WORDLESS WITNESS

The more I live in God’s Presence the anxt of life fades away.  The more I am with God and with His Word, the easier it is to navigate through this life.  It is no longer about me and mine; it is truly all about God and His.  There is a gentle flow I find myself moving in, a gentle flow that I have come to trust as the Spirit of God lives in me and leads me.  It is all that the Scriptures say it is.  “Like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season.”   The worrying and trying to discern my path seems to fade away as I move forward into all He wills for me.

I continue to be in awe of the simplicity of God’s love and provision for me.  This is what the world is missing and so desperately needs to hear and understand.  Words don’t work any more.  There are too many conflicting voices being heard today.  This is why Jesus calls believers to BE light.  Words don’t overcome darkness; light does.  But even light can’t be effective if people choose to remain blind.

Something in the blind man, that Jesus healed, made him ask Jesus for his sight to be returned.  What was that?  Perhaps he felt the light of His Presence as He was walking past him.  What does that tell me?  Somehow bringing God’s Presence into the lives of those we encounter throughout our day will stir something up in them.  Something beyond words will move them to want to seek God.  God’s Presence is powerful and can transform a life when that life comes in contact with IT.

My brother used to work in a Deli and his job was making Submarine sandwiches.  When he came home from work the aroma of those sandwiches permeated the house.  Our dog went nuts and our mouths began to drool and made us all hungry.  It triggered something in us.

I think that is what being the light of the world means.  It has nothing to do with me.  It has to do with me being in God’s Presence and having others become hungry and aware of that Presence and causing them to seek it out for themselves; a witness above and beyond words.  

BEHOLD WHAT MANNER OF LOVE

John 12:24-26

Soren Kierkegaard said, “Anyone who has the faintest idea of what it actually means to die to the world knows that this does not take place without terrible agonies.”

I remember when Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion came out it was criticized because of the violence.  But the event the movie was about was itself very violent, for three days from the arrest of Jesus until he was laid in the tomb.  Now there are those who tell us that event didn’t really happen; God couldn’t possibly have done that, having His Son experience such violence to the point of death, for us.

If I don’t come to know the violence of the death of Jesus on the cross, I can’t know the passion of the love that God has for me and I can’t know the hatred God has for sin.  BEHOLD what manner of love the Father has given for us!  BEHOLD the terrible agonies Jesus walked through willingly and obediently for me…for us; the agony of betrayal by his friends, violent treatment from the soldiers, the rejection of the spiritual leaders and the worldly leaders, the humiliation of carrying his own cross through the crowds who turned against him, the feeling of separation and abandonment by his Father, and the shame of death on the cross.  BEHOLD what manner of love God bestowed on us!

God’s people were the ones who broke the covenant; they were the ones who disobeyed and dismissed God’s rule over them, a rule that was designed for their best; they were the ones who were in the wrong but God was the One who gave His Son over to humiliation and violence in order to make things right with them…with me…with us.  What kind of God does that?  What kind of person sees that, understands that, and yet remains untouched and unrepentant?  BEHOLD what manner of love.

Those who deny or water down the Gospel and clean up the atonement do a great disservice to the world.  When the impact of that act of absolute love is lessened, the intention and the passion of God’s love for His people are weakened.  It becomes a sloppy, fleshly sentimentalism that makes us feel good rather than the powerful force that alone can transform hearts and lives.  BEHOLD what manner of love that used death as the way to life, eternal life with God and His Son forever. 

OPERATING OUT OF A PLACE OF REST

Jesus operated out of a place of God’s Rest, where all God’s people should be operating out of.  He did not address the social or political issues of his day for He did not see them as the answer to man’s needs.  In His Kingdom of God world view man’s need is to know God and be under His rule and reign.  He came to teach and demonstrate that world view to a world that was lost and desperately needed to hear, see, and accept all that God had done for them. There would be no social or political issues such as hunger, poverty, or war if human beings were operating as they were meant to.

