There is an old saying “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” which means if you drop your basket, you will likely lose all of your eggs at the same time. What humanity has done with the internet is similar. It’s not simply a source to find information anymore. It’s how we watch TV, Watch movies, listen to music, have conversations, go shopping, take pictures, take videos, get directions, book vacations, perform our work, perform our schooling, do research and pretty much everything in between. When we willingly place all of our trust in something other than God, that is idolatry. We are putting all of our eggs in one basket here and if we don’t start to turn things around quickly, that basket (The internet) is going to fall to the ground and our entire lives will be in pieces because we put our trust in a created thing, instead of the creator of all things. So I encourage you to think about this, maybe pull out the old books, CDs and DVDs from the basement or antic. Try to separate things. In the end it will be well worth it to once again see children listening to CDs, reading books, doing things other than looking at their phones. We have to try.
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
Monday, July 6, 2015
The Philippines
Sometimes people ask me why I've decided to live in the Philippines. It's really something that is really hard to describe. Often times people from all over the world visit the Philippines and they are not affected by the country the way I have been because westerners will almost always visit westernized tourist resorts or resort cities, places that are built and designed to cater to the western culture. So they might visit the Philippines yearly but they never really experience the real Philippines. Sure there are bad things about the country, but this is the case with every country, right? But what has affected me more than anything is that in America we are often so obsessed with things and statues. Even when we are not successful or wealthy we bury ourselves in debt in order to Keep up with the Joneses. We are so obsessed with what other people think of us, how we project ourselves to others. In the Philippines everything is so simple, things are clearer, there are much fewer fakes. People are what they appear to be. Of course there are always exceptions to this but the vast majority of people are who they appear to be, for good or for bad you know who they are. There are not all of these facades to hide who they are. When people are worried about where their next meal is coming from, they tend not to think or care much for what the neighbors think.The simplicity of life, without all of the pretension, this is what really inspires me here. Growing up in America I heard about different ways of life, I heard about people that left the comforts of life to live abroad, I heard about the people traveling to the ends of the world to spread the love of Christ. I heard about these things but here I see these things, I experience these things. There is such a HUGE difference between hearing a report of missionaries in the field during Sunday service, and traveling out into the jungle to a beautiful Ranch style orphanage and seeing it first hand, hosting a dinner for the children, interacting with some beautiful giving people. Coming from a country where everything is about “Me” “what do I get out of it” it's such a beautiful thing to see people who place HIM above “the mighty I”, who place the children above themselves. Come visit the “real” Philippines and maybe you can better understand why I have stayed here. Check out this video of some of these wonderful people.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Life without Church
I
think we find it so hard to give up Church not just because of
tradition, though that is a major factor, but because Church has
become our spiritual measuring stick. We determine our level of
spirituality based on how often we go to Church, how many Church
activities we are involved in, how much money we give to the Church.
Without that institution to measure ourselves against, we feel lost
and devoid of direction. So how do we measure our level of
spirituality without the Church? Well, that would require study,
seeking God, prayer and solid leaders as our examples. You see, it
actually requires you to do more than to just check off your little
Church duties to determine your spirituality. Now it's just like –
Sunday service=check..., midweek Bible study=check... music
practice=check... Oh, that means I'm a three out of ten. Maybe next
time I can add children's ministry and Sunday night service and then
I'll be a five, wow, I'll be half way there.
Without
Church, how do we assemble? Our daily interactions with friends,
family and neighbors becomes our assembling together. What does this
mean for us? It means no more gossiping with the neighbors, no back
biting with your sibling. It means that evening with the guys needs
to be talking about Jesus and not getting drunk. It means that
weekend party needs to be filled with worship, not gambling. It means
no more special day or special place where we play nice, it means
that being a Christian doesn't begin on Sunday morning and end on
Sunday night. I think this scares us. If there is no start and there
is no finish, then that means we REALLY have to follow through, we
REALLY have to commit, we REALLY have to believe, we can't just fake
it anymore.
