The Estate – The Legacy
Having been a Co-Executor of an Estate for the last ten months of a very dear friend, and it ain’t over yet, I have learned a lot about life and a lot about stuff. When this dear friend went home to be with the Lord, all of the “things she held dear” stayed here on the earth. All of her plans, thoughts and wishes came to a screeching halt. Not really, because of her will, but we were left with the task of finishing up and finalizing those wishes and plans, to the best of our ability.
Some of you may have seen or heard of the T.V. shows about hoarding. I consider our friend as a “collector with a purpose”. You see, hoarders, buy, find, keep, and clutch to things for themselves. Our friend was a friend to many and knew the needs of those friends. She also had a heart for foreign missions. So she would find someone who had something they may be throwing out and rescue it for another friend who had that need. It was never for herself. She would have a bazar and buy and sell all kinds of stuff, from T-shirts to turnips. She would take or send box loads of hats, clothing and trinkets to missionaries and missions around the world. And yet, at her passing, her two-car garage was packed wall to wall, front to back, basically floor to ceiling with stuff. Plus one whole bedroom was packed with boxes. So, as Executors of her Estate, we wanted to fulfill her wishes and plans for the things she left behind.
Over the past ten months, we have had side splitting laugher and mumblings of disgust all in the same day, sometimes the same hour, as we went through box after box, after box, after box, after box and I could continue that phrase for the rest of the page. My wife and I have made a commitment to not leave this type of situation for our children, and they have told us so.
Estate: the assets and liabilities of a dead person. Legacy: anything handed down as from an ancestor. In her estate she had stuff that needed distributed, she had things that were worth something and stuff that was junk. She had financial assets and financial liabilities. The stuff is almost all distributed or thrown away. As for her legacy… that will live on in the hearts of many. Most of what she did is known only by the person who received the gift. But, isn’t that enough? She never climbed or clamored for the spotlight. She just went about… doing good. She is and will be missed by many.
How about you? Are you busy planning your estate, your 401k’s, your retirement plans, your vacations? Or, are you developing a legacy? The old saying, “I’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-haul”, is very, very true. Are you busy building your life plans and how you will retire? Another saying is, “The one who dies with the most toys, wins”. Are you teaching your children that the most important thing is living well and retiring well? Do you want them to grow up just like you? Most of us want our children to have more for than we had, but more of what? Is it just money and stuff? Is it power and prestige? What will they pass on to their children? What lifestyle? What mindset? Are you building a legacy or are you just passing on an estate? The legacy has nothing to do with stuff! It is about the mindset, the character, and the integrity of a person. Thus the saying, “Do your givin’, while you’re livin’, so you’re knowin’, where it’s goin’”. You can only pass on a legacy while you are living. Yes, the memories of you will continue, but you’re done.
Will your legacy be, “Oh, he/she was a really great guy/gal”. Or will it be said of you, “He/she really affected my life. He/she helped me through a tough time. He/she gave me hope and told me about Jesus.” Two things will remain after the last person has died, (if you can perceive such a thing), God’s word and Jesus. So, when you die, what will you take with you? The bumper sticker says it like this, “No Jesus, no peace-Know Jesus, know peace”.
You, in normal circumstance, pass on financial and physical stuff. You have to make it a choice to pass along the character and the integrity, and the spiritual legacy. And that is only accomplished through massive amount of prayer. The powers that be in the Psychiatric field tell us we are basically good and some, a few, will have tendencies to do bad. The Bible tells a different story. It says that we are all bad and need a Savior, to save us from our badness. This truth has to be explained to our families and friends, in order to live a better life and have a legacy not just an estate.
I hope you can make the “jump into hyper-space” with me. I just heard a preacher on the radio talking about being satisfied. I think that has a lot to do with inheritance and legacy. Please take the test below.
Answer 1 to 5, 1 being very dissatisfied, 5 being very satisfied. Please be honest, no one will see but you.
1.How satisfied are you with life in general? 1 2 3 4 5
2.How satisfied are you with your job? 1 2 3 4 5
3.How satisfied are you with your marriage? 1 2 3 4 5
4.How satisfied are you with your Church? 1 2 3 4 5
5.How satisfied are you with God? 1 2 3 4 5
This test was given in an upper class, evangelical church in a very affluent city. He went on to say that, most people in the class where this test was given answered mostly 2’s some 1’s and very few 3’s or above. Why is that? His sermon and point was most people have a vague or casual relationship with God. They bury themselves in work, activities, and, as I call it, stuff. We say, “I must be doing well, look at all the stuff I have”. The busier I am the better. I don’t have time to sit and be quiet, it drives me nuts, I’ve got to be doing something. When all the time, that is what the Lord wants us to do, be quiet and listen to Him. Can I leave a true spiritual legacy to others, it I don’t have it for myself.
So, what are you leaving for you family and friends? Are you leaving an estate or a legacy? If you need help changing you 1’s and 2’s and 3’s to 4’s and 5’s write me an email, I think I can help.
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
reskew@aol.com
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
If All Roads Lead to God…?
Let’s look at the question posed by the title above. Many people in today’s society think that, if you are looking for God, you can find him anywhere. The nature lover says, “I can find God when I’m out walking in the woods or climbing a mountain, I just feel so close to him. God is nature.” Others say, “I worship god and my ancestors, because we are all one in the cosmos”. Some say that oxen are god’s and should not be harmed. While others believe we are on an eternal journey and come back in this life as other beings and animals until we attain our own godhood. Which one would you like to follow in your search for God?
Then you have the three main religions of the world, each saying that there is only one God, those religions being, Muslims, Jews and Christians. Of course you have varying sects or denomination in each. Each say that their religion is the only way to God, yet all differ and are exclusive from one another. If all roads lead to God, what should it matter? Only your eternal destiny is at stake.
In the following, I will attempt to make things simple and plain. I am not attempting to “bash” anyone, I am just trying to give you some facts and let you make the decision, “Do all roads, really lead to God”? There will be depth of facts and nuances that I will not discuss because of time and space of this document. If you want more of these facts I recommend two books (volumes), Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell and More Evidence that Demands a Verdict. This work was written while trying to disprove Christianity. As a result Josh McDowell came to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.
Islam or Muslim’s believed Allah is God and Mohammed is his prophet. The Koran is their “holy book”. Within its pages followers are told that only Arab Muslim’s are accepted by Allah and all other people are infidels and are not worthy to live and should be killed. And that they are the only true “road to God”.
Judaism has been around for a long time. Their founders are Abram (Abraham), Isaac, and Jacob (Jacob’s name was changed by God to Israel) and that’s where the name of the nation comes from, more commonly known as the Jews. Then you have Moses who brought the “slaves” out of Egypt and took them to the ‘Promise Land’. In that journey, they went through the Arabian dessert where Moses received the “Ten Commandments”, on Mt. Sinai. These Ten Commandments were the foundation of their belief system; also the sacrifice of animals, shedding of blood, for the taking away of their sin. Their “holy book” was the Torah. They learned the there was only one God and His name was Jehovah. He was the Creator of the Universe and they were to look for the Messiah, the one who would save the people from their sin. Sin, you say? Yes, remember the story about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and how the snake tricked them into eating the “apple”. That was sin, going against the law and rule of God, choosing one’s own way. So, if you say, I will choose my own way to God, my own “road” is that not sin? Much more could be said, but if you are interested call me, information will be listed at the end of this writing.
Christianity is a continuation of Judaism. Remember I told you that because of the sin of Adam and Eve, God had said He would send the Messiah, one who would take away their sin. Not only theirs, but the sin of the entire world. You see, all humans are related to Adam and Eve and thus have the infraction of sin on their lives and need to be forgiven. So, the Messiah would be sent from God as the only satisfactory sacrifice for the sin of the world, Jew, Gentile, Arab, Muslim, Hindu, Aztec, African, Buddhist; in other words, all the people of the earth. This Messiah had been prophesied or foretold from that day in the Garden, in Genesis 3:15. Christian’s “holy book” is the Bible that includes the writings of the Torah, what is called the Old Testament, and the writing of Jesus’ followers, the New Testament. Christians believe that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. These facts can be learned and confirmed in the book mentioned by Josh McDowell.
