Guess Who?

He calls himself:
“God’s representative on earth.”

He calls himself:
The “Head of the Church.”

He calls himself:
The Vicar of Christ, one who stands vicariously in the place of Christ.

He calls himself:
“Holy Father.”

Guess who does this unholy act?

Unless you’re Roman Catholic you might think that God’s representative on earth is Messiah, Jesus the Christ.

Unless you’re Roman Catholic you might think that the “Head of the Church” is a title reserved for Christ.

Unless you’re a Roman Catholic you might think The Vicar of Christ, the one who stands vicariously in the place of Christ is a title solely reserved for the Holy Spirit.

Unless you’re a Roman Catholic you might think you should agree with Jesus when He said that no one should allow himself to be called Holy Father since that name applies ONLY to God the Father.

All these titles the Pope willingly takes upon himself. The Pope actually accepts and encourages people calling him Holy Father and millions of faithful disobey Jesus in order to obey their earthly prince. The Bible says there is no other head of the Church than Jesus Christ and Rome says “No. It is the Pope,” which makes the Pope the very embodiment of anti Christ.

What Sacrifice?

Many have heard the sales line, “What do I have to do to put you into this vehicle?” The question implies that the salesperson is willing to make a sacrifice to make the sale and from the buyers position s/he’s thinking, “How much more do I have to give to get what I want?”

This is nothing like the deal that Jesus offers. It’s described variously as:
. Selling everything you own to gain a field in which is buried an enormous treasure.
. Selling everything you own to gain the world’s most valuable jewel

The self-denial that Jesus speaks of is real enough. However, when compared to what we get in return Paul speaks of the sorrow and loss and tragedy that comes with this life as, “Our light and momentary troubles.” And Peter says the salvation of our souls allows us to encounter any sacrifice while “greatly rejoicing, with joy unspeakable and full of glory” 1 Peter 1:8. James says, “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds . .” James 1:2.

Sadly, satan is a master salesman. In answer to the question that opened this post, all he has to offer is illicit sex, the promise of greed fulfilled, power and position and what passes for “love” in the pagan world. He does that and people say to themselves (to use a description of C. S. Lewis), “Why would I go to a Pacific Island paradise when I could have a mud puddle in an back ally now?”

Jesus says He’ll take our obsessive thoughts, our neuroses, our shame and fear and rage and real guilt and give in return love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control and forgiveness from real guilt.

Remarkably, people walk away from that deal.

Jesus sacrificed everything so that we need sacrifice next to nothing, and in return He’ll give us paradise. Just how dumb does someone have to be to turn down an offer like that?

Sacrifice? What Sacrifice?

Here’s Why Christianity Is Not Real

The apostle Paul takes the most important part of Christianity and says, if this is not real, if this didn’t happen then all of Christianity is false.
You know why Paul didn’t mind making that claim? Because he knew, beyond a shadow of doubt that the resurrection did happen. And then he lists over 500 OTHER people who, with their own eyes saw Jesus alive after He was crucified and buried and he says, “If you don’t believe me, go and ask them. Most of them are still alive.”

The resurrection took place right there in Jerusalem, the site of Jesus’ murder.

. The tomb was empty.
. The disciples came out of 40+ days of hiding and boldly proclaimed what they saw.
. The sceptic and brother of Jesus, as did Jesus whole family became followers and worshippers of Jesus as Lord and Messiah.
. The sceptic and Christian killer, Paul became a follower of Jesus.
. The Christian Church was born.

All of this because of the factual reality of the resurrection.

These people, including Jesus’ brothers and sisters and mother, His closest followers plus several hundred others were so certain that they saw Jesus, listened to Jesus, hugged Jesus and ate with Jesus, that they went to their deaths, refusing to recant their claim that Jesus the Christ was risen indeed.

Atheists would like you to believe that all religions are basically the same. This is simply not true and Christianity is the reason why.

Using historical / forensic science we can KNOW that Christianity is true. Christianity is completely unlike other religions because unlike other religions Christianity is anchored in history.

From Loser to Conqueror

What a journey! This Christian walk involves:
. Giving up control to be in command.
. Gaining life by dying to self
. Gaining strength by giving away power
It all starts with becoming a conqueror through surrender.

