I AM WHAT I AM BECOMING

I enjoy being a child of God’s

I enjoy being a follower of Jesus

I enjoy being a student of the Scriptures

It’s what makes me who and what I am

It’s what makes me who and what I am becoming.

Like a tree I am always growing

Bearing fruit in season

Shedding leaves in season

Lying dormant in season

In full bloom in season.

I am fed by the Spring that flows from the Source

I experience the winds of adversity

I experience the storms of sorrow,

But still I stand for I am firmly rooted

In God, in Jesus, and in the Scriptures.

THE FLESH & LEAVES DIE...THE SPIRIT LIVES

It saddens me to see the condition of many churches today.  It wearies me to hear all of the would of, could of, and should ofs, and the ‘we’ve got a new and better way’ chatter.  It’s not that the people are insincere in their concern; it’s just that they are only producing more of the same ideas that past church reformers have said and done, since the church came into existence.  As Einstein said, “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is insanity.” 

As I am watching the final stages of life being demonstrated by my mother, it is changing my thoughts about dying.  Her flesh is decaying and will eventually turn to dust.  But her spirit is growing more and more brilliant and strong.  It is preparing itself for what ever journey it is about to embark on, that still remains a mystery to me.  But I can see it in her eyes that the transformation is happening, just as when I look at the Autumn leaves and know their journey and transformation is about to begin, when they reach their full beauty.  My ‘mother’ isn’t dying, just as the tree isn’t dying.  It makes me think that the ‘church’ isn’t dying; just its flesh and leaves.

The ‘church’ is all who receive and believe in the Ultimate Word of God, His Son, Jesus Christ.  This ‘church’ is nourished and protected by God forever; nothing and no one can destroy it.  Buildings will go; denominations will go; methods and doctrines will go.  But God’s Church will stand eternal because, He said, “I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  

It is not my job to try and figure out how to build…it’s my job to listen to God and do what He says.  It’s not our job to try and figure out how to build…it’s our job to listen to God and do what He says.  He will say what needs to be planted; He will say what needs to be pruned; He will show where the brinks are to be laid.  “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”  Unless the proper seed, the Word of God, is planted those who plant will labor in vain.

Whatever God builds; whatever God plants; that, and that alone will last throughout eternity.

BE and DO What You Were Meant to BE and DO

Get caught up in The Christ, not the cause

Get caught up in The Vision, not the victory

Focus on Jesus as Prophet and Priest, not the problems

Focus on God’s righteousness, not your rights

Abide in God and Jesus, not in your self

Abide in the Kingdom of God, not in this world

Then you will BE you who truly ARE

Then you will DO what you’re truly meant to DO

God Gives...We Make

God gives us golden things;

We make golden calves out of them.

God gives us trees;

We make lumber out of them.

God gives us the sky;

We make a space for waste out of it.

God gives us land;

We make a garbage can out of it.

God gives us oceans;

We make sewers out of it.

God gives us beauty;

We make ashes out of it.

God gives us love;

We make pornography out of it.

God gives us life;

We make a mess of it.

What in the world was God thinking?

RADICAL HOSPITALITY

Sometimes events happen that trigger my past, and the memories come pouring out from nowhere into my conscious mind.  Yesterday one of those events occurred and took me back in time, to probably the worst season of my life.  It was a time when I lost control, flung every good thing in my life to the wind, and lived without boundaries or reason.  I was hurting, disillusioned, and in despair so I looked to anything that would stop the pain; alcohol, sex, drugs, and pure rebellion.  I was miserable and did some really stupid and eventually regretful things.  Fortunately it was during the 60’s so I could fit in with the rest of the cultural happenings and hide for a while.  But that didn’t last long.  At some point I came to my senses.  I was deeply repentant and was very much aware that for the rest of my life I would never ever be the one to throw the first stone of judgment at anyone.

Through the years I was able to find people who had gotten caught in my wake of dysfunction, acknowledge my wrong doing, and fortunately receive their sincere forgiveness.  They were people I loved and who loved me and they knew as I did that there was never any malice or intentional harm meant in my actions; just one messed up soul trying to find something in my life to salvage.

God forgives, others forgive, but while I walk in their forgiveness it’s difficult at times to not forget and feel the regrets of my past.  Maybe there is some benefit to that I my present dealings with other people.  It keeps my self righteousness in check; keeps me humble; causes me to drop all stones of judgment and offer an empty hand of understanding and welcome to all I come into contact with that need that kind of radical hospitality.

God calls those who believe and receive Him to that kind of radical hospitality.  This world can be a harsh and mean spirited place to live; God hears the groans of His creation.  He invites and welcomes all who will turn to Him; and so should I because I have been on the receiving end of that hospitality for a long time.