The Torah and the Bible talk about a Messiah who would take away the sin of the world. He would do that by dying on the Cross as God’s one and only satisfactory sacrifice for sin, the shedding of blood. This is the fact of God reaching down to man to forgive his sin. It is not about being good or good enough to warrant God’s forgiveness. You have probably seen the guy at football games with the rainbow wig holding the sign, John 3:16; some may even know what that Bible passage says. If you don’t, it says, “For God so loved the world, He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life”. Read Genesis chapters 1,2,and 3, then read The Gospel of John chapters 1,2, and 3.
All roads lead to God? Have you ever considered what God has to say about that? “You shall have no other gods before Me”. Can a Muslim get to heaven by killing people who don’t believe the way he does? Can a Buddhist get to heaven by worshiping his ancestors? Can a Hindu get to heaven by worshiping oxen as someone who is traveling back to this world as an ox on his way to his own deity? Can a Pantheist who says all things are God, get to heaven? Only Judahism and Christianity talk about and deal with the thing called 'sin". All of these roads cannot possibly ultimately lead to God when they oppose each other. Not to mention the atheist who says, there is no god and we evolved from the apes. Two atoms, whizzing through space collided, and that began it all. Where did the atoms come from?
So, is there a true “Road to God”? I believe there is. It is God’s way, not mine. Jesus, the Messiah is God’s one and only way to heaven. If I’m right (and I believe I am) I will make it to heaven based on the finished work of God in Jesus. Then you will spend eternity separated from God. If I am wrong, and you are right, I have lived a life I am not ashamed of and have been at peace with “my God” for many, many years. And I will see you in “Heaven”. By the way, Who created Heaven? Was it man or God? Should not the Creator have a say in who will be allowed in?
Those who think that “all roads lead to God” have probably not read any of the “holy books” of any of the religions. They think they know it all.
If you have questions write me at reskew@aol.com.
Let’s look at the question posed by the title above. Many people in today’s society think that, if you are looking for God, you can find him anywhere. The nature lover says, “I can find God when I’m out walking in the woods or climbing a mountain, I just feel so close to him. God is nature.” Others say, “I worship god and my ancestors, because we are all one in the cosmos”. Some say that oxen are god’s and should not be harmed. While others believe we are on an eternal journey and come back in this life as other beings and animals until we attain our own godhood. Which one would you like to follow in your search for God?
Then you have the three main religions of the world, each saying that there is only one God, those religions being, Muslims, Jews and Christians. Of course you have varying sects or denomination in each. Each say that their religion is the only way to God, yet all differ and are exclusive from one another. If all roads lead to God, what should it matter? Only your eternal destiny is at stake.
In the following, I will attempt to make things simple and plain. I am not attempting to “bash” anyone, I am just trying to give you some facts and let you make the decision, “Do all roads, really lead to God”? There will be depth of facts and nuances that I will not discuss because of time and space of this document. If you want more of these facts I recommend two books (volumes), Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell and More Evidence that Demands a Verdict. This work was written while trying to disprove Christianity. As a result Josh McDowell came to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.
Islam or Muslim’s believed Allah is God and Mohammed is his prophet. The Koran is their “holy book”. Within its pages followers are told that only Arab Muslim’s are accepted by Allah and all other people are infidels and are not worthy to live and should be killed. And that they are the only true “road to God”.
Judaism has been around for a long time. Their founders are Abram (Abraham), Isaac, and Jacob (Jacob’s name was changed by God to Israel) and that’s where the name of the nation comes from, more commonly known as the Jews. Then you have Moses who brought the “slaves” out of Egypt and took them to the ‘Promise Land’. In that journey, they went through the Arabian dessert where Moses received the “Ten Commandments”, on Mt. Sinai. These Ten Commandments were the foundation of their belief system; also the sacrifice of animals, shedding of blood, for the taking away of their sin. Their “holy book” was the Torah. They learned the there was only one God and His name was Jehovah. He was the Creator of the Universe and they were to look for the Messiah, the one who would save the people from their sin. Sin, you say? Yes, remember the story about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and how the snake tricked them into eating the “apple”. That was sin, going against the law and rule of God, choosing one’s own way. So, if you say, I will choose my own way to God, my own “road” is that not sin? Much more could be said, but if you are interested call me, information will be listed at the end of this writing.
Christianity is a continuation of Judaism. Remember I told you that because of the sin of Adam and Eve, God had said He would send the Messiah, one who would take away their sin. Not only theirs, but the sin of the entire world. You see, all humans are related to Adam and Eve and thus have the infraction of sin on their lives and need to be forgiven. So, the Messiah would be sent from God as the only satisfactory sacrifice for the sin of the world, Jew, Gentile, Arab, Muslim, Hindu, Aztec, African, Buddhist; in other words, all the people of the earth. This Messiah had been prophesied or foretold from that day in the Garden, in Genesis 3:15. Christian’s “holy book” is the Bible that includes the writings of the Torah, what is called the Old Testament, and the writing of Jesus’ followers, the New Testament. Christians believe that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. These facts can be learned and confirmed in the book mentioned by Josh McDowell.
The Torah and the Bible talk about a Messiah who would take away the sin of the world. He would do that by dying on the Cross as God’s one and only satisfactory sacrifice for sin, the shedding of blood. This is the fact of God reaching down to man to forgive his sin. It is not about being good or good enough to warrant God’s forgiveness. You have probably seen the guy at football games with the rainbow wig holding the sign, John 3:16; some may even know what that Bible passage says. If you don’t, it says, “For God so loved the world, He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life”. Read Genesis chapters 1,2,and 3, then read The Gospel of John chapters 1,2, and 3.
All roads lead to God? Have you ever considered what God has to say about that? “You shall have no other gods before Me”. Can a Muslim get to heaven by killing people who don’t believe the way he does? Can a Buddhist get to heaven by worshiping his ancestors? Can a Hindu get to heaven by worshiping oxen as someone who is traveling back to this world as an ox on his way to his own deity? Can a Pantheist who says all things are God, get to heaven? Only Judahism and Christianity talk about and deal with the thing called 'sin". All of these roads cannot possibly ultimately lead to God when they oppose each other. Not to mention the atheist who says, there is no god and we evolved from the apes. Two atoms, whizzing through space collided, and that began it all. Where did the atoms come from?
So, is there a true “Road to God”? I believe there is. It is God’s way, not mine. Jesus, the Messiah is God’s one and only way to heaven. If I’m right (and I believe I am) I will make it to heaven based on the finished work of God in Jesus. Then you will spend eternity separated from God. If I am wrong, and you are right, I have lived a life I am not ashamed of and have been at peace with “my God” for many, many years. And I will see you in “Heaven”. By the way, Who created Heaven? Was it man or God? Should not the Creator have a say in who will be allowed in?
Those who think that “all roads lead to God” have probably not read any of the “holy books” of any of the religions. They think they know it all.
If you have questions write me at reskew@aol.com.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Human Beings
In the beginning… God created the heavens and the earth. The Bible goes on to tell us that He created all other things, land and sea, sky and air, sun and moon and stars. Then He created the things to inhabit these spaces, beasts of the fields, birds for the sky, and fish for the sea. Then He created His “crowning achievement” (if you can call anything that God does, an achievement), He created man, male and female He created them. Of course our evolutionary friends will have great problems with this thesis. To them, two random atoms whizzing through the universe, collided and the spark of life began. At this point, I have two questions: 1) Where did the two atoms come from? 2) Where did the universe come from? There was probably nothingness and then something happened and then the two atoms collided and then the universe happened and then nothing turned into something. That makes it perfectly clear doesn’t it, or does it make it more foolish? I assume that most evolutionists and atheists don’t want to think about the possibility of there being a God, because if He is, then they are responsible to Him for all they do. And they don’t want to do that.
Anyway… back to the future…. We are created and we are responsible to Him. He created us with love and purpose. Love because we were created in His image. Purpose because He wanted us to reign over His creation. Personally, I think that all the created things were created in full maturity. If you would have cut down a tree in the “Garden of Eden” you would have been able to count ten, twelve or twenty rings of age or even more. And the same would be true for the other plants and animals.
I really am trying to get to my thesis, which is human being. We really are His crowning glory, because of being created in His image. Of course, I do not think that God looks like me. There is something unique about this likeness, but I can’t explain it. And neither can anyone else. But, we are something special and love beyond our imagination.