Jesus’ message and mission was to reconcile all people to God; to bring them back to the place before the Fall of humanity, to where they would have been if they had not chosen to abandon God and be content to do their own thing.  (I just heard the words of Dr. Phil saying, “So how did that work out for you?) 

God created human beings in His image and likeness.  If we had been content with that we would be living as He meant us to live.  There would be no illness, no pain, no suffering, no wars, no hunger or thirst, and no death.  We would dwell with God in the Rest He created us to be in as His people.  We would know God, worship God, and enjoy His Presence forever.

God’s work of creation was finished.  Jesus’ work of redemption and reconciliation was finished.  We cannot add to it.  We cannot subtract from it.  It is complete.  Our work, according to God, is to believe in whom He has sent.  When that is finished we can enter into His Rest and from that place in His Presence we can enjoy and serve Him forever.

BECOMING THE BOOK I MEANT TO WRITE

An Ode to Outlines

I found several of my writing notebooks from years back to the 1990’s to 2005.  They were all neatly and systematically written out outlines of all my writing projects.  Outlines of essays, articles, and books I meant to write.  They never reached a finished state so they have been stored away for who knows what.  I had this very nagging and discouraging thought, or query, as to why I never seem to finish any of these things, meaning getting them published and out into the world. 

As I was reading through these notebooks of outlines I realized something that made me smile; an epiphany of sorts.  I was recognizing something in the outlines.  They make up the skeleton and foundation of my life.  I AM these writings, I meant to write.  I AM the book, in the flesh, that I meant to write.  I smiled because my nagging and discouraging thought turned into a sense of accomplishment in a very holistic and wonderful way.

The more I thought about it over the next few days, the more I connected that with something else I have been working on…my new writing project.  While doing research for that I have been reading a Systematic Theology book and other books about God and Religion.  I have felt overwhelmed with the wordiness of it all.  So much explanation about what I consider to be a simple Truth recorded in the Bible.  Maybe that’s where things get off track in Religious Life.  I hear and read religious preachers and teachers say it’s necessary and good to be a Biblical Christian, relying on God’s Word alone.  But then they add on a multitude of words and thoughts from commentaries and other books when they preach and teach the Bible themselves.  The words in the Bible often get lost in the tsunami of human evaluation and explanation.  I often leave more in confusion than simple enlightenment.

God inspired words that fit into one rather small book; human beings have written volumes upon volumes of books to explain what God said in His book.

I personally believe that God is pretty clear in what He has passed down to be said about Him and about our lives.  The Bible outlines for His people what they need to know about Him and what they need to know about how to live the life He created them to live.  Then He sent His Holy Spirit to live in us and flesh those words out.  It seems a lot simpler than what we make it out to be.  I agree with the Preacher who wrote Ecclesiastes 7:29.

“I find that God made man simple;

Man’s complex problems are of his own devising.”

The older I get and the longer I walk with God, the more I realize that God truly knows what He’s doing and He clearly lets me know what I need to be doing.  Know Him, trust Him, listen to Him, and obey Him.  That is the simplicity of the Christian Life.

BREAKING THE PATTERN

God loves His people and has promised to provide for us, and all our needs.  Throughout history He has done what He has promised, faithful to His word.  Knowing that and truly believing that should result in nothing but thanksgiving and praise continually flowing out of my heart and mouth.  Unfortunately this is not always the case. 

Too often what spews out of my mouth are complaining, grumbling, and frustration at what I don’t have or that things are not going the way I want them to go.  Then I make it even worse by taking that spewing and sharing it with others, secretly expecting some kind of sympathy or attention to ‘poor me’ who has it so rough.  Ugg…even writing it makes me sad and disgusted with myself.  I recognize the whiney, needy flesh when I see it and shouldn’t I be better at this now?  The answer to that question is yes, and I am.  So I need to recognize it, repent of it, and get over myself quickly.

