New Beginnings ...

New Year’s Eve: Just the mere phase conjures up questions on what the New Year will hold for us or perhaps what our resolutions may be.  The completion of a year on our calendar is a worldwide event of note.  It is celebrated in every country and culture.  Some mark the occasion with fireworks, or dropping balls and apples, with parties and concerts; most stay home and watch all these events on their televisions.  Families may get together to just “be together” to mark the occasion.  What is it about annual advancement that seems to stimulate within us the idea that somehow tomorrow is substantially different that yesterday?

It is interesting to me that our culture embraces the idea of “New Year’s Resolutions” as if they had any merit at all.  A careful self examination of any past self-declared resolution, would likely find it was abandoned within the first few weeks of the new year itself.  A few last through the first quarter.  Some diehards make it into the 2^nd or 3^rd quarter.  But almost no-one on New Year’s Eve can categorically state strict adherence to last year’s resolution.  In fact, most people can hardly remember last year’s resolution, unless they intend to use it again this coming year.  But despite the facts, we continue to embrace the process over and over and over again.

The funny thing about a New Year’s resolution is that once you blow it, you’ve blown it.  The calendar date only moves forward one day in 365, so if you give up on a resolution, it takes quite a few days before you can make another New Year’s declaration.  And that is pretty much how society treats these statements.  I think they are meant to inspire us, to try harder to improve ourselves or our community in the coming year; or perhaps to remind us of what we did not finish in the last year.  I guess the feelings are positive while we make them.  The intentions seem to be affirmative.

But isn’t that all a load of hooey (note the extreme language – hooey being heretofore defined as cattle excrement in large quantity)?  We all know full well, we are not going to end the year having kept our resolution.  We may not enjoy admitting it, but history is prologue.  Our record on keeping promises and resolutions is dim at best.  Dads try real hard to keep a promise to their children, but sometimes life or a boss has other plans.  Moms try real hard to keep promises to their families, but the unexpected can certainly throw a wrench into that process.  Even special occasions like New Years do not impact our ability to follow through on our promises.

Is it that we over-commit perhaps?   We pledge more than we expect to be able to perform (again in order to inspire us to shoot for the stars).  Or do we consider “circumstances” as viable disclaimers to our intentions of good will?  And yet what is the impact of our lack of follow through on the resolutions we declare?  The world does not stop revolving.  Life goes on.  The planets align as they should.  No cataclysm.  No catastrophe.  Nothing really bad happens when we do not actually follow through on the good works we planned to do.  But then again, nothing gets better either.  It is the lack of improvement that is the invisible catastrophe in our inevitable malaise.  We do not realize what it is we are missing.  Poor, blind, naked … comes to mind.

But if our intentions are truly good, and motivated to do good, then isn’t that in itself enough?  Isn’t the point of this process to inspire good thoughts within us, and to help us to look for things that could be improved?  But if so, then seeing without doing is of what value?  Yet none of us seems to languish in guilt over broken annual commitments to make our world a better place.  I never hear a single person making a new resolution, consumed in guilt over losing the last one.  It is rarer still to hear a success story of a resolution either.  Does this make us sociopaths?  I doubt it.  But it does give a clear indication of how much we expect the success we are willing to commit to.  And rightly so.

Christ said it best.  “Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no’.”  The idea of making verbal commitments beyond a simple answer is meaningless.  If you do not have absolute control, you cannot make absolute commitments.  Since almost every bit of life is beyond your control, your promises of any kind are simple vanity.  You commit to mark your intentions, but not your reality.  And yes, this affects a great many things beyond simple New Year’s resolutions.  It includes the promises we make to our children; the promises we make to each other, like a marital vow for instance; and even more disturbing the promises we make to ourselves.

So does this mean we should not swear to anything, or make any promises or verbal commitments?  Sounds like it, but if you look closely enough there is more the story.  Take a marriage vow for example; we make all these commitments to each other, yet 50% of us end our marriages completely, and even those who survive often do so because of forgiving the breakage of vows of our partners.  Not promising, and not committing, does not lessen our obligations or more importantly our intentions in the process, so what is the answer?  How about recognizing what does last?  How about seeing what is eternal and unchanging and making commitments based on Him.

What if the promise I made to my wife began as follows:  “It is my clear intention to honor you as my wife, to love and serve only you for the remainder of my life, to be with you both in this world and the world to come – so I recommit myself to my Lord and Savior, and I trust to His strength to see my intentions become reality.  I pledge now and always to take our struggles to Him, to employ His forgiveness when we both fall, and to embrace His redemptive power to change what must be changed within me to truly be your husband.”  In so humbling myself before my wife and my God, I place my words in His hands for fulfillment – A God who has NEVER failed me or anyone I know.  My commitment now extends beyond the boundaries of even our life on this planet, as God is eternal, so is the intention of my marriage.  If I am looking for death to cut my bonds, I must ask myself why.  When we say we want to be together forever, do we truly mean it?  This kind of vow has that potential.