This thing about being human beings is simply this; we are human beings not human doings. I think God wanted us to “be” more than He wanted us to “do”. Does that seem to make sense to you? I’m sitting here writing and listening to some music on my computer. The music combines and enhances what I’m writing. You will probably be surprised to know it is a kid’s album, not by kids, but for kids. Its title is The Polka Dot Bear by Barry McGuire, way back in the 1980’s. But, isn’t that what God wants us to be… kids? We can’t do anything for ourselves, we must rely on Him. And that’s called being, not doing. Unless you become as a child, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. It’s a simple love relationship. Do I love Him enough to surrender and submit? Will I say, “Not my will, but your will be done”. If the relationship is not growing, the being is not growing. He breathed life into us, His life, and His being. His likeness should be more and more in control. When he Holy Spirit, I assume you know that the Holy Spirit was given to you when Jesus became your personal Savior. You can find this in the Gospel of John, chapters 14-17; along with some other important things. Anyhow… the Holy Spirit works in our lives, as well as the rest of the world, to convict us of sin, righteousness and judgment to come. He convicts us to make us more like Jesus, that being thing, being like Jesus, not doing more things to make “me” feel better because “I” have done all of these great things. When we “be” we “do”. When we “do” we don’t necessarily “be”. But this being happens only by submitting to the Holy Spirit.
Let me interject at this point another side-bar, side light or whatever you want to call it. God revealed Himself to Moses as “I Am”. Thus, referring to Himself as the “ever being one”. Jesus referred to Himself as “I Am”. If we are to become like Jesus, then we need to be in the process of being and becoming. We will never become or be God, but our likeness can be restored. The relationship needs to deepen every day. Do I love God more and more each day? Do I see my sinfulness more clearly every day? Am I sorrowed by that sinfulness more and more? Not that I have achieved the point I want to, but I strive to be less and Him more. Like John the Baptizer said, “He must increase and I must decrease”. By the way… John was not a “Baptist”. (A touch of humor there).
Three books I have recently read or am in the process of reading, The Wright Brothers – Overland Stage, by Tim Wright. This is a book about the local Indy band and its successes and failures, from Tim’s perspective. This is Tim’s own personal striving to “get to the top” of the music industry. So much of self was interjected into life, he and the band forgot about their Christian roots and how to allow God to direct the paths. Another book is Radical by David Platt. David had to go to a Southeast Asian country and see “church” done in such a different way that when he came back to the USA he was shocked to see how he had been following the American Dream and playing “church”, and he was the “Head Pastor” of the church. Now he is in the process of changing the “way he does church”. The third book is The Pursuit of God, by A. W. Tozer. This writer has an interesting perspective, having written his book in 1948. His main thesis is that people, the church, have left their pursuit of God for the American Dream. They have lost their awe of God and replaced it with the comforts of the world. And in doing so have lost the zeal and affection for God. Their thinking is something like this, “Oh I leave the tough stuff for God to take care of, and I can handle the little stuff”. God is not an American. We think that God has to do it the “American Way”. God’s own words are these, “Without Me you can do nothing”. When will we ever get this through our thick skulls? It’s not about me; it’s about Him and Him alone, His will, His way, His purpose. Our part and our only part is listening and obeying.
If we are to become like Jesus and we are, Jesus life was boiled down to this, “Not to do My will, but to do the will of the One who sent me”. “And the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve”. We are to serve and to be obedient.
I think I’m done, but who knows? My challenge and questions are few. Are you a human being or are you a human doing?
Ron
In the beginning… God created the heavens and the earth. The Bible goes on to tell us that He created all other things, land and sea, sky and air, sun and moon and stars. Then He created the things to inhabit these spaces, beasts of the fields, birds for the sky, and fish for the sea. Then He created His “crowning achievement” (if you can call anything that God does, an achievement), He created man, male and female He created them. Of course our evolutionary friends will have great problems with this thesis. To them, two random atoms whizzing through the universe, collided and the spark of life began. At this point, I have two questions: 1) Where did the two atoms come from? 2) Where did the universe come from? There was probably nothingness and then something happened and then the two atoms collided and then the universe happened and then nothing turned into something. That makes it perfectly clear doesn’t it, or does it make it more foolish? I assume that most evolutionists and atheists don’t want to think about the possibility of there being a God, because if He is, then they are responsible to Him for all they do. And they don’t want to do that.
Anyway… back to the future…. We are created and we are responsible to Him. He created us with love and purpose. Love because we were created in His image. Purpose because He wanted us to reign over His creation. Personally, I think that all the created things were created in full maturity. If you would have cut down a tree in the “Garden of Eden” you would have been able to count ten, twelve or twenty rings of age or even more. And the same would be true for the other plants and animals.
I really am trying to get to my thesis, which is human being. We really are His crowning glory, because of being created in His image. Of course, I do not think that God looks like me. There is something unique about this likeness, but I can’t explain it. And neither can anyone else. But, we are something special and love beyond our imagination.
This thing about being human beings is simply this; we are human beings not human doings. I think God wanted us to “be” more than He wanted us to “do”. Does that seem to make sense to you? I’m sitting here writing and listening to some music on my computer. The music combines and enhances what I’m writing. You will probably be surprised to know it is a kid’s album, not by kids, but for kids. Its title is The Polka Dot Bear by Barry McGuire, way back in the 1980’s. But, isn’t that what God wants us to be… kids? We can’t do anything for ourselves, we must rely on Him. And that’s called being, not doing. Unless you become as a child, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. It’s a simple love relationship. Do I love Him enough to surrender and submit? Will I say, “Not my will, but your will be done”. If the relationship is not growing, the being is not growing. He breathed life into us, His life, and His being. His likeness should be more and more in control. When he Holy Spirit, I assume you know that the Holy Spirit was given to you when Jesus became your personal Savior. You can find this in the Gospel of John, chapters 14-17; along with some other important things. Anyhow… the Holy Spirit works in our lives, as well as the rest of the world, to convict us of sin, righteousness and judgment to come. He convicts us to make us more like Jesus, that being thing, being like Jesus, not doing more things to make “me” feel better because “I” have done all of these great things. When we “be” we “do”. When we “do” we don’t necessarily “be”. But this being happens only by submitting to the Holy Spirit.
Let me interject at this point another side-bar, side light or whatever you want to call it. God revealed Himself to Moses as “I Am”. Thus, referring to Himself as the “ever being one”. Jesus referred to Himself as “I Am”. If we are to become like Jesus, then we need to be in the process of being and becoming. We will never become or be God, but our likeness can be restored. The relationship needs to deepen every day. Do I love God more and more each day? Do I see my sinfulness more clearly every day? Am I sorrowed by that sinfulness more and more? Not that I have achieved the point I want to, but I strive to be less and Him more. Like John the Baptizer said, “He must increase and I must decrease”. By the way… John was not a “Baptist”. (A touch of humor there).
Three books I have recently read or am in the process of reading, The Wright Brothers – Overland Stage, by Tim Wright. This is a book about the local Indy band and its successes and failures, from Tim’s perspective. This is Tim’s own personal striving to “get to the top” of the music industry. So much of self was interjected into life, he and the band forgot about their Christian roots and how to allow God to direct the paths. Another book is Radical by David Platt. David had to go to a Southeast Asian country and see “church” done in such a different way that when he came back to the USA he was shocked to see how he had been following the American Dream and playing “church”, and he was the “Head Pastor” of the church. Now he is in the process of changing the “way he does church”. The third book is The Pursuit of God, by A. W. Tozer. This writer has an interesting perspective, having written his book in 1948. His main thesis is that people, the church, have left their pursuit of God for the American Dream. They have lost their awe of God and replaced it with the comforts of the world. And in doing so have lost the zeal and affection for God. Their thinking is something like this, “Oh I leave the tough stuff for God to take care of, and I can handle the little stuff”. God is not an American. We think that God has to do it the “American Way”. God’s own words are these, “Without Me you can do nothing”. When will we ever get this through our thick skulls? It’s not about me; it’s about Him and Him alone, His will, His way, His purpose. Our part and our only part is listening and obeying.
If we are to become like Jesus and we are, Jesus life was boiled down to this, “Not to do My will, but to do the will of the One who sent me”. “And the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve”. We are to serve and to be obedient.
I think I’m done, but who knows? My challenge and questions are few. Are you a human being or are you a human doing?
Ron
Human Beings Part Two
With all of this stuff rattling around in my head, I must continue.
