Monday, 08 February 2010

  • Do You Know God's Grace?

    I have often found in myself the tendency to hold onto personal wrongs which have been committed against me. Many times someone will speak, or act, in a manner which causes me pain or offence. Often I have felt justified in retaining (sometimes for many months) my anger and hurt, and witholding forgiveness because of the memories which I still have to deal with regarding the situation.

     

    That tendency, however, doesn't seem to be in the character of God. I was directed to Hebrews 10:16-17 yesterday, which led to a chain of cross references which I have copy/pasted below. Notice the thread of forgiveness which weaves its way through these verses. Notice also that forgiveness often includes forgetting the offense. Why is it that we can easily, and boldly, preach about and claim God's grace toward ourselves yet we are so reluctant to extend it to one another? When this is present in my life is it not simply an indicator of my lack of understanding of grace?

     

    Lord help us to ACT like you!

     

    Exodus 34:6b-7a The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who FORGIVES INIQUITY, TRANSGRESSION AND SIN……

     

    Psalm 103:8-13 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep his anger forever. HE HAS NOT DEALT WITH US ACCORDING TO OUR SINS, NOR REWARDED US ACCORDING TO OUR INIQUITIES. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. AS FAR AS THE EAST IS FROM THE WEST, SO FAR HAS HE REMOVED OUR TRANSGRESSIONS FROM US. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

     

    Isaiah 38:17 It is you who has kept my soul from the pit of destruction, for YOU HAVE CAST ALL MY SINS BEHIND YOUR BACK.

     

    Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for my own sake, and I WILL NOT REMEMBER YOUR SINS.’

     

    Jeremiah 31:34b …for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord, FOR I WILL FORGIVE THEIR INIQUITY, AND THEIR SIN I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.

     

    Jeremiah 50:20 In those days and at that time, declares the Lord, search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but THERE WILL BE NONE; and for the sins of Judah, BUT THEY WILL NOT BE FOUND; for I WILL PARDON……

     

    Micah 7:18-19 Who is a God like You, who PARDONS INIQUITY and PASSES OVER THE REBELLIOUS ACT of His possession? He DOES NOT RETAIN HIS ANGER forever, because He DELIGHTS in unchanging LOVE. He will again HAVE COMPASSION on us; He will TREAD OUR INIQUITIES UNDER FOOT. Yes, You WILL CAST ALL OUR SINS INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA.

     

    Hebrews 12:14-15 Pursue peace with all men, and sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. Se to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; and that NO ROOT OF BITTERNESS springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled...

Tuesday, 26 January 2010

  • Freedom in Christ

    I've heard ministers and ministries castigate other ministers and/or ministries because they were 'in error', 'heretical', 'deluded', 'dangerous', 'theologically misinformed', and the list of allegations could go on forever. I've also heard well-meaning people say others shouldn't fellowship with and definitely not join in ministry opportunities with (I'm going to get specific) German Baptists, or Seventh-day Adventists, or Campus Crusade for Christ, or Freedom in Christ Ministries, or a myriad of other churches or ministries because their 'theology is erroneous'. I've even read a pastors blog who referred to Jonathon Edwards (the man who has been given credit for being God's messenger during the early American 'awakening') as a heretic.

    If, however, someone has found (catch this) 'true, genuine freedom in Christ' are we as other Christians who may have doctrinal disagreements with these churches, people, ministries, etc given the liberty to challenge and question the genuinity of the 'method' or the 'outcome'?

    Do we need more than a common bond in a common Savior in order to accept other people, churches, ministries as 'sincere'?

    I'm wondering, is there a 'wrong' way to find true, genuine freedom in Christ?

Thursday, 14 January 2010

  • NCCF - 1/14/10

    Accepted!

    1 Peter 1:1-2

    Peter – an apostle of Jesus Christ

    Understood his sinfulness

    Denied Christ

    Luke 22:31-34; 54-62 …rooster will not crow until you have denied Me

    Romans 3:23 …all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

    Understood the gospel

    Accepted by Christ

    Mark 16:1-7 …go tell the disciples, and Peter!

    Romans 10:13 Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

    Understood humility in his calling

    Commissioned by Christ

    John 21:13-17 Peter, do you love me? Tend my lambs…sheep!

    Acts 1:8 …you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses…..even to the remotest part of the earth

    Mark 16:15 Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

     

    Resident foreigners – to those who reside as aliens

                                                                    Are you from New Castle?

    Acts 8:1 …and on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered…

    Leviticus 25:23 – Law of Redemption – land not sold permanently, but redeemable in the year of Jubilee

    Psalm 39:12 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry…for I am a stranger for You, a sojourner like all my fathers

     

    Chosen – who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God

    not theological, but encouraging (you are not forgotten)

    … according to the foreknowledge of God

    If God thought of you first, why would He forget you now?