Radical hospitality is not so much in what I do as it is in who I am.  When people come into my presence I want them to feel welcomed, attended to, and loved by God.  It doesn’t need to be in the grandeur of a Downton Abby.  It can be in my simple little home, a restaurant, or in the aisle of a grocery store; being radically hospitable means serving others in love; putting others first; being kind, and present to the moment and to the person in front of me.

I believe that is how Jesus was.  He somehow made every person he communicated with feel special, feel loved, and feel attended to, no matter what their past was.  He knew their past and looked beyond it to their present need.  The fact that I know my past makes me more than ever want to be like Jesus; looking beyond the faults, the past, and simply be radically hospitable in the present, offering the healing salve being welcomed, being attended to, and being loved.

TRUST THE PROMISE

As I read through Exodus and Leviticus I observe that God is very simple and clear about how the holy things the represent His Presence are to be treated.  They are holy, to be honored and respected, not for what they are but for whom they represent.  While I enjoy a very personal and intimate relationship with God, I must always keep in mind that He is the Creator of all things and that makes my soul always in a place to honor, respect, and worship Him and pay homage to that Holiness.  How can I not?

The God that I stand in awe of loves me so much, provides for me so much, and cares about me so much; how can I do anything but bow in His Presence, honor Him in His Holiness, and obey what He tells me to do.  He is for me, not against me; He had only my good at heart. How can I do anything else except love Him just as much as He loves me in return?

Sacred is an extinct concept in the world today.  If we don’t hold God sacred we will not hold His creation sacred; if we don’t hold His creation sacred we will not hold life sacred; if we don’t hold life sacred we will continue to destroy one another and the created world we live in.

God has promised a new heaven and a new earth; a new Jerusalem for His people.  The promise is the same as the Covenant He made with Abraham; it is the hope of the fulfillment of that promise that the children of God have continually waited for and hoped for.  Some see it and live for it, just as Joshua, Caleb, Mary, Zechariah, Simeon, and Anna did.  Some see it and live for it still.  It is the Promise that I remember in my soul and I believe will come about in God’s way and His timing.  I trust the Promise!

FOOL'S WISDOM, SIMPLE TRUTH, HUMBLE OBEDIENCE

There seems to be a repetitive pattern in human beings.  Since the beginning of time we have taken something that was a gift from God, broken it because we didn’t follow the instructions, and then try and fix it by building it again, with new labels, new forms, new structures, and new ways of doing things; our ways.  We drink from the incredibly beautiful fountain and then build our own cisterns; cisterns that always break and never hold water.  We take the simple gift and complicate it until it is no longer usable; and then blame it on God, deeming Him unworthy of our time and attention and certainly not relevant in our sophisticated world.

I enjoy studying all these new thoughts and ideas, but soon find that they aren’t new at all; just recycled from the waste of old thoughts and ideas.  “There is nothing new under the sun.”  I appreciate all the people who devote their time and energy to coming up with new ideas, new ways of doing things, and new paradigms.  But I don’t entrust my spiritual life to them.  “The best of men are merely men at best.”  It is the Holy Spirit that has the responsibility of teaching the Truth.  The Spirit within and the Spirit without must be in agreement; then there can be an absolute Truth that can be trusted and believed in and that can be seen and heard by those who call themselves the children of God.

Every human being is created in God’s image and likeness but not every human being has the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within.  We, as children, must receive the One that God sent and believe in his name; we must be born again, not of blood or of the will of the flesh, but of God.  THEN we will have the eyes to see the kingdom of God that Jesus reveals and THEN we will have the ears to hear the kingdom of God that Jesus teaches.  It is not finding the proper Practice or formula, or designing the right form or structure.  It is receiving His life that is the True light, which enlightens every human being; an enlightenment that doesn’t take us to a higher consciousness but makes us conscious of our nakedness and our absolute need for God.

I get intimidated very quickly and easily by scholarly, theological, and philosophical theories that develop new ways of seeing God and new things the church needs to do.  But then I realize once again that I’ve seen and heard these theories before; time and time again through out the ages; the repetitive pattern of humans trying to improve God and His ways to make them relevant and more like their ways. God didn’t use the worldly wise, great thinkers or philosophers in any age.  He sees no need to change His pattern.  He chose the foolish, the lowly, those not full of themselves and their great ideas; he chose the empty, needy, and humble to reveal Himself to and through.

“For consider your calling: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world,  so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (I Corinthians 1:26-29).

I think we need to stop our planning, our finding something new and improved, our way of twisting and turning God so He is relevant to our ways.

We need to stop, look, and listen to the heroes of old who simply heard God, listened to God, and obeyed God.  Fool’s wisdom, simple Truth, and humble obedience…there is a pattern I would, and do, build my life on.