I was reminded today why we needed reminders today. As I was following the news coverage of this morning's ceremonies, it struck me how forgetful and far the American people have fallen away from who we once were.
We need only to recall a recent event to understand the depth of our slippery slope - Van Jones. Here's another one of Obama's left-wing radical buddies who signed a document and supports the notion that the Bush administration (federal government) was responsible for 09-11-01. How ludicrous! And this bigoted idiot had (probably still has) the ear of our current President. Coupled with Obama's automated, disingenuous White House moment of silence, and heartless 3-minute address at the Pentagon (among other things in this administration's polity), and we have all the evidence we need to know how the current administration feels about what took place in NYC, DC, and PA eight years ago today. This is exactly what our enemy combatants want. They are banking on our forgetfulness. Obama and is cronies are doing all they can do to help our amnesia. I'm sure Bin Laden is licking his chops at the prospect of "09-11-01 round two." I believe it's a matter of when, not if.
And another thing. I heard it again today. I fear it's empty words falling on deaf ears when our current government leaders say, "God bless America" at the end of their secular progressive rhetoric and rants. Singing the song (of the same title) during the 7th inning of every baseball game has really become a joke too. Everytime I hear or see this I think of Mark 7:6.
09-11 is a sad day, now, in more ways than we really know.
I have a nephew in Iraq. I hope and pray that he doesn't become disheartened and disillusioned with our country, and its lack of support for the troops and their mission. These guys and gals are counting on us to re-engage our hearts and minds in the cause and REMEMBER. To forget is perilous.
Peace,
The lyrics of this song have been rolling around the empty chambers of my cranium the last few days...
My life is the product of many decisions, wise or otherwise, and their subsequent rewards and consequences. While I've prevailed on a host of good ones, I've certainly botched several life times worth of stupid decisions and choices. I have many regrets as a result. Were it not for the grace of God, there is no telling (although I could guess) who or where I'd be - physically, emotionally, relationally and spiritually.
Grace is the one thing that "overrides," and supersedes my frail and flawed humanity. It is not conditional or limited by my failures and shortcomings. It is not something I can obtain on my own merit. It is completely undeserved and, at the same time, supremely sufficient. It is freedom from my shame and guilty conscience. It is a free gift from my Creator offering absolute forgiveness of sin.
On days when I'm down, regretting past decisions, or stressing over current ones, I am reminded of the grace of God (and the lyrics to this song - below) that sustains and strengthens me. I still don't totally understand why, but God is really good to me.
Were it not for grace
I can tell you where I'd be
Wand'ring down
Some pointless road to nowhere
With my salvation up to me
(And) I know how that would go
The battles I would face
Forever running
But losing the race
Were it not for grace
Time measured out my days
Life carried me along
In my soul I yearned to follow God
But knew I'd never be so strong
I looked hard at this world
To learn how heaven could be gained
Just to end where I began
Where human effort is all in vain
So here is all my praise
Expressed with all my heart
Offered to a Friend who took my place
And ran a course I could not start
And when He saw in full
Just how much His love would cost
He still went the final mile
Between me and heaven
So I would not be lost
Peace,
Well...after a long break, I'm going to jump back into my study of the book of Romans. This blog is taken from a great message I heard while leading worship at Lifepointe Church by Dr. Marcus Warner, President of Deeper Walk Ministries.
Paul writes, "Why do I do what I don't want to do?" How many times have you asked yourself that question? We have good intentions to do the right thing, but are somehow "stuck."
Each one of us has a baggage compartment, a powder keg tucked inside. We might think we've grown beyond our issues or figured out a way to handle or get around them when, all of a sudden, someone pushes one of our buttons and, BOOM, there it is. One moment we feel fine & normal, and the next we've revealed a bad or flawed part of us that we don't like or want to be.
Romans 7: The dividing line is the cross - life before Christ vs. life after Christ.
Every Christian always has two options in every choice. We can handle it in the flesh or in the spirit; deal with it our way or God's way, in our strength/self or trust God, leaving the results in His care (like we can really control results).
Before Christ, there was the law; the authority that draws a line in the sand and dares us to step across. Of course as soon as we do, we become slaves of sin. Sin has a legitimate claim (rulership) in our lives because we've all broken the law (stepped over the line). Sin then becomes our master with a very powerful weapon - death (Rom 6:23). Eventually, sin will kill us for our many years of "faithful service" to him.
