Session Notes

Rev. Bob Stevens

“Jesus said of himself, ‘If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me.’ Well, he has not drawn all men, not even a majority of men, and I am inclined to think that he has never been lifted up. An unreal, imaginary character is being lifted up instead, and men are not being drawn by it.” The Promises of God

This page is designed to let you know that God has made certain promise to you.

Not all the promises are listed but I will keep trying. My goal is to have every promise of God listed on this page before I go to be with the Lord.

Rev Bob Stevens Promises of God in Isaiah Promises of God in Psalms 500 Promises of God Finis J. Dake Promises of God to Children Promises of God to the Penitent Promises of God to the Poor Promises of God to the Giver Promises of God to the Meek & Humble Promises of God Concerning Life After Death Promises of God to Those Who Act in Belief Promises when you are Discouraged Promises when you are Worried Promises when you are Lonely Promises when you are Depressed Promises when you are Dissatisfied Promises when you feel Rebellious Promises when Experiencing Fear Promises when you need Confidence Promises when you Feel Angry Promises when you feel Condemned Promises when you feel Confused Promises when you feel Tempted Promises when you Need Courage Promises when You Have Physical Illness Promises when you Need Patience Promises when you Need Peace Promises when Troubles Come Promises when You Doubt God Promises when Your Having Marriage Problems Promises when You are Deserted By Loved Ones Promises when You are in Grief Promises when Your in Financial Trouble Promises when You Do Not Understand God’s Ways Promises when You Are Waiting on God Promises when You Are Mentally Disturbed Promises when You are Lukewarm

1Joh 4:18 (KJS) There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Psal 91:1 (KJS) He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. {abide: Heb. lodge}

Psal 91:4 (KJS) He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth [shall be thy] shield and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; [nor] for the arrow [that] flieth by day; 6 [Nor] for the pestilence [that] walketh in darkness; [nor] for the destruction [that] wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; [but] it shall not come nigh thee.

Psal 91:10 (KJS) There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

This is in excellent article that will literally move you! May it be so for us, our families, friends, schools, clients, and world. I encourage you to consult New American Standard, The Message, and Strongs Concordance.

Anne Rice Quits Christianity, Says Followers Not True to Christ.

Novelist Anne Rice, famous for her darkly seductive works such as Interview with the Vampire and The Witching Hour, announced this week via her Facebook page that she has decided to “quit” Christianity because of how the religion is increasingly being used to push anti-gay, anti-feminist and anti-science views.

Her publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, has confirmed that this posting and subsequent comments were indeed written by Rice and not an impostor.

Novelist Rejects Christianity, Remains “Committed to Christ”
On Wednesday, Rice wrote the following on her Facebook page:

“For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being ‘Christian’ or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”

She followed this with:

“As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.”

Explaining herself further, Rice’s latest offering on her Facebook page emphasizes that her faith remains as strong as ever, but that it is the affiliation with some of the religion’s followers that has prompted her to redefine herself:

“My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn’t understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become.”

All I can say is, Man, have I ever thought that myself!!!!!!!

Isn’t it strange how secular society seems to get the Gospel so much better then the Church does??? We seem to only get this:

So much that the rest of society seems to be down on their knees screaming:

I have no idea what the rest of the movie is about but the trailer gets my vote for movie of the year…

Scotteriology

Can you imagine if Jesus actually showed up for that service? The first-century Galilean apocalyptic radical is somehow transported through time and space ala Bill and Ted’s phone-booth, and he can understand English and has a social context for the gathering “in his name”…I imagine him fashioning a whip and driving people out of their seats saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of retards.”

Hopefully, after his mini-sermon Jesus mounts one of the mimes and beats him into submission… ’cause that would be awesome!

Ok, a client just gifted me this site today. My abs and throat already hurt from laughing and I’ve only been at it for 1/2 an hour.

What Evangelical Christendom most desperately needs is another 500 sites like this — sites run by people who stand up in what the true prophetic calling of Christ and His Church really is: the call to truth in the face of that which is SO overwhelmingly and pervasively, yes, “Retarded.”

Then, just maybe, the general public will start waking up, cut off the funding that keeps these people on the air and demand a real relationship with the living God.

American Family Association

The American Family Association, a religious right group, is urging that Tillikum Tilly, the killer whale that killed a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando, be put down, preferably by stoning. Citing Tilly’s history of violent altercations, the group is slamming SeaWorld for not listening to Scripture in how to deal with the animal:

Says the ancient civil code of Israel, “When an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner shall not be liable.” Exodus 21:28

However, the group is going further and laying the blame for the trainer’s death directly at the feet of Chuck Thompson, the curator in charge of animal behavior, because, according to Scripture, But, the Scripture soberly warns, if one of your animals kills a second time because you didn’t kill it after it claimed its first human victim, this time you die right along with your animal. To use the example from Exodus, if your ox kills a second time,

“the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.” Exodus 21:29

SeaWorld has no plans to execute Tilly.

And, we all hoped they would learn from Pat Robertson/Haiti…

But, I for one vote for it… but, they have to stand in the tank while throwing the stones…

Steve McVey:

“‘My feelings were aroused for him’ (5:4). That happened to us all when Jesus swept us off our feet and we trusted Him.

Don’t think it irreverent to view Christ in a romantic way. He is the One who calls us His bride. He is the One who wrote to us in terms of passion and romance. We simply respond to Him. ‘We love Him because He first love us’ (1 John 4:19). We didn’t initiate or set the pace for this relationship. He did. We have simply responded to His irresistible charm, affirming by faith, ‘My beloved is mine and I am His’ (Song of Solomon 2:16)! Like every new bride, our profession of faith in Him is nothing less than the thrilling realization that, ‘I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me’ (7:10, emphasis added)!

I didn’t imagine the idea of the dance as a literary metaphor to describe your relationship to Him. That is how He described it. In Zephaniah 3:17, the Bible says, ‘He will exult over you with joy’ (emphasis added). Strong’s Concordance defines the word ‘exult’(sometimes translated ‘rejoice’) in the following way: ‘To spin around under the influence of a violent emotion.’

One character quipped, ‘I grew up in a church where we were taught that premarital sex was wrong because it might lead to dancing, and now you tell me that the Lord dances over me??’ It’s true, He does. The love of Jesus Christ for you is not just a ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild’ kind of love. It is a love filled with passion. It is a love that caused your Prince Charming to wield His sword (of the Spirit) and fight the dragon (the devil, see Revelation 12:9) for you!

His love for you is great! One might say that the love of Jesus for you could be X-rated, not because of impurity, but because of intensity. Does that idea make you feel uncomfortable? It shouldn’t, because He really does love you with an intensity beyond human comprehension. You are the pearl of great price for which He paid everything He owned in order to possess you. (See Matthew 13:45-46)

I pray this love for us/clients/schools/the world in all our intimate relationships, especially receiving it from our Father/Mother God.

Steve McVey: How To Forgive Somebody:

“‘(Insert the name of the person who wronged you), I want to resolve a matter of unforgiveness toward you. You have wronged me, but I don’t want to be handicapped by this hurt for the rest of my life. What you did to me was (describe the exact incident). When you did that, it made me feel (describe how you felt, not what you thought at the time). You were wrong and I was hurt by your actions. But, (insert the offender’s name), right now I forgive you. I release you from any obligation you have toward me because of what you have done. Just as Christ has forgiven me, I now forgive you.’ Now, pray and thank the Lord for the grace He gives you to forgive others. Ask Him to bring healing to your emotions and to fill you with a greater sense of His love for you. Complete this time by affirming that you have forgiven others at this very moment. Will your feelings instantly change? Maybe not. But that’s okay. As you remind yourself of the truth that you have forgiven those who wronged you, your feelings will gradually change. You may still find that feelings of anger or resentment arise within you at times. That’s normal. When they do, remind yourself of the truth that you have forgiven. It doesn’t mean you didn’t forgive just because you may still have negative feelings at times. Simply acknowledge your feelings and then walk in the truth. Forgiveness is a choice and you made that choice. Don’t allow the enemy to bring you back into the slavery of unforgiveness again. Through forgiveness you have been set free. So enjoy your freedom! ‘If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed’ John 8:36″

THIS IS A GREAT BASIC ARICLE ON FORGIVING THOSE WHO CHOSE NOT TO ACCEPT THAT GOD TOOK AWAY OUR PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE SINS AND HURT US. I PRAY OUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, CLIENTS, SCHOOLS, AND WORLD ARE OPEN TO J.C’S GRACE.

Steve McVey:

” If the spirit of Picasso rested within you, a great desire to paint would continually motivate you toward the canvass. The knowledge of who was within you would be all the motivation you needed. The good news of grace is that Jesus Christ is in you.”

This is a powerful visionary article on the way the J.C’s Spirit of grace/truth transforms us. May it be so for me, my family, friends, clients, and world.

Steve McVey:

“. If the world only understood the truth about the love of Father, so many more would come to Him in faith. Sadly, their understanding is often a distorted caricature of who He really is. One reason it is so important to understand and accept your Father’s love is because we all eventually become like the whatever we imagine God to be. People trapped in legalism see God as a judgmental, cosmic eye-in-the-sky who is watching and waiting for them to mess up in the way they live. They imagine that how they behave is what matters most to Him. Consequently, that’s the kind of person they become in the way they relate to other people. They become harsh parents, demanding friends, dictator-type pastors, etc. “

I pray we understand and accept God’s unconditional love for us/our family/friends/clients/world as well.

Being Broken From The Need To Control – Grace Walk Ministries:::Sharing the Love & Life of Christ:

“Relax, and enjoy your journey. Rest in your Father’s sovereignty. Your life is an adventure, planned and performed by Him. We grow weary when we try to do what He alone can do. It is through our trials that He will lift our controlling need to be in charge. We must see that we are not in charge, but God alone determines and controls the unfolding of our destiny. Control is an arena for which we are not suited. Our Father, on the other hand, is perfectly suited for that role. So let go. Lay down your life for His sake and you will find it. Cling to your own life and you will lose it. Zoe (an authentic, abundant life) is yours. Don’t forfeit it for bios (biological life, mundane existence). If that is your deep desire, join in heartfelt agreement with this prayer: Father, move in me and through me to lay down my agenda and my control and trust You alone. Thank you that You will complete the work you have begun in me. I yield my circumstances to You and ask You to teach me to trust You more through all of it. Bring me to maturity, according to Your plan.”

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL ARTICLES!!! I PRAY WWHEN WE, OUR FAMILIES, FRIENDS, CLIENTS, SCHOOLS, AND WORLD FEEL BROKEN HEARTED THAT WE REST to feel content in all circumstances according to HIS PLAN.

The People Pleasers – Grace Walk Ministries:::Sharing the Love & Life of Christ:

“God gives you the desires of your heart. He places them there, but if you don’t know who you are you may spend your whole life trying to fulfill other people’s plan for your life. Many a frustrated Christian has struggled with finding fulfillment in life because they’re trying to be something and do something they’ve never been called by God to do. The meaning of grace, in part, is ‘divine enablement.’ By His grace, God enables you to be all that He has called you to be and do all that He has called you to do. But remember this: His grace doesn’t empower you to be and do what somebody else has called you to do. Who God has made you to be is wonderful, so you must resolve to be that person. Any effort to be somebody else is an affront to God because it suggests that you (or others) better know who you’re supposed to be and what you’re supposed to be doing. Don’t live for other people. It will wear you out. Instead, live from the identity in Christ that your Father has given you. Then you will be free to be and do all that you were designed for. The Apostle Paul once said, ‘I’m not trying to be a people-pleaser!”

This is a good article except the pleasing God section and some law. I pray we do not hamper the SPIRIT IN OTHERS BY OUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THEM.

Heavenly Father, I Am Your Child – Grace Walk Ministries:::Sharing the Love & Life of Christ:

“Every blessing in Christ Jesus is already mine. (See Ephesians 1:3) By faith, I will enter in to the grace-filled walk that you have prepared for me. (See Romans 5:2) I am everything you say I am. (See1 Corinthians 15:10) I can do everything you have called me to do. (See Philippians 4:13) I can have all that you have called me to have. (See Psalm 84:11) My days will only grow brighter.(See Proverbs 4:18) Your favor is upon me and will never leave me.(See Lamentations 3:22-23) Nothing that comes my way can harm me. (See Isaiah 54:17) You orchestrate my circumstances so that everything works out for my good. (See Romans 8:28)  Without wavering, I will hold tightly to the hope I say I have, because You can be trusted to keep your Promise. (See Hebrews 3:23)”

This is beautiful! I pray Jesus’ Spirit teaches/reminds/lives these promises through us, our families, friends, schools, clients, and world every moment!

A Love Letter From Your Father – Grace Walk Ministries:::Sharing the Love & Life of Christ:

” I will do something new. Do you want to see it? I will make a way when there is no way. (43:18-19) I will go before you and make the rough places smooth. I will shatter the barriers that block your way and will give you treasures, wealth from secret places so that you will know that it is I, the Lord God “

This is so inspiring!!! I pray Jesus’ Spirit continues to teach us, our family, friends, clients, and world it!