Human beings, they are more being than doing this is the key. Jesus says, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”. He also says, “I Am the way, the truth and the life”. Thus, knowing Him is the essential part of the entire equation. If you are not in the pursuit of knowing Him, you are not in the pursuit of “being”.
As I have read the book Radical, I have come to some conclusions. I think it starts out strong, but falls away in the end. What do I mean by that? In the first two chapters or sections, David Platt describes his experience in the Far East. He is finding people who have a hunger for God’s word and is amazed at how far the people travel to hear God’s word. They walk or ride bicycles for miles, even a full day just to hear the word, spend several if not many, 10 or 12 hours in listening and asking questions. Then they ask if they could do it again tomorrow. David is astonished and amazed, and also tired from a very long day of interaction. But he agrees to continue to teach the next day. This seems to happen day after day after day. The interesting thing is that these people are not asking how Americans “do church”; they are asking and begging to be taught the word. They are not asking about the latest music trends or what the latest Christian Books are. They are saying, “Teach me the Bible”.
To me this is another part of the “American Gospel” that is lacking in substance. We, the American church look for the next best seller or the next conference, in order to help us in our short comings and our problems. The answers are given to most problems, “Well, just do more, or try harder; you’re not having enough quiet time, you’re not praying enough”. These are not bad in themselves, but how do they help us “be”? Am I interested in getting the next wrist band or the next t-shirt or the next syllabus? Again, conferences are not bad in themselves, but some people have every book and every CD on their shelves, they have a t-shirt for every day of the week, but nothing is going on in their heart. They are not becoming! I also wrote a paper on “Head, Heart, Gut”.
The weak part of the book Radical is that, when David returns home to the USA, he sees a different kind of American church than when he left and a far different kind of church than in the Far East. So he starts teaching on “going into all the world and preaching the gospel”. Here is where I think the departure starts; people are encouraged to look at their lives and see what they can do without and think of how they can reach people in other lands with the gospel. Again, let me say, this is not a bad thing, but it misses the entire point of David’s time in the Far East, and I think David loses sight of what he was being taught by God (not that I know what God was trying to teach him). But as I was trying to think through and process my way through his book, it seems that the emphasis was on the hunger for God and His word. Jesus told His disciples, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”. Are we hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Or, are we looking for a way that makes us look like we are hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Do we know the difference? The Apostle Paul makes the statement, “If I give all I have to feed the poor and do not have love, I am nothing”. Thus, it is a heart problem!
Clean and unclean things…. It is not what goes into a man that defiles him; it is what proceeds from within (out of the heart).
I cannot tell you what God is telling is you to do other than; He wants you to be holy, not happy. Holy is a state of being, happy is defined by situations and circumstances, again, “being” or “doing”. Believe it or not, you can be holy without being happy. One short interjection: The “Be Attitudes in Matthew 5 says “Blessed” this not to be confused with happy. I have heard so many people and even pastors say that it means happy. That word goes far beyond happy, and if I am not happy does that mean I am not blessed?
Back to Radical: Just my opinion… it seems that David jumps off and begins a series on “Going”. And that seems to lead to busyness and not righteousness. The pastors in the Far East were not looking for people to come to build something (even though there is nothing wrong with that), they were looking for people to come and teach them the Bible.
We need to be challenged to read and study our Bibles and be “transformed by it”, the entire thing Genesis 1 through Revelation 21. We need to get to know the God of the Bible; Who He is and how He works, then get to know Jesus and who He is, and then the Holy Spirit in the same way. Constantly asking the Lord who He wants us to become and then what He wants us to do, where He wants us to go.
Would we be willing to walk for a day to hear the word taught? Would we go if the band was not going to play? Would we go in stealth so as to not be seen? Would we feel comfortable packed like sardines in a small room with one 40 watt light bulb hung in the center of the room. Dear friends, this is radical. What would you do if there was no music, no band for worship, just two hours of your Pastor teaching through the Bible? Then you took a fifteen minute break for bathroom breaks and something to drink. Then the teaching would start again for another two hours.
I know I’m short on scripture in this writing, so here goes…. Let’s look at two and maybe more passages to see what the progression is in “being” and “doing”.
Isaiah 6:1-13 (You can read the entire thing for yourself) In the year that King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on the throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple… “Then I said (Isaiah) woe is me, for I am ruined. Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips… Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I, send me!” And He said, “Go and tell the people.”
First, Isaiah, saw the Lord. My question to you is, “Have you seen the Lord in this way?” Maybe not in the physical sense, but have you had an intimate, eye opening, revelation of the Lord and how magnificent He really is. Second, was your response, “I am a man/woman of unclean lips?” Third, then did you submit to “being” before “doing” or going? Even though Isaiah had been God’s prophet for many years, he had a new experience, which changed him for the rest of his life. God said go tell the people. What was God asking Isaiah to tell the people? “Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand. Render the hearts of the people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim… lest they repent”. You see; God knew their hearts and that the people would not repent, so He told Isaiah to stop preaching to them. Thus and therefore, we must be about going, before God says, ‘It’s too late, stop preaching”. When I first turned my life over to Jesus in 1974 I did not know any of the things I am writing about today. I have grown and changed and have become more aware of how Holy God is and how sinful I am. If you knew me like I know me, you would probably not want me as a friend. But if I knew you like you know you, I wouldn’t want you as a friend either.
The next scripture is from the New Testament: Matthew 18:1-27 (Again you may read the text for yourself). Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane where He was praying before His crucifixion. The soldiers came to arrest Jesus and Peter tried to defend Jesus with a sword. Remember that Peter was a fisherman not a soldier; “doing’ not “being”. Peter followed Jesus to the courtyard of Caiaphas and waited at a distance. This is where Peter denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus had warned him. It is purported that Peter went out a wept (Not in the text); the sorrow of the sin of “not doing” and “not being”.
Our Bible study group studied one of the passages that David Platt uses in book; Luke 14:25-35. Again you can read this for yourself, the essence is counting the cost, choosing to love the Lord more than brothers and sisters, building a tower without calculating the cost whether you can finish it or not, and going to war against a more powerful enemy. David’s conclusion was from verse 33 saying, “So therefore, no one can be My disciple who does not give up all his possessions”. Does Jesus mean this in a true physical sense? Or is He trying to get at your heart? Is he trying to get at “your being” or at “your doing”?
In all of our being and doing, Who’s reputation is at stake? Anyone who undertakes a multi-million dollar building project and can only complete $100,000 worth did not calculate the cost very well and his reputation is ruined. If I say I am a Christian and I love Jesus and I am going to do great things for Him and fall flat on my face, whose reputation is at stake? If I make bad decisions it still reflects on Him.
I thought I was done when I wrote American Dream and the American Gospel. Next I wrote American Dream 2. Then I wrote the paper Aaaaand Their Off. Then I wrote Human Beings. Now with Human Beings 2 about to be finished, I am still in the pursuit of God and His answers for me.
This line of thinking may go on for quite some time, but for now, the summary, not a conclusion, the real conclusion is up to you, is this; I can only take these thoughts and ponderings and musings before the Lord for myself and ask Him, who He wants me to be and then what He wants me to do.
I am wrestling with the Lord on all of this; I think I am beginning to walk with a limp. If any of these writings have moved you, you need to take the information to the Lord and ask Him to reveal Himself and His will for your being and doing. I welcome your thoughts and feedback.
Ron
With all of this stuff rattling around in my head, I must continue.
Human beings, they are more being than doing this is the key. Jesus says, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”. He also says, “I Am the way, the truth and the life”. Thus, knowing Him is the essential part of the entire equation. If you are not in the pursuit of knowing Him, you are not in the pursuit of “being”.
As I have read the book Radical, I have come to some conclusions. I think it starts out strong, but falls away in the end. What do I mean by that? In the first two chapters or sections, David Platt describes his experience in the Far East. He is finding people who have a hunger for God’s word and is amazed at how far the people travel to hear God’s word. They walk or ride bicycles for miles, even a full day just to hear the word, spend several if not many, 10 or 12 hours in listening and asking questions. Then they ask if they could do it again tomorrow. David is astonished and amazed, and also tired from a very long day of interaction. But he agrees to continue to teach the next day. This seems to happen day after day after day. The interesting thing is that these people are not asking how Americans “do church”; they are asking and begging to be taught the word. They are not asking about the latest music trends or what the latest Christian Books are. They are saying, “Teach me the Bible”.