My promise only has merit when based on my humility in accepting God as my guarantor.  Where my words cannot be backed with control, His grace is able to overcome any obstacle the world may present.  Even my commitment to my God, must be backed with the strength of my God to see it last and not rely on me in any way.  All my promises must be made this way.  Some have shortened this idea to the phrase “God willing”.  But this over-simplifies what it is we are saying and negates what we should truly feel when committing before God.  It is not God’s willingness that affects our abilities to keep our commitments, it is our trust in Him that does so.  Letting God lead.  Allowing God to change us, mold us, and recreate our very thoughts in His own image.  This rebirth is our only surety.  It does not make our words any stronger.  It does not make us more faithful.  It acknowledges that He alone is faithful.  It is a testament to all who know us, and who hear us commit in this way, that we know our own unworthiness and therefore trust completely in the faithfulness of our God.  His strength.  His ability.  His love.

When we learn to think this way, New Beginnings can happen all the time.  We do not need to wait for New Year’s Eve, a birthday, or some other special occasion in order to mark what our lives will be like going forward.  And what is more, when commitments are made in this way, they last.  For it is not us that sees to their fulfillment, it is our God that does.  We are effectively giving God the carte blanche He needs in our lives to keep us moving forward.  He is able to remind us, to inspire us, to alter our perceptions, increase our abilities, and provide us with the motivation we need to complete the works He sets before us. 

As this process increases, we promise less and less.  It is not our fear of commitment that deters us, but the realization that God must lead and not us.  We become more content to follow than to strike out on our own.  This is how it should be.  It is our pride that must be killed in order for humility to truly be born in us.  As our own self interest disintegrates, selfless service is put in its place.  Becoming changed is a process that begins as soon as we let it.  It was designed this way.  No need to wait for heaven to start.  No need to postpone freedom from the self-inflicted-pain we call evil.  The time to begin is now.  Success is not in our hands, and so therefore is a surety from our God.  Will you join me in humbly accepting His gift to us? …

Unwrapping Ecstasy ...

Tis the season one more time!  Oh I know the purists out there realize this is not the actual date of birth of Jesus Christ, in point of fact this date has clearly pagan origins.  And I know the politically correct crowd would wish me a Happy Holidays rather than a Merry Christmas, after all I may celebrate Hanukah or Cuanza as well.  And still the militant Christians are careful to remind me that the only reason for the season is still Jesus.  But this year, none of that matters, I finally unwrapped ecstasy and my world may never be the same.

I often wonder where the custom of exchanging gifts came from as it is tied to the celebration of the Birth of Christ.  Maybe in honor of the greatest gift ever given to the world, we make a pitiful attempt of our own to commemorate it?  Or perhaps since Jesus is no longer available in the flesh to us, we give gifts to each other in His place?  But if this is so, then perhaps we should not give to those we know, but to those in need – that would seem to be more Christian than the current practice.  Nonetheless, it cannot take away from the present I was given this year.  Ecstasy wrapped in a rather plain wrapper, a no frills packaging, I guess you could call it.

The present was not even kept under our tree this year.  Strangely it was kept in the bathroom, my bathroom to be precise.  Strange place for a gift I imagine; particularly since I do tend to be spending more and more time in there these days as I get older.  The wrapping paper was red and black, with gold trim, but there was no bow to speak of.  And no really clear tag of who it was from, it seems as though several folks who care about me got together on this gift and each made their own contribution.

Most guys I know would love a HUGE flat screen TV in full 1080p high definition, with a surround sound BluRay player to go with it.  My gift was better than that.  Other folks I know would love a new computer with dual quad processors and 20 terabytes of hard disk storage running a 64 bit OS.  My gift contained more capability, more speed, and is more reliable than that.  Some guys I know would settle for something ornate to wear on their wrists, a new Rolex or Omega perhaps with rose colored gold bracelet, and a meteorite face place.  My gift is more accurate than that, and worth far more.

When you think about all the things you have collected and received in your life, you can conjure up some fond memories.  But most of the things in your life tend to get old, fade, and ultimately lose their value.  I’ll grant you it takes much longer for a watch to lose utility than a new computer, but the truism still holds.  The relationships you have in your life can be much longer lasting, and more rewarding, but they too are impacted by the effects of evil and self interest.  Some relationships expire due to these two inexorably bound concepts; so even memories of people and of your interactions are sometimes limited in scope and length.

There is however a gift that can last a lifetime and more.  It comes like everything else of an infinite nature from the source of all infinite gifts.  Beyond the gift of Salvation, which is our only road home; beyond the gift of our Savior’s birth, which was the miracle that began the enactment of our Salvation is a gift of truth in a world of half-lies, darkness, deception, and despair.  The present I unwrapped was packaged in my Bible, it’s now faded red cover, gold trim, and black ink reached out and took hold of my heart.  A common text, a common memory verse every child learns, a billboard held up at NFL football games by a clown in a brightly colored wig – John 3:16.  “For God so loved the world, He gave His only Son …”

So many new truths jumped out at me from this old text of scripture.  First, was WHO God loved.  It says God loved the “world”; NOT God loved those who professed faith in Him.  God does not love ONLY those who say they love Him, He loved every single life on planet earth, every single human who has ever lived regardless of their status in the faith.  The world is God’s enemy and yet God follows His own advice and truly loves His enemy.  The world takes from God without so much as a thank you.  And God’s response was to give it more and more, and finally everything in the form of His Son.