Just Play – Grace Walk Ministries:::Sharing the Love & Life of Christ:

“Joyfully embrace every day and live with the certainty that your Father’s heart is set on you and on the purpose of thrilling you with His love. Let Him love the bondage of adulthood from your heart until it is filled only with a childlike attitude that trusts Him and embraces the world with enthusiasm.”

This is a great article that highlights the faith we are to have like some aspects children possess. May it be so that we, our family, friends, clients, and the world allow THE SPIRIT to facilitate it rather than try to get the understanding ourselves.

Zinc Food Sources:

” zinc helps in the production of about 100 enzymes in your body, builds you a healthy immune system, maintains your senses of smell and taste and is needed for DNA synthesis. Foods Containing Zinc Zinc is very much associated with protein foods. Thus, you may assume that most foods high in zinc are protein-rich as well. The best sources of zinc include beef, lamb, pork, crabmeat, turkey, chicken, lobster, clams and salmon. If you are a vegetarian, you will most probably intake less zinc that those who have meat-based diets. Good zinc food sources aside from meats are dairy products such as milk and cheese, yeast, peanuts, beans, and wholegrain cereals, brown rice, whole wheat bread, potato and yogurt. Of all these vegetarian zinc foods, pumpkin seeds offer one of the most concentrated non-meat food sources of zinc. “

How to Stop Restless Leg Syndrome | eHow.com:

“How to Stop Restless Leg Syndrome Contributor By Alicia Bodine eHow Contributing Writer Article Rating: (0 Ratings) Legs If you can’t seem to stop moving your legs moving around, or your legs are experiencing pain or discomfort on a regular basis, you could have Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). This syndrome has now become more widely recognized, which means that there are many new treatments for it. If you have Restless Leg Syndrome, you can put a stop to it. Email Print Article   Add to Favorites Flag Article Difficulty: Moderate Instructions Things You’ll Need: Leg stretches Body pillow Calcium Magnesium Zinc Hot bath Heating pad Medications Step 1 Stretch your legs before you go to bed. You will need to spend at least 10 to 15 minutes stretching out your legs. This alone has been known to get rid of restless leg syndrome. This is because most people experience symptoms as night when their legs are cramping up, and stretching prevents this. Step 2 Place a body pillow between your legs when you go to bed at night. You will need to be either on your left side or your right side. Lying on your back can contribute to Restless Leg Syndrome, so by laying on your side with your legs apart, you can eliminate all symptoms of RLS. Step 3 Take a calcium, magnesium and zinc supplement before bed. These minerals will stop your muscles from cramping up when taken on a regular basis. Step 4 Stay away from caffeine products after dinner. Stop using alcohol and tobacco all together. These affect many things in your body, and will make you more susceptible to cramping. Step 5 Take a hot bath or use a heating pad on your legs before going to sleep. The heat will stimulate circulation and keep your legs from cramping up. Step 6 Get a prescription from your doctor. Your doctor may choose to put you on something like Clonazepam and Diazepam. These drugs have side affects, so you should try all of the other steps first.”

Sometimes a good massage therapist specializing in this condition is helpful.

The Grace to Shut Up – Grace Walk Ministries:::Sharing the Love & Life of Christ:

“Do you say too much, too often? If so, pray for God’s grace to flow through your actions in such a way as to cause you to know when to say nothing and then enable you to do it. Sometimes grace never looks better than when it enable us to simply shut-up.  ”

This is a great article! After being frustrated with not being able to communicate and completely know the truth of Jesus taking away our/the world’s sin now, I told God. He said I do not have to say anything, IT IS JUST HIS SPIRIT!!! “Well then Spirit teach and enable me/other believers to sense when to Shut Up!!!”

Learning to Receive God’s Love – Grace Walk Ministries:::Sharing the Love & Life of Christ:

“Imagine Jesus walking into the room where you are right now. He walks across the room and stands directly in front of you. He reaches out and puts His arms around you, and pulls you close to Himself to hug you. Relax. Still your busy mind. Just rest in His embrace. He gently presses His face against your own and quietly whispers in your ear, ‘I love you so much. Do you know how proud I am of you? I love you more than you can possibly know. Sh-h-h. Be still and know that I love you.’ Listen to Him. Wait until you sense an inner calmness. Ask Him to speak a personal word, just to you. Listen. Do you hear His voice? Linger here, in this still, quiet place, and allow Him to express His love. Wait – until you know it is appropriate to resume normal activity. Revel in His love. Don’t rush this exercise. Are you uncomfortable with such an exercise as the one described in the preceding paragraphs? Is there anything unbiblical about what I have described? Is there anything untrue about the above scenario? Jesus does love you just as I have described. He does embrace you in His arms and longs to express His love to you in meaningful ways. I haven’t asked you to pretend anything, but rather by faith to see in your mind’s eye something that is real.”

This is an excellent mediative exercise which facilitated me in shedding a tear! May the Father allow us to use our imagination to place our wishes before God and relax in His love. This article offers great prayers to ask the Sprit to enable giving/receiving more love!

Note, also permalink, top level posted here.

The power of Eternality:

The man/woman who stands with no fear of death is the most dangerous being alive. The entirety of the system of this world rides on the ability to take a life from another. When death ceases to terrify, control is lost.

The power of Absolution:

This world — especially the Christian side of it — stands in the constant fear of guilt. It stands with heads hung in shame while playing roles designed to prove to those who hold this weeks rating scale that they do, indeed, measure up. The teachings of Jesus have been so bastardized and bent by the keepers of religious power that it actually seems reasonable when that-which-formerly-was is again brought as a means of enforcing the awareness of our guiltiness and pinned on Jesus. But, we didn’t get a Bandaid for our sins — we, with Christ, died to them — and were raised to a new life that doesn’t relate to them. Our heads can never again hang low — because the standard which judged us (The law) can never again condemn us — no matter what.

The power of Love:

So many people live in the fear that if they ever gave God control of their lives, He’d bring out massive pain and torment (and a few plagues from Egypt too) to finally hurt them enough to change them. Yet, Jesus made it very clear that to see His heart was to see the Father. It’s a heart that will never lead through shame, fear, guilt, condemnation, coercion, punishment, torment or wrath. It’s a gentle heart that works quietly inside — when we are ready — to call us to life.

The power of Life:

Almost every aspect of our world is focused upon dying. We have drugs — they keep us emotionally dead. We have TV and entertainment to keep us distracted until we die. We have disassociative meditative techniques that are used to attain the peace of the grave while living. We run from shame, fear, guilt and the paralysis that comes from feeling trapped and bound and this drives that seeking of death. Through canceling all of that, the Gospel not only reawakens the desire to live, it legitimated the call to live and unlocked the creative energy to drive such.

The power of Freedom:

Wanna know why our bricks and mortar churches are emptying by the droves? People heard that Jesus came to set them free — and something deep within them intuitively knows that a list of rules isn’t what He had in mind. The message of the Gospel isn’t less rules — it’s TOTAL freedom. “When a man finally grasps grace, he suddenly finds himself standing, naked and trembling, in such a wide open space that he can do naught else but reach up for a hand to hold — for a guide to lead him through.” Anon

The power of Intimacy:

We can reach up for that hand to hold and that guide who will lead us through. It’s safe now. The cross is critical to this for it proved that not only is God good — but it proved that who He is IS GOOD. The human race unleashed the very worst it had to offer on the one being in the universe who could have annihilated them with a thought — and He loved them so much He let them kill Him and then came back to love them even more. To love ME even more…

The power of Faith:

Faith isn’t belief — faith is Christ in you, the hope of Glory. The Christian life has nothing to do with trying harder or trying period. It’s about surrender to that new life which has been created in you to enough of a degree that you can stop trying and literally get the hell out of the way. It’s about a surrender to a wisdom so much greater then our own that the foundations of this sick and corrupt system of control we call life begin to get blown up — not just for yourself, but also for those you love.

The power of Holy Anger:

Jesus made one thing very clear: He didn’t come to make nice — He came to start a war. The religious leaders of the day didn’t kill, “Gentle Jesus meek and mild.” They killed a guy who they could plainly see was destroying everything about their system of religious power — not trying to start the Progressive Conservative/Republican party. Then, He turned to the disenfranchised, the broken, the humiliated, the poor, the shameful, the powerless and promised them a power greater then the world had ever seen — just before he invited them to join up and open fire.

The power of Humanness:

Look around the world — every major religion out there sees human beings as basically screwed up and disgusting. It then offers it’s prescription to fix them — if people will only tow their line. The Gospel sees people as made in the image of God and, though once broken, as currently perfect without them doing anything to fix themselves. (That’s God’s job.) He came not to destroy them — but to reverse that which was broken about them once and for all. He came to make them fully human and fully alive.

The power of Transformation:

The foundational job of the gospel is to tear back the veils that keep people from seeing the beauty and dignity of the current reality of their lives. Read that again — not to fix people, for that job is already done. The primary weapon we are given is truth — the ability to tear back the lies that have the ones we love trapped in a set of falsehoods that reduce them to that which formerly was (dead) and drive them towards a set of broken strategies which will never fulfill the deepest longings of their hearts.

The power of Passion:

The magical core of the Gospel is the call to the deepest desires of our hearts. If God made those hearts and planted those deep longings within them, then those deep longings have to be His will for our lives. All of the above was NOT done because God wants to finally get you to the point of being a well-trained-seal who will do some religious dance when told. He did all of the above so you could finally reach inside and discover that deepest place of your heart where He planted the vision He created for you to become — and then full-tilt LIVE IT OUT.

The Gospel is not seen in ethics. The Gospel is first seen when a human heart, transformed so that it both is able to hear the voice of God and longs to do so, begins to reach out for the hand of a loving father and, when finding that hand, begins to take the risk to step out and live.

The Gospel achieves it’s true 10,000 candle-power brilliance when that heart reaches out and loves, it stops and cries, it gives to another, it stands in defiance of the night, it attacks with fury, it rescues the broken, it binds up the wounded, it touches that paintbrush to canvas, it places finger to string or key, it speaks with fire and precision, it screams with the fury of Almighty God at the thought of one of His precious children living with even one chain, it kisses with passion and then it makes love with with all of the erotic intensity that only a heart set free can even risk.

It’s the captivating and irresistible master plan of liberty the God of the universe, exploding out of the passionate longings of His heart, wrote for you.

When God Rolls By – Grace Walk Ministries:::Sharing the Love & Life of Christ:

“Don’t allow the circumstances of your life to be what you use to determine how your Father feels about you. Circumstances can’t tell you that. If you want to know how He feels toward you, look beyond the temporal situations of life and see the cross. At the cross, you will find an expression of His divine love for you. He loves you so much that He paid the highest price to ensure that you were His for all eternity. Sometimes He shouts His love in large letters. At others times, he gently whispers His love in the recesses of our hearts. In whatever ways He chooses to speak into your life, you can be assured that you are loved. He does care . . . and nothing is ever going to change that. Listen for Him to speak to you this week and you will hear the words, ‘I love you.’ “

This is a fantastic article of encouragement when crisises happen in our lives which cause us to feel that God doesn’t love us. I pray we are all reminded by His grace at every moment that Jesus death/risenness on the cross is all we will every need to believe/experience it.

Steve McVey:

“Yep, that’s my daughter’s children! Jeremy really is a sweet boy. No, really. I’ll admit though that his train seriously jumped the track with that incident. It’s noteworthy that the first response that popped into his seven year old head was about the law and jail. The little legalist – takes after his dad’s side of the family. I’m kidding, of course, but the issue here is that it is the bent of the flesh to think in legalistic terms. Would it be wrong to do this or that? Would I be punished for doing it? We miss the point altogether. It’s not about right versus wrong or about punishment. The catalyst for our lives is to be love. When our lifestyle is grounded in our union with Triune Love, we live from that benchmark, not a set of rules that come with a corresponding set of rewards and punishment. We act lovingly because Love is our DNA. In Him we live (and love) and move and exist. So, when your own behavior jumps track at times, don’t look upward to an imaginary Judge of the Universe who stands ready to send you to jail. Look into the face of Pure Love and you’ll find yourself wanting to behave well on the basis of His attitude and actions toward you.”

THIS IS A VERY GOOD GRACE DISCIPLINE ARTICLE. However this conversation would be best had after the feelings of both kids are validated. I have found it is sometimes not necessary after the Spirit convinces the child that he is sad for the hurt caused to the sibling/friend.

cbc.ca.

Religion is serious business, she says, and cultural elites like Hitchens are foolish if they think they can jettison it.

For one thing, she says, religion ties into the the glorious art and cultural traditions of the West. With their bare-bones, secular education, students come to university knowing nothing, Camille says. “NOTHING!” she shouts to the audience, the heavens, the ancient statues that lurk in adjacent rooms.

They don’t know Bible stories anymore (except, occasionally, for working-class students from religious homes, she said). They don’t know the story of Moses, fleeing slavery from Egypt.

How can you understand the depth of the American civil rights movement, she asks, without a regard for the religious underpinning of Martin Luther King Jr. and other clergy? “Let my people go,” which black slaves used to sing, had a great resonance that allowed them to unite their pain and longing with a powerful, religious tradition.

What do we have? Homer Simpson? O.J. Simpson? The Terminator?