Many (enslaved) Christians still live as if this is the way life works. In our minds, there is a paradigm or model of reality still setup like this: we're under the law, we cross the line, and live under the threat of death and in bondage. But Romans 7 says we've died to the law and sin, and now have hope of heaven.
After Christ, there is a new covenant, a throne of grace. Sitting on this "throne" is the Spirit, a new system for living.
By living in flesh, we define ourselves by our performance. We measure our identity by the standards we setup, based on talent, looks, achievement, what others say about us, etc. It's like living with a mirror in our face always judging and comparing ourselves to others. God wants us to get rid of that.
So when Paul asks, "Why do I do what I don't want to do?", one of his core answers is it's because we don't know who we are when living in the flesh. We don't understand the difference between flesh and spirit, thereby taking our identity from living in the flesh.
Living in the flesh is characterized by its selfish desires. It's like a 4 years old kid who wants chocolate cake for breakfast. His mom says no, but he says he really wants it. Then he starts with "but mom," and other excuses. When the answer is still no, he start bargaining, which turns into tantrums. This strategy - trying to get what we want to progressive degrees, going from nice to not-so-nice, is motivated by the flesh. It's also called immaturity.
We not only have a battle with the flesh, we also have a battle with the past. These childhood strategies become patterns in our adult life. When we don't get what we want or our way when we want it, these flesh patterns ultimately lead to a wounded/broken heart. Wounds can lead to lies about who we are planted by Satan (we're not good enough, it's everybody's fault, have to take care of ourselves, this is just how life works, etc.) When these lies take root, we become protective (controlling). We makes vows to ourselves and develop strongholds (fruit of wrong decisions).
This "trauma" causes us to get stuck in our maturity capacity (development). Maturity (emotional health) is defined as follows: our capacity to handle pressure and still be ourselves; handle the most stress and continue to live with joy (James 1:4), becoming mature and complete.
Author James Wilder defines maturity as "acting like yourself" (not the person behind the mask causing you to do stupid stuff hiding your true self, or the wall keeping other people out). Immature people act like someone else, usually like a child.
Immaturity is characterized by three A's:
James Wilder says addiction is the catastrophic failure to attain maturity. Immature people are always hitting "the wall" (or lid) leading to one or all 3-A's. For example, a typical marriage has a man with a capacity lid of a 3 and a woman with a 5; essentially and infant married to a child. Each person in the relationship handles situations with a me-first attitude. Once one feels safe, comfortable, and taken care of, then the spouse gets the left-overs.
We need help to get "unstuck."
START (tool for consistency in living according to the spirit).
Please note there is no short cut, no magic wand. The process of maturity is daily/hourly choices pressing forward, trusting God, knowing that He loves you, has a good plan for you, has not given up on you, and that there is hope for you because of the power and goodness of God.
Peace
Interesting article on how to deal with prodigals. It's from the book "When Mothers Pray (C) 1997 by Cheri Fuller of Multnomah Publishers, Inc.
Read Luke 15:11-24. It's a great story of lostness, repentance, forgiveness and love.
It's been almost a month since my last blog entry. Major distractions, none of which I will write about here, have side tracked my study and journeying of Romans. But I'm back at it!
Romans 6. I love this and the next two chapters of Romans. It speaks of the Holy Spirit and God's love, both providing a new kind of life for true believers.
The opening question, "should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more kindness and forgiveness?" is one that requires closer examination. In light of a recent conversation with a very confused and lost young man and woman, where the premise/concept of Romans 5:20 was openly debated, chapter 6 brings enlightenment. Up to this point in the book, Paul has primarily discussed God's justification of sinful people. Some people, after reading 5:20, considered the notion that believers should then sin more to receive more of God's grace (or maybe to keep on sinning to get more of God's grace). The fact is that grace was not designed to encourage sin; for believers to "bank" on God's kindness and forgiveness. Upon becoming a Christ-follower - the point of salvation - believers "died" to sin, or (said another way) freed from the power and grip of sin. We now have the freedom to live new lives. The word here is sanctification. It's a big churchy word that means purified, approved of, blessed, and set apart. It's a new spiritual life now and physical resurrection later.