It is a clear pattern I see in the Scriptures; a pattern repeated by God’s people way too much.  The desert sky was full of continuous grumbling after God had released His people from their slavery in Egypt.  How quickly they forgot all the mighty miracles and works God accomplished for them once they got hungry and thirsty.  Rather than simply asking God for food and water they grumbled and complained to the point of wanting to go back to “good ole Egypt” where they were fed and watered but also abused and slaves.  Years later the same thing happened in David’s time when the people went to Samuel and demanded a king to reign over them, like all the other people had; and the beat goes on throughout the centuries.  God continually giving and providing; humans continually looking in all the wrong places and forsaking God, grumbling and complaining.

Today’s newspaper, today’s world is filled with God’s people demanding their rights and grumbling because things aren’t going the way they want them to.

The unintended consequences of all of this patterned behavior is a downward spiral, getting farther away from God and the eternal Spiritual life available to a life in the flesh that has a very short shelf life.

In the end what God has spoken from the beginning will be brought to pass; His counsel will stand and He will accomplish all He has purposed.

“I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is none like me.”

Isaiah 46:9

This Truth needs to fill my mind, heart, and soul every minute of every day.  This Truth can only result in praise and thanksgiving for God’s steadfast love and faithful provision.  All other patterns must be broken and abandoned.

RECONCILIATION

I was talking with a friend about how in relationships that need reconciliation it takes both people to sit down and talk with one another, hearing where each one feels like they have been wronged and then work on a solution.  In all of these relationship issues it is usually true that either in the action or the reaction wrong has been done on both sides. Sincerely recognizing and admitting that becomes the first step in healing the hurt done and clearing the way for reconciliation.

Later in the day I started thinking about how important reconciliation is in the world today; person to person, community to community, and nation to nation.  That led me to thinking about the Gospel and how the work of reconciliation was fulfilled by Jesus’ death on the cross.  That work, that sacrifice, reconciled all humanity to God and the only thing asked for in response is receiving and believing in the work and the One who accomplished it.  Receiving and believing requires a repentance and a change in behavior on the part of humanity but that is a minor response compared to 

the magnitude of what Jesus did.

The kicker for me came when I suddenly realized two things about this great work of reconciliation.  First was that God initiated this reconciliation and second was that He had done nothing wrong in the relationship that was ruptured; nothing.  All the wrong done was one sided; humanity’s side; my side.  God faithfully kept His side of the Covenant perfectly, even after His people were unfaithful time after time, again and again; even after I was unfaithful time after time, again and again.  He was eternally faithful and continued to provide and care for His people in spite of their abandoning Him and going their own way; in spite of my abandoning Him and going my own way.

After all the years, generation after generation, of darkness and disobedience, God made the first move and sent His Son to reconcile the breach that His people had made; that I had made.  He initiated and provided His Son as the sacrifice that would unite Him to His the people He created, once and for all, and all that He asked in return is that we receive, believe, and return to Him with all our hearts, minds, and souls.  The results of that reconciliation is that we become whole, we become as we were created to be, at our best, and that we will be given all we ever need in this life and in the next.  What a small request to such a great sacrifice that gives us so much.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us

That we should be called the children of God; and so we are.”

I John 3:1

This should be the message and mission of every believer.  This should be the message and mission of every Faith Community and Church.  Once people hear this message they are given a choice to receive and believe it.  Once they do all else will fall into place.

NOT OF THIS WORLD

Culture is a common denominator of people

The world dummies down to the lowest

Those who follow Christ rise up to the highest

We are not to be relevant

We are to be radically different

As different as light from dark

As different as life from death

We are not in relationship with the world

We are in relationship with God’s Kingdom

We are not of the flesh, the human nature

We are of the Spirit, the Divine nature

Our homeland is a heavenly one

On earth we are aliens, strangers, and exiles

Our citizenship is in a city prepared by God

It has foundations

It’s designer and builder is God

It is there God will dwell with us

We will be His people

He Himself will be our God

Forever and forever.