And again:

Religion is serious business

It’s just a bunny trail but… It seems that even the atheists are more capable of understanding the current state of Christianity then most of the Church…

That’s true in two senses — the reality that the Church has mostly become a business, and at a deeper level as well…

For years, secular society has claimed art — and we let them (Often acting as though most of it were evil — God FORBID we should paint/photograph a nude…) They claimed music — and we held idiot-level seminars on the evils of drums in worship. They have claimed the authority on traditions and culture — and we let them — often ignoring the roots of such ourselves. Secular society reduced the world to a mechanical system — and we avoided science and the beauty/order that clearly shows a Creator. They claimed/revised history — and we allowed them to ignore spirituality throughout it. They (correctly) mocked religion — and we passively sat back and defended religion instead of reciprocally mocking their ignorance and presenting intimacy with God.

In a place where spiritual people should have stood up and been counted, we have been silent — while barking furiously about ethical issues that change nothing in a society.

Now, finally, the ultimate pathetic irony: We’ve crawled our whipped hides back into our little stained glass caves where we are sitting, licking our wounds and railing on about the evils of this world and it is now the ATHEISTS who have had to stand up and defend the cultural value of faith out of their own fear of what a truly secular society would actually look like.

2007 September GraceVine – Grace Walk Ministries:::Sharing the Love & Life of Christ:

“2007 September GraceVine Grace Is Bigger Than Your Sins by Steve McVey   One of the most amazing aspects of God’s grace is the way it blows sin right off the map of our lives. Make no mistake about it – sin lost the battle with God and is now a non-entity as far as its ability to stop His purposes for the life of the Christian. Are there consequences for our sins? We have all seen that often to be the case. Do our sins disqualify us from being used by God? Not at all. David committed a horrible sin when he slept with Bathsheba, but after they were married and God wanted the temple to be rebuilt it was her son, Solomon, that He used to accomplish that project. Peter flatly denied that he even knew Jesus, but when it came time for the sermon to be preached on the day of Pentecost, he was the man who God used that day. Abraham had his wife Sarah tell a king that she was his sister so that the king wouldn’t kill him to have a chance to take her. Despite his horrible and cowardly sin, God reaffirmed His intention to make him the father of a great nation many times afterwards. The list could go on and on. It’s a strange thing to hear debate in the church today about who God can and can’t use. The fact is that God can use anybody He wants to use. I learned this truth even before I understood the grace walk. Years ago someone asked me about a certain, flamboyant TV evangelist. ‘What do you think of him?’ I was asked. ‘He’s an idiot,’ I responded in my ‘I-haven’t-learned-a-thing-about-grace’ way that was all too common back then. The woman then went on to tell me how God had used that man’s ministry to transform her life. ‘What do you think now?’ she asked. Without hesitation, I answered, ‘I guess God uses idiots!’ While my response was far from graceful, it’s true. God uses idiots. I should know. He used me despite my years of legalistic idiocy. God can use you too. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you might have done something that is so terrible that your Father can’t redeem your past and use your life for His glory. He can use you and He will use you. Jesus came to put away your sin and He fully succeeded at that. (See Hebrews 9:26) We need to stop worshipping our sins by focusing on them and glory in the finished work of the cross. God’s grace is bigger than our sins and He will use our lives for His glory. Let’s just trust Him to do it! “

This is a great article that God can work good for us despite how we act or believe!!! May His sense of control be so for our family, friends, school, churches, and clients. Now it is about feelings not deeds.

This man has compressed more of what the life of Christ is into a 5 min song then most preachers get in their entire lives.

This song is a prayer set to music — the heart cry of a man who knows the Father for a people who know little of such and everything of rules, status and performance.

Gospelrevolution.com

Most of our lives do not play out the way Imus', Jimmy Swaggert's, Ted Haggard's, Bill Clinton's, Michael Richard's, Mel Gibson's, or any other high profile person's does under the glare of the public's spotlight. But play out they do. Still, to whom much is given much is required. When you have a bigger platform, and take that platform for criticizing other human beings for being less than you are as opposed to criticizing what they think or teach, then your "fall" will be greater.

We cannot recommend living a life of condemning others as less than ourselves. We tried. It is not a positive existence. We are not holier than anyone. Neither is anyone holier than we. Because all of our potential and perceived evil was paid for by the Blood of Christ. Plus, all of our holiness has been imputed to us by Him.

I went to see this guy this weekend. He’s a very interesting speaker — and a guy who has been through the fire for actually having the courage to read his Bible for himself instead of just regurgitating what he had been fed. His site is no less interesting.

So much has been written about Jesus in two different channels — it’s easy to see Him as a little MPD (Now the politically correct term is DID).

On the one hand, Jesus is presented as a guy who loved everyone, who went around healing people and drawing the hearts of the broken towards Him. (The subtext under this particular presentation is usually, “Shut up and be tolerant.”)

On the other, He is presented as a guy who ripped the religious leaders a new one and who braided up a whip (Properly translated, probably actually a flog) of cords, stalked into an area the size of a city block, physically attacked people, whipped animals and functionally leveled the place. (The subtext under this presentation is clearly, “Look out sinner, unless you straighten up, you’re next.”)

The result of this has been a Church split into two camps: The nearly fascist rantings of Fundamentalist Evangelical Christianity and the passive moralizing or lukewarm social activism of Mainstream Christianity and Roman Catholicism. Neither, to say the least, is having much impact on our society — except as fuel for the fires of comedy…

But, if you actually stop and look beyond the stereotyping, you see a different Jesus: He’s a Jesus who loved everyone (Even his murderers), who was willing to lower Himself to serve/heal anyone and who really did die to redeem the whole world to Himself — and He’s a Jesus who was ruthlessly and aggressively intolerant of the ideas and hypocrisy of people who would act like they were holy, judge/condemn from that platform, violate the hearts of others and/or suffocate them with religion. But, even those people, He still loved.

I wonder what our world would look like if every believer on the planet was willing to walk his/her naked, unzipped and unarmed heart into the homes, bars, back alleys, crack houses, sexual chaos and relational brokennesses of people and simply love and minister the healing power of Christ to those they find there (instead of moralizing at them) while, en mass, also standing up to the hypocrisy of the religious/political leadership and demanding truth out of them?

Steve McVey:

“I’ve taught several times about how sailing is a metaphor for the grace walk. On land, we seem to have control of our own forward motion, which I’ve suggested depicts a legaslitic lifestyle of self-sufficiency. Once we abandon ourselves to the wind (the Spirit) and the water (The Word/Jesus), we have no illusions that we are in control anymore. Safe sailing necessitates that you go forward as the wind leads you. To fail to cooperate with the wind can bring dire consequences – not because the wind is punishing you, but because you are experiencing the natural result of independence and pride. Happy sailing involves watching the wind and water and cooperating with what they are doing. That’s what we plan to do today. Will we go? Will we stay? We don’t know yet, but we are willing to do either one, once the wind lets us know. So it is to be in life if we want a successful and enjoyable journey.”

This is a great article regarding resting in that EVERYTHING, HAPPENS FOR A REASON. Any situation can result in experiencing/showing God’s love understanding and grace because Jesus took any the sins of the world. May the Lord give us/our families/teachers/friends that rest.

Steve McVey:

“The LORD’s delight is in those who honor him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love. Psalm 147:11 For many years, I taught people that the way to honor the Lord was to do what He said – to obey Him. Obedience – that was the most important thing in the Christian life, as I saw it. But the problem was that, no matter how hard I tried and how sincere I was, I couldn’t seem to be consistent in that area. This verse from Psalms shows that the Lord is honored when we put our hope in His unfailing love. It isn’t our obedience, our faith, or even our level of love for Him that honors Him most. It is by learning to rest in His unconditional, unfailing and unchanging love that He is most honored. As we learn to accept His acceptance, the calm that comes over us is amazing. No more do we have to struggle to stay on God’s good side. No longer do we condemn ourselves because we think we aren’t doing enough to keep Him in a good mood toward us. We come to learn that our Father’s love has nothing to do with how good we are, but has everything to do with how good He is. Then, lo and behold, the realization of His unfailing love begins to transform us. We find ourselves being motivated to live a godly lifestyle because we want to behave, not because we think it’s the right thing to do. We become increasingly free to relax and just be ourselves, knowing that He loves us no matter what. The love of God for us will mature us, motivate us and minister to us every day. Life increasingly becomes more and more about Him and not about us. “

This is a great little article on revealing God’s healing/Finished Work by resting in the Father’s unconditional love for us!

Steve McVey:

“Living in God-given freedom will inevitably bring the scorn of the self-righteous down on you. Jesus stayed in trouble because the way He acted didn’t fit the expectations of the religious crowd who thought it was their duty to police everybody else to make sure they were minding their P’s & Q’s. When He enjoyed a good meal and a glass of wine with friends, they called Jesus ‘a glutton and a drunkard.’ (See Luke 7:34) “

This is a good brief article that talks about the confusion of seeing Jesus took away they sins of the world. Regrettably the world often falls into feelings of self-righteousness which makes it seems that Jesus did not take away all the bad. May it be so that we have his we have his true understanding/confidence/trust/freedom/rest.

John Eldredge: June 2008:

“First, we really need vacations, just as we really need Sabbath rest each week. There’s a rhythm to life. The heart beats, then it rests. It beats, then rests. We wake each morning, then we sleep every night. We wake, then we sleep. We spend energy, then we take in food to replenish what we spent. Vacation is like that. We’ve got to have periods of rest and joy and beauty in our year. So here is what we’ve learned about vacations: First, ask God! Don’t just assume you know what is best this summer. Ask God what he’d have you do, and when, and with whom. Too many folks squander their vacation because they don’t ask God what he has for them. We went to Kauai because we prayed about it last winter, several times. ‘Where should we go, Lord? For how long?’ Visits are not vacations. Most folks spend their vacation time visiting relatives. That rarely is restful and restoring. Visits are not vacations. Don’t confuse the two. Pray over your vacation beforehand! You know there is a thief. You know he hates joy. The mistake we often make is somehow thinking that vacation time is exempt from the Battle. It’s not. I spent weeks ahead of time praying over our Kauai trip – praying for safety. For the weather. For our travel. For our love as a family to be full. Don’t spend your vacation running. Too many times the temptation is to fill the time with busy-ness, running here and there, touring, trying to ‘fit it all in.’ Most folks get home and need a vacation from their vacation. Don’t squander it running around. We spent most our time within a few miles of the place we stayed. Resting. Being renewed. Don’t drop your guard. The temptation when we get to wherever it is we were going for vacation is to drop our usual prayer life, drop our armor, and think ‘this is time out.’ It’s not. To protect the time, I got up early every morning and prayed hard over the day. Don’t be lulled into a false security. Okay. Now ask God what he has for you this summer.”

May it be so for everyone!!!

Chicago Breaking News

The pastor of Willow Creek Chicago — the city campus of the evangelical megachurch Willow Creek Community Church — has resigned and admitted to “sexual impurity,” a church spokesman said.

The pastor, Rev. Steve Wu, could not be reached, and the church would [not] specify what took place.

Wu, 43, moved from California’s Silicon Valley in early 2006, hired by senior pastor Rev. Bill Hybels to lead Willow Creek Chicago, the downtown branch of the South Barrington-based church.

And further down…

The statement said: “He admitted to sexual impurity and has taken full responsibility for his sin. He has expressed a desire to participate in a restoration process.”

The usual drama continues — yet another collection of sex obsessed evangelicals find yet another in their midst who slipped Willy across this week’s line and, yet again, have tossed him out on his, er, nether-regions as a form of utterly useless restorative therapy that is sure to result in both zero change and a speaking tour — probably with a book deal. (Clearly, we assume, this is necessary because sex is so much badder then all the rest of the antics they are involved in.) None of this is new. What’s interesting is how honest they have been this time…

“has taken full responsibility for his sin.”

Two errors in seven words — pretty much a record I think…

Last time I checked Scripture, it tells me Jesus took responsibility for the sin of the entire world, took it all upon Himself and died for it. Paul further tells us that (Rom 7) we died with Christ to all of the elemental principles of this world (Col 2:21) and the very concept of the naughty and nice list style of living that got instituted in at the Fall in the garden of Eden. Sin was such a serious problem that no one other then God Himself could do ANYTHING about it — and He had to die, kill us and then raise all of the above to a new life to do it. And, He did it — once and for all

But not in Bill Hybel’s inferno… It’s a special place of image and performance where people handle sin with so little seriousness that they actually believe that a human being can do something to fix it. Here, sin (At least whatever of it is on the latest naughty list) is still front and center (Because apparently Jesus only died so we can eat Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers) and people are still scaled by it until they can work hard enough to appear to clean up their own acts.