To me this is another part of the “American Gospel” that is lacking in substance. We, the American church look for the next best seller or the next conference, in order to help us in our short comings and our problems. The answers are given to most problems, “Well, just do more, or try harder; you’re not having enough quiet time, you’re not praying enough”. These are not bad in themselves, but how do they help us “be”? Am I interested in getting the next wrist band or the next t-shirt or the next syllabus? Again, conferences are not bad in themselves, but some people have every book and every CD on their shelves, they have a t-shirt for every day of the week, but nothing is going on in their heart. They are not becoming! I also wrote a paper on “Head, Heart, Gut”.
The weak part of the book Radical is that, when David returns home to the USA, he sees a different kind of American church than when he left and a far different kind of church than in the Far East. So he starts teaching on “going into all the world and preaching the gospel”. Here is where I think the departure starts; people are encouraged to look at their lives and see what they can do without and think of how they can reach people in other lands with the gospel. Again, let me say, this is not a bad thing, but it misses the entire point of David’s time in the Far East, and I think David loses sight of what he was being taught by God (not that I know what God was trying to teach him). But as I was trying to think through and process my way through his book, it seems that the emphasis was on the hunger for God and His word. Jesus told His disciples, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”. Are we hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Or, are we looking for a way that makes us look like we are hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Do we know the difference? The Apostle Paul makes the statement, “If I give all I have to feed the poor and do not have love, I am nothing”. Thus, it is a heart problem!
Clean and unclean things…. It is not what goes into a man that defiles him; it is what proceeds from within (out of the heart).
I cannot tell you what God is telling is you to do other than; He wants you to be holy, not happy. Holy is a state of being, happy is defined by situations and circumstances, again, “being” or “doing”. Believe it or not, you can be holy without being happy. One short interjection: The “Be Attitudes in Matthew 5 says “Blessed” this not to be confused with happy. I have heard so many people and even pastors say that it means happy. That word goes far beyond happy, and if I am not happy does that mean I am not blessed?
Back to Radical: Just my opinion… it seems that David jumps off and begins a series on “Going”. And that seems to lead to busyness and not righteousness. The pastors in the Far East were not looking for people to come to build something (even though there is nothing wrong with that), they were looking for people to come and teach them the Bible.
We need to be challenged to read and study our Bibles and be “transformed by it”, the entire thing Genesis 1 through Revelation 21. We need to get to know the God of the Bible; Who He is and how He works, then get to know Jesus and who He is, and then the Holy Spirit in the same way. Constantly asking the Lord who He wants us to become and then what He wants us to do, where He wants us to go.
Would we be willing to walk for a day to hear the word taught? Would we go if the band was not going to play? Would we go in stealth so as to not be seen? Would we feel comfortable packed like sardines in a small room with one 40 watt light bulb hung in the center of the room. Dear friends, this is radical. What would you do if there was no music, no band for worship, just two hours of your Pastor teaching through the Bible? Then you took a fifteen minute break for bathroom breaks and something to drink. Then the teaching would start again for another two hours.
I know I’m short on scripture in this writing, so here goes…. Let’s look at two and maybe more passages to see what the progression is in “being” and “doing”.
Isaiah 6:1-13 (You can read the entire thing for yourself) In the year that King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on the throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple… “Then I said (Isaiah) woe is me, for I am ruined. Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips… Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I, send me!” And He said, “Go and tell the people.”
First, Isaiah, saw the Lord. My question to you is, “Have you seen the Lord in this way?” Maybe not in the physical sense, but have you had an intimate, eye opening, revelation of the Lord and how magnificent He really is. Second, was your response, “I am a man/woman of unclean lips?” Third, then did you submit to “being” before “doing” or going? Even though Isaiah had been God’s prophet for many years, he had a new experience, which changed him for the rest of his life. God said go tell the people. What was God asking Isaiah to tell the people? “Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand. Render the hearts of the people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim… lest they repent”. You see; God knew their hearts and that the people would not repent, so He told Isaiah to stop preaching to them. Thus and therefore, we must be about going, before God says, ‘It’s too late, stop preaching”. When I first turned my life over to Jesus in 1974 I did not know any of the things I am writing about today. I have grown and changed and have become more aware of how Holy God is and how sinful I am. If you knew me like I know me, you would probably not want me as a friend. But if I knew you like you know you, I wouldn’t want you as a friend either.
The next scripture is from the New Testament: Matthew 18:1-27 (Again you may read the text for yourself). Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane where He was praying before His crucifixion. The soldiers came to arrest Jesus and Peter tried to defend Jesus with a sword. Remember that Peter was a fisherman not a soldier; “doing’ not “being”. Peter followed Jesus to the courtyard of Caiaphas and waited at a distance. This is where Peter denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus had warned him. It is purported that Peter went out a wept (Not in the text); the sorrow of the sin of “not doing” and “not being”.
Our Bible study group studied one of the passages that David Platt uses in book; Luke 14:25-35. Again you can read this for yourself, the essence is counting the cost, choosing to love the Lord more than brothers and sisters, building a tower without calculating the cost whether you can finish it or not, and going to war against a more powerful enemy. David’s conclusion was from verse 33 saying, “So therefore, no one can be My disciple who does not give up all his possessions”. Does Jesus mean this in a true physical sense? Or is He trying to get at your heart? Is he trying to get at “your being” or at “your doing”?
In all of our being and doing, Who’s reputation is at stake? Anyone who undertakes a multi-million dollar building project and can only complete $100,000 worth did not calculate the cost very well and his reputation is ruined. If I say I am a Christian and I love Jesus and I am going to do great things for Him and fall flat on my face, whose reputation is at stake? If I make bad decisions it still reflects on Him.
I thought I was done when I wrote American Dream and the American Gospel. Next I wrote American Dream 2. Then I wrote the paper Aaaaand Their Off. Then I wrote Human Beings. Now with Human Beings 2 about to be finished, I am still in the pursuit of God and His answers for me.
This line of thinking may go on for quite some time, but for now, the summary, not a conclusion, the real conclusion is up to you, is this; I can only take these thoughts and ponderings and musings before the Lord for myself and ask Him, who He wants me to be and then what He wants me to do.
I am wrestling with the Lord on all of this; I think I am beginning to walk with a limp. If any of these writings have moved you, you need to take the information to the Lord and ask Him to reveal Himself and His will for your being and doing. I welcome your thoughts and feedback.
Ron
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
I’ll Have That To Go Please
In our instant society we rarely have the time or take the time to sit down and eat together. We have “too much on our plate” to sit still for more than ten or fifteen minutes. Even in the “sit down” restaurants there are always to take it to our houses and eat it there. There is “Car-Side To Go”, “Curb-Side To Go”, the normal “Drive-Thru”. If the drive thru is backed up you can always go inside and ask for it to go. Slogans develop for these methods, “Have it your way”, and if you’re old enough, “Takehomeasack”. One of our normal eating places is “behind-the-wheel”, and that is located wherever our GPS tells us we are. Should we not be more concerned about when and where we eat?
Is it not the same with our spiritual life? “Hey Jesus, could I get that to go, I really don’t have time to sit with you for very long, I’m really, really busy.” To get to know someone, you need to spend time with them. When you spend time with someone you get to understand them and what is important to them. You learn more about their personality and the way they think. You begin to understand their passion.
Let’s say, you’re at work and your boss wants to have a meeting to discuss a new product line or a new process for that product line. You go in, pen in hand, and pay close attention, take notes, ask questions. You do this in order to go back to your work station or office and prepare to relay these ideas and changes to your co-workers. What if you told your boss, in about ten minutes, “Hey, I’m really busy and I have other work to do, I’ll catch up with you later and we can finish this.” You just wouldn’t do that… would you?” Your boss knows what you have to do and is concerned about developing the entire company and you are just a small part of the entire process. In essence, he is saying, “Here is how I want you to develop and build your part of the company, and this is a very important part of the finished product.”
Is that how we are responding to Jesus? He is offering us a part in the process and development of building His church and we are saying to Him, “I’m really busy and I can’t put in that much time to “Your” project right now.” First of all I would say that we have not spent enough time with our “Boss” to find out Who He is, and what His passions are.
Then there is the matter of execution. If we have spent time with Him, how do we execute the task He has given us? Let’s take for example, Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:18-20, All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I command you; and remember, I am with you, even to the ends of the earth.”