When
I say no more Church, I mean no more Church as we know it. I believe
in assembling, I just think that it should be considered “assembling”
every time we are with our family, friends and neighbors, not in
a building on Sunday. I still believe in Leaders like Pastors and
Teachers, I just don't believe in the “Office” of Pastor that
comes from tradition. I think the leaders should be going to the
body, teaching, leading, counseling and conducting Bible studies
where the body is, not standing behind a pulpit on a stage on Sunday
expecting everyone to come to them. I still believe in Elders, I just
don't believe in the elders as some kind of a comity to decide
whether or not to pave the parking lot this year, or if we should
start using LED light bulbs or not. I think that the elders should be
considered any member of the body who is spiritually matured, has
great wisdom. Someone that we can go to for sound Biblical advice.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Forgiveness
I am writing this post to address an issue that I have found to be
somewhat disturbing here in the Philippines. People inside the
Church here seem to be under the impression that forgiveness means
to pretend that nothing happened and to hide your feelings about the
problem at hand. First let me say I think there are two kinds of forgiveness,
forgiving our enemies, and forgiving our brothers and sisters.As for forgiving
our enemies, we forgive them even though they don't ask for forgiveness.
If someone is currently your enemy, it stands to reason that they have not
repented of their evil acts against you so we must assume that when Jesus says
to forgive your enemies that he was saying to forgive them without their
repentance.The second kind of forgiveness, however, is very different.
Forgiveness between brothers and sisters (the body of Christ) MUST come
with rebuke and correction. We have all sinned and fall short of His glory, but
we as the body of Christ are on a road of correction and transformation so when
we sin against one of our brothers or sisters, it is not just the right of the offended
party to rebuke that action, it is their responsibility as a member of the body of
Christ to do so.
“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you,
you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two
more with you, so that by the moth of two or three witnesses every fact may
be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the Assembly of believers;
and if he refuses to listen even to the Assembly of believers, let him be to you as
a Gentile and a tax collector."
Matthew 18:15-17
Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive
him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven
times, saying, ‘I repent, forgive him.”
Luke 17:3
Do either of these passages say that if someone sins against you that
you pretend that it never happened? No, it says "Show him his fault"
and "Rebuke him". This is how we learn. how we grow. We must
always be corrected when we make a mistake or else maybe we will
never even realize that an offense was even done. Holding in our feelings
and pretending that nothing happened is actually the worst thing for
everyone involved. The person who was offended is still hurt by what
happened and the person who offended is not even corrected on his
or her mistake. If we truly want to grow in Christ then forgiveness
within the body MUST come with rebuke and correction.
somewhat disturbing here in the Philippines. People inside the
Church here seem to be under the impression that forgiveness means
to pretend that nothing happened and to hide your feelings about the
problem at hand. First let me say I think there are two kinds of forgiveness,
forgiving our enemies, and forgiving our brothers and sisters.As for forgiving
our enemies, we forgive them even though they don't ask for forgiveness.
If someone is currently your enemy, it stands to reason that they have not
repented of their evil acts against you so we must assume that when Jesus says
to forgive your enemies that he was saying to forgive them without their
repentance.The second kind of forgiveness, however, is very different.
Forgiveness between brothers and sisters (the body of Christ) MUST come
with rebuke and correction. We have all sinned and fall short of His glory, but
we as the body of Christ are on a road of correction and transformation so when
we sin against one of our brothers or sisters, it is not just the right of the offended
party to rebuke that action, it is their responsibility as a member of the body of
Christ to do so.
“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you,
you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two
more with you, so that by the moth of two or three witnesses every fact may
be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the Assembly of believers;
and if he refuses to listen even to the Assembly of believers, let him be to you as
a Gentile and a tax collector."
Matthew 18:15-17
Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive
him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven
times, saying, ‘I repent, forgive him.”
Luke 17:3
Do either of these passages say that if someone sins against you that
you pretend that it never happened? No, it says "Show him his fault"
and "Rebuke him". This is how we learn. how we grow. We must
always be corrected when we make a mistake or else maybe we will
never even realize that an offense was even done. Holding in our feelings
and pretending that nothing happened is actually the worst thing for
everyone involved. The person who was offended is still hurt by what
happened and the person who offended is not even corrected on his
or her mistake. If we truly want to grow in Christ then forgiveness
within the body MUST come with rebuke and correction.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
The Shadow and the Fire
A
while back I started working on my own translation of the New
Testament. My original idea was to fully translate all the words in
the Bible that have been left untranslated. As I began I started
running into an increasing amount of words that even though they were
translated into English properly, the English word had it's original
meaning destroyed by religious tradition. So in these cases I decided
to describe the meaning of the word instead of using the word itself.