Of course surrendering our will to Creator God only makes sense. Not because there’s no point in resisting. Our Creator WILL allow us to resist. He will never force His will on us. Rather, it makes sense to surrender because He created us. Our Creator - our manufacturer - knows how we function the best.

At first this surrender only means being willing to be willing to surrender. This is usually a pretty ragged stage of living as we still mostly do what we want and ask God to bless our choices. Many people never move beyond this stage and this is what the world sees as hypocritical Christianity. Still, just allowing that God is more than theoretical is a big step. Allowing God to share the seat of power (our will) with us is huge! I mean, most people aren’t willing to make even this minimal step of obedience. Instead they stumble through life grumbling against God for not making their lives easier.

For those of us who have taken this minimal step of surrender, experiencing the consistent goodness of God leads us to give up more and more control until we reach a point where only pockets of selfish resistence remain. I’m reminded of the supposedly humorous line, “The last thing to get saved on most Christians is their right foot,” referring to the tendency of some fairly mature Christians to still justify breaking the speed limit. Nevertheless, being fully (or as fully as we get this side of eternity) surrendered to God is truly a wonderful place to live. Trusting God, not in theory but in fact brings a deep peace and joy that simply cannot be shaken by life’s circumstance.

People at this stage are now at a point where suffering, loss, tragedy and pain are clearly seen as being used by God for our good, His glory and the furthering of His kingdom.

In this stage we can identify with the apostle Paul as he says, “Therefore I REJOICE in suffering, in illness, in loss” etc. etc. etc.. Regardless of whether God has allowed or caused the difficulty to enter our lives (the result is the same) people in this stage know beyond doubt that it will work out for good. Nothing that life can dish out has the power to harm the essential self.

“Some of you will be killed but not a hair on your head will be harmed.”

Do you get that?

Nothing in life has the power to destroy our balance, our peace, our joy, our love for God, or from God. When we come to an intimate relationship with Jesus, our soul is secure.

. Pain no longer has the power to turn to bitterness.
. Rejection no longer has the power to turn to rage.
. Loss no longer has the power to take away hope.

Because of this, a state of profound contentment sets in. “I have learned the secret of contentment in all situations,” is something that Christians in this stage can say with Paul.

C. S. Lewis said once, “If you hear or read something that the Bible has said that just doesn’t resonate with your experience, wait, keeping growing in your relationship with Jesus and you will come to know what those words mean.” In this stage we no longer need what we don’t have. We don’t long for that which is being withheld from us. We have enough. I’ve sometimes rejoiced in how I’m richer than the Donald Trumps of the world. I know that I’m richer because I have enough and they don’t.

Contentment brings an assurance that God will always do right by us. Here is what we know - for a fact. God is sovereign, God is love, God is fair and just and incapable of doing to us arbitrary, capricious and callous harm. Events in our lives DO NOT change or determine the facts of God’s character.

Because of this we can embrace our circumstances. We have gone from semi willing observers of God’s working in our lives to active participants. We grab hold of Jesus’ hand and with eyes wide open and chest bared to the blast we step into life with enthusiasm and joy. Circumstance cannot bring fear. Threats by those who hate God are like flicking lint off of our shoulder. We are conquerors - no more than conquerors - secure in the knowledge that “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

. I am actively involved in God’s work though the script is entirely His.
. I can give of myself, my time, my money though the love is entirely His.
. I am powerful beyond my wildest dreams though the strength is entirely His.
. I have been brought from death to life, from doom to glory, from loser to conqueror.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

What’s Driving You? (3)

Most have heard the phrase, “He’s so heavenly minded, he’s of no earthly good.” So rare is someone like that, that I’ve not met even one. Not in my whole life. In fact, it’s been my experience that the more heavenly minded a person has been, the more crucial they’ve found it to be focussed on the needs of earth. Let me give you an example.

On the weekend Wendy and I attended a workshop on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. That’s a long term to describe the brain damage that occurs to the pre born child when the woman drinks alcohol while pregnant. Six of our seven adopted children have been affected by this tragedy. Hundreds of parents and grandparents were at this conference. Most were, like us, people who had adopted children with FASD. Some were mothers who too late realised that they had damaged their children by drinking while pregnant. Virtually all were people who loved the Lord; we were a huge room filled with heavenly minded people. All who spoke at some point during the weekend gave God’s love for them as the reason for sharing their love with disabled children. There were three characteristics of these heavenly minded people that stood out at this conference:
Love;
Joy;
Peace.