    …by the sanctifying work of the Spirit

    Perhaps you can’t participate in the ‘traditions’ you’re accustomed to in your church…..on what basis are you accepted before God? Performance?

    …to obey Jesus Christ

    ‘Obedience’ is a heart attitude wherever we’re at, not some adherence to an external standard of conduct.

    …and be sprinkled with His blood

    Salvation is available NO MATTER WHERE you are!

     

    …may grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure!

    1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins He (Jesus) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Wednesday, 06 January 2010

  • Press In

    I long for nothing more than to experience the Presence of the LORD in such a way that I have a constant conscious awareness of Him equal to (or greater than) the awareness of someone's physical presence!

    I want to be finished with superficial religion and its liturgy and rites; I want to put an end to my church 'playacting'; I want to stop worrying so much about my professional image and occupation advances and focus my energies and efforts toward pressing into the very Presence of the Living God!

    I know, however, that I cannot remove myself from life and its interests altogether......therein lies my dilemma!

Tuesday, 05 January 2010

  • Will You Go Beyond The Veil?

    Frederick Faber was one whose soul panted after God as the roe deer pants after the water brook, and the measure in which God revealed Himself to his seeking heart set the good man's whole life afire with a burning adoration rivaling that of the seraphim before the throne. His love for God extended to the three Persons of the Godhead equally, yet he seemed to feel for each One a special kind of love reserved for Him along. Of God the Father he sings:

    Only to sit and think of God
    Oh what a joy it is!
    To think the thought, to breathe the Name:
    Earth has no higher bliss.
    Father of Jesus, love's reward!
    What rapture it will be,
    Prostrate before Thy throne to lie,
    And gaze and gaze on Thee!

    His love for the Person of Christ was so intense that it threatened to consume him. It burned within him as a sweet and holy madness and flowed from his lips like molten gold.

    Faber's blazing love extended also to the Holy Spirit. Not only in his theology did he acknowledge His deity and full equality with the Father and the Son, but he celebrated it constantly in his songs and in his prayers. He literally pressed his forehead to the ground in his eager, fervid worship of teh Third Person of the Godhead.

    Such worship as Faber knew can never come from a mere doctrinal knowledge of God. Hearts that are 'fit to break' with love for the Godhead are those who have been in the Presence and have looked with open eye upon the majesty of Deity. Men of the breaking hearts had a quality about them not known to nor understood by common men. They habitually spoke with spiritual authority. They had been in the presence of God and they reported what they saw there.

    They were prophets, not scribes, for the scribe tells us what he has read, and the prophet tells us what he has seen. The distinction is not an imaginary one. Between the scribe who has read and the prophet who has seen there is a difference as wide as the sea. We are overrun today with orthodox scribes, but the prophets, where are they? The hard voice of the scribes sounds over evangelicalism, but the church waits for the tender voice of the saint who has penetrated the veil and has gazed with inward eye upon the wonder that is God. And yet, thus to penetrate, to push in sensitive living experience into the holy Presence, is a privilege open to every child of God.

    With the veil removed by the rending of Jesus' flesh, with nothing on God's side to prevent us form entering, why do we tarry without? Why do we consent to abide all our days just outside the Holy of Holies and never enter at all to look upon God? What hinders us?

Saturday, 02 January 2010

  • A Burn Zeal for a Constant Conscious Awareness

    Everything in the New Testament accords with this Old Testament picture. Ransomed men need no longer pause in fear to enter the Holy of Holies. God wills that we should push on into His presence and live our whole life there. This is to be known to us in conscious experience. It is more than a doctrine to be held; it is a life to be enjoyed every moment of every day.

    This Flame of the Presence was the beating heart of the Levitical order. Without it all the appointments of the tabernacle were characters of some unknown language, having no meaning or Israel or for us. The greatest fact of the tabernacle was that Jehovah was there; a Presence was waiting within the veil.

    Similarly, the presence of God is the central fact of Christianity. At the heart of the Christian message is God Himself waiting for His redeemed children to push in to conscious awareness of His presence. That type of Christianity which happens now to be vogue knows this Presence only in theory. It fails to stress the Christians privilege of present realization. According to its teachings we are in the presence of God positionally, and nothing is said about the need to experience that Presence actually. The fiery urge that drove men like McCheyne is wholly missing. And the present generation of Christian measures itself by this imperfect rule. Ignoble contentment takes the place of burning zeal. We are satisfied to rest in our judicial possessions and, for the most part, we bother ourselves very little about the absence of personal experience.