But then I ran into this scripture and as always it stumped me and I
couldn't continue until I figured out what it meant.
"Do
not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have
not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17
So,
my problem here was the word “Fulfill”. The Greek word is a very
open word that can lead to several different conclusions. The English
word is a little more limited but again it can have a few different
meanings. So I wanted to read the thoughts of some Jewish Christians
on this scripture. The web sites I had checked out before really
stressed the Hebrew meanings to words even in the New Testament and
they really always seemed to attack the people who also look at the
Greek meanings. But in this case I was really surprised, they all
seemed to universally
be talking about the Greek word for fulfill. This made me very
suspicious especially because there is a Hebrew book of Matthew that
they were all sold out on as the “original”. So I decided to look
up the Hebrew word for fulfill and then I understood why they seemed
to be steering away from that. The Hebrew word seems to have a very
limited and clear meaning, it pretty much means to end. But this
wouldn't make much since. So Jesus is saying “I didn't come to
abolish the law, I came to end it”? This doesn't make any since to
me and therefore I have to assume that Matthew was originally written
in Greek. So now I just had to figure out which meaning to this Greek
word applied to this scripture.
Then
I came across this scripture and it got me thinking....
Therefore
do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard
to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality,
however, is found in Christ. Colo 2:16-17
What
is a shadow? Literally it means “a dark figure or image cast on
the ground or some surface by an object intercepting light.” But
some other meanings of the word include “a hint or faint,
indistinct image or idea” - “outward aspect” - “a likeness,
image, or copy.” - “exterior aspect” - a hint or suggestion”
So
in other words Paul is saying that the eating restrictions and the
sabbath day, both of which are a part of the law, are a physical act
that represents a spiritual reality that we find in Christ. Another
example of this is found in baptism....
"I
baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is
more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:11
John
is in essence saying that water baptism is the shadow, the physical
representation of the Baptism of Christ which is the fire.
So
then in my study I came across this group of passages from the book
of Hebrews which I found to be very helpful to my understanding of
this topic
See
to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful,
unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage
one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none
of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to
share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to
the very end. As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Who were
they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of
Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with
those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to
whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to
those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter,
because of their unbelief.
Therefore,
since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be
careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we
also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but
the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not
share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter
that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my
anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.” And yet his works have
been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has
spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day
God rested from all his works.”And again in the passage above he
says, “They shall never enter my rest.”
Therefore
since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those
who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in
because of their disobedience, God again set a certain day, calling
it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through
David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his
voice, do not harden your hearts.”
For
if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about
another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of
God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,
just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to
enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their
example of disobedience.
Hebrews
3
So
here we see the writer of Hebrews describing one of the central
elements of the law, the sabbath day as a shadow, a physical
representation of the rest we find in Christ. This rest was offered
to the people of Israel in the times of Moses but because of their
unbelief, they could not enter into God's rest and so a day was set
aside as the Sabbath day of rest . But now in Christ we can enter
that rest...
“Come
unto me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest”
We can
argue all we want as to what day the
Sabbath day is
but we would be missing the point. A
day was selected because their unbelief prevented them from
experiencing the real rest of God. So now armed with these scriptures
I went back to my original scripture confident in how to translate
the word fulfill..... Some say the word means to end, others say it
means to complete, and yet others say it means to properly live
out.... but in the context of these scriptures I firmly believe that
proper translation for that word would be “bring
to realization” because He was bringing the physical acts of the
law into spiritual reality. The Sabbath day becomes the rest we find
in Christ. The diet restrictions that were in place to separate God's
people from the world, becomes the true spiritual separation from the
world we find in Christ. The tabernacle/temple, the place where God
lives becomes us. Point by point, law by law, Jesus brought all of
these physical representative acts and made them spiritual reality.