ENOUGH

It is to the thirsty

That God freely gives water

The one who desires God will come to Him

And will find rest for the soul.

One may gain the world

Gather power and wealth

Win all the gold ribbons

And still have leanness of soul.

What good is gathering all there is

Yet still feel empty and unsatisfied

What good is gathering all there is

And still feel a void in ones life.

Those who dwell in God’s Presence

Will never thirst

Those who dwell in God’s Presence

Will never feel empty or void.

Those who dwell in God’s Presence

Will know God and that is enough.

LIVE LIFE LARGE

Life in the present

Be rooted in the past

Keep the vision of the future

Firm in my heart and mind

Be alert and awake

Know from where I came from

Know where I am going

And I will end up whole

The present brings suffering

The past provides strength

The future brings hope

All of life matters

I am what I am

I was who I was

I will be who I will be

Nothing of life is wasted

Be content with the present

Be reflective about the past

Be excited about the future

Live life large

SIMPLY BE WHAT I WAS CREATED TO BE

There are times when I come to a place of confusion when I try and be a witness to my Faith.  I do not want to appear arrogant enough to think that I am right and so many others are wrong, but these days that is how it feels to me.  I have followed Jesus and walked with God intentionally now for over forty years.  I know what works and what doesn’t work for me.  But I am living in a world that significantly changed the worldview that I have been living with and they think I need to change with them.  I am unwilling to do that, even if others whom I love and respect do.  I find myself feeling abandoned by many that I love and respect, who have walked this walk with me for many years, but who now greatly differ from what I believe.  This has caused me pain and confusion at times, but now I feel I have reached a place of peace.

I know WHO I believe in even if WHAT I believe in is not clear to me at the moment.  If I believe that God is my one true Source and is in absolute control of all of my circumstances, then I can stand back from those things I am unclear about when dealing with other people.  I know for sure what He has told me about my life and that is sufficient enough for me.  I can witness to my experience and God’s intervention in my life with absolute clarity.  Maybe that is all I can and should feel responsible for.

When I look at my trees that is what they do.  They simply live as God created them to live and do what God created them to do.   They don’t try and defend themselves.  They don’t try and force me to be a tree.  They don’t form opinions about me or try and reform me.  They simply BE God’s creation and witness His power and glory.  When I look at all of God’s creation that is what I see and stand in awe of…God and His ways.  Spoken without words but clearly stated.  That is a goal that is worthy to pursue.

TO WHOM ELSE SHALL I GO?

I have been watching the erosion of Religion for sometime now.  Religion and people who practice their Religion are now seen as the enemies, not only of the world but now of the church..the man made church.  I see things like Church Without Religion or hear about gatherings of people who go out of their way not to appear Religious.  They claim to want to be relevant to people today and in their minds Religion isn’t.

I understand their motivation to be inviting and open to all people, but I have difficulties with the compromises that have been made to the foundations on which the Christian Faith was built.  “Unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it”.  There are good people involved in this progressive movement towards relevancy, but deception is a powerful force. 

There are many human elements in Religion that needed to be examined and eliminated.  But I am concerned that the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater.  When the very Source of Faith is compromised or eliminated the results will be futile, meaningless, and unsustainable.  The Pilates of our day find no fault in Jesus and yet they strip him, flog him, and crucify him.  He is removed from the I AM and now must be apart of the WE ARE, just one of many ways, not The Way to God.  That certainly makes him more popular to the crowds and more relevant to those who want to be associated with him on their own terms.  Their own terms are often out of sync with God’s words and Jesus’ teachings, aimed more at pleasure than sacrifice.