Thursday, 31 December 2009

  • Out With A Bang

    The last three days of 2009 have some of the most occupationally eventful I can remember in quite a while...

    Tue, December 29 - Invited by the Executive Director of the Winchester Area Chamber of Commerce to sit on the Chamber's executive board.

    Wed, December 30 - Invited by the mayor of Winchester, IN, USA to lunch to 'discuss economic development and community expansion'.

    Thur, December 31 - Called by a large corporate account from Greenville, OH and asked if I would be willing and able to take full responsibility for a 30K+ sales endeavor relying on my current employer for graphic design talent and accounts receivable ability.

     

    God is good, all the time...all the time, God IS good!!

Wednesday, 23 December 2009

  • LifePath Number

    While I put absolutely NO stock in astrology and the such, I did find this to be a very interesting description of me:

    The Life Path 5 suggests that you entered this plane with a highly progressive mindset, with the attitude and skills to make the world a better place. The key word for your Life Path is freedom. In the pursuit of freedom, you are naturally versatile, adventurous, and advanced in your thinking. You are one of those people who is always striving to find answers to the many questions that life poses. The byword for the positive Life Path 5 is constant change and improvement. You want to be totally unrestrained, as this is the number most often associated with the productive use of freedom.

    You may be one of the most compassionate of people as the 5 is surely the most freedom-loving and compassionate Life Path. Your love of freedom extends to humanity at large, and concern for your fellow man, his freedom and his welfare, may be foremost in your mind. A great Life Path 5 American President, Abraham Lincoln, issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and ended slavery in America. As the ultimate progressive thinker type, your potential in government, the law, and other positions of authority is unlimited.

    You are a good communicator, and you know how to motivate people around you. This may be your strongest and most valuable trait. Because of this skill, and your amazing wit, you are a truly natural born salesman. This ability to sell and motivate extends to any sort of physical product all the way through to whatever ideas or concepts you may embrace.

    You abhor routine and boring work, and you are not very good at staying with everyday tasks that must be finished on time. On the average, the number 5 personality is rather happy-go-lucky; living for today, and not worrying too much about tomorrow. It is also important for you to find a job that provides thought-provoking tasks rather than routine and redundant responsibilities. You do best dealing with people, but the important thing is that you have the flexibility to express yourself at all times. You have an innate ability to think through complex matters and analyze them quickly, but then be off to something new.

    A love of adventure may dominate your life. This may take the form of mental or physical manifestation, but in either case, you thrill to the chance for exploration and blazing new trails. Surely you belong to a group considered the most worldly and traveled. Clearly you are not one to pass up a good venture. You have quite a lot of the risk-taker in your makeup. If you aren't putting your money at stake, you are surely open to a wide variety of risks in your everyday life. Taking the conservative approach is just not in your nature.

Sunday, 20 December 2009

  • Ministry Qualifications

    As many of you know, I have been actively involved in ministry at New Castle Correctional Facility for nearly 4 years. I have also been an active part of COR22 Ministries for slightly over 5 years. During this period of time there have been more than a few people who have chosen to challenge my 'qualifications'.

    Admittedly, I have few credentials,  no professional ministry training and more than enough sin to disqualify me. However, I have a willing heart. Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would bear witness to Him (Christ) and that we would also bear witness to Him. That's all I can do! I know I'm not 'qualified' to be in the ministry; frankly, I never claimed to be 'qualified'....I'm not sure I even ever desired to be 'qualified'.

    The only qualification to bearing witness to Christ is to have seen Him. I have seen Christ. Period! I have seen Him and His work in my own life. What more 'qualification' do I need?

    After yesterday's special programs at NCCF with COR22 and David Pendleton it occured to me that 'qualification' or 'ability' isn't the most important ingredient to being in the Lord's work (I know, hundreds of theological students just rolled over in their graves); willingness and availability is!

    I'm a sinner. I know I'm a sinner. Frankly, I'll be the first to admit my propensity toward sin! I'm a big loser!! For years 'church people' have been trying to 'fix' me. I can't be fixed by them. I simply don't fit in any of their little clique's! I've tried! They've tried! Jesus fixed me, though!!

    What more do I need? I'm a 0% perfect, 100% forgiven sinner who simply wants to take the message of Christ forgiving broken, sinful losers to broken, sinful losers! It's His business! He doesn't need me. He doesn't need you! He needs people who are willing to admit their brokenness and sinfulness (not theologically, but rather practically, honestly)!

    Are you qualified for ministry?

Monday, 14 December 2009

  • Perspective

    I received two private messages minutes apart. One stated, 'your rhetoric seems to mock the Gospel of our Lord' the other, 'I have always respected you more than anyone I know when it comes to chasing God's will'.