In
other words Jesus
turned the shadow into the fire. When we focus only on the shadow
it's kind of like a parent who gives his child a picture of his dream
car with all of the details written down on it. From the engine to
the tires every detail of that car is there on the picture and the
Dad tells him “I'll buy that car for you on your 18th
birthday”. As the years go by the child looks and looks at that
picture and memorizes every detail and every spec of that car
dreaming of the day that the car is his but when his 18th
birthday comes around and his Dad hands him the keys to the car, He
would rather keep looking at the picture instead of going for a
drive. The law is the picture with all the details and specs, the
cross is the key, the car is the reality of that picture. Do we just
throw away the picture? No, we keep it
because
on the picture we have all of the details, all of the specs and we
always have to know what is under the hood. But we must not just
focus on the Picture, we actually have to take the car out for a
spin. The car is sitting in the driveway.....will you keep looking at
the picture, or go for a drive?
"Do
not think that I have come to get rid of the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to get rid of them but to bring them to realization.”
Matthew 5:17
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Losing faith in Church and gaining faith in Christ.
I,
like many others, made many assumptions about Christianity based on
human traditions. I always assumed that what we call “Church” was
in fact the Church of the Bible. Growing up seeing my father's
discontent at the Church system lead me to question certain things
about Church but never to question the entire institution. I thought
that maybe there were things that needed to be fixed or adjusted but
my faith in the system was never shaken.
When
I was 13 years old my family started to attend this Church and it had
such a profound impact on me that it made me look back at the
Churches that we had attended in the past and start to see and
understand how very far we have come from the Biblical Church. In
past Churches I would hear sermons about how “Church doesn't end on
Sunday”... but it always did end. But in this new Church I didn't
hear these lectures about Church not ending on Sunday....It just
didn't end on Sunday. In the Churches I had gone to in the past I
would hear sermons about the importance of having the Church be like
a family. They would create programs to try to encourage small groups
to bond together....But they never really did bond. At this new
Church there where no sermons about small groups, there where no
programs.... It just was a family. It was just so unforced,
unscripted and unplanned. Everything just happened so naturally. God
really impressed something on me during my time there that I never
really understood at the time. The more we try to plan, format,
micromanage, script our worship, the less God is involved.
With
this wonderful experience under my belt, boosting my expectations of
Church, my family moved on to another state. Once again we found a
Church and started to attend. It was nice enough but to be honest, it
felt a little boring compared to my last experience. Even though it
wasn't quite as exciting as my last experience, I really felt like
the people there were really caring. If you missed a Sunday service
they were always quick to call and make sure everything was alright
and if you where sick, they were always there to pray with you. At
one point the Church was having some financial troubles and so to
“educate” the congregation on the costs of the Church, they
released a detailed budget of every cost. When I read this budget I
was shocked, It seemed that every single person who did anything for
the Church was a paid employee. Those nice people that call you up if
you miss service to make sure you are okay, they are paid to do that.
The nice people that come visit you in the Hospital and pray for you,
they are paid to do that. I felt heart broken, what ever happened to
service, to sacrifice? What ever happened to doing something because
it was good or right? Was everything just business now? The examples
of Christianity I grew up with were people like my Grandparents. My
Grandpa who was a Baptist Pastor and my Grandma would often visit
sick people in the hospital, old people in the nursing homes and pray
for them, visit with them and sing to them. My Grandmother on the
other side of the family was involved with Meals on wheels where she
would cook and deliver meals to people who were too old or too sick
to cook for themselves. These where some of my examples and so this
version of “paid service” was just not compatible with my faith.
At that point I totally lost faith in the institution of Church and I
vowed to never go to Church again. I never lost faith in Christ but
all I could see was the disconnect between what we call Church, and
Christ.
Ten
years past and during that time I never set foot in a Church. But
eventually I did start attending a Church. It was nice and very
positive and uplifting but I just couldn't feel it in my spirit. I
felt like I wasn't being honest. I felt like I was going to Church
because I'm a Christian and that is what Christians do on Sunday. I
felt like I was just living a lie. So eventually I stopped going
there and went another four years without going to Church.
