the freedom and responsibility of personal decisions, of the right to choose between the ways of the sceptics, and those who are orthodox, of the indifferent masses, and Him who is the truth that liberates. For this is the greatness of Protestantism: that it points beyond the teachings of Jesus and beyond the doctrines of the Church to the being of Him whose being is the truth."

"How do we reach this truth? "By doing it," is the answer of the Fourth Gospel. This does not mean being obedient to the commandments, accepting them and fulfilling them. Doing the truth means living out of the reality which is He who is the truth, making His being the being of ourselves and of our world. And again, we ask, "How can this happen?" "By remaining in Him" is the answer of the Fourth Gospel, i.e., by participating in His being. "Abide in me and I in you," he says. The truth which liberates is the truth in which we participate, which is a part of us and we a part of it. True discipleship is participation. If the real, the ultimate, the divine reality which is His being becomes our being we are in the truth that matters."

The whole book is available online here.




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Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Three Stages to growing in Christ.


      What did happen at the Cross of Jesus and what do many people miss about the Resurrection? Many have tried to answer this so to attempt it in a blog post seems rather ridiculous, yet, to me by gaining an understanding that there is a distraction between the Cross and Resurrection one can gain insight to what God is doing for, in and through you as a believer.

      When I first came to Jesus I was told the basic, “Come to Jesus and give Him your sins and he will save you.” But I never really asked what I was being saved from, let alone realized that maybe that was not the real point and that I was not being saved “from” but into something greater and more wonderful than myself. For years I walked with a “self” focus. “I am not going to hell.” “I am going to heaven.” “God loves me.” And yes all that is true and I am grateful, yet as in the biblical book of Song of Solomon, one must move from “My lover is mine and I am his…” (Song of Solomon 2:16) to “I am my lover's and my lover is mine…” (Song of Solomon 6:3) and again move onto “I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me.” (Song of Solomon 7:10) from where we grow more in the knowledge of the grace of Christ and knowledge of what God has for us. We become like the beloved who states, “But my own vineyard is mine to give…” (Song of Solomon 8: 12) freely giving all we are to God through Jesus.

      Each stage is like a step unto a fuller and richer life in Christ. Yet so many stay at the first stage and never realize that there is more. We fall at the Cross and never realize it is not only Jesus on that Cross but our self… dead. Some may realize this yet not move into the next stage where we find that “I am Christ’ and He is mine” as we try to still assert ownership of “self” and not relinquish our self to the death that is required of us. Even less find the richness and greatness of the third stage where one finds their wholeness and life comes only from the Beloved. One at this point has found themselves dead, the old is gone! And behold I am now a New Creation!

      Now I know many are saying, “Oh this is basic 101 stuff, yet is it? I do believe one must pass through the stages to develop as a new creation. Do you need each stage to be saved? No, you need Grace for that, yet to grow, God must become all in you through Christ. You must relinquish your life and receive His life. How? The Life is in the Son. By receiving all that Jesus has for you. Have you done that already? Great! You are now on your way to learn how to become the beloved of God!




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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

An Atheists View of Christians: Christians for Torture




Brothers and sisters, the world is watching us. Don't you get that? They seem to sometimes know more how we should act that we do! My friend Steve Lay who has a blog called The Groundworks emailed me this article and really, it breaks my heart...

iggy

Christians for Torture

So what in the world is an atheist to think when he sees the widespread Christian support for torture? Yes, torture. But don’t Christians claim to follow the ethics of Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament? These are unbelievable poll results. Christian torture advocates should be ashamed of themselves for being so ignorant of New Testament ethics. We associate torture with the Soviet Union under Stalin, China under Mao, .....

It is pastors who ought to be teaching and warning their congregations about what is wrong with the U.S. empire, the U.S. military, the CIA, U.S. wars, and U.S. foreign policy. Instead, we have pastors that lead their congregations to pledge to the flag, sing praise to the state on every national holiday, and honor the U.S. war machine on special military appreciation days.

What have we come to in the United States when people who name the name of Christ support torture? How dare Christians criticize Muslims for saying that Islam is a religion of peace and then advocate the torturing of suspected terrorists? By their support for torture, Christians have given "great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme" (2 Samuel 12:14).

Continue the article from: lewrockwell.com



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Monday, November 23, 2009

Show me how to live...

Each day we struggle with being a fallen creature who God has redeemed. If one is honest they will look in the mirror and see there is really nothing "special" about them that God would stoop low and offer salvation to any of us.

Yet, through Jesus we have just that! Audioslave is not a "Christian" group, yet within some of their lyrics there is this sense of struggle to live true to one's beliefs. Taking in that balance of coming into faith and believing God does see you as you are and loves you... and wills not to leave you how you are but to draw you ever deeper into Jesus Christ and show us how to live... and overcome our broken and fallen being and enter into something deeper that we could even imagine. "You gave me life now
Show me how to live"...




Show Me How To Live Lyrics
Artist(Band):Audioslave


In with the early dawn
Moving right along
I couldn’t buy an eye full of sleep
And in the aching night
Under satellites
I was not received
built with the stolen parts
A telephone in my heart
Someone get me a priest
To put my mind to bed
This ringing in my head
Is this a cure or is this a disease

Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life now
Show me how to live
Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life now
Show me how to live

In the afterbirth
On the quiet earth
Let this things remind you
You thought you made a man
You better think again
Before my role defines you

Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me a life
Now show me how to live
Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life now
Show me how to live

And in your waiting hands
I will land
And roll out of my skin
And in your final hours I will stand
Ready to begin
Ready to begin
Ready to begin
Ready to begin

Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life now
Show me how to live
Nail in my hand
From my creator
You gave me life now
Show me how to live
Show me how to live
Show me how to live
Show me how to live
Show me how to live




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Thursday, November 19, 2009

New Podcast site is up!

I finally found a new home for my podcast. Not saying it is great, but it will only get better.  You should be able to find it on iTUNES soon.


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