According to a friend, Keith Green, in a song about this passage, he writes, “Jesus commands us to go, it should be the exception if we stay; It’s now wonder we’re moving so slow, when God’s children, refuse to obey, feeling so called to stay”. “But, I’m too young… I’m too old… I’ve got these bills… I’m not healthy enough… I don’t have enough training….” Remember, He is the one in charge of this company and He sees the bigger picture and knows the final product. He just wants you to be the part of something really big and really great. He just wants you to do your seemingly small part. Going doesn’t necessarily mean “around the world”. It could mean “across the street”.
In the book of Acts, chapter 1, verse 8 we are told to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the remotest parts of the earth. The old saying goes like this, “Grow where you’re planted” and I add, “If someone uproots you and plants you somewhere else, grow there”. Another song just came to mind by the group First Call, the main line or chorus goes like this, “We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future”.
This Christian life is not for the faint of heart. It is for the one who has a “child-like” faith and is willing to say “Yes” to the One Who is worthy. This life is not a “bed of roses” and don’t let anyone tell you it is.
Will you tell Jesus, “I’ll have mine, ‘to go’, meaning, yes I will go, across the street or around the world”.
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
In our instant society we rarely have the time or take the time to sit down and eat together. We have “too much on our plate” to sit still for more than ten or fifteen minutes. Even in the “sit down” restaurants there are always to take it to our houses and eat it there. There is “Car-Side To Go”, “Curb-Side To Go”, the normal “Drive-Thru”. If the drive thru is backed up you can always go inside and ask for it to go. Slogans develop for these methods, “Have it your way”, and if you’re old enough, “Takehomeasack”. One of our normal eating places is “behind-the-wheel”, and that is located wherever our GPS tells us we are. Should we not be more concerned about when and where we eat?
Is it not the same with our spiritual life? “Hey Jesus, could I get that to go, I really don’t have time to sit with you for very long, I’m really, really busy.” To get to know someone, you need to spend time with them. When you spend time with someone you get to understand them and what is important to them. You learn more about their personality and the way they think. You begin to understand their passion.
Let’s say, you’re at work and your boss wants to have a meeting to discuss a new product line or a new process for that product line. You go in, pen in hand, and pay close attention, take notes, ask questions. You do this in order to go back to your work station or office and prepare to relay these ideas and changes to your co-workers. What if you told your boss, in about ten minutes, “Hey, I’m really busy and I have other work to do, I’ll catch up with you later and we can finish this.” You just wouldn’t do that… would you?” Your boss knows what you have to do and is concerned about developing the entire company and you are just a small part of the entire process. In essence, he is saying, “Here is how I want you to develop and build your part of the company, and this is a very important part of the finished product.”
Is that how we are responding to Jesus? He is offering us a part in the process and development of building His church and we are saying to Him, “I’m really busy and I can’t put in that much time to “Your” project right now.” First of all I would say that we have not spent enough time with our “Boss” to find out Who He is, and what His passions are.
Then there is the matter of execution. If we have spent time with Him, how do we execute the task He has given us? Let’s take for example, Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:18-20, All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I command you; and remember, I am with you, even to the ends of the earth.”
According to a friend, Keith Green, in a song about this passage, he writes, “Jesus commands us to go, it should be the exception if we stay; It’s now wonder we’re moving so slow, when God’s children, refuse to obey, feeling so called to stay”. “But, I’m too young… I’m too old… I’ve got these bills… I’m not healthy enough… I don’t have enough training….” Remember, He is the one in charge of this company and He sees the bigger picture and knows the final product. He just wants you to be the part of something really big and really great. He just wants you to do your seemingly small part. Going doesn’t necessarily mean “around the world”. It could mean “across the street”.
In the book of Acts, chapter 1, verse 8 we are told to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the remotest parts of the earth. The old saying goes like this, “Grow where you’re planted” and I add, “If someone uproots you and plants you somewhere else, grow there”. Another song just came to mind by the group First Call, the main line or chorus goes like this, “We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future”.
This Christian life is not for the faint of heart. It is for the one who has a “child-like” faith and is willing to say “Yes” to the One Who is worthy. This life is not a “bed of roses” and don’t let anyone tell you it is.
Will you tell Jesus, “I’ll have mine, ‘to go’, meaning, yes I will go, across the street or around the world”.
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
Friday, July 16, 2010
American Dream Part 2
Just to refresh your memory, hermeneutics is the key to all studies.
The study of interpretation of the Bible; the study of the principles of Biblical exegesis
I believe this means, to take all of what the Bible references on a topic and interpret them in a fashion that is consistent with the theme and context of the word and the text. (And if it ain’t there, don’t say it is). The word exegesis means out of, not in to. What do I get “out of” what I read, not what can I read into what I read.
Member vs Membership
My references books for this next portion are Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, and the New World Dictionary, and, oh yes, the Bible, The New Analytical Bible, KJV, and the New American Standard Bible.
The New World Dictionary defines member in this fashion: 1. a part or organ of a human or animal body. 2. a part of a plant, considered with regard to structure or position rather than function. 3. a distinct part or element of a whole, of a mathematic equation, 4. a person belonging to some association, society, community , party etc.
Membership: the state of being, or status as a member, 2. members collective, 3. the number of members.
The New Analytical Bible’s definition of member: part of the body.
Membership: The New Analytical Bible does not contain the word “membership”.
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance: Member: no definition is given; membership is not listed as a word used anywhere in the Bible.
The discussion should be over at this point, but I press on.
There are only three references in the Old Testament for the words member or members. There are thirty-four references in the New Testament for member or members. Most of the references are in Romans and I and II Corinthians
I have heard it said by many preachers that I admire, “Let the plain things be the main things and let the main things be the plain things”.
I truly believe that we are members of the body of Christ; all, at any time of history, from any point around the world, who have named the Name of Jesus as their Savior. Although there are many and very close similarities in the two words, the act of “becoming a member” or on a “membership role or list”, I do not believe it is a biblical idea, dogma or mandate. I am active in a local expression of the “Body of Christ” because He has placed me there. I am there for a reason, sometimes I know why and sometimes it is not revealed until I have been there for a “season”. That main reason for my being there is for “body building”, of which I wrote about in an earlier paper. It is not for my glory or my lording over others, I am part of the body and to glorify the Lord, no one is more important than any other as defined in I Corinthians 12, even the Pastor. We all just have different forms and functions. When did Paul, Peter, James or John really talk about becoming a member of a local body of Christ? All of their writings were focused on knowing Jesus and keeping the faith. They taught about the sovereignty of God and the sacrifice of Jesus. None of them talked about membership or being on a list. Other that Paul who told a church to put widows on a list in order that they would not be left out and not be properly taken care of.
If I come and declare my allegiance to a particular local gathering as to God’s calling of me to this body, is that not the same as “becoming a member”? Just to be put on a list and declared by others that they accept me as part of their “body or fellowship”, seems anti-climactic. If I give my time, talents, energy and tithes to this local expression of the body of Christ, and pray for its leadership, does that not mean I am a member of that local expression of the body of Christ?
This brings me to the next point of eldership and church government. I believe that an Elder led body is scripturally correct. A “voting membership” is not a biblical doctrine. Thus, why have a “membership role”? If I don’t “get to vote”, do I “get a say” in the issues that will affect me and my family? Then the question becomes, “Do the Elders (shepherds, pastors) know their “flock” well enough to lead or judge rightly, the condition of the flock and lead them in a correct manner? Do the shepherds move about in the congregation to touch, feel and sense the needs as a shepherd of a flock of sheep would do? Do the shepherds feel as though they are the “ones with the knowledge” and they alone know what God is doing? And that brings me to, are the shepherds not just a “part of the body”? And what part? Do they not need the other seemly members also, as described in I Corinthians 12? I have attended churches which had both typed of leadership and considered myself as a member of each body. Neither type has done a very good job of informing the members or asking for prayer about major issues and direction for the church.
I have been told by both types of leadership that “they considered me as part of the overall leadership team of the church” and yet, none of the “elders or pastor” have asked my thinking on any issue. And I had attended and been considered as a member for 10 and 20 years respectively.
We really do need each other! I guess I’ve just been around too long and seen too much in the “body politic” of many different churches, and the control of money, time and people. I have seen too many churches over the years that have used many different types of leadership and membership to not speak out.
Just an old man’s ramblings; what do you think?