I cannot even begin to imagine, WHY God loves the world.  It is certainly NOT because the world deserves His love.  We have done nothing to earn love, rather we have done much to earn punishment and contempt.  We are known for our hatred of each other, more than our generosity.  We do little to honor our example of love and much to destroy it completely.  So the question of WHY God loves His enemy must be answered only in the definition of love itself.  Perhaps as a parent loves a child because they are biologically connected.  Even when the child has mis-behaved, or like in our case, has contracted a fatal debilitating disease that impairs judgment and inflicts pain on everyone around.  Maybe only in this was can we begin to comprehend WHY.

Regardless of WHY remains the FACT that God does love us.  Love that holds nothing back.  Love that defines happiness.  Love that is eternal.  We have been looking through blinded eyes, at blurry images, with distorted sound for so so long.  Our vision is worse that our old TV’s not even the black and whites were this badly deformed.  But for so long the devil has made us think that God had nothing good to offer us; and sin and evil were the fun things, the cool things, the only things were having.  He was putting poop on our plates and calling it caviar.  And like idiots we were eating it by the handful.  But when our vision is corrected, when we open our eyes for the first time without our disease impacting our sight, the truth becomes clear.

We have relied on the wisdom of men, and on our technological prowess, substituting the simple wisdom of God, for the complex situational ethics of evil.  We hope for Google to have our answers, and our hard drives to have the capacity to store them.  But the simplest of people, the lowest of IQ’s is able to grasp the simple concept in action of love.  It is God’s love for us His enemy that can boggle the mind, and make meaningless our technical accomplishments.  We need no answers beyond a love that would give us EVERYTHING.  We need no search engine to define the meaning of sacrifice that would offer us EVERYTHING and demand in exchange nothing.  God offers us complete release from our pain, and our evil, as nothing more than a gift.

This truth is ecstasy.  It cannot be taken away.  It cannot be changed.  It cannot dull over the years but in fact only gain in strength over the years.  It’s meaning and its definition only continue to become clearer and more in focus as we experience the transformational love of our Savior.  To realize that God only ever wishes to offer us ecstasy on a level we are hardly ready to experience; there is nothing more under my tree that can move me like this.  There is nothing under heaven as important or meaningful to me as this.  Truth is worth more than any lie ever told.  It is worth more than the entirety of man’s ‘wisdom’.  It is not just a matter of faith to me, but a matter of fact to me.  For I can see no other transformational power in all the universe, that is at work in the lives of men to redeem them from the pain they are diseased with, than that of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Happy birthday to our God [belated as it may be] and thank YOU for a gift of sheer ecstasy that continues to warm my very soul.

Honoring Mom ...

One precept in the Bible important enough to make the top 10 list by God was the idea of ‘honoring your father and mother …’  Of course in our world today, we seem to understand little of the idea of ‘honoring’ anything and therefore have reduced this commandment down to – have some general respect for your elders – and you have it covered.  So are we off the hook (i.e. compliant)?  Or like so many other precepts in the word, have we totally missed the point and lost sight of the motive behind the mandate?

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day here in America, another Hallmark institution designed to ‘honor’ mom and sell greeting cards.  Outside of her birthday, mom’s rarely get this kind of attention throughout the year.  Let’s face it Christmas, and anniversaries are mutual holidays where mom’s giving skills are equally employed with her receiving skills.  But for her birthday, and perhaps on this manufactured holiday, we give mom some long overdue credit for just being a mom.  Just the idea that mom may deserve some credit is interesting to me.  Could it be that we use this occasion to call to remembrance the infinite number of times mom has sacrificed her own well being and interests for us?  Could it be in our normally self-obsessed and self-interested world, we pause briefly to acknowledge that our mom may have given up a few of her own dreams to insure ours were possible?

Of course all these sentiments could equally be expressed for dad on his day as well.  So I am not trying to say either parent deserves or doesn’t any less attention than the other.  But I find it interesting how we view our mothers, and how often we think of them as saints for their seemingly tireless efforts on our behalf, and their willingness to sacrifice for us.  The most famous mother of all time seems to have been Mary, the mother of Christ.  A young, devoted, pure bride whose burden it was to carry our Lord while still a virgin.  Christians have faith to accept this premise.  The entire rest of the world does not.  She was ridiculed by her own, and since then, decried as nothing more than another out-of-wedlock teen who got caught in her own illicit behavior.  Ironic the unwarranted shame that would be expected for her to bare.  Yet she should feel none.  Also ironic that Mary quickly achieves saint-hood in the eyes of the Christian church for not much more than simply being the mom of Christ.  While Joseph on the other hand barely gets a mention.  The surrogate earthly father of Christ lives and dies a righteous life in relative obscurity while his more famous mate lives on in sculpture, paintings, and sermon topics.

Perhaps the second most famous mom on earth is Mother Teresa of India.  Here was another woman who while having no children of her own, was the adopted mother of millions of orphans.  Her fame spread far and wide for the sake of her work.  After her death, her doubts and humanity came to view, but her work remains unquestioned.  What is the lesson of these mom’s?  Does God offer us mothers to teach us how willing He is to sacrifice His own well being for our interests?  Can Christ be anything but the supreme example of self sacrifice for us?