Jesus reached a point in his ministry that his teachings weren’t drawing crowds like they were.  Some of his followers were complaining about how hard his sayings were and taking offense at them and him.  He confronted them with the truth and many turned back and no longer walked with him.  There is no record of where they went but I suspect they went and found another teacher who tickled their ears and started their own thing somewhere else, much like today.  After they left Jesus turned to the twelve disciples that had been with him from the beginning and asked if they were leaving as well.  Peter spoke for all of them and simply said, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6: 60-71).

Things didn’t get easier for these disciples; they got harder, much harder.  At times they floundered and failed but they, all but one, remained true to his words.  This is the Faith that I want my life built on.

It is hard to live an uncompromising life of faith in these times.  It feels lonely at times.  It may appear foolish to others at times.  The enemy still works his ways of doubt and temptation.  But in my heart of hearts I stand with Peter; to whom else shall I go?  I know in the core of my being that Jesus is exactly who he says he is.  I know in the core of my being that God is the Source of Everything.  I know in the core of my being that I only want to be in His Presence, now and forever.

THE MEANING OF EVERYTHING

IN THE BEGINNING GOD…

I AM WHO I AM…

I, THE LORD, THE FIRST, AND THE LAST, I AM HE…

I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA,

THE FIRST AND THE LAST,

THE BEGINNING AND THE END…

“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent”

John 6:29

What else is there?

To whom else shall I go?

He alone has the words of eternal life

He alone has the light to direct my path

He alone is the Source of all things

To whom else shall I go?

The Pilates of today

Who find no fault in Him but

Strip him, mock him, and crucify Him

With their words and their writings

They claim to be wise leaders of the faith

But they are fools leading others to oblivion.

There is no other

“This is My Son,

In whom I am well pleased”

He was in the beginning

He will be in the end

Forever and ever…AMEN.

PROMISE OF THE PRESENCE

“The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

which shines brighter and brighter until full day.”

Proverbs 4:18

I have fond memories of my life at the beach.  In the morning I would walk down to the water and wait for the sunrise.  I loved sitting in the darkness of predawn and watching the dark clouds on night yield to the coming light of day.  The seagulls would begin to arise, calling to one another to gather together on the shore.  That would be the first sound that would fill my ears.  Then I would watch the darkness leave and the bright colors of red and yellow fill the sky.  Finally the red glow and then the tip of the sun would show itself.  Slowly the tip rose and the big ball of light would appear to rise on the horizon out of the sea.  As it rose higher its light would completely fill the sky and a beam from that light would make its way to where I was sitting.  Then the day would begin.

Every morning since the beginning of time this is how it has been.  Nothing can change it, stop it, add to it, or subtract from it.  It is God’s Promise to the world of His great and abundant faithfulness.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;

They are new every morning;

Great is His faithfulness.”

God reveals Himself everyday, bringing light to the darkness, revealing the Path I am to follow.  The more I watch and wait, the more I know and understand His Ways.  He has not put me here without a Promise of His Presence and He seals that Promise with every Sunrise.

Someday there will be no need of the sun.  Someday the Promise will be fulfilled.  The light of the world will only rise once and the glory of God will shine forth forever.  The light of the Lamb of God will be all we need, that we might walk in the way of righteousness forever.

MARANATHA

COME LORD JESUS, COME

WHAT IS THAT TO YOU? YOU FOLLOW ME.

The world today is inundated with issues.  These issues scream out for attention over the air waves that fill the space all around me.  It is easy to get consumed by them feeling that they require me to engage with their demands whether they have any affect on my life or not.  They provide a fertile ground for the growth of opinions and then engaging in the war of human devising, of label against label; conservative against liberal, red against blue, progressive against traditionalist, religious against secular, and so on.  We have become experts in creating enemies to fight our battles with but failures in creating solutions to the issues that present themselves and require attention and action.  Hence, nothing gets done to solve the problems that are the roots of the issues…and the band played on.