But don’t worry, it’s a caring place where they help people reach that sinless state — by ensuring their unemployment…[SIGH]

I’m still waiting for a church with the guts to stand up and say,

Today pastor _________ came to us to admit that he’s been having an affair with our women’s ministry coordinator. We’re leaving both of them in their jobs and are going to set out as a community to experience what it is like to see Jesus do what He said he would do in setting the captives free if we actually become the safe place He talked about. This week we are going to start that journey by talking about guilt, shame and condemnation and how that unholy trinity keeps people doing stupid things that will never satisfy. Bring what you have been conned into believing is your own dirty laundry at 11am and we’ll see if Jesus can do the stain removal you never could even get started on…

Ya, I know — never mind…[SIGH]

John Eldredge: December 2008:

“omething profound takes place in the soul of a person when they know they matter; when they know they are prized. It changes them. All questions of tit-for-tat are swept away; there is no longer any room for fear in the relationship. They know they are loved, and it evokes love in return. Someone who is recued has a deep and profound gratitude to the rescuer. ‘You would do this for me?’ But if their rescuer said, ‘I did not do this for you; I did this for me. I did it to prove my greatness. In fact, your complete unworthiness to be rescued is part of my plan to show my greatness.’ Could you imagine the relationship having any sort of future?  ”

This is an incredible Christmas article regarding our true worth even BEFORE Jesus took away our/the sins of the world. It is about relationship/knowing Him not beliefs/religion. May it be so for all of us.

John Eldredge: Finding Church:

“They do not actually teach people how to be intimate with God, or hear his voice. Intimacy with God is not promoted; most folks don’t know how to find it. We’ve spoken to a number of good people, mature believers who sincerely love God and dearly want to join him in his battle for this world, but who have found church to be an exercise in frustration. The number of these folks continues to grow; it is a very significant trend. These are not simply malcontents, who really just want to sleep in on Sundays. These are sincere followers of Jesus and they want a genuine place of church; they just don’t know where to find it. So they ask us, ‘What do you do?’ Let me first say what we have done – we have been a part of many different church expressions, from liturgical to conservative Bible to charismatic. And we have benefited richly from all of them. God can be found in many different expressions of ‘church.’ Most recently we have found the house church model to be particularly focused on what we believe are a few of the absolute essentials. Read the various urgings toward ‘church’ in the epistles, and ask yourself, ‘How could this take place in an hour on Sunday morning in a group of 500 or 5,000? How can we pray for one another, really? How can we encourage one another, really? Bear one another’s burdens?’ It can be a rich experience to worship with a large group of people, and hear the word of God taught by a gifted teacher. But there is simply no way that the fellowship urged in the Scriptures can be expressed without involvement in a small group.”

This is a good reminder article. May it be so for all of us and the world so we only do what God is in, not try to be Him for all. I pray we do nothing in our own strength to remain in peace.

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Awesome article from Breakforth 09!!! May it be so more clearly for us until we can rest in faith.

2 Alberta children treated for meningococcal infection:

“Meningococcal disease can be spread through close contact, such as coughing, sneezing or kissing. An infection can cause sepsis, a serious infection of the blood and other parts of the body. It can also cause meningitis, the inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord, which can be fatal. Since 2002, Alberta has vaccinated children against three of the most common bacteria that cause meningitis, including meningococcus. ‘While very effective, the vaccines do not protect against every strain of these three bacteria,’ the Alberta Health Services release said. Alberta sees, on average, 20 cases of meningitis each year, of which about four are fatal.”

Steve McVey:

“emember that there is nothing wrong with the Law of God. God’s Law was given to open the eyes of the self-righteous to their own unrighteousness. The fact is, though, that you and I have been released from the Law (See Romans 7:6) through our death with Christ on the cross. By His grace, we saw our own unrighteousness and, by His grace, we repented of the folly of our sin and turned to Him in faith. At that moment, we were born again and now have no connection to the Law whatsoever. (Read Romans 7:1-6 for the biblical explanation.) If we don’t realize that we have moved out of the bondage of Babylonian captivity, we will still live under the terroristic threats of legalism. But you have been delivered from Babylon. You aren’t under the Law anymore. The religious Al-Qaeda have no rights or authority over you anymore. Your Liberator has set you free “

This is a good brief article on the law vs Jesus. I see repentance as a change in thinking from the Counsellor/Sprit.

Steve McVey:

“When Jesus said that the Scripture in Isaiah had been fulfilled that very day, He was revealing that He was the personification of the anointing of God. The anointing has come to us in the person of the Anointed One! Because Jesus Christ lives inside you, you have everything you need to do anything that God has planned for you to do! Paul wrote that, In [Christ] all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete (Colossians 2:9,10). If Jesus Christ lives in you, everything you need to succeed in life resides within you. You have need of nothing else. God’s grace within you is the anointing you need to accomplish everything He has planned for you. Grace equals enablement! You have miraculous, supernatural, God-given, enablement. That sets you apart from others whose dreams depend on their own ability. The early church grasped this fact and accomplished miraculous results. The same is possible for you. John reminds us, ‘But you have an anointing from the Holy One (1 John 2:20). Notice that he doesn’t say you still need it, but that you have it. He further notes, ‘As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you (2:27). The word here means continue to be present and not depart. In Jesus Christ, you already have all you need to have to do all that you need to do to accomplish God’s plan for your life. Do you understand your ability? Like the anointing of Aaron, you haven‘t been given a small dab of ability. It just isn’t His nature to give sparingly. When He gives, He really pours it on! You are drenched in divine ability to do all that He has planned for you to do.”

We often think we do not see miracles very much anymore. Is it because we are doing things in our own strength rather than allowing Him to work through us? May just the Divine in us show.

This is from Dan Allender’s book — The Healing Path — which I read years ago. (One of my clients was just so incredibly gracious as to type out and email me the key part this evening…) It’s been the foundation of my thinking with respect to activism for years.

What are the basic principles of the world? They are the lists of dos and don’ts that rule most every social engagement and establish the boundaries for acceptable and unacceptable behavior. They are the conventions of respectability that announce you as a full member in good standing or, in their absence, mark you as a philistine, a poseur. Whether we are in third grade, at a trade convention, in the foyer of a church, or on a tennis court, we hate to wear the wrong clothes, say the wrong thing, or be dismissed for being different.

We all know that the rules are seldom (if ever) written and announced. The most powerful rules are unstated and assumed. We long to fit in. We feel awkward when we are outsiders and shame when we were once inside but now are no longer accepted. What gets us in and keeps us inside? Following the rules – approving of those who are impeccable in their performance, viewing with derision those who are not. As long as we align ourselves with the power base of whatever group we wish to enter, we receive the benefits of membership and avoid the liabilities of being a stranger. But as Christians we are called to follow our father Abraham and by faith depart from our country, class, race, subculture, and family. We are to be in the world, but not wage life according to the basic human principles that determine good and bad, in and out.

“In but not of” requires we belong while always retaining an awareness of our first loyalty. Does this involve a “leaving” that calls us to give up our very identity as constructed in the matrix of citizenship, class, race, subculture and family? Yes. Does loyalty to Christ call us to be prophetic and disruptive to every group and person with whom we engage? No. We are called to a particular time, place, group, family, and person. Without an ability to enter the world of the particular others God has placed in our lives, however, we will never gain access to disrupt them and offer them a taste of the bounty of Christ.

We should strive to “fit in” almost every way that gives us access to those we are called to love, but without ever buying into the basic rules required to be a full-fledged, 100-percent, card-carrying member of a particular group. We should never blindly support any group or person – no matter if what brings the group together is a theological flag, moral issue, counseling orientation, or church denomination.

Why? There is something wrong with every culture and group, and to affirm any as the basis of identity and the substance of life is to find a home rather that to live as a sojourner.

In my mind, this is one of the most eloquent declarations of war ever written.

It’s a covert war — a guerrilla war — of the highest order. Its mission, to infiltrate every aspect of society, to learn its ways, to understand how it thinks so clearly that you appear to be one of them — while always waiting for the moment to strike a lethal blow destroying the fabric of evil that places the minds and hearts of its members in bondage.

Its goal? No, it’s NOT to make them stop sinning. Its goal is to replace their legalistic bondage with that which terrifies both religion and society equally: a double punch of real live intimacy with the living God and the all-inclusive liberty He died to make their inheritance.

Oh ya — reread the above. What is Dan implying is its first target? That’s right — so called, “Christian culture,” and the rest of what passes as the Church.

Got this emailed to me today — and I have to post it.

…Is there anyone in our midst who pretends to understand the awesome love in the heart of the Abba of Jesus that inspired, motivated and brought about Christmas? The shipwrecked at the stable kneel in the presence of mystery.

God entered into our world not with the crushing impact of unbearable glory but in the way of weakness, vulnerability and need. On a wintry night in an obscure cave, the infant Jesus was a humble, naked, helpless God who allowed us to get close to him.

The Bethlehem mystery will ever be a scandal to aspiring disciples who seek a triumphant Savior and a prosperity Gospel. The infant Jesus was born in unimpressive circumstances; no one can say exactly where. His parents were of no social significance whatsoever, and His chosen welcoming committee were all turkeys, losers and dirt-poor shepherds. But in this weakness and poverty the shipwrecked at the stable would come to know the love of God. The shipwrecked at the stable tremble in adoration of the Christ child and quake at the in breaking of God Almighty, because all the Santa Clauses and red-nosed reindeer, fifty foot trees and thundering church bells put together create less pandemonium than the infant Jesus when, instead of remaining a statue in a crib, He comes alive and delivers us over to the fire that He came to light.

The shipwrecked at the stable are the poor in spirit who feel lost in the cosmos…finding it not only tacky but utterly absurd to be caught up either in tinsel trees or in religious experiences. They have been saved, rescued, delivered from the waters of death, set free for a new shot at life. … what are the shipwrecked saying? Let go of your paltry desires and expand your expectations. Christmas means that God has given us nothing less than Himself. Don’t order just a piece of toast when eggs Benedict are on the menu. Don’t come with a thimble when God has nothing less to give you than the ocean of Himself. Don’t be contented with a ‘nice’ Christmas when Jesus says, ‘It has pleased My Father to give you the Kingdom’. ..Anything connected with Christmas that is not centered in Christ Jesus–tree, ornaments, turkey dinner, exchange of gifts, worship itself, is empty gesturing. Blessed are the shipwrecked for they see God in all the trappings of Christmas and experience a joy that the world does not understand.

Don’t be so preoccupied with the purity of your heart. And once you’ve turned to Jesus, don’t turn back and look at yourself. Don’t wonder where you stand with Him. The sadness of not being perfect, the discovery that you really are sinful, is a feeling much too human, even borders on idolatry. Focus your vision outside yourself on the beauty, graciousness and compassion of Jesus Christ. The pure of heart praise Him from sunrise to sundown. Even when they feel broken, feeble, distracted, insecure and uncertain, they are able to release it into His peace. A heart like that is stripped and filled–stripped of self and filled with the fullness of God. Holiness is not a personal achievement. It is and emptiness you discover in yourself. Instead of resenting it, you accept it and it becomes the free space where the Lord can create anew. To cry our, ‘You alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord’ that is what it means to be pure of heart. And it doesn’t come by your Herculean efforts and threadbare resolutions. Simply hoard nothing of yourself; sweep the house clean. Sweep out even the attic, even the nagging, painful consciousness of your past. Accept being shipwrecked. Renounce everything that is heavy, even the weight of your sins. See only the compassion, the infinite patience and the tender love of Christ. Jesus is Lord. That suffices. Your guilt and reproach disappear into the nothingness of non-attention. You are no longer aware of yourself…even the desire for holiness is transformed into a pure and simple desire for Jesus.

For the shipwrecked, becoming a little child means accepting oneself as being of little account. When Jesus tells us to become like little children He is urging us to forget what lies behind. Children have no past. Like little children the shipwrecked don’t bring the baggage of the past into the stable of the present moment…the single most important consideration during the sacred season of Advent is intensity of desire. An intense inner desire is already the sign of His presence in our hearts. The rest is the work of the Holy Spirit. The only explanation of why the shipwrecked exist is the personal magnetism of Jesus and only he who has experienced it can believe what the love of Jesus is. You could more easily catch a hurricane in a shrimp net than you can understand the wild, relentless, passionate, uncompromising, pursuing love of God made present in the manger. The shipwrecked preserve the meaning of Christmas in its pristine purity–the birthday of the Savior and the eruption of the messianic era into history.

by Brennan Manning

Think about it — no, meditate on it. It’s the Gospel in it’s most straight and simple form — so simple, in fact, that Evangelical Christendom usually misses it entirely. It’s not a cute little prequel to a morality tale — it’s the savage annihilation of any lie that told you that the God of the universe could ever do anything but love you. It’s the God of the universe laughing at the idea that you could ever do anything about what separated you from Him and the the cosmically insane plan He hatched to make sure nothing in the universe could ever separate Him from His kids again.

If you’ve ever wondered if anyone out there wants you, you have your answer.

Steve McVey:

“The new Christian who has all along been glorifying Christ through his behavior without even thinking about his behavior now stops focusing on Christ and starts focusing on his behavior. The face of Jesus fades into the background and a list of religious rules emerge as the focal point of the new Christian’s life,”

This is a good brief article on starting in faith as you began. Our continued victory can only be received by faith not by following rules. In marital conflict when feeling powerless/blamed/afraid/shame and needing control. Wait, relax, vent to Jesus, and focus on His control/power/blamelessness/promise to make a way through grace, in us believers. Give truth, after receiving His perspective when it can be heard/let it surface, in us believers.

Steve McVey:

” know you’re expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he’s gonna keep saying this. So what you’re left with is: either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase.”

This is an excellent commentary on the role of conflict/protection in the Good News. Father make it crystal clear to all of us.