This post has to do with Peace:
Fetal Alcohol brain damage is devastating. There is no treatment, no recovery, no cure, no growing out of it. This is organic brain damage that alters a person’s ability to cope on so many levels. One of the greatest areas of damage is the inability or diminished ability to learn from mistakes. It’s been estimated that 75-80% of our prison population is made up of people with Fetal Alcohol Brain Damage.

Caring for these children - and they remain children despite their chronological age (eg. Our 33-year-old daughter behaves like a 14-year-old and that is who she will always be) is a challenge to say the least. Yet to listen to the parents at this conference there was an all pervading sense of peace that was heard throughout the weekend. My own comment was that, “I have peace because I trust in God, not a theoretical trust but in reality.”

“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mt. Zion; unmoved by any circumstance.”

God has rescued all of these children from homes where drug addiction, neglect, physical and emotional abuse were the norm. He is not going to do that and then just leave them hanging. I’ll preempt atheists right here who will say, “But He didn’t rescue them from FASD did He?” You have to understand, this kind of comment comes from people who cannot envision “good” unless it is absent pain, suffering and loss. Hyper allergic to pain, atheists cannot see any good in anything unless it comes packaged in pleasure. We, and not God invited evil into the universe. Rather than making Himself absent from the consequences of our decision, rather than remaining aloof to suffering, God took His own medicine. He came into this world to use suffering for a much, much greater good. In fact, our Creator has used evil itself to bring about its own defeat - not its destruction but its defeat.

“Will not God, who did not spare His own Son, also give us everything that we need?”

We can release our loved ones to His care knowing without doubt that He has their best interests in mind. We can have peace knowing that we can love without needing to be loved in return. We can give of our time, our money, our emotions, our selves not needing a reciprocation of those efforts on the part of those to whom we are showing love.

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are fixed on You oh Lord.”

satan roams around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. And what does a lion look for? For the weak, the lame, the damaged. There are few more vulnerable to evil attack than children damaged by their mother’s alcohol use. Our children’s lives are precarious at best. Many fall and fall hard and yet the parents that we met had about them a peace, an ease of life, a joy and a love that truly is supernatural. That is why we can abide by these words, “Do not be anxious about anything (be at peace) but in everything, by prayer and petition and with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and if you do this, the peace of God which is beyond human comprehension will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

The workshop that we attended had become a community of people who were able to experience peace in the fullest sense of the word. This, not of our own ability or will but peace as a gift of Creator God.

What’s Driving You? (2)

Most have heard the phrase, “He’s so heavenly minded, he’s of no earthly good.” So rare is someone like that, that I haven’t met even one. Not in my whole life. In fact, it’s been my experience that the more heavenly minded a person has been, the more crucial they’ve found it to be focussed on the needs of earth. Let me give you an example.

On the weekend Wendy and I attended a workshop on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. That’s a long term to describe the brain damage that occurs to the pre born child when the woman drinks alcohol while pregnant. Six of our seven adopted children have been affected by this tragedy. Hundreds of parents and grandparents were at this conference. Most were, like us, people who had adopted children with FASD. Some were mothers who too late realised that they had damaged their children by drinking while pregnant. Virtually all were people who loved the Lord; we were a huge room filled with heavenly minded people. All who spoke at some point during the weekend gave God’s love for them as the reason for sharing their love with disabled children. There were three characteristics of these heavenly minded people that stood out at this conference:
Love;
Joy;
Peace.

This post has to do with Joy:
To know love is to know joy. To know joy is to know a deep sense of well-being despite circumstance. The secular, pagan world knows something of pleasure which is tied to pleasure inducing circumstances. Pleasure can be found in a good movie, an intriguing book, an interesting relationship and good mood altering drugs. Pleasure to the pagan world means the absence of pain or illness or loss. Joy and uniquely the joy from the Lord is present in the midst of pain and illness and loss and suffering and tragedy. Joy, the kind that comes to us from Jesus is something that cannot be taken away by life’s events.