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
Just to refresh your memory, hermeneutics is the key to all studies.
The study of interpretation of the Bible; the study of the principles of Biblical exegesis
I believe this means, to take all of what the Bible references on a topic and interpret them in a fashion that is consistent with the theme and context of the word and the text. (And if it ain’t there, don’t say it is). The word exegesis means out of, not in to. What do I get “out of” what I read, not what can I read into what I read.
Member vs Membership
My references books for this next portion are Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, and the New World Dictionary, and, oh yes, the Bible, The New Analytical Bible, KJV, and the New American Standard Bible.
The New World Dictionary defines member in this fashion: 1. a part or organ of a human or animal body. 2. a part of a plant, considered with regard to structure or position rather than function. 3. a distinct part or element of a whole, of a mathematic equation, 4. a person belonging to some association, society, community , party etc.
Membership: the state of being, or status as a member, 2. members collective, 3. the number of members.
The New Analytical Bible’s definition of member: part of the body.
Membership: The New Analytical Bible does not contain the word “membership”.
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance: Member: no definition is given; membership is not listed as a word used anywhere in the Bible.
The discussion should be over at this point, but I press on.
There are only three references in the Old Testament for the words member or members. There are thirty-four references in the New Testament for member or members. Most of the references are in Romans and I and II Corinthians
I have heard it said by many preachers that I admire, “Let the plain things be the main things and let the main things be the plain things”.
I truly believe that we are members of the body of Christ; all, at any time of history, from any point around the world, who have named the Name of Jesus as their Savior. Although there are many and very close similarities in the two words, the act of “becoming a member” or on a “membership role or list”, I do not believe it is a biblical idea, dogma or mandate. I am active in a local expression of the “Body of Christ” because He has placed me there. I am there for a reason, sometimes I know why and sometimes it is not revealed until I have been there for a “season”. That main reason for my being there is for “body building”, of which I wrote about in an earlier paper. It is not for my glory or my lording over others, I am part of the body and to glorify the Lord, no one is more important than any other as defined in I Corinthians 12, even the Pastor. We all just have different forms and functions. When did Paul, Peter, James or John really talk about becoming a member of a local body of Christ? All of their writings were focused on knowing Jesus and keeping the faith. They taught about the sovereignty of God and the sacrifice of Jesus. None of them talked about membership or being on a list. Other that Paul who told a church to put widows on a list in order that they would not be left out and not be properly taken care of.
If I come and declare my allegiance to a particular local gathering as to God’s calling of me to this body, is that not the same as “becoming a member”? Just to be put on a list and declared by others that they accept me as part of their “body or fellowship”, seems anti-climactic. If I give my time, talents, energy and tithes to this local expression of the body of Christ, and pray for its leadership, does that not mean I am a member of that local expression of the body of Christ?
This brings me to the next point of eldership and church government. I believe that an Elder led body is scripturally correct. A “voting membership” is not a biblical doctrine. Thus, why have a “membership role”? If I don’t “get to vote”, do I “get a say” in the issues that will affect me and my family? Then the question becomes, “Do the Elders (shepherds, pastors) know their “flock” well enough to lead or judge rightly, the condition of the flock and lead them in a correct manner? Do the shepherds move about in the congregation to touch, feel and sense the needs as a shepherd of a flock of sheep would do? Do the shepherds feel as though they are the “ones with the knowledge” and they alone know what God is doing? And that brings me to, are the shepherds not just a “part of the body”? And what part? Do they not need the other seemly members also, as described in I Corinthians 12? I have attended churches which had both typed of leadership and considered myself as a member of each body. Neither type has done a very good job of informing the members or asking for prayer about major issues and direction for the church.
I have been told by both types of leadership that “they considered me as part of the overall leadership team of the church” and yet, none of the “elders or pastor” have asked my thinking on any issue. And I had attended and been considered as a member for 10 and 20 years respectively.
We really do need each other! I guess I’ve just been around too long and seen too much in the “body politic” of many different churches, and the control of money, time and people. I have seen too many churches over the years that have used many different types of leadership and membership to not speak out.
Just an old man’s ramblings; what do you think?
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The American Dream and The American Gospel
Hermeneutics
The study of interpretation of the Bible; the study of the principles of Biblical exegesis
I believe this means, to take all of what the Bible references on a topic and interpret them in a fashion that is consistent with the theme and context of the word and the text. (And if it ain’t there, don’t say it is). The word exegesis means out of, not in to. What do I get “out of” what I read, not what can I read into what I read.
My writings come from a fertile and active mind. The inspiration comes from a variety of conversations, musings, or thought processes. All, to me, have a meaning and purpose in order to clarify a position or standard by which to live and conduct ones life.
Most of my writings will take a course like this; inspiration, thought, prayer, study and prayer. Then, after several days, when I have time, I will sit down at the computer and begin to write. Sometimes, as I write, even more thoughts and perspectives come to me. Sometimes, like now, my computer is doing crazy things and I will save what I have and shut it down and go back to bed. I do most of my writing between 2 and 5 AM. Which explains a lot, right?
All of my writings, as of late, are based on a Biblical doctrine (truth) and a belief that I hold because of study. What “bugs” me most, is the thinking today in the “church” (as a whole) is this “Americanized Gospel”, as if, “If works in America it will work anywhere”. For instance… the prosperity gospel or name it and claim it. Now if I take that topic and try to make it work in the rest of the world, the people in third world countries will be very disappointed in the outcome. Why? Because they have no financial means to start the process. But then, those proclaimers will tell them, “You don’t have enough faith”. Am I making sense or is it just the 3:30 AM blues?
In other words, I take what the Bible says to determine what I believe. I don’t take what I believe and find something in the Bible that sounds like that and make it fit. That’s where I’m going in this writing. Will, what I believe the Bible says; work, no matter where it is preached? Paul and the other Apostles wrote in the first century, we are reading it and living our lives according to it in the twenty-first century. Are we understanding it and living it as the Apostles wrote it? Do we let the Bible speak for itself, Genesis through Revelation, in context as God intended?
If King David had wives and concubines and Solomon did also, then doesn’t it seem right that I can do the same? I’m stretching to make my point. Many people say, “I think there is sufficient evidence to build my case”. I am into “Building the Body” (which is a previous writing) rather than “building my case” (which I am trying to do now). That is really not “my case”, but determining what the Bible really says about a topic.
To my main thesis for this writing….
The American Dream and The American Gospel
My Pastor inspired this part of my writing. How does the
“American Dream" fit into the “church”, or does it? Has the “American Dream” crept into the church and caused the “American Gospel”?
Peace and prosperity have become “by words” in the church today. America has lived in a time and place that supplies that type of “peace and security”. Thus, it only allows the church to slip, slide and relax into a false state of ease and comfort. And, if “you” are not in that place of ease and comfort, then there is something wrong with you.
Do you think “Christianly”? Do you live “Christianly”? Would you live the same way if you were a missionary in Thailand or in the Congo in Africa, or in China? How would your surroundings affect your thinking? Would you be more aware of you lack of food and water, “normal food and clean water”? Where would your “American” thinking be then? What is “normal” anyway?
Does normal depend on location and culture? I think it does. Thus, should the gospel become “normal” to fit the culture? As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans, “may it never be”.
So then, my question to ponder is this, “Is it Biblical or is it Cultural”? Can you find, in a hermeneutical sense, reasons for why you live the Gospel the way you do? Do not stretch to find a few verses to meet your needs and discard the other verses that oppose your selected viewing area. My next question is this, “What will the “church” allow to come into their midst and take up a place of importance?
My daughter just emailed me a web link from a good Christian organization about “The Emergent Church” and asked what I thought? I’d like you to meet her sometime. She’s a thinker, she’s a studier of the Bible and she loves her dad. Anyway, I told her, The Emergent church is nothing new, it is just “repackaged” for the 21st century, and straight out of hell. If you’re not familiar… it’s a come as you are and we will not judge you, you’re just as good as we are and “I’m OK and so are you”. Yes, Jesus is cool, but we aren’t going to make you follow our beliefs or make you feel uncomfortable.
Back to my point… Is that thinking, “Biblical or Cultural”? From where I sit, it is not Biblical. Then there’s “tolerance”. Well, didn’t Jesus teach tolerance? With statements like, “I Am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by Me”. I say, no, He did not teach tolerance. Why do you think the middle-east has been torn apart for thousands of years? Why don’t the Muslim’s tolerate the Jews? Everyone asks the Jews to tolerate the “Palestinians’” and the Muslims, why does tolerance not work both directions?