Steve McVey:

“it is only when you understand how deeply you are loved that you will be released to pour out agape on others. 1 John 4:19 says ‘we love because He first loved us.’ We don’t just love Him for that reason. We love everybody for that reason. When my grandchildren visit our home and dip their beach pail into the Gulf of Mexico, the pail can’t contain the Gulf so the water spills over the edge on every side. That’s how it is when we have received God’s love. It’s just too much for us, so everybody around us gets wet too. This is where grace becomes practical. When we have fully experienced the loving grace of God, we will faithfully express it. As He is, so are we in this world. Jesus loved. He loved the down-and-outers (the Samaritan woman) and the up-and-outers (Matthew). He loved the unrighteous (Zaccheus) and the self-righteous (Saul of Tarsus). He loved the rogues (Peter) and the religious (Nicodemus.) He loved the horribly immoral (the woman taken in adultery) and the highly moral (the rich young ruler). Jesus just loved. He said, ‘I and my Father are one’ (John 10:30). He shares the same DNA as the One who is love. What else could he do? “

This is an excellent reassurance that unconditional grace will motivate/move us, especially to love as Jesus.

Steve McVey:

“As Jesus said, the greater our understanding of forgiveness the greater the love. The obstacle that most people have trouble getting past in accepting the reality that all their sins have been forgiven is the idea that future sins could already be dealt with, even before we commit them. I remind you though that when Christ died for our sins, He died for all of them and we hadn’t even been born yet. If Christ could take every sin we would commit upon Himself at the cross before we had committed a single one of them, why couldn’t he forgive them in the same way? He can and He did. Your sins are forgiven. Not just some of them, but all of them. What if every sin of our lifetime is already forgiven? What difference would that make in how we lived from day-to-day? I can tell you the difference: it would free us to take our eyes off ourselves and put them on Christ and on others. It would deliver us from self-consciousness and sin-consciousness. The fact is that our sins have all been forgiven. That won’t cause anybody to run wild. The Apostle Paul answered that objection when he said, ‘If all this about grace is true, does that mean we just sin like crazy because we know it’s all covered by grace?’ He answered his own question, ‘God forbid! How can we live in sin if we have already died to it? Or don’t you understand that every one of us who have been placed into Jesus Christ were with Him when He died? The reality is that when somebody dies, they are free from sin and we died!’ (See Romans 6:1-7) We can relax when it comes to the fear that grace will cause people to sin. It won’t do that. Instead it will cause those who understand the scope of forgiveness to love Jesus more and to take their eyes off themselves and live freely in grace.”

This is an excellent discussion of the looming question, fear of license, and vision for us. May it be so.

Grace Walk Resources – Company Info:

“Each member of the Grace Walk team has a passion to share the sufficiency of Jesus Christ, not only for salvation, but for daily living. We have each experienced the bondage of legalism but have been transformed by coming to understand our identity in Christ and what it means to walk in grace. Consequently, He has given us a burning desire to see the body of Christ growing in grace as well.”

This in an excellent introduction to the discussion.

Steve McVey: March 2008:

” all our sins have been paid for (see Colossians 2:13-14); why would the Holy Spirit call our attention to them now? Hebrews 10:1-2 says that when we know we are cleansed, we lose consciousness of sins. Make no mistake about it. Your sins have been put away. What the Holy Spirit does when we now sin is to convict/convince us of who we really are. He shows us that we are able to live like the righteous child of God He has made us to be. He motivates us to live like that and, in the process, we will abandon the sin that caused us to stumble in the first place.”

This is an clear explanation of the reason we do not call attention to sin. We let Jesus tell us who we are really are now with Him inside us and the truth.

Steve McVey: March 2008:

“Let’s face it – the grace walk so contradicts the way many of us grew up believing was the right approach to the Christian life. It may even contradict what we’ve believed up until this moment. So, when the Holy Spirit ‘starts messing with’ our belief system, it’s a little scary. After all, we’ve lived in the security of our beliefs for a long time and to have somebody come along putting forth views that contradict what we have believed is unsettling. We don’t want to be led astray and besides that, grace is downright scary after living in legalism for a lot of years. It’s scary for one reason: it leaves us totally out of control. We can no longer be in charge of our Christian walk, knowing that when we do this, then that will happen. In other words, we stop being able to control things, including God. And nobody likes that on the front end. “

This is an empathetic article on the fear with the Spirit challenges us about the truth of our beliefs. May He allow us to rest that Jesus is in control. The try harder/rededicate yourself approach doesn’t work, only Jesus/His Finished Work is the answer.

Steve McVey: May 2008:

” The sails on the boat can be a metaphor for our lives. The wind (Christ’s Spirit) must fill us in order for us to move forward toward our destination. 2. The tell-tales let you know when the wind is moving across the sail in the most efficient way. The tell-tales in our lives are joy and peace. When Christ animates our lives, these will both ‘line up’ together. 3. Sometimes one tell=tale will be horizontal, showing that the wind is moving across the sail in the best way at that place, while another tell-tale will be jumping around in every direction -showing that part of the sail isn’t getting optimum wind flow across it. It is possible that we are appropriating the sufficiency of Christ in one area of life, yet still may need to submit another area of life to Him. 4. Sanctification is the ongoing work of the spirit (wind) increasingly showing us areas that we still can yield to His control (the tell-tales showing how the wind can be trimmed for maximum efficiency). “

This is an excellent illustration for understanding what it means to do something in our own strength. I pray we sail through life’s challenges.

Steve McVey: September 2008:

“I put this online a long time ago, but enough time has passed that I want to use it again. What do you see? This sketch has been around since the late 1800s. It’s a picture of both an old woman and a young woman, depending on your perspective. If you’re having a hard time seeing both — the necklace on the young woman is the old woman’s mouth. Beneath the necklace of the young woman is the old woman’s chin. The ear of the young woman is the old woman’s eye. (If you can’t see it from those descriptions, it’ll take divine revelation for you to see it The Lord spoke to me through this picture a few years ago when I was struggling with a situation that looked very ‘ugly’ to me. He showed me that it wasn’t the picture that needed to change. What needed to change was my perspective. Since that time, the situation that I initially thought was ugly actually turned into something I see now as beautiful. Our Father’s plan is often not to change our circumstances, but to change how we see and respond to those circumstances. “

This is the timeless illustration of the way we can see things according to the physical/flesh/law/sin or the spiritual/love/appearnace of sin/Jesus. I pray we always see ourselves/other/the world according to Christ’s, and His victory from the cross. May God allow us to rest/stand in our righteousness of Him in us and not on our own.

GV July 2007:

“Christians are those who have become one with God through Jesus Christ. Everything in our lives is intimately associated with Him through our relationship to Him, thus making it sacred. Because Christ lives through you, all that you do becomes sanctified (made holy) because He is the One doing the work through you.”

This is an excellent definition of a Christian! I pray we genuinely show it. It also talks about what sanctification really means to a believer.

GV Jan 2008:

“Control freaks – that’s what we all are when we try to be in charge of our own lives. God never intended for us to be in control. Controlling things is His role, not ours. ‘My life is out of control!’ people have tearfully said to me at times in the counseling office. What they really meant was ‘My life is out of my control and I don’t like it!’             Imagine a baby holding a pair of new shoes in his hands. He is playing with them and happy they belong to him. His parent reaches down to take the shoes and put them on the child’s feet. All the child sees is that his shoes are being taken out of his hands. He doesn’t like it. He wants to control them and keep them in his hands, but he will never walk in them that way.             The parent takes the shoes from the hand of the child and the baby begins to cry. He is overwhelmed with anger, confusion and regret that his shoes are being taken from him. He screams. He kicks in protest. He is losing control of the thing he loves and wants to hold. He doesn’t understand what his parent is doing. But the parent understands and does what is necessary to enable the child to walk – whether the child likes it or even understands.             The goal is to enable the child to enjoy the shoes to the fullest by walking in them. The parent knows that if the shoes are used for their designed purpose, the child will truly benefit and not simply be amused by them.             Only a baby thinks the highest pleasure is to hold them in his hands. He doesn’t see the whole picture. So the parent overrules the baby’s wishes and does what is needful. Eventually the child will understand. When he does, he is thrilled, and more important than that, he walks. Do you want to walk? What are you holding onto that you need to release? Let it go. God knows what He is doing.”

This is an excellent article for parenting and dealing with the crisies of life. I pray for this rest and openness to genuinely let go of our way after working through the emotions individually/together with others.

LiveNHim:

“You don’t need to have a kind of ‘in your face’ grace approach exclaiming your freedom to those who ‘just don’t quite get it’. Now, there may be a time where you do need to take a stand on God’s grace and freedom in the church, but I’m talking everyday life here. The general rule of thumb when it comes to personal relationships with those who do not understand God’s incredible gift of grace for living is simply more ‘grace’. What does that look like? We’re to act ‘in love’, even to the point of refraining from a freedom we think is perfectly fine to protect our relationship with other believers. It’s a humble, accepting and encouraging approach to those who might differ with us. Limiting your freedom on behalf of another is not a compromise of grace but more a sacrifice of love. Allow Christ to love through you…at times, it will be a sacrifice.”

This is a great article on extending grace when we differ about our beliefs.

LiveNHim:

“God gave us an incredible gift in the human body and brain. Every action, thought, desire is recorded on the human hard drive of the brain. The ‘old self’ or nature is dead (that’s what happens when you get crucified…you don’t typically recover) and you have been raised up a brand new self or nature. Those old desires, habits and behaviors have been recorded and can and will resurface…that broad term ‘flesh’ or old ways of thinking and behaving will set its desire against the Spirit but the truth is, you are ‘dead’ to that stuff! There is no real power to make you act or think in the ‘old way’, in fact, quite the opposite. You have the omnipotent power and Life of Christ in you to think and live a brand new life. “

I agree with the majority of the article I see “choice” as openness to it. Believing is not works. I pray He gives us all His understanding of it.

Understanding the Inspirational Personality Type : Lifetime Guarantee Ministries:

“Personality Traits Ambitious Charger Confident/Determined Intuitive Persuasive Spontaneous Adaptable Responsible Flesh Type & Traits (Over-bearing) Pushy/Ready-Fire-Aim Domineering/Intimidating Egotistical Restless Insensitive Undisciplined Over-bearing Can’t say no”

This is a fascinating personality chart. We are to encourage the personality/spirit and ignore the flesh traits. This is because sin does not come into play anymore, beyond the fact it just brought death in the first place. May it be so.

Abiding:

” second reason we do not understand abiding is that our humanness does not want to. The heart of abiding is dependence. Dependence is the mortal enemy of self (our flesh). Our flesh screams out against dependence. We like the idea of improving ourselves ‘for’ God. We are drawn to ways that increase our strength, wisdom and abilities ‘for’ Him. This is why we can not relate to Paul when he says, ‘Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.’ (2 Cor. 12:10) We long for love, acceptance, value and identity; but we want it the old fashioned way- we want to earn it and deserve it. You can not understand the concept of abiding (let alone live in it) until you are willing to recognize that living the Christian life is not about you getting better or working harder. As Christ said, ‘you must deny yourself’. You living the Christian life, in fact, is impossible. You must be convinced that only Jesus within you can live the Christian life.”

This is an excellent article on resting in our completeness because of Jesus rising from the cross. We can be at peace. May it/this, His wisdom be so for us.

Philosophy of Ministry:

“he Sermon on the Mount proves that before God we all stand on level ground: murderers and temper-throwers, adulterers and lusters, thieves and coveters. We are all desperate, and that is in fact the only state appropriate to a human being who wants to know God. Having fallen from the absolute Ideal, we have nowhere to land but in the safety net of absolute grace.’ It is interesting to me that when referring to his life before Christ, Paul said, ‘as to the Law found blameless’. In describing his life as a believer, he said, ‘For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish, I do not do but I practice the very evil that I do now wish.’ “

It offers a good compilation of the verses of the real reason for the law.

HURRICANE KATRINA, MEANS OF JUDGMENT OR OPPORTUNITY FOR HOPE:

“d not the death of Christ deal with the root cause of sinful behavior:  sinful hearts?  For me, a pat answer of God’s judgment merely raises many many more questions. We are tempted to be deceived into believing that grace is too light on sin.  However, my heart yearns to testify that it is true grace alone that exposes sin for the subtle dead lie that it is.  Apart from grace, sin is limited to negative-looking behaviors.  Apart from grace, we are tempted to see the need for more of God’s judgment, in addition to the cross.”

This is an excellent article on allowing God’s trust in us because of the 100% sufficiency of Christ as our life. May the Lord replace our fears with the revealing of His security/courage/peace/Finished Work.

A TALE OF TWO MIRRORS:

“ven though my new mirror did not yet need cleaning, I still tried different things to dress up the frame out of habit. After trying everything to dress up the frame, one day I sought to clean the mirror.  Surely the mirror needed cleaning by now. So, I peered into my mirror, saw my reflection, and reached to clean the surface of the mirror…and to my amazement… …to my utter amazement, the mirror had no surface, nothing to separate me from my reflection, and… …and I…I…I touched the face in the mirror!  It was then when I realized I had touched the very face of Jesus!”