What about the bond between mother and child, what lessons are to be learned there.  We watch the momma duck walking towards the water‘s edge with each baby duckling walking in a line behind her.  She has only to quack at a certain tone and a certain volume and her chicks will gather close around her struggling to get under her wings.  So with us, our very young struggle to be close and feel safe near their mother’s.  Our court systems have long deferred to the idea that mother’s seem uniquely suited to put the needs of their children ahead of their own.  Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but in general this idea has proven true for years.  Men and Fathers tend to be more practical, and while they will sacrifice for their families, they tend to be more big-picture than tuned to the needs of the individual child.  Mom’s tend to tune-in there.  Does the bond between mom and child also represent the bond God wants between each of us and Him?  Does the very inspiration to sacrifice and preserve the specie itself originate in the heart of a creator God who Himself gives all for His creations?

So what do we truly owe our mothers beyond our existence?  Giving birth was her choice after all not ours, so it seems we owe little for that.  But the care for us, the love for us, the concern for us, and the sacrifice for us – how do we go about repaying that?  It might begin with the realization that indeed our moms owe us NOTHING.  Wait a minute you say, having children comes with responsibilities.  You can’t just produce kids and have nothing to do with them afterwards.  Really?  OK you should not produce them and have nothing to do with them.

A child of choice and a child of accident may face different parental reactions.  And while we reasonably expect a parent to bare the responsibilities of having a child – responsibility hardly is the right term to measure the depth of love most mother’s show to their children.  The sacrifice most mom’s make on behalf of their children could hardly be put under the term responsibility from any other perspective than that of a completely selfish child.  Mom’s give and give and give because they love.  So it is with God.  He gives to us because He loves.  The child may not seem worthy of the gifts he is given in our eyes, by his mom, or by his God – but worthiness is not the reason gifts are extended – love is.  God gives even more than mom gives – because He loves.

Ever wonder what it is like to face an angry lioness in the wild?  Attack a child in the presence of it’s mother, and you will witness this simulation.  There is a reason why the metaphor of lioness is used when discussing the defensive posture or nature of a mother with her child.  Mom’s seem to be able to summon super-human strength, speed, and agility when it comes to defending their young.  It is not so much that their physical prowess is intimidating to an intruder, but the tenacity in their eyes, and the determination in their hearts can frighten the largest assailant.  Now extrapolate this lesson to God.  God who tenderly sees all of us as His children, the treasures of His eyes; Those who would dare to attack his little ones face not just an angry determined woman – but the God of an entire universe with unlimited power, strength, and determination.  The instinct to protect that a mom feels begins in the heart of her creator God.

What does it mean then to honor mom or dad?  Perhaps it means recognizing our own unworthiness, and the gifts we have been given in spite of it.  Perhaps similar to how our salvation works, our parents give us unconditional love, acceptance, protection, and care.  We did not ask for this as babies, in fact, we were incapable of asking for this as babies – but it was given not because of how much we loved – but because of how much our parents loved.  Despite the imperfections of humanity, we have an example of what it means to love someone with regards to self.  We have an example of what it means to care for someone who may or may not be able to acknowledge the extent of your gift.  The younger the child, the more the care required, and the less the recognition they are able to discern of it.

What does it mean to honor mom or dad?  Maybe it means that as we grow older and as our parents lose their status as being at the top-of-their-game due to age – that we become the patient care givers.  Maybe it means that we begin to forego some of our dreams or ambitions for the sake of care for an elder.  Perhaps it means that we return some of the unconditional love that forgives a parent’s mistakes and remembers only their love.  Perhaps to honor our parents is to remember how much MORE than responsibility was their gift to us.  Perhaps to truly honor their sacrifice is to strive to become worthy of it.  To be people who are able to give to others even when it means inconvenience to self.  This is the lesson of a mom.

No matter what the family structure, no matter how traditional or untraditional a family may choose to be, there is always a place for mom.  To that person in your life who loves you, cares for you, raised you from your youth – to that person you should add your blessing.  A recognition, and a thanks, even on a manufactured holiday, seems little enough for the enormity of what they have done.  If you wish to honor them, move beyond greeting cards, frequent hugs, and constant well wishes – become a person of sacrifice yourself.  In this way, your days will not only be long in the land in which the Lord gives you, in addition your days will be worth living in His land.  A life of love is a life of happiness…

Christian Holidays ...

This weekend marks a worldwide celebration of Easter.  Not many religious holidays are prominent throughout the entire world.  A few Muslim, Jewish, and Christian occasions dot the calendar.  Atheists and agnostics look at these ‘superstitions’ and are usually just grateful for an extra day off, and at the same time, offended by our collective ‘ignorance’.  The criticism is somewhat well placed when you consider some of the symbolism that gets interwoven with the more spiritual traditions.  Concepts like an Easter Bunny, who comes (I guess at night) and hides chocolate eggs for children to uncover the next day.  None of this is Biblical, Jewish, or Muslim tradition, so why is it so ingrained in our celebrations?  In fact, given the nature of our relationship with God, are any days, or events more important than any regular day in our lives?  Does God honor holidays at all?

