25th of February, 2016

H,

I think it goes back to when we looked at proverbs 4 and what wisdom means. If we are to begin to think and talk and pray about our path in showing, through consummate lives of worship, the glory of the impending kingdom then we must begin with yielding to all things we do not yet know. It is not inertia to stand in the light “as He is in the light”. It is wisdom. The paths we will be led on, that very individual and spiritual land God gives to every disciple and apostle to walk toward and work on as a life journey, will overwhelm our human senses. We cannot hope to make a dent by ourselves. The first reaction will always be doubt and fear. It is supposed to break something in us but only because those places are already too fragile. It is supposed to build something stronger in their place.

We need to understand the path of humility because otherwise we might think our way into an idea that God wants another mega Church or wonder Bank for the gospel. These are things He dismissed millennia ago. He is not trying to be popular for the sake of empty praise. He is building an eternal house in Himself for all souls.

This is how we know the depth of the thing we are involved in. The height of it is in God and the depth of it is the time we spend in His light. We cannot hope to hit any of that height focused on raw ambition or mere self-belief. A man or woman may build an empire on the earth through sheer will, self-belief and persistence. That is a given. That is happening and has happened through the ages. What he or she cannot possibly do in this way is to build a house that will last forever. This is the part and path of human existence that starts and ends with wisdom. This is the victory that is us in worship before our God.

23rd of February, 2016

H,

There has to be a practical side to our approach to God. I do not mean that we get practical about it or that we can attain it by effort. I mean that it has to speak to all of reality and not just a part of it. In bringing the spirit back to life, the gospel must have some real things to say on how we survive and thrive in this plain before the other plain of glory. There is a huge part of it that tells us to simply stay the course and encounter the latter glory. There is also a huge part of it that tells us that a light begins in the dark and there must be witnesses to the life to come in the bent out of shape life of now.

There has to be an answer for the pain of now besides “bear it”. Can a child be expected to bear hunger and want and violence of all kinds? Is there not a light that can shine upon these events and speak to them the message of peace to the victims and strength to the oppressors? It is not a gospel of consolation but of utter reality that speaks of an impending kingdom and a glorious king over all.

I keep thinking of that means for the here and the now. I want to make my way through the fear and doubt of what acts can mean to something real. An answer for the fool of hatred, death, oppression, greed, poverty, loss, hopelessness, hunger, indifference and endless emptiness. This holy gospel must speak to the whole man and not in the sense of the varied excuses for conferences and preaching events of our Church system. We have surely had enough of “manifestation” conferences and “takeover” seminars.

 Even a cursory look at the bible will show that when Jesus came to change the whole nature of reality and become king of kings He did not go to the palace but to the pauper. He was not adorned in white but in the brown dust of the commoner. He did not wear a bespoke suit or curl his hair or have some compressed foreign accent. He did not start consulting with Pontius Pilate or Herod on how to deliver gains to the people using “Christian Principles”. He did not sit back and ignore suffering but he did not exploit victims by telling them tithes and offerings were the key out of the slavery of a failing nation-state. He told them: “The kingdom of God is at hand!”

We will do well to begin to think and pray and read all over again what that must mean in our time and space.

19th of February, 2016

Romans 14

H,

That is a point worth looking at. We belong to each other but none is lord over the other. There is love and there is service but there is also manipulation and unhealthy forms of control. There is no lordship but Christ and that is following His life and words not His ‘disciples’. Why would one disciple follow another? There is no place for the removal of human dignity to serve the cause of one who is human but slightly deluded in thinking he is more ‘gifted’ and called to ‘lead’. For to lead in God is to serve others in love. All gifts are temporary and will pass on when that time comes where love is complete and God is again near His creation. Gifts are to serve. It is better to give than to receive. We must not make despots of mere men. We must not allow idiocy reign as pastoring. There is no example in scripture of the sort of nonsense that passes for ‘pastoral care’ and ‘prophetic offering’ in our day. We have taken loose passages from the Bible and not tied them in with the whole message. That is always a mistake.

We all have to be careful not to think that one opinion holds water over the other. Everything in the light is of value. The dark merely obscures, it does not create anything. Christ Himself allowed people He did not know and did not disciple work in His name. His opinion was that no one could proclaim His lordship except inspired by God. No one else would. There is more than one way on this narrow road. This does not mean that anything goes. It means that, first, none of us is qualified enough to judge the other on their personal walk with God and, second, we are called to the same table not to be uniform in ideas or looks or paths or pathos or manner but in submission to the lordship of Christ over all our lives. This means that when we believe He is leading us somewhere we should walk that road regardless of the chorus of even reasonable voices around us. And also when someone else feels led in that way, even when we do not understand it, we should say what is encouraging and uplifting and hold our serpent tongue in check. Does this all sound too free and loose? This is the real gospel that ate and drank and healed on the Sabbath. That gave grace and love above law and did not respect religion but came to show love and give hope and establish faith. If there is a correction to be made it has to be said in love. If we are led to correct we have to pray for the grace to do it well. Yet, this is not a cult and we are not the figure in it. Freedom is the thing. God is in charge of His people. We all serve Him in absolute humility and equality with each other.

It is hard to not want control. It is hard to yield to the control of others. How about we do neither? How about serving each other in love and worshipping God? This is the raw and real honesty that will always lead us back to truth.