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001:

“don’t understand much about the ‘why’ of this tragedy, but this I do know: God makes a person brand new in order to give him the life of His Son…and Christ’s life is sufficient for any situation! During this national distress, we will be tempted to do something to appease God’s wrath and to reclaim His favor.  But the truth is that Jesus Christ has already borne ALL of the Father’s contempt for sin and ALL of His divine judgment on the cross…for us!   God loves and adores each of His children by His amazing grace, not by what we do. ”

This is good brief article that highlights one of the defining moments of our history and our/Jesus response to it. May God reveal it to all.

ONE IOTA OF DIFFERENCE:

“Adam and Eve fell for the temptation to believe Satan’s one iota of a difference regarding the truth about God, and as a result, a division resulted between man and his relationship with God.  All of us inherited this division, this separation.  Jesus the Truth came (John 14:6) to eliminate that division by exposing all iotas in order to make us one in relationship with God (John 17:21). Believing little iota changes in God’s truths can subtly and significantly impact my relationship with God.  The following table presents some examples from my life.  Most often the difference is only one word.  God’s revealed truth nurtures my genuine communion relationship with Him.  However, just a little iota of difference in the truth tempts me to view myself as separate (divided) from God…tempting me to relate to Him as a separate Helper rather than my intimate Life.  When I fall for this temptation, stolen from me is the joy of experiencing the intimacy (oneness) that my relationship with God really is.  The undivided truth sets me free to genuinely, not religiously, relate to God and others (John 8:32, 36).    THE ONE IOTA OF DIFFERENCE   A temptation that steals the joy of my fellowship with God The truth that reveals the joy of my fellowship with God Foundational Biblical Truths God wants me to do good. God wants me! Jesus said, ‘If I am lifted up from earth, I will draw all men to Myself’ (John 12:32). I’m on fire for the Lord. I’m on fire with the Lord! You are light IN the Lord. Walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8). I just hope for the best. I already have the best hope! The Lord Jesus Christ IS our hope (1 Timothy 1:1).”

This is a great article on the importance of truth rather than the temptation to trust a lie! One is doing it in our own strength the other is just Jesus as the truth of our heart. I agree we do not strive for victory. However I believe we rest in Jesus the victory in us. Our identity is not that we are sinners. We really are saints because Jesus is our heart and that He rose on the cross. We have Him as our new nature. I pray we know it as believers.

My Personal Psalm 23:

“…I shall not want (lack). I used to fall so short in my self-efforts to achieve goodness and happiness (Romans 3:10-12). But now the Lord has given me His righteousness as a gift (Galatians 2:20-21) and His life as my joy (Galatians 5:22, John 17:13). I am now complete in Christ and, therefore, I lack nothing (Colossians 2:9-10)!   He makes me to lie down in green pastures… God makes me lay down my self-efforts (Philippians 3:8).  The pastures where I then rest are lush green, and full of life (John 15:5). God nurtures me there in my true identity and life in His dear Son (Romans 8:16, John 6:51).   …He leads me beside the still waters. God then leads me to a quiet place to assure me of the finished work of His dear Son through the cross for re-creating me (Galatians 6:14-15). He leads me beside still waters to show me my reflection is now a reflection of Christ Himself (2 Corinthians 3:18)!    He restores my soul. This truth restores my soul (mind and emotions).  God turns my focus from temporal things to the indwelling eternal life of Christ (1 John 5:11-13). My mind is being renewed and my emotions are being healed by beholding the glory of His presence (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:20-24).   He leads me in the paths of righteousness…  God delights in ordering each of my steps (Psalm 37:23)… the unique ways Christ expresses His life through me (Colossians 1:29). Christ leads me in His righteous paths, not an external guide, but as my very life (Colossians 3:4).”

This is an incredible personal interpretation of the most common reading of the Bible at funerals for comfort/peace! It reveals we have so all of His LIFE/spirit in us if we just allow it show and not try. I pray we let Him have this control of our lives.

UNION WITH CHRIST:

” However, God doesn’t just want to help me! J  Oh how He wants to live through me in the life of His dear Son to minister to others (Galatians 2:20)!  These two attempts (at-temptations!) at ‘living’ are based on the subtle deception that I have a separate identity from Christ – that I have something in me that can do something of real value.  I do have a unique personality, but it is truly manifested only when Christ lives through me. ”

This is a good brief article on doing in our own strength vs Christ doing it through us. I disagree with the interpretation of the OT verse.

BEHOLDING CHRIST:

“true transformation comes not by doing anything, but only by beholding Christ.  Trust Him to reveal what this means.  Following  is my personal paraphrase of 2 Corinthians 3:18: Your need for striving by the law has been removed!  You are now free to be intimately one with Christ!  Look in the mirror.  When you see your face, see also the face of Christ!  It’s true!  I don’t understand it either – we will spend eternity savoring this!  So as you behold Christ now, you will be transformed on the outside to what you are completely like on the inside!  And because all of this is by grace through the Spirit, and not by your works, God is glorified.  Wow!  ”

These are fantastic one one-liners to encourage resting/not doing anything in our own strength.

YOU LISTENED TO ME:

“Our ears are the foundation of any true ministry in the body of Christ if we realize…He listens through us. I’m free!  Jesus is now real to me and to others I listen to, because for one brief moment in time…you listened to me. “

This is a fantastic article on the true Counsel/Love/Grace/and Truth

A One-Word Sermon: “Paul”:

” it doesn’t matter if I make a good name for myself or a bad name for myself in this world… it just doesn’t matter one itty bitty witty bit!  All that matters in all the heavens and the earth is that by grace Christ has already made a name for me, and a name for you.  Each of us have already been made new creations in Christ…we have been made real, yes genuine, through Christ alone (Galatians 6:14-15). Whew!  I no longer have to strive to make a name for myself.  I am free to be who I really am all because of what Christ really did for me and who He really is in me.  Paul.  Yes, I love that name because it is permeated with the genuine, fragrant life of Christ!”

A good small article on God’s acceptance (self-others) because of His work.

TRUE HEALING:

” But Jesus never physically healed anyone to healing sakes.  His healing was always for His sake…to reveal the reality of His divine life — the only true life there is and ever will be. I believe the primary focus on our preconceived idea of physical healing can subtly tempt us with the lie that we are not complete.”

An excellent brief article on the revelation of the risen Christ in us for our greatest good. God’s life can still bless others regardless of our physical condition. I pray we believe it.

BROKENNESS:

“Brokenness is the loving work of God as He uniquely strips each of His children of his or her self-sufficiency so that the beauty of Christ’s life shines through.  Isaiah 33:17 promises that ‘Your eyes will see the King (Jesus) in His beauty.’”

I very good brief article on the meaning of “doing it in your own strength.”

Chris Sligh – Empty Me – Lyrics

Empty me of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you.

Imagine you and your husband/wife gave birth to a little girl and you loved her dearly. You held her, cuddled her, you taught her to walk, you repeated things over and over to her so she could talk and you even spent endless hours feeding her obvious desire to draw and paint such that she became a rather accomplished artist.

But then, that fateful day came when your little girl, with face downcast, walked up to you and said:

“Mommy/Daddy, I suck. I’m really an awful person. I think I’m totally filled up with evil, disgusting and terrible qualities and there’s not a thing good in anything I have ever painted. Mommy/Daddy, could you please erase me and make me like you?”

Would your heart break? Would you move heaven and earth to find psychological help for her? Would you tell her in no uncertain terms that you thought she was fantastic, wonderful and totally amazing and that you loved her just as she is? Would you want to strangle whoever it was that planted that thought in her brain?

So then, exactly what is it that makes us imagine that the God who created us exactly as He wanted each of us to be, loved us enough to die for us and moved the gates of hell to give us a new, pure and washed heart would see us singing our Evangelical self-centered-contempt in the form of, “Worship,” songs in any other way?

Rolling Stone

When most Americans think of the Christian right, they think of scenes from television — great halls full of perfectly groomed people in pale suits and light-colored dresses, smiling and happy and full of the Holy Spirit, robotically singing hymns at the behest of some squeaky-clean pastor with a baritone voice and impossible hair. We don’t get to see the utterly batshit world they live in, when the cameras are turned off and their pastors are not afraid of saying the really dumb stuff, for fear of it turning up on CNN. In American evangelical Christianity, in other words, there’s a ready-for-prime-time stage act — toned down and lip-synced to match a set of PG lyrics that won’t scare the advertisers — and then there’s the real party backstage, where the spiritual hair really gets let down. I was about to go backstage, to personally take part in the indoctrination process for a major Southern evangelical church… I badly wanted to be invisible.

In these Southern churches there are few wizened old sages such as one might find among Catholic bishops or Russian startsi. Here your church leader is an athlete, a business dynamo, a champion eater with a bull’s belly, outwardly a tireless heterosexual — and if you want to know what a church beginner is supposed to look like, just make it the opposite of that. Show weakness, financial trouble, frustration with the opposite sex, and if you’re overweight, be so unhealthily, and in a way that you’re ashamed of. The fundamentalist formula is much less a journey from folly to wisdom than it is from weakness to strength. They don’t want a near-complete personality that needs fine-tuning — they want a human jellyfish, raw clay they can transform into a vigorous instrument of God.

It will make you laugh, it will sicken you, and, most of all, it will definitely annoy you — because it’s the truth.

Contrary to popular belief, you will find no evil in Harry Potter. Real evil is found here, clothed in the garb of religion, masked with the illusion of holiness and preaching a Jesus who died to be your rabbit’s foot and wants you to do what your reverend tells you to do. It revels in power and it delights in the weakness and ignorance of others that allows it to reduce children of the Most High King to idiocy.

Oh ya — it would like your donations too…

NPR

If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.

“You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help,” Diaz says.

Isn’t it interesting how people are surprised by the response of this kid to a little kindness. It’s like the idea is original to him or something…

Ok, I’ve finally been asked about this one time too many. Ignoring grace and freedom for a moment and joining the legalists at their own game, allow me to declare a little jihad…

It’s time to post:

What follows is a brief word study demonstrating what I have said for years: Pastors or other church leaders lumping two teens making out in the backseat of a car in with the word fornication is an improper use of the text, it displays terrible hermetical skills, it represents more of the same attempts to twist Scripture to fit our world views and is basically irresponsible.

(I know it’s unclear but it will just have to do as a position statement…)

First, a simple cut and paste from the Greek Strongs:

1608. e˙kporneu/w ekporneuo; from 1537 and 4203; mid. to give oneself up to fornication: —indulged in gross immorality(1).

4202. pornei÷a porneia, por-ni´-ah; from 4203; harlotry (including adultery and incest); figuratively, idolatry:—fornication.

4203. porneu/w porneuo, porn-yoo´-o; from 4204; to act the harlot, i.e. (literally) indulge unlawful lust (of either sex), or (figuratively) practise idolatry:—commit (fornication).

To combine the three terms in question: It describes a behavior that is not simply immoral — it is grossly immoral and abnormal. It is about sex with children or family members, adultery, prostitution (Or sex which is criminal in nature) and it is almost always referenced in the context of idol worship — a fact we repeatedly blow past as a figurative reference. IT’S NOT!!! It’s about deviant sexual behaviors.

The three verses where such is directly referenced in any more then passing comment are as follows:

Acts 15:20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.

Acts 15:29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”

Acts 21:25 “But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.”

We have this picture of their worship as being a bunch of savages dancing around an idol — nothing could be further from the truth. There were two gods in question:

Baal:

Among the false gods to which Israel was vulnerable, Baal (Otherwise known as Mollech) posed the greatest threat. This deity was the supreme fertility god of Canaanite worship. He was celebrated as the lord of death and destruction. Sacrifices to Baal were thought to increase one’s own abundance. Baal was a god associated with the sun, power and violence. Altars to Baal were erected in high places in order to allow a full view of the sun’s rising and setting.

His temple was staffed by prostitutes and involved both heterosexual and lesbian acts as well as the sacrifice of children — usually after raping and torturing them. Bestiality was also involved. Children in question were usually the illegitimate infant offspring of the priestess…

When the early worship centers were excavated in the 60’s, the people involved refused to publish what they found as no one would have believed them that these things were possible.

Ashteroth-wife of Baal:

“The queen of heaven” in Canaanite worship (Or Diana or Isis) (Jer. 7:18) was the feminine counterpart of Baal and the god of life and sensuality; her priests were eunuchs dressed in women’s attire (I Kings 14:24). Worship involved the most gross forms of heterosexual and homosexual sexual behaviors.

Worship emphasized ecstatic, sensual feelings and digressed to orgies and the eventual worship of the penis (phallic symbols marked their worship in the same way that the Cross marks Christian worship).

The penis symbolized Baal in the same way that Ashteroth was the idol of idealized, erotic femininity. Both male and female expressions of sexuality were exaggerated and inflamed by the worship of Baal and Ashteroth.

The writers of the New Testament were very well aware of the behaviors practiced in the worship of these gods as well as the feasts where animals were first tortured to death via strangulation. For them to continually lump this word in with said worship would have come part and parcel with their total abhorrence of the actions in question.

The definition of the word as well as the repeated use in this context makes it hermeneutically irresponsible to try and adapt it to define two teens in the back seat of dad’s car.

Doing so is roughly the equivalent of describing a thirteen year old girl who just had an early term abortion and discovered she would have had twins as a, “Bloodthirsty, homicidal serial killer of children.”