It used to be cleared.  The battle was between good and evil; the good guys and the bad guys.  But a choice was made to eliminate the God’s input in the world along with concept of evil, making everything good and acceptable.  So now the battle is the rights of individuals to do what they each want to do and be who they want to be with no rule or standard.  That would work if one lives alone on a deserted island, but we don’t.  We are required to live together, sometimes very close to each other so it requires a sense of comradeship and understanding of one another.  That doesn’t happen when everyone is yelling at each other, hating each other, and bullying each other.

In the beginning Adam and Eve had the opportunity to eat from the tree of life which would have resulted in their living (and we living) in a state of Paradise forever.  They choose to listen to the Enemy, disobey God, and do their own thing, causing the rest of humanity to live in a world of unintended consequences.  Those consequences are living in a world where good and evil reign together in the hearts and minds of all of us; a world where you have to choose between obeying God or disobeying God, which ultimately is a choice between life and death.  That is the world Jesus was born into and demonstrated that choice with his death, providing a reconciliation with God once and for all for all of us.  Everyone must make the choice of accepting that reconciliation for themselves.  But we still live in a world where some choose to reject the offer and demand to live their own life, their way.  That is where the issues come forth.

Conversion to God and His Way cannot be forced.  It can only be received and believed.  We still have to live together.  God will ask for an accounting in the end, but till then we are called to live together in love.  Jesus calls me to love those who I are in fellowship and agreement with; he calls me to love my neighbor, those I live together with, he calls me to love my enemies, those who don’t accept God, Jesus, or me.  That means I am called to love everybody and try to live together in peace.

It is my job to be a witness of what God can do in an individual’s life, sharing what He did and continues to do in mine; but that is all I can do.  I need to do that whether or not others accept or reject God.  I also need to respect and love them no matter what their choice is; that choice is between them and God and mo one else.  But we need to find ways to live together, holding to my own faith and understanding of God, yet open to those who do not share my convictions, all in a spirit of love.  That is what my heart believes.

It is my belief that the battle being fought is in the Spiritual realm of which God is in control, not against my neighbors or enemies.  Jesus wept over Jerusalem because he knew many would not receive what he had been sent to give.  All people of faith can weep over those who continue to reject what he continues to give, but we need to put down our weapons and release them to God; love and pray for them, and work at finding ways to live together, always being light and salt and a living example of one who follows Jesus and lives in love and grace.

WHAT WILL BE WILL BE

All The hoopla, all the strategy, all the uniting together, all the man made plans, are futile.  God remains in ultimate control.  The stage is being set.  Business as usual is no longer an option.  The broken cisterns that human beings have been continually making, knowing that they can hold no water, will be smashed totally and returned to dust.

The leaders who fiddled while the nations were burning and those who made a joke of all that is sacred will now watch their world crumble all around them from all of the corruption they allowed to progress by saying what was evil was good and what was good was evil.  Their abandonment of God and their disrespect of His ways made them blind and foolish.

This includes the self appointed ‘leaders of the faith’ who are calling for a battle against Trump when they should be calling for a Repentance of all people in this land.  A monster has been made, they declare.  But what is overlooked is that it is a monster they all helped to progressively create.  That calls for REPENTENCE not rebellion.

The foundation that some people of faith have been chipping away at for years will finally crumble.  But the fountain of life that feeds the springs in the heart of those who believe in and truly trust is forever flowing and can never be stopped.  The foundation built on Jesus Christ and His Word is a ROCK untouched and unmarred by human hands.  Men tried once to destroy it by nailing Him to a cross and killing Him.  But God id not mocked and He raised him from the dead and gave him rule over all…forever.  This is what and who my hope lies in; this is what my life is built on; nothing less.  I know that in the midst of this darkness there shines a bright Light.  This should be the message from all people of faith to the world.

The stage is being set.  WHAT WILL BE WILL BE.

“I hear a sound coming from the mountain

I hear it clearer each day

I hear a sound coming from the mountain

And it’s saying, “Prepare ye the way”.

Prepare ye the way, Prepare ye the way

Prepare ye the way of the Lord.”