The Atheist is right to point out the sheer number of religions that have existed throughout written history.  Man seems to have found a way to worship many things, in many cultures, and almost all of it is today considered ‘superstition’, even by educated Christians.  Although within Christianity there are several hundred different denominations and belief systems.  In general man seems to have an ingrained need to worship, but a poorly defined ability to determine how to express that need.  The origins of non-God worship date all the way back to the inception of Satan.  Once having completed his transformation from Lucifer, Son of the Morning, to Satan, Father of Lies – the need to divert worship from the true God was paramount in Satan’s planning. 

And again, what more effective way to hurt God, than to deceive man into worshipping the very things God created for man’s survival and for his enjoyment.  So Satan set about, causing man to believe that the Sun, our Solar centerpiece, was the real god to worship.  After all the Sun gives us light, warmth, etc..  You can see the Sun everyday with your own eyes.  It is regular, predictable, reliable, and of course seems to require no real changes in our character or lives.  What’s more the basis for non-God worship becomes predicated on man saving himself, by his own strength and determination.  So if the sun would be our day god, then it stands to reason the moon would fill in at night.  And of course while the sun may be a bit of harsh god as years go by, the moon can be the fun one, full of sexual orgies, and self indulgence.  Nightly ceremonies based on sexual lust would be a quick draw to many new followers who are taught indulgence not restraint, and of course objectifying people rather than true intimacy.

These two solar neighbors found a basis of worship in many cultural religions.  And Satan was not happy enough by diverting the minds of thousands into false forms of worship, he further introduced the concept of sacrifice – but instead of God sacrificing for man, Satan would have man sacrifice himself to earn favor with a cruel God.  And so, human sacrifice was born into the world.  Soon enough, reasoning volunteers were hard to find, so purity was sacrificed.  Kill the virgins first.  Then eventually the children.  In fact, let’s breed children at the nightly orgy ceremonies, throw the male babies in the fires for sacrifice, the female babies can grow up to be temple prostitutes to continue this process.  Satanism prizes the most horrific and decries anything noble.  Satanism craves power and mastery over others, while God asks for voluntary obedience, and only offers help not insists on it.  The polar opposites of philosophy and religion.

So what does all this have to do with Easter Bunnies and holidays you ask?  The Easter Bunny was a symbol of fertility, as was the chicken egg, back in the days of the Roman Empire.  These pagan symbols were merged into the Christian celebration of Easter, as were other symbols and timing merged into Christmas, and Lent, etc..  Descendents of Sun worship, and Moon worship, superstitions representing the very government of Satan were smoothly blended into the Christian holidays we observe today.  And no-one bats an eye.  Christian parents hide the chocolate Easter eggs for their children and in so doing perpetuate the traditions from generation to generation.

But does this mean, that God does not like or enjoy holidays?  Actually No.  God setup a good number of special holidays and rituals throughout the Old Testament for us to both enjoy, remember, and point forward to Him.  God seems to like the idea of feasting on occasion, and for specific reasons.  The Passover holidays proscribed specific foods to be eaten, in order to remember the exodus from Egypt.  There were a variety of feasts to be observed, even a year-long celebration of the year of jubilee every 50 years to commemorate the releasing of all debts.  Every slave was to be freed.  Every bound-man/woman (people in servitude to pay off debts) were to be sent back to their lands, free and clear of all debts.  These were examples of the kind of feasts God proscribed.

And today, what about our holidays, are there any in the New Testament we could observe?  Not too many, only the gathering together to worship (Sabbaths) and the practice of Communion (a special practice of washing feet, and eating unleavened bread, and drinking pure red grape juice) are remnants of the traditions found as well in the new testament.  The old feasts of atonement were gone since there was no more need to sacrifice lambs as symbols of Christ.  Christ had come and fulfilled the symbolism.  Now the atonement could be looked at historically instead of pointing forward.  It changed the nature of the observance but did not call for its termination.  It simply became optional, and altered in its state, by the reality of Christ.

And what about Easter, or Christmas, is there any value in the observation of these holidays?  Perhaps.  We do believe in the factual birth of our Savior come to save our world.  The gift of ‘Christmas’ to us was indeed real.  It did not happen on December 25^th, (the actual date of the birth of Tamuz, a sun god derivative blended by the Romans), in fact it was probably closer to September.  Easter, or the giving of himself to die and be reborn in our place, was also a real event for Christians.  It probably did happen sometime in March/April and sans the bunny and chocolate, did give us a real shot at life and reconciliation with God.  There is no harm in calling to remembrance these events.  There is great harm in reducing an entire religious experience to going to church these 2 times per year, and disregarding God entirely for the remainder.

It is not our church attendance that God demands, it is our love he desires.  Going to church has never been the mechanism for saving a soul.  In fact it is quite the opposite.  Church attendance, or fellowshipping with like believers, was something of a benefit offered to us by God as a result of being saved, not as a prerequisite.  We fellowship in order to strengthen each other, to console each other, to commiserate with each other, to learn from each other, to lift each other up, to serve each other, and to hope with each other.  We find the power of the Spirit in the unity of purpose we find with each other. 