Ok, so, can even the legalists stop beating up on their hormone-stoned children now and find a better way??? (It’s not like your judgment ever stopped their roaming hands anyway…) Just maybe, a weird concept like having a relationship with them could help???

Cracked.com

All I need from you is agreement that it’s entirely possible for either an atheist or theist world to devolve into a screaming murder festival. The religious leader sends his people into battle because he thinks God commanded it, the Stalins and Maos of the world do the same because they see their people as nothing more than meaty fuel to be ground up to feed the machinery of The State. In both cases, the people are equally dead.

A brilliant and rather well written (Though somewhat offensive) shot at fundamentalists — of both the Evangelical and Atheistic varieties.

Q&A: Lording it over your faith:

“Does he want you to know that you can hear from God for yourself, and that no one else can hear from Him better than you … or does he tell you that God speaks to him on your behalf?  Does he create a tension between dependence upon God vs. dependence upon himself?
 
You know what I think?  I think you ask me because you already know, but are afraid you might be hearing it wrong.  That’s what I think.    Connie, you have the life of Christ within you.  I wrote what I did as a witness to what you already know, but may not have been able to put words to.  You hear from God very well and I hope to encourage you to trust what He speaks to your heart!!
 
Please feel free to write back soon, for I hope to hear from you, and to know that your confidence in HIS working within you is strengthened.”

This is a very encouraging brief article on the definition of spiritual abuse/hurt and it’s root origin. When people grow up feeling unimportant through lack of attention, affection, validation they may set themselves up as those who preach themselves. This is in contrast to Christ/His Finished Work. When others demand, it often can be because they are hiding the fact they should not be trusted. I pray all we touch know that their confidence in God’s working in them is strengthened.

Q&A: What about the sanctification mentioned in Hebrews 12:14?:

“t sure couldn’t be the old performance-based sanctification they were resorting to because that bogus sanctification had no power over sin. The only possible sanctification he demands is that of the once and for all done deal of Christ. Now, also notice the connection: peace with all men and this sanctification. This is INCREDIBLY significant!! Why? Because there is NO real peace we can have with one another unless it is based upon the peace established by Christ in breaking down the barriers between us. In 1 Corinthians 2:2 Paul writes: ”For I determined to know nothing among you except Christ, and him crucified“. This is the same thing referred to by the writer of Hebrews because ”pursuing“ this sanctification is the determination to see all things in view of it.”

This is an incredible article that stresses the two HEB verses 12:10 and 14! We have been made righteous and holy by Christ alone!!!

Q&A: Tell me about your prayer life!:

“ I count on God’s Spirit to interpret the desires of my heart … for it is one with Christ.  The fact is that we are already IN the throne room of God all day, every day.  From within my heart – that new one created in Christ – I am always in communion and communication with God.  As I grow in this confidence I am recognizing how much a part of my life this is.  Here I was trying to make this ”prayer“ thing happen … and it had been already happening.  To have thought that my ”praying“ caused me to enter God’s throne only conflicted with the work of Christ in having already done it for me!”

Two comments that are totally profound:

Ministry and the Spiritual Life

All Jesus’ words and actions emerge from his intimate relationships with his Father. “Do you not believe,” Jesus says, “that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I say to you I do not speak of my own accord: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his works. You must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe it on the evidence of these works” (John 14:10-11).

Just as all Jesus’ words and actions emerge from his communion with his Father, so all our words and actions must emerge from our communion with Jesus. “In all truth I tell you,” he says, “whoever believes in me will perform the same works as I do myself, and will perform even greater works. … Whatever you ask for in my name I will do” (John 14:12-13). It is this profound truth that reveals the relationship between the spiritual life and the life of ministry.

Acting in the Name of Jesus

Ministry is acting in the Name of Jesus. When all our actions are in the Name, they will bear fruit for eternal life. To act in the Name of Jesus, however, doesn’t mean to act as a representative of Jesus or his spokesperson. It means to act in an intimate communion with him. The Name is like a house, a tent, a dwelling. To act in the Name of Jesus, therefore, means to act from the place where we are united with Jesus in love. To the question “Where are you?” we should be able to answer, “I am in the Name.” Then, whatever we do cannot be other than ministry because it will always be Jesus himself who acts in and through us. The final question for all who minister is “Are you in the Name of Jesus?”" When we can say yes to that, all of our lives will be ministry.

There are counselors who happen to be Christians — and then there are Christian Counselors. I pray I am in the latter category for the former is the definition of useless. Of course, that also would apply to plumbers…

Q&A: Formulating an argument against the responsibility guilt tri:

“Of course, even when believers are ”guilted“ into something our Father is able to cause this to work out for their good. This doesn’t make it ”okay“ for leaders to do such things, but actually makes it evident that such leaders are motivated and motivating by the flesh. But God is not hindered by the flesh … for His grace is only made more obvious against this lifeless backdrop!!
I have a question though: Why do you think God is in the business of convicting believers of disobedience when, in fact, He only ministers grace and life to us in Christ … because He has ALREADY made us slaves of obedience? Were you not aware of this? Somehow, we have misread the passage in John 16:7-11 so that we have assumed that this ”conviction“ is directed toward those rescued OUT of the world, instead of toward the unbelieving world itself.”

This is a fantastic article that talks about what obedience means to believers and unbelievers! I pray the churches would give the truth about the difference. Focusing on sin CANNOT TAKE SIN AWAY US, JESUS ALREADY DID FOR BELIEVERS.

Calgary’s Child – The Bully in All of Us:

“”My, you are very influential. How about doing that again and finding a way to include everyone?“”It seems the other children follow your direction, will you make sure they each get a turn?“”I see that being first in line is very important to you. As the leader, will you show the rest of the line how to wait patiently and quietly for the teacher?“”You are a real expert at this game! Will you show the other children how to play too?“”

This is an excellent article that takes punishment out of the equation. If offers excellent ideas on turning the negative into a positive. Since Jesus took away sin wouldn’t this be the best way to bless the identity of Jesus in a child?

Calgary’s Child – The EIGHT SECRETS To Family Happiness:

“One of the most important keys to family happiness is maintaining a positive attitude and helping encourage positive attitudes among the children and your spouse. Negativity breeds negativity. Whether you begin exercising or spend a half hour each day meditating (which ever way you prefer to ‘meditate’), finding a way to reduce the amount of stress you bring into a household is essential. ”

This is an good article on focusing on the positive and relaxing to minimize conflicts. We can choose to see our child as demanding or determined. The positive reframe and seeing them in the Finished Work of Jesus, may encourage a positive identity in Christ.

Q&A: Chastisement in view of development, not shortcomings!:

“WE are the ones who have a problem recognizing it. Just because His dealings may SEEM to line up with injuries or trials or what-have-you, we are the ones who will try to figure out what GOD might be doing by things that may have no connection whatever!!
Some thoughts:
Do your back injuries really have to be considered as ”chastisements“ at all? Could they not just be a weakness and/or an injury? Then again, might this incident not end up being a ”gift“ as our father works all things together for your good? I think we have been trained to be very, very superstitious in our ”Christian“ upbringing.”

This is a good reminder that God sees us/others according to our reality in Christ, if we believe in Jesus/His Work for us. We are the ones who have the problem recognizing it.

Q&A: True discipline:

“The reality of our total acceptance is the basis for true discipline, for our Father is faithful in maturing us.  He works in us FROM the image of his son TOWARD the image of his son.  In other words, beginning and ending in the reality of Christ in us.  He is teaching us who it is we really are, and He uses whatever means He desires to cause us to see this. ”

This is an excellent encouraging short article that says discipline is constant care. I pray parents/schools would understand for believing children God is in them.

Q&A: Are we still chastened by the Lord?:

“I can know, good or bad, that He loves me and is not thwarted by all that crap. He didn’t bring us into a life that needs to be made better … but into a life that is connecting to everything I am and everything I do!”

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT ARTICLE THAT WE DO NOT HAVE TO TRY TO BE better. God seemed to say trusting Him is the OUTCOME. HE DOESN’T MAKE US LOVE HIM.

TIME

The Bible and Its Influence has a fascinating constellation of supporters and critics. Some of its more liberal champions, such as the American Jewish Congress’s counsel Marc Stern, feel that the republic can not only survive but will actually benefit from public school courses on a document as culturally central as the Bible — as long as the classes avoid being devotional. Evangelical heavyweight Chuck Colson hopes that God will speak to students even through a class that is secular in intent. Those opposed to the book include secularists who argue that it already violates the First Amendment and fundamentalists who see its approach as secular and therefore diluting the value of what they see as God’s inspired word.

What’s striking about this article is not that you can get a group of Christians, Jews, Secular intellectuals and even a fundamentalist like Colson to agree on a textbook. That’s really not too hard. All you have to do is create a work that is objective, accurate and clearly demonstrates the incredible effect Christianity has on culture and even many atheists will support it.

It’s not even striking that there are fundamentalists out there like this. It takes only the briefest research to discover that it’s not just Islam that has grown more fundamentalist. Evangelical Christianity and other faiths all over the world are all moving towards greater and greater extremism at alarming rates.

What is striking is the degraded nature of thinking process among these Evangelical-Fascist subgroupings. It goes something like this:

Spirituality is a magic thing we get from following rules and jumping through hoops — it is, by definition, good.

Spirituality is as different from the rest of life as outer space is from an atmosphere.

That which is not spiritual is of little value — should be suspect and combated.

Therefore, because it is not about rules and hoops, life and learning can not be spiritual.

Because life and learning is not spiritual, we must fight it.

Seems to me we’ve seen this thinking before — we saw it in and near the end of the dark ages when the religious leadership was trying to burn astronomers at the stake. The Roman Catholic church — in part due to reformers like Luther — was forced to finally cancel this absurdist distinction and embrace all of life as an encounter with the Divine.

For years, Evangelicalism has worn the label of Protestant. We protested an institution and a structure, yes, but really we protested the idea of a human mediator between us and God, the idea of the separation between the clergy and the laity and a split between the secular and the spiritual. We protested magic crystal ball spirituality and demanded that the truth of intimate relationship with God again be taught.

We were right — the release of a document called Vatican II finally even had the Roman Catholic Church agreeing. (Thank God)

The irony is, once we finally get the Roman Catholic Church to agree with us, we then adopt what they just rejected. Now that’s ecumenicism at it’s finest…

MapsOfWar.com

Ok, this is brilliant. From a technical point of view, this is the best use of multimedia technologies to teach history I’ve seen in a long time. Learn more in a few min then you have ever understood about world religions.

From a religious/geo-political point of view, this is one of the fastest ways to gain understanding of the entire Middle East and European situation (with respect to Islam) ever produced. Once you understand the development patterns, all that is further needed to grasp the tension is a minimalist awareness of a religion that teaches that those who fail to convert must be killed and the entire mess makes sense.

Note: Will require Flash plug-in.

BTW: anyone who is going to email to tell me that Islam is a religion of peace should take note of the following:

“Islam spread by means of proof and evidence to those who listened to the message and responded to it, and it spread by means of force and the sword to those who were stubborn and arrogant, until they were overwhelmed and became no longer stubborn, and submitted to that reality.” Sayed Qutb: Fiqh Al-Da’wa, 217-220 – Fatawa Al-Lajnah Al-Daaimah 12/14

“Know that paradise is under the shades of swords.,” Narrated by Bukhari, Vol.4, book 52, 73

“I have been ordered to fight people till they say, “None has the right to be worshipped but Allah”, and whoever says, “None has the right to be worshipped but Allah”, his life and property will be saved by me except for Islamic law, and his reckoning will be with Allah, (either to punish him or forgive him). Narrated by Abu Huraira, Buchari, Vol.4, book 52, 196

wikiHow

How to Live a Good Christian Life This article will guide you in living a good Christian life. You will read about ways you can grow closer to God, ways to spread the faith, and some basic morals and ethics that God wants us to live by.

1. Follow Jesus’ greatest commandment: Love God, love your neighbor and love yourself.

2. Acknowledge you’re a sinner and then repent. Realize that conversion is not simply one act but the beginning of a life-long struggle. Don’t be hard on yourself if and when you fail, pick yourself up and trust in God.

Little problem here, the Greek word for Repent means to experience a change of mind — it’s not about your behavior.

3. Read your Bible. You can really learn a lot from this.

Like the apostles read their Bibles — which were not yet written… When they talked about the, “Word of God,” they were talking about God talking, and them listening.

4. Spend time in prayer.

Nope — Jesus doesn’t want you on your knees — He wants to walk and talk with you all day every day — as a friend, not as a religious experience.

5. Try to see the perspectives of others, even if you personally disagree with them.

Now it’s starting to sound like a cross between a Miss Manners guide and Post-modernist ramblings — where is this in the Bible?

6. Be patient with people who anger you; work on trying to forgive those who may have hurt you. You must learn to love your enemies. God loves everyone, and we need to, also. Say farewell to selective loving. If you have a hard time loving your enemies, pray to God for help.

[Sarcasm]Yep, ’cause it’s all about my effort — rather then about what Christ does in me…[/Sarcasm]

7. Work and pray to the best of your abilities to help others.

That sentence doesn’t even make sense.

8. Treat others kindly as you would like to be treated. Even simple acts of kindness like holding a door open for someone are good deeds.

Nothing more then a restatement of #1 — and under the same heading.