Back to the Church….
I have a quiz I like to have people take which asks the question, “Is it Biblical or is it Cultural”? This quiz has about thirty questions. It has some silly questions like, Should the carpet in the sanctuary only be red? Try asking that question in a little village in a remote part of Africa that has dirt floors and a thatched roof. But some of the questions are ones that most Christian should not have trouble with answering, “Biblical”. Yet some miss those questions. Why???
1. They don’t know (read) the Bible to begin with
2. They have never been taught that they are responsible for their own growth.
3. They have been caught up in the rhetoric of easy believe’ism.
4. They have believed that they are Americans and the “bad stuff” is for those other people.
5. They have bought into the “American Dream in the American Church” syndrome.
6. They have never encountered the true Jesus of the Bible. The one who was a bloody mess from the beating. The one who hung on the cross in agony.
The American Dream has crept into the church and has distorted the True Gospel. In II Thessalonians 2:1-3, Paul tells it like this, “Now we request of you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not quickly be shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by spirit or a message or a letter as if from us that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy (falling away) comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction”. The types of things mentioned above are just a few examples of that apostasy and the process by which the gospel has been altered. I could never understand how or why people could “walk away from Jesus”, but now I see more clearly that they never really “knew” Him. And this will remain one of the mysteries of the Bible, one of the things that only God knows; did they or didn’t they… but what if… I think they… they said… they came to church all the time…. But only God knows the heart of a man, and He will judge him rightly.
So then, have you been on the slippery path of the “Americanized Gospel”? Or, are you staying true to the Bible and its true teachings? Does a little buzzer go off in your head when you hear a Pastor or Preacher talk about the best way for you to become prosperous? If you’re sick and you Pastor tells you it’s your fault and if you only had enough faith, you wouldn’t be sick. Do you believe him?
I’m looking for someone to tell me how to become more like Jesus. How about you?
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
reskew@aol.com
Hermeneutics
The study of interpretation of the Bible; the study of the principles of Biblical exegesis
I believe this means, to take all of what the Bible references on a topic and interpret them in a fashion that is consistent with the theme and context of the word and the text. (And if it ain’t there, don’t say it is). The word exegesis means out of, not in to. What do I get “out of” what I read, not what can I read into what I read.
My writings come from a fertile and active mind. The inspiration comes from a variety of conversations, musings, or thought processes. All, to me, have a meaning and purpose in order to clarify a position or standard by which to live and conduct ones life.
Most of my writings will take a course like this; inspiration, thought, prayer, study and prayer. Then, after several days, when I have time, I will sit down at the computer and begin to write. Sometimes, as I write, even more thoughts and perspectives come to me. Sometimes, like now, my computer is doing crazy things and I will save what I have and shut it down and go back to bed. I do most of my writing between 2 and 5 AM. Which explains a lot, right?
All of my writings, as of late, are based on a Biblical doctrine (truth) and a belief that I hold because of study. What “bugs” me most, is the thinking today in the “church” (as a whole) is this “Americanized Gospel”, as if, “If works in America it will work anywhere”. For instance… the prosperity gospel or name it and claim it. Now if I take that topic and try to make it work in the rest of the world, the people in third world countries will be very disappointed in the outcome. Why? Because they have no financial means to start the process. But then, those proclaimers will tell them, “You don’t have enough faith”. Am I making sense or is it just the 3:30 AM blues?
In other words, I take what the Bible says to determine what I believe. I don’t take what I believe and find something in the Bible that sounds like that and make it fit. That’s where I’m going in this writing. Will, what I believe the Bible says; work, no matter where it is preached? Paul and the other Apostles wrote in the first century, we are reading it and living our lives according to it in the twenty-first century. Are we understanding it and living it as the Apostles wrote it? Do we let the Bible speak for itself, Genesis through Revelation, in context as God intended?
If King David had wives and concubines and Solomon did also, then doesn’t it seem right that I can do the same? I’m stretching to make my point. Many people say, “I think there is sufficient evidence to build my case”. I am into “Building the Body” (which is a previous writing) rather than “building my case” (which I am trying to do now). That is really not “my case”, but determining what the Bible really says about a topic.
To my main thesis for this writing….
The American Dream and The American Gospel
My Pastor inspired this part of my writing. How does the
“American Dream" fit into the “church”, or does it? Has the “American Dream” crept into the church and caused the “American Gospel”?
Peace and prosperity have become “by words” in the church today. America has lived in a time and place that supplies that type of “peace and security”. Thus, it only allows the church to slip, slide and relax into a false state of ease and comfort. And, if “you” are not in that place of ease and comfort, then there is something wrong with you.
Do you think “Christianly”? Do you live “Christianly”? Would you live the same way if you were a missionary in Thailand or in the Congo in Africa, or in China? How would your surroundings affect your thinking? Would you be more aware of you lack of food and water, “normal food and clean water”? Where would your “American” thinking be then? What is “normal” anyway?
Does normal depend on location and culture? I think it does. Thus, should the gospel become “normal” to fit the culture? As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans, “may it never be”.
So then, my question to ponder is this, “Is it Biblical or is it Cultural”? Can you find, in a hermeneutical sense, reasons for why you live the Gospel the way you do? Do not stretch to find a few verses to meet your needs and discard the other verses that oppose your selected viewing area. My next question is this, “What will the “church” allow to come into their midst and take up a place of importance?
My daughter just emailed me a web link from a good Christian organization about “The Emergent Church” and asked what I thought? I’d like you to meet her sometime. She’s a thinker, she’s a studier of the Bible and she loves her dad. Anyway, I told her, The Emergent church is nothing new, it is just “repackaged” for the 21st century, and straight out of hell. If you’re not familiar… it’s a come as you are and we will not judge you, you’re just as good as we are and “I’m OK and so are you”. Yes, Jesus is cool, but we aren’t going to make you follow our beliefs or make you feel uncomfortable.
Back to my point… Is that thinking, “Biblical or Cultural”? From where I sit, it is not Biblical. Then there’s “tolerance”. Well, didn’t Jesus teach tolerance? With statements like, “I Am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by Me”. I say, no, He did not teach tolerance. Why do you think the middle-east has been torn apart for thousands of years? Why don’t the Muslim’s tolerate the Jews? Everyone asks the Jews to tolerate the “Palestinians’” and the Muslims, why does tolerance not work both directions?
Back to the Church….
I have a quiz I like to have people take which asks the question, “Is it Biblical or is it Cultural”? This quiz has about thirty questions. It has some silly questions like, Should the carpet in the sanctuary only be red? Try asking that question in a little village in a remote part of Africa that has dirt floors and a thatched roof. But some of the questions are ones that most Christian should not have trouble with answering, “Biblical”. Yet some miss those questions. Why???
1. They don’t know (read) the Bible to begin with
2. They have never been taught that they are responsible for their own growth.
3. They have been caught up in the rhetoric of easy believe’ism.
4. They have believed that they are Americans and the “bad stuff” is for those other people.
5. They have bought into the “American Dream in the American Church” syndrome.
6. They have never encountered the true Jesus of the Bible. The one who was a bloody mess from the beating. The one who hung on the cross in agony.
The American Dream has crept into the church and has distorted the True Gospel. In II Thessalonians 2:1-3, Paul tells it like this, “Now we request of you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not quickly be shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by spirit or a message or a letter as if from us that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy (falling away) comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction”. The types of things mentioned above are just a few examples of that apostasy and the process by which the gospel has been altered. I could never understand how or why people could “walk away from Jesus”, but now I see more clearly that they never really “knew” Him. And this will remain one of the mysteries of the Bible, one of the things that only God knows; did they or didn’t they… but what if… I think they… they said… they came to church all the time…. But only God knows the heart of a man, and He will judge him rightly.
So then, have you been on the slippery path of the “Americanized Gospel”? Or, are you staying true to the Bible and its true teachings? Does a little buzzer go off in your head when you hear a Pastor or Preacher talk about the best way for you to become prosperous? If you’re sick and you Pastor tells you it’s your fault and if you only had enough faith, you wouldn’t be sick. Do you believe him?
I’m looking for someone to tell me how to become more like Jesus. How about you?
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
reskew@aol.com
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