As a group works together for the benefit of others, the power of the Spirit of the Lord is poured over them, and unity becomes acute, affectivity is raised, and walls fall from the faith of a few.  Subjecting our individualistic tendencies to the goals of the group, and working in humility without attention centered on ourselves, presents the true picture of a real church belonging to Christ, to our fellow man.  Without these ingredients and absent this spirit, we look simply obnoxious, arrogant, and self-absorbed.  A church should be a fortress of healing for believing sinners.  A church should be a place of comfort one can come after begin harassed and experiencing failure in the cruel world around us. 

A church is not the building, the ornate decorations, or the beautiful music.  A church is simply the group of people who attend it.  So it is the imperfect character of this group that is reflected to the world.  As this group of people become truly converted, and learn to love, they are able to grow.  It is the spirit of condemnation that inhibits the growth of our bodies.  We suffer as we criticize.  And we grow as we learn to embrace unconditionally those around us.  Embracing your neighbor does not have to equate to accepting the sin within them, rather it is an expression of the unconditional love the Father has already made to them, and an admission of the imperfections in ourselves, that continue to require divine intervention on our own behalf to fix.  We are all equals under the Lord.  Therefore we are free to love each other as God loves us all, each and every one.  The work of transforming our lives will be left to the only one who is able to do it.  Our role is only to love.

I look forward to the holiday God will observe with us in heaven.  Isaiah prophesied that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, we would gather together in heaven, and enjoy the company of our God.  This is a holiday, I believe in.  This is a holiday, I want desperately to be a part of.  This is a holiday, that will mark the end of the existence of evil, and beginning of real life.  I cannot wait …

Race, Culture, & Religion (part 3 of 3) ...

We have talked about getting past the differences that keep us apart from our history.  But we have failed to address the differences we inherit in gender, and in age.  To become one, we must begin to examine what influence our cultures and traditions have had on the roles of men and women, as well as, young and old within our churches.  This is the last great divide we face as people before true unity can be achieved.

Women’s work.  It is an old expression generally applied to traditional home-maker tasks like cooking, cleaning and raising children.  We are quick to condemn it but fail to look at how it originated.  A mere hundred plus years ago our entire economy was still largely based on agriculture.  Family farms far outnumbered city slickers though the trend was beginning to change even then.  Under an agriculturally dominated economy, a farm requires many people to tend it.  Entire families were effectively partners in maintaining the family enterprise. 

Children helped out during the summers (which is why schools let out for this 3 months period of time), and wives maintained the entire household (a full and equal partner with an equal share of the work) while husbands and sons tended the flocks and fields.  This was no small effort on anyone’s part.  Women of that day may be looked at now through feminist eyes and thought less of, but in point of fact, they were equal partners then, and they are equal partners now.  Wives and daughters benefited from the family incomes of the successful farms, and shared the hardships when success was elusive.  The same is true today.

What has changed in an industrial followed by a services based / knowledge based economy is our immense ability travel and variety in task types.  Services now exist as entire industries such as accounting, consulting, and marketing that could not have survived a mere hundred plus years ago (at least on this scale).  This variety and this mobility changes the options both men and women have in supporting a family.  It creates a new ‘partnership’ required for success.  The old expression ‘women’s work’ now applies to every known form of generating income, nearly even the presidency of the United States (go Hillary).

Women are every bit as capable as men, every bit as smart, cunning, honorable or treacherous.  They have a few unique inherent strengths, and weaknesses as do men.  But most every job a man can do today, a woman can also do.  So why do we cling to segregation of roles within the body of the church?  It begins with historical biases founded on sexual differences.  We picture the typical women as ‘mom’ meaning, more nurturing, more protective, more consoling, than a man.  We picture the typical man as ‘dad’ meaning, a natural leader, the final authority in a argument, aggressive, risk takers, etc..  Our images of humans based on sexual gender plainly ignore the strengths of the individual. 

There are some men who are anything but aggressive, alpha male, leaders, who regularly take risks, hunt and conquer.  That does not make them any less than other men (though popular convention may disagree).  It merely makes them different.  I know a few men who are very sensitive, artistic, consoling, and nurturing and no, they are not all gay.  I know a few women who are natural leaders, fighters, thinkers, and conquerors (go Hillary) and that does not make them gay, or less than other more feminine supportive types either.  Just different.  Each person containing a unique set of strengths and weaknesses, some influenced by gender and hormones, some completely independent of tradition thinking or stereotypes. 

Because of our traditional thinking we have assigned tasks to men and to women based on gender rather than based on their spiritual gifts and abilities.  Any person who can speak well in public, inspire enthusiasm of an audience, demand attention to each word from careful articulation and excellent delivery – may well be qualified to preach.  Note I did not say any man, I said any person.  I also did not say, any straight heterosexual person, I said any person.  Sexual orientation outside of the ‘norm’ may be considered a lifelong struggle, but should be looked at no differently than the person or preacher who struggles with pride, or other forms of sexual misconduct. 