9. Volunteer to help people. For example, you could take a shift at a soup kitchen near you, help with a Christmas effort to give gifts to the poor on Christmas, or visit a people staying in a nursing home.

Why oh why do we consider Mormons, J.W.’s and the like cults — we teach the same performance based religion… If Jesus doesn’t do it in me — then forget it. It ain’t happening…

10. Remain modest and remember that pride can be dangerous. Pride is said to be the mother of all sins, because pride resides in each one of us and the source of all of our sin is ourselves.

Oh, except, it seems there is a little problem of being given a new heart in place of the old one (which, yes, was desperately wicked) — and Paul was rather fond of calling us saints — not sinners…

11. Share your beliefs and spread the good news. Remember, living the Christian life through your actions will make others want to follow God. Always stick up for your beliefs.

So, let me get this straight: Being good — however I define that — and arguing with others (Who presumably don’t meet my expectations) is going to make people want to hang out with Jesus? (This is too easy — it’s like shooting fish in a barrel…)

12. Understand that Christians believe God said they would be persecuted for their beliefs, so do not allow others’ attacks to weaken your faith.

Truer words have never been spoken — freedom is always under persecution — from religion.

I think Steve McVey said it best in his book Grace Land when he said:

“The underlying foundation of all religion is performance – whether it’s a tribal dance around a campfire to satisfy the fire god, or a dead religious activity performed week after week by an evangelical Christian with the intent of impressing his God. It’s all religious performance, and God isn’t impressed by our performance. What impresses Him is faith.”

Q&A: Did Paul write this letter to unbelievers, too?:

“But he made no mistake about those who were born of the Spirit and had the mind of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, where Paul could have slammed the believers for their sinning (because they were indeed manifesting many of the things he mentioned) he instead says this incredible thing, ”And such WERE some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.“ Remember what Paul had said near the beginning of the letter? ”For I determined to know NOTHING AMONG YOU EXCEPT CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED.“ (1 Cor 2:2). He brought up examples of their day-to-day existence to tie it in with the mindset of the world so that they would be shaken from their stupor! These believers were having an identity crisis!! (Our brother) is correct in saying that, ”ALL Believers by birthright, love the Lord“.”

This is an incredible article on not letting the wisdom of the world/religion DULL THE REALITY OF THE NEW MIRACULOUS WORK OF JESUS/LOVE IN THEM FOR BELIEVERS . WE ARE JUST TO FOCUS ON HIM AND NOT SIN. This is my prayer. Amen.

Q&A: How do I know my questions aren’t from having “itchy ears”?:

“ Most who hang with me STILL have a lot of personal differences, but we have discovered that those things are not the reason why we are one in Christ and so it is ok to not have to resolve everything. Heck, most of it just kinda fades away in view of the life that we have our eyes open to. Those who turn away do so because of a desire for something OTHER THAN CHRIST. It is so sad to see this happen, but it happens often. Your desires are obvious. You got beat up by man’s religion and finally realized that you couldn’t do or be what they preached. I’ll bet you also realized that those who were doing the preaching weren’t meeting up to the standards they preached! So, if it doesn’t work for the preacher why would you think it’ll work for you? This is how the law operates. It’ll tear you up and spit you out and you’ll go back for more until you finally break. Then the good news sounds FANTASTIC! As it should.

”

This is an encouraging article on only focusing on Jesus and His sufficiency. It is not about being stimulated intellectually enough or being recognized for doing good enough, especially in churches. This is true love and acceptance. It enables us to stay in relationships even though we are different.

Q&A: If I don’t understand the scriptures am I not saved?:

“Understanding the scriptures never saved anyone. Actually, it was those who thought they understood the scriptures who rejected Christ the loudest. Your fear comes from the intimidation of the religious self-righteous mindset. You have felt that suggestion that if you don’t know it then you don’t know God. But we know God because His Spirit is in us and not because how much Bible we know or don’t know. That part is actually irrelevant. The Bible declares Jesus … and Jesus declares us righteous. The fear is not of God, so don’t believe it.

”

I pray there would be no shame about not reading the bible or fear one will not go to Heaven. His love is in us and that is Him. I feel if we believe in Jesus we will be there. May it be so.

Random Musings:

Finally something happened. The Scriptures began to penetrate my heart. My eyes were opened to the fact that I hadn’t been falling—the Everlasting Arms had held me all along. The fear vanished. I began to taste and understand grace. It was glorious, amazing, indescribable.

Theological and doctrinal shifts, it seems to me, shouldn’t be so emotional. I don’t do theology by experience, by throwing myself off imaginary cliffs. But this was more than just the “mind-y” way I had approached my Christianity for the past six years. This truth penetrated to the core of my being. It captured my heart and laid me bare.

Grace—wow! It wasn’t a matter of me saying, “Oh, cool, the doctrines of grace. What a wonderful theology. To think that my salvation was God’s idea all along—amazing!” No, this was much, much more than that. It was so personal. So intense, so intimate. Grace—God’s grace—for me!

This is a stunning story of transformation from a Bill Gothard driven theology of lies to a theology of freedom and grace. Well worth the read.

Q&A: Using the Bible to promote bogus religion:

“We have come to speak in terms of ”believing“ when the word ”opinion“ would more accurately describe our relation to the concept or idea that is being discussed or declared. But we don’t usually want to say we ”THINK“, or that this thing is our ”opinion“ because it sounds less authoritative or less personal or perhaps, less godly and more scientific.  The fact of the matter is that our religious world has presented us with the idea that our ”beliefs“ consist of the teachings we hold, instead of IN WHOM we believe – and this has created MANY bogus ideas.  Are you following me so far, ”

This is a very good article that outlines the problems with why people blindly follow what they think the Bible says. It seems right. When we claim a verse we are standing in agreement with God. We were taught we had to believe the Bible so we would know what was true — but we were never taught to think over what it is, who it was written to or what it was written to accomplish.


Fear of infidelity towards God causes so many people to hang on to lies that others have told them.

God give us Your discernment to give You the fear. Cleanse us from it completely. Amen.

Q&A: but what if our perspective is wrong?:

“nderstanding ”truth“ and understanding the Bible were the same thing. Maybe that strikes you odd coming from someone who so clearly holds to the teachings of the Bible. It would have appeared so to me at one time … and still does every now and again, believe me. But we know ”truth“ for one reason and one reason only, and that is because Christ has become wisdom to us. We know Christ, who IS the truth. ”But you have an anointing from the Holy One, AND YOU ALL KNOW. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, BUT BECAUSE YOU DO KNOW IT, and because no lie is of the truth.“ 1 John 2:20&21 ”

This is a good article that states as we grow/rest in confidence in Christ who is truth/set us free, we will not be so concerned about misunderstanding the Bible. May the life of Jesus that is uncovered be clearly and accurately spoken. Amen.

Q&A: How do you read the Bible and get what you do out of it?:

“When I see Christ as my life I see Him in everything in my everyday life … I even see Him in the Bible! hahaha! How’s that as flip-flop kinda way to view Biblical interpretation? Just remember, the stuff you have read from me has been the same kind of stuff you are wondering about. I just KNEW there was something wrong with so many of the accepted viewpoints, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I’ll be honest, I NEVER thought that I would uncover so many things in the Bible. But know this: Bible knowledge does NOT equal true knowledge. Actually, true knowledge, which is what we have received already, is what MIGHT allow us to understand some of the PERCEIVED Biblical contradictions. Just realize that what you end up discovering by seeing the original intent of the written word is the SAME REALITY that you KNOW in your heart to be true: that you are REALLY free in Christ through what He did for you in His death, burial, and resurrection.”

This is an excellent section stressing to focus on Christ/His freedom in us!

Q&A: The Damned Oldness of the Letter:

“ mostly hear bondage in the so-called ”defense“ of the ”inspired word of God“.  That damned oldness of the letter!!!  I can hear so clearly the words of the religious as they stood upon the inspired words of Moses!!  Hypocrites we were, huh?  Written words, written standards, written modes of comparison, written traps of logic, written formulas, written principles – all supposedly brought to completion in one leather-bound volume that is said to be the only source by which we can know God and/or truth.  Yuck, puke, vomitous lies all intended to bring us back under a ”written in stone“ kind of relationship with God that never worked before and can never work in any circumstances!!! 
 
Law came through Moses, Grace came through Christ!!!”

The is a excellent, bold, and brief article explains the difference between law and Christ. I pray the lies of only knowing God and His truth from the Bible would be replaced in believing Him/His Finished Work in us. Believers are new/soft/willing at every moment in our heart and not sinners. Although we do have the choice to live under the law which seems to create hardness/disobedience of the heart. This tends to leads to sin.

Q&A: Relating with a mom whose son is on drugs and stealing from :

“You know, when your child fails so badly it goes right to the core of you. It is right THERE that you are tempted to view yourself according to the measuring stick of performance. ”Where did I fail?“ will become the REAL question behind a million others. Do you try to ”fix“ things in the hopes of making up for your failure? Do you take a ”stand“ against the ”evil influences“ and the ”evil doers“ in our society? Do you begin to wonder why your child doesn’t measure up to your own standards? Or do you beat yourself up because you are sure that he/she has become the thing you might have been? ”

This article poses good questions to get to the heart of the matter of parenting issues. There is a touching grieving poem with hope.

Q&A: How do you raise children by grace?:

“ It is how they will try to keep you from knowing what they have done as they sense shame and inadequacy from it no matter how much you try to convince them Jesus took care of it. They will think like this no matter how hard you try to teach them grace. Don’t get depressed by this … it is the backdrop by which they will realize true grace in time. ”

This is a good article stressing the importance of not pretending the flesh can ever be righteous.

calgary.ctv.ca – Calgary news from CTV:

“At the end of the observation time, doctors found no impact on the rate of allergies or asthma.

But this did find breastfeeding babies, until they turned one, did have some obvious benefits.

”This study really quite definitively shows that, in infancy, breastfeeding did have an impact on eczema and bowel infections,“ says Dr. Reg Sauve from the University of Calgary.”

Q&A: Do you have any insight on raising kids?:

“I don’t have anything written about raising children … not sure I want to get into that. I will say this much, though … most of the stuff that has been said about, ”training them in the way they should go“ is detrimental to the identity of your child. It’s not ”in the way YOU want them to go“, or ”in the way YOU think GOD wants them to go“, but ”in the way THEY should go“.”

This is good article discussing the importance of not turning grace into a nicety. I pray all children would see Jesus came to save sinners. When children see/hear of our hurt and unconditionallove/grace, they will turn to Jesus and not be discouraged. God live give them His faith/way to do His good will.

Q&A: How do I tell my kids about different religions and beliefs?:

“every group has its problems because every group is made up of other people who are just as confused as you and I are, and that the reason you favor one group over another is that, at least in what you can determine, there is a stronger general leaning toward the miraculous reality of Christ, and that this is the only reality that will cut through our confusion.* Don’t be afraid to tell them that many groups are simply built around the name and concept of Christianity and have become social clubs … and may be pretty good social clubs if you were to ignore the religious factors.* religions will often shift and sometimes do things simply to protect itself.* are you prepared to go elsewhere if the group is causing more harm than good in your family?

Back to Top”

This is a good article on questions to consider about church/regligion and Life being found in Christ alone. It is not solely in a group.

Q&A: How to relate to my kids without sounding dogmatic?:

“ avoid the game. Tell your children about the real you. You know, the one that is alive in Christ because of what HE has done, but one who also struggles every day with the same kind of things they struggle with. Your children want to know if they are worthwhile, if they are important, if they are loved, and how they can be right. If you level with them about your own futile attempts to justify yourself through your day then they may be able to see that others, even religious others, are trying to do the same thing. They will really see truth when they realize that that is exactly what they are desperately searching for in the world around them. When it ceases to be a mystery then they won’t be enticed to go chasing after any system of man for their worth. Show them CHRIST vs. EVERYTHING ELSE!! ”

The is an excellent/concise article on parenting with a real risen Christ focus. One needs to keep in mind that we are saved through FAITH not belief.

Q&A: My daughter just told me she is a lesbian:

“also realize that grace does not teach us that we are supposed to be accepting of perverse behavior, but that this is what we have been delivered out of. In Christ, ALL OF IT has been condemned EQUALLY. Christ’s death and resurrection did not make it OK, He put it to death and has raised US to new life.”

This is a really clear brief article that encourages us to say when we feel hurt/fear, the impact, over others choices, as this is our heart, and that we do love that individual. As well we can ask for limits so their free will has less of an affect on us. This is the treasure of grace and honesty in the freedom of Christ’s work on the cross. I pray we can all do it.

Q&A: Christ and my job:

“Just remember that we are not bound by the rules of the world,
including the (company) world. Their rules are THEIR rules, they are not OUR
rules. I have found I can submit to THEIR rules simply because I know
who I am because of who is my life. They want me to take out the trash,
I can take out the trash. They want me to fill out a form, no problem.
My freedom is not found in resisting their sometimes silly or
superfluous rules, my freedom is found in the reality that I am truly
free in Christ.  I have discovered time and time again that the life of
Christ has blown away the idea that I need their rules in order to
truly accomplish the real stuff.”

This is a good article on the difference between living under the law vs Christ. Unrealistic demands and definitions will not produce love for God, others or ourselves.