The love that comes from God, a self-sacrificing love, comes from a base of joy. This joy is based in the knowledge that all things, even a brain damaged child will most assuredly work together for the good of those who love God and who have been called according to His purpose. Even when explaining His immanent crucifixion to His disciples, Jesus was able to say, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

Since coming to know Jesus my joy has been made complete, in fact, “the joy of the Lord is my strength.” Through years of physical and sexual abuse, the death of a child, almost five decades of crippling arthritis, cancer and major operations, a base of unshakable joy has been mine. “I have learned the secret of contentment in all circumstances” voiced Paul, and all those who have come into an intimate, healed and forgiven relationship with Jesus know what he’s talking about. That is why Paul can entreat us to, “Rejoice in the Lord always.”

The workshop that we attended had become a community of people who were able to experience joy in the fullest sense of the word. This, not of our own ability or will but joy as a gift of Creator God.

What’s Driving You?

Most have heard the phrase, “He’s so heavenly minded, he’s of no earthly good.” So rare is someone like that, that I’ve not met one. Not in my whole life. In fact, it’s been my experience that the more heavenly minded a person has been, the more crucial they’ve found the needs of earth. Let me give you an example.

On the weekend Wendy and I attended a workshop on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. That’s a long term to describe the brain damage that occurs to the pre born child when the woman drinks alcohol while pregnant. Six of our seven adopted children have been affected by this tragedy. Hundreds of parents and grandparents were at this conference. Most were, like us, people who had adopted children with FASD. Some were mothers who too late realised that they had damaged their children by drinking while pregnant. Virtually all were people who loved the Lord; we were a huge room filled with heavenly minded people. All who spoke at some point during the weekend gave God’s love for them as the reason for sharing their love with disabled children. There were three characteristics of these heavenly minded people that stood out at this conference:
Love;
Joy;
Peace.

This post has to do with Love:
Living immersed in God’s grace cannot help but lead to experiencing and absorbing a sense of love. The kind of love that I’m talking about here is the willed, volitional, desire to do good to someone else regardless of whether or not that love is returned. This is the love of God for us. See 1st Corinthians 13 for a fuller definition of love as understood from a Biblical perspective.

Now of course, the secular world, the pagan world is forever writing about and singing about and producing movies about their vision of love. Love for the pagan is very closely related to desire. If you’re experiencing a constant craving, longing and desire for someone, that is love to the secular world. Other telltale signs of love for the secular person are possessive controlling behaviours which are closely related to the greed / need / lust combination. Love as demonstrated by our secular leaders is jealous and focused on ‘can you make me feel good’. It is exactly this mind-set that causes homosexuals of both genders to think that a “love” relationship with each other is more important than an obedient relationship with their Creator. Of course love in the pagan world is equated with sex where men use “love” to get sex and women use sex to get what feels to them like love. Most of all, true love to the pagan is based on impulse and preferably ignores self-control.

Not so from the Biblical perspective. Love, from a Biblical perspective is not self-seeking.

Desire is self-seeking.
Lust is self-seeking.
Pride is self-seeking.
Personal offense is self-seeking

Not so, love.
God is love.
For God so loved the world that He gave . . .”

Like God, real love is not part of our natural world. What is natural to our world is “the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one's own resources or in the stability of earthly things]--these do not come from the Father but are from the world itself.” 1st John 2:16

“All ya need is love,” was correctly sung by a rock band several decades ago. While they got that part right, they could not pull it off because love is not a natural part of who we are. Oh sure, we can love those who love us but what good is that? Our world needs a populace who can “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute you.”

Without that, not even babies in their mother’s wombs are safe from violence. Without love, FASD occurs. Without love, fetal alcohol afflicted children, literally unable to learn from mistakes, remain rejects who rotate through the criminal justice system until the day they die.

Thank God for the heavenly minded. Thank God for love, for love comes from God. Only His love for us allows us to truly love others. We can give a love to those who, due to brain damage are seldom able to even appreciate, let alone reciprocate that love.

The workshop that we attended had become a community of people who were able to love in the fullest sense of the word. This, not of our own ability or will, but love as a gift of Creator God.