We all struggle.  No sin is different.  Men and women struggle with similar things – evil.  So who are we to limit who can preach based on our own perceptions of gender appropriate, or sexual preference?  Do we not deny God in this way, effectively rejecting HIS gifts of the Spirit to be able to preach?  There is no perfect preacher in this world.  Every one of them struggle with sins.  It is not up to us to judge their sins, but the content of the words they proclaim.  Do they preach forgiveness, hope, unconditional love, and the repentance of sins?  Or do they espouse lies for truth, evil for good, judgment from the pulpit and comparison with others?  By their fruits you shall know them, meaning, by their lives and acts of love and kindness it is easy to see who knows God and who does not.  Yourself included.

Duties within the body of Christ (the church) should be assigned based on the skills and abilities and willingness of the worshipper to serve.  The Gifts of the Spirit are to be cherished.  They are to be valued.  They are given for the edification of the church.  They are Christ’s parting gifts to us as He ascended to His Father.  We should relish what the Holy Spirit does in the life of anyone who is willing to serve.  We should not judge others based on our own foolish historical bias, but we should instead embrace others and cherish the gifts they choose to share with us.  No one who wishes to serve should be turned away.  Not ever.  I do not care how long they have been a Christian, whether it be 5 minutes, or 5 decades, those who wish to serve should serve.  To deny the Holy Spirit His work is to embrace sin that may not be forgiven.  It is dangerous ground to offend the vehicle of our Salvation by rejecting the work He does within us and those around us.

But to fully embrace this concept we must also overcome our historical prejudices about age and wisdom.  It is true that older people have the benefit of experience, and the wisdom (or sorrow) that comes from seeing many things.  It is also true that youth have more energy, tend to seek truth and ignore lies, and want to understand everything at a deeper level than they do today.  Youth question everything.  To assign roles within the body based on age, is to AGAIN ignore the work of the Holy Spirit.  It may be that a prophet is raised up within the body who is a mere teenager (anyone ever heard of Ellen G. White in the 1800’s, or perhaps Samuel of the old testament Israel).  They were mere children when first receiving the call, but the call was real, and work that followed is a testament to itself.  Youth is no barrier to service.  Nor is old age.

For us to assume leadership does not belong in the hands of the youth because they are young is to deny the very words of Christ himself who said … “let the children come unto me” and “you must become like little children in order to be saved”.  Note the absolute dependence little children have to exist and their complete comfort with this concept.  For protection they run to dad, for love to mom, for fun to each other.  So should we run to God for protection, for love, and for fun.  Christ did not say wait until they grow up before they come close to me.  He welcomed them immediately.  He did not say to them you need to grow up and become more adult like.  He said to adults to surrender their will and become more child like.  To exclude children from service paying no mind to their spiritual gifts is yet another apostasy.

We are limited by our bodies.  We are limited by our illness’s be they physical or spiritual.  We are limited by our pride.  Don’t we have enough limitations we self impose without adding to them gender bias, age bias, racial bias, and judgment of others?  Despite our infirmities, the Holy Spirit is gracious enough to place gifts within us.  Talents, skills, aptitudes, and abilities that are purely gifts from God – like all things we can choose to misuse them, use them for selfish gain and ignore service to others – or we could employ them for the benefit of man.  Choose to serve.  And reject no man, woman, child, or elderly statesperson who wishes to serve.  There is room for all.  And there is NEED of ALL.  The body is incomplete if you choose not to serve your portion.  The work is not left to others, but to everyone.  The work is not reserved for adults.  It is for everyone.  It is for you.  It is for me. 

Let us find a way to change our thinking.  Let us find a way to embrace those differences between us and value them rather than judge them.  Let us find a way to serve and accept the service of ALL who embrace it.  This is the pure will of the Father.  This is how true UNITY can be achieved, and perhaps in no other way…

Race, Culture, & Religion (part 2 of 3) ...

Embracing diversity seems like an easy enough answer to develop unity within the Christian community, so why hasn’t it happened already?  Why does it continue to be so elusive?  Are we really so enslaved to our cultural preferences that we are incapable of learning new behavior, or appreciating something outside of our norms?  Why does voluntary segregation persist when mandatory segregation has been outlawed so long ago?

Separate but equal?  How do I equate the value of one worship style to another.  What is it about worship that reaches the core of who you are and blesses you.  This is where differences really begin to matter.  To say that all “black” churches are alike is every bit as foolish as assuming all “white” churches worship the same way.  There are degrees of variation along common themes.  But these little variations are enough to segregate membership by choice. 

For instance, there are many churches who enjoy the practice of “worship” music.  This sub-genre of Christian music tends to have repetitive verses, simple themes, and is usually sung with many instruments including guitars, drums, sometimes a saxophone or two.  It is generally lively, heartfelt, and has become so common, many professional Christian recording artists release a “worship” album even if this is not their natural style.  You know it when you see it.  However, there still exist today, more culturally conservative churches that “frown” on contemporary music.  For them, only hymns or classical offerings are preferred.  Drums or electric guitars are not even permitted in the building, let alone tolerated in the forefront of a service.  A person visiting both of these styles of churches would walk away with radically different experiences (in style).