MY MENTORS

“For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,

 in the things He has made.”

God has put His witness on this earth.  He reveals and reflects Himself in nature and in His Son, Jesus Christ.  As a child of God, created in His image, I am to reveal and reflect the attributes and the divine nature of God in my life.  That became my mission the moment I received Jesus and His work of reconciliation as a reality in my life and believed in his name; the moment I was given the right to become a child of God.  My message is the Gospel, the good news that Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the grave, reconciling my relationship with God through His love and forgiveness.

Nature constantly reveals the message of life-death-life as the season change.  The Scriptures reveal the Person of Jesus Christ and give me the history and meaning of the Story of the process of reconciliation.  They continue to give meaning to my life now and the life to come.  That makes Nature and the Scriptures my mentors in the Way I have chosen to follow on my journey through this life.

Throughout the years these mentors have become the delight of my life.  They are faithful friends and good guides.  They provide discipline and direction as I journey through the good times and the bad times.  They assist me in negotiating the hazards and obstacles I come upon as I walk along the path.  They allow me freedom but always have my back to protect me from those who might wish me harm, or tempt me to go another way.

We enjoy each others company and it is not a duty, but a delight to spend time with them in God’s Presence.  They constantly remind me of how good God is and of the labor of love Jesus accomplished to reconcile and restore my relationship to the One who created me.  My life is full and my journey is sweet.  I long for the final destination but for now will delight in the Way there.

CULTIVATING THE CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP

Life is full of choices.  The choices I make will either lead me on a good path that leads to life or a bad path that leads to death.  As an adult I make these choices everyday.  But as a child I needed to be taught right from wrong.  The proper way to teach these lessons is not done by domination but by demonstration.  An effective way for adults to best teach children is by the witness of their lives.  Witness is more effective than words alone.  It takes presence and time to bring a child up into adulthood; the more the better.  I believe that is true in discipleship as well.  Jesus certainly modeled that as we worked with those he was grooming to be his witnesses after he returned to his Father.

 Presence and time are rare commodities in the world today. The effects of that are undisciplined children who grow into adults who are continually searching for meaning and purpose, who usually find themselves looking in all the wrong places, lost and alone.  I believe God has the answers to meaning and purpose and to all matters of life.  He created it and meaning and purpose are intrinsic in the life He made.

There is a lot of negativity about Religion these days.  It has been made out to be an enemy in the Christian life rather than a helpmate.  Human beings do some really weird things with all that God has given them.  The weirdest and most harmful is to take things out of God’s hands and take over building what they are sure God wanted to build.  I believe Religion is one of those things.

Human beings took God’s words and turned them into an organized system of beliefs and rituals.  God spoke words of life and gave ways to live, support, and sustain that life.  Human take a living organism and make it into a mechanical system.  One is alive and continually produces life; the other works by routine and needs to be maintained.

God said that, “my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”  I believe the same can be said about Religion.  I need instruction to live the life God made for me to live.  I need to know the laws, principles, and standards for that life so that I can live it to the fullest.  I need a map for the journey ahead that gives me the path to follow, makes the boundaries, and gives me details of the landscape and things to be aware of.  I need a standard set that I can measure my growth by.  This is what Religion means to me.  It is my “swimming buddy” in the fountain of living water who watches over me and assists me if I get into trouble.

The Truth for me is that Religion is not an organized system of beliefs and rituals.  Religion is a Person, God in the flesh, Jesus Christ Himself.  He said he came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets…He is the Law and the Prophets.  He is the rituals that foreshadowed him.  He is the map and the standard.  He is my swimming buddy in the fountain of living waters.

To me Religion is not a dead system to be discarded; it’s a Person to be declared to those who are lost and looking for lives with meaning and purpose.  He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He calls to those who are lost and alone to come and follow him; to be his disciple and be a witness to others to come as well.  Religion is a helpmate to cultivating that call.