It's a process that continually transforms (changes) us and conforms us into the likeness of Jesus Christ (Rom 8:29). The "old" us, spiritually dead, under sin's control, ungodly, and enemy of God, is peeled away, one layer, one life experience at a time. The "new" us should recognize and acknowledge these truths, and not continue in (to choose) sin or follow its lustful desires. It is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
Verses 12-14 commands us to stop letting sin "reign." Believers who are no longer under the control of sin must put this attitude into action by giving ourselves to God and using our whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God. My mother has told me for years, and I have since used it 1000 or more times, that "actions speak louder than words." You can tell me, until you're blue in the face, that you are a committed Christ-follower, but, until I see it in your life (demonstrated in your experiences), it isn't real. Saying it doesn't make it so. Some people would say that I'm being judgmental. I'm simply making an observation, not criticizing or condemning. God alone is the judge. Hear the words of James 2:14..."What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?" Chapter 2, verses 17-18 go on to say, "So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” If we choose to "obey" sin, it becomes (or remains) our master. We are subject to its rule and power. Can someone who intentionally chooses to disobey God and purposefully live accordingly also claim to be a Christ-follower? Can darkness co-exist with light?
But through Christ, we have the freedom to obey God. We must obey with all our heart the teaching God has given us. We must choose to be "slaves" to righteousness so we will become holy, and do the things that result in eternal life (Romans 6:15-22). Because we are alive to God and have eternal life, we should present ourselves to Him and live accordingly, not letting sin master us.
Good stuff! Easy to do? Chapter 7...
Continuing in my study of the book of Romans...I'm picking it up at Romans 5:12-21. The more I read and re-read this great book of the Bible, the more I understand the comprehensiveness and richness of its text. I mentioned in an earlier post that Romans, in the simplest and most general terms is "the gospel."
In these verses, Paul contrasts the work of the first man - Adam, with that of Jesus Christ. Why? Adam represents the human race to God. The Bible Knowledge Commentary reads, "The entire human race is seminally (originated from and influenced by) and physically in Adam, the first man. As a result, God considered all people as participating in the act of sin which Adam committed and as receiving the penalty he received. Though sin entered the human experience through the act of Adam's sin, sin expressed itself repeatedly in people's actions from the point of its entrance until the Law was given."
Now, even though there was no Law (til Moses), sin is evidenced by the existence of death. Since death was present, that proved all had sinned in Adam. A parallelism exists between Adam and Jesus Christ as heads of groups of human beings.
Here are the contrasts between Adam and Christ:
The purpose of the (Mosaic) Law was "so that all people could see how sinful they were" (Romans 5:20 - NLT). But, through the righteousness of Jesus Christ provided for people, God's grace overflows beyond it and abundantly exceeds it. WOW! Reminds me of a song..."Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see! My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God my Savior has rescued me. And like a flood, His mercy reigns. Unending love; amazing grace!"
Next time...Romans 6.
WOW! I've got to share what happened last Sunday at WhiteWater Christian Church (in Cincinnati). Many of you know that I fill-in as their worship leader there from time to time. They are in the 5th month of a sermon series on "Truth." Last week was, "The Truth About Baptism." David Vaughan, Preaching Minister, spoke on Acts 8:26-38 and presented a very compelling argument/case for baptism. He boldly offered people a chance to respond - right then and there - by being baptized in the clothes they had on...no waiting, no more excuses, all obstacles had been removed (the church provided helpers and counselors, T-shirts, sweat pants or gym shorts, and plastic bags to carry their wet clothes and/or cover car seats, as well as towels to dry off.
None of us had any idea how this was going to work, or how many people, if any, would take such a risk. In fact, David and the staff worked very hard to confirm a few individuals to schedule their baptism for this service to sort of "prime the pump" (so to speak) -- WITH NO TAKERS! There was no one in either of the two services who said yes. As we talked about what may happen in our pre-service meeting, I told David that, "well if something big happens, there will be no question it was God who made it happen."
Well, God indeed made something bigger than big happen! Fifty five (55) men, women and children of all ages (5 to 85); husbands and wives and families together; in suits, dresses, jeans and T-shirts responded to the call and were baptized! Did you catch that? 55!!!
Never before have I experienced that measure of power and presence of the Holy Spirit in one space! It was thick in the air. The hair was standing up on my arms. We were all held captive in a God moment. Time seemingly stood still. People were singing, crying, shouting out, clapping, praying, standing, kneeling, embracing - you name it! It was a true celebration. A spiritual encounter most, if not all, had never witnessed.
Every life, in some way, shape or form, regardless of whether they were baptized or not, was changed that day! I know mine was.
Thanks WCCC for allowing me the honor of being a part of such a holy, mountain-top marvel.