But what is important to the worshipper?  Is it the style?  What if one of these churches was filled with people who genuinely loved you.  I am not talking about Jesus-freaks that pledge their love to you on a whim, and follow it up with only more empty words.  Nor am I talking about people screaming out messages of “love” to those contemplating abortion outside of a clinic or two.  I am talking about genuine Christians who are really connected with Christ.  People who are able to overlook your imperfections and love you right where you are, right how you are.  People who will not participate in your sin, nor will they judge you for it.  They simply care about you, pray for you, talk to you, and be there for you consistently.  The kind of crowd you could ask to help you move apartments, and 50 people would show up without a second request.  Yup, those kind of people, REAL Christians.  What if this is what you encountered when walking through the doors of the sanctuary?  Would it change your perceptions about the value of style?

And in truth, are not we all seeking to find this group of people?  Don’t we long to hang out with them?  And isn’t it sad that we cannot find them.  Might be that because we don’t see them in the mirror, we don’t see them in the aisles and on the pews.  But Love is the base common denominator of all churches purporting to follow Christ.  And isn’t it interesting that no worship “style” has yet to produce a congregation of our mythical lofty aspirations.  There may be a church like this somewhere, but I doubt “worship” music or traditional “hymns” are the reason it flourishes.  No, it is the Love that is distinct.  The sermons become incidental, as the life of its members do the testifying.  The music is silent, when it is unconditional Love that reaches out to each human heart, bonds us, brings us before the throne in humility.  When REAL worship is present, style matters almost for nothing at all.

So why has style kept us so separate for so long, when in truth it is so unimportant?  Distraction.  Evil diverts our minds from truth and substance by focusing our attention on delivery, wording, and sour notes.  We fail to exhibit the unconditional Love we seek, because we are too distracted by the clapping of hands, stomping of feet, or tone of the preacher.  We sit sedate in our pews, being quiet, when we should be weeping aloud for the pain of the neighbor who sits immediately to our right.  But we hold our tears and our tongues, and fail to even take interest in our neighbor’s pain.  Or we get so wrapped up in the joy of the Spirit that we forget not only our own troubles, but those of our neighbor who for the moment seems to have forgotten his.  In either case, through unbridled expressions of joy, or quiet (and therefore “reverent”) complacent disinterest, we ignore completely the life of our neighbor to our immediate right. 

Congregations grow large and impersonal.  We are able to safely mask our pain, and hide in the vast numbers of those who sit near us in church.  And in so doing style helps us not at all.  Ambivalence has replaced Love as our common denominator.  Self interest has replaced self-less-ness in service.  And the delivery method holds all of our attention, rather than the content of what is being delivered.  We begin to cling to cherished traditions ignoring completely the true “temperature” of our church and ourselves.  It is we who are the problem.  It is we who hold our wisdom of choices, and preferences in the style of worship in such high regard that we have no NEED to seek out anything different – especially in ourselves.  It is we who choose this pattern.  It is we.

I am white.  But I yearn for; no, even stronger stated; I am in desperate NEED of, the emotional commitment of my black brothers and sisters in the faith who fear not to show the world what they feel about their Lord.  I must learn to open my mouth and let His praise flow out.  I must follow the example of my brothers of another culture and learn to be Loud for the Lord.  I have come to truly enjoy the music of every Christian culture, ethnicity, genre, and background.  I must take what I have found in music, and apply it to preaching, teaching, and service. 

I am white.  But I yearn for, and desire more than I can communicate, the sense of community that my Hispanic brothers and sisters in the faith have developed.  That sense of family that is SO gracious to accept me, and my lack of language skills, and treat me as if I were born of their blood line, not just as the adopted child I truly am.  I must unlearn my sense of independence and self-reliance and instead begin to look at my brothers and sisters as the family they have truly chosen to be, my family.  I must honor their choice and acceptance by returning it completely without pause, hesitation, or self-consideration.

I am white.  But I long to find myself the simple humble servant that many of my Asian brothers and sisters set so wonderful an example of in my journey.  I must learn to keep my need for recognition and gratitude completely subjected, and allow my service for others to be its own reward.  I must learn NOT to seek attention, but be content with honorable service and performance of even the simplest of the tasks set in front of me.  I aspire to become more than I am, and my Asian brothers and sisters have helped me along the way.  I see the differences in me through them, and I realize how far from the Kingdom I truly am.

When you stop looking and focusing so much on the style, and start searching for the meaning in the differences, it does not take long to learn to appreciate your brethren of other cultures.  When you are able to forego the notion of cultural superiority and adopt the truth of cultural humility you can begin to see truth all around you.  It is evil that keeps us so focused on differences as being the source of problems, rather than a method of finding truth.  It is evil that raises the idea that everything you need to know, can be found in one church, in one congregation, in one style of worship.  God is bigger than that.  God is better than that.  He can be found outside the walls you erect to separate you from others.  He can be found in the basic expression of unconditional Love for another.  He can be found in every “black” church in America, or the world.  He can be found in every “white” church, every “Hispanic” church, every “Asian” church.  It is not the buildings that contain our God.  It is the hearts of His believers.

If we, are the reason for the voluntary segregation of our religious culture and style of worship, then “we” must end the problem in ourselves first.  We must take our pride, our traditions, and our preferences themselves to God and in humility accept His changes in us.  We will be better off because of it.  But it begins with a recognition that this problem is not in the hearts of others so much as it lays in our own hearts.  We must ask God to begin by changing us, not others.  And only then can we begin to see over our differences, and become one church united under the banner of Christ.