Then
I moved to the Philippines and got married and started to attend the
Church of my wife. At first I was intrigued, these people seemed more
focused on service without financial reward. They were more
interested in service than profit. They were very hands on in
everything they did. I was very interested and felt like maybe I had
found what I had been looking for for so long. I thought that these
desires for a true Church might have finally been fulfilled. BUT,
once again something happened. One Sunday my wife was supposed to
sing with the group on stage. We got to Church and the worship leader told my wife that she
needed to go home and change cloths if she wanted to sing on stage.
The issue, the dress she was wearing showed half an inch of her knee
and the rule is that it has to be below the knee. (Included is a picture of what she wore that day)Never mind that
just a couple of months earlier my wife had lost all of her cloths in
a horrible typhoon and she didn't have many cloths to choose from. No
compassion or understanding at all. I asked the Pastor over to the
house to discuss this situation. I told him our position and our
thoughts on the matter but he was totally unwilling to make any
concessions or exceptions to this rule, ever after explaining to him
that my wife's cloths had all been ruined and that she was slowly
trying to re-build her wardrobe. So I respectfully informed the
Pastor that we would no longer attend Church there but I told him
that there was no reason for any hard feeling with anyone and that I
hoped that the congregation would not condemn us for leaving. He
agreed and left. However within 24 hours many members of that Church
including the Pastors family started to publicly attack us and even
to question our salvation. Ridicules. After witnessing a total lack
of people willing to stand up on our behalf, I realized that while
the Church in the Philippines might not have the same problems that
it has in America, it definitely has its own problems.
I now found myself calling out to God with a burning desire on my heart, a desire for a better way. I was now at the point where I could actually ask myself and God “Is what we call Church even Biblical?” I started digging deep within the scriptures looking for any examples of what we call Church. First I went to the writings of Paul and I noticed that most of the time he will start off by saying “To the Church at....” After meditating on this for a while I was then lead to look up the meaning of the word Church. I found that it is actually an un-translated or not fully translated word. The meaning of the word actually translates to “The called out ones” or “The summoned”. But going even deeper the word at it's root has the meaning of being called from one place, to be gathered at another place. So, the first question is who are the called out ones? Well, the Believers and followers of Jesus “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord” 2 Corth 6:17. And then the second question, if we are the called out ones and this word means to be called from one place to another, what is the place we are being called to? This is where the split in opinions comes. Some would say that the called out ones are being called out to gather at Church ____ Let us explore this opinion quickly. While following this way of thinking we have literally created thousands of denominations, thousands of divisions. So what does the Bible say about divisions? “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” and also we see Paul talking more about this here “For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?” Sound familiar? I am a Baptist, I am a Methodist, I am Lutheran, I am a Catholic, I am none denominational..... It's the exact same thing now days, just with different names. If the called out ones are indeed being called out to gather as in a Church setting, then why did Paul tell the Church “not to forsake the assembling together” ? If the word Church means the assembling at Church, then wouldn't that be saying that the assembled people should assemble? That doesn't make much since to me.
So one road we have tried and it has lead us to division that the Bible so strongly opposes. So in essence the institution that we call Church, the white building with a Cross on top, with pews and a pulpit, with 4 song standing up and 3 song sitting down, with passing the collection plate, with a nice message for 40 min.... this entire format that we call Church never occurs in the Bible at all.
What is the other way, what is the alternative to Church? If we are not being called to Church then what are we being called to?
Consider this...“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. And also “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” To repent means to change your mind, to leave one way and go to another. So now it starts to become clearer, we are not being called to a building on Sunday, we are being called to Christ Himself, we are being called to turn from our life and submit to His life, this is what it truly means to be a “Called out one” But, as I pointed out earlier we are told to assemble together, so, how should these assemblies look?
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20. The assembling of the called out ones is nothing more than this verse states, two or three brothers and sisters coming together in Christ. We pray for each other, we study the Bible, we encourage each other, we worship God together. We don't need a pretty little building to do this, we don't need pews, we don't need a pulpit. All we need is a living room, a kitchen table to share a meal with friends, an extra chair to offer a neighbor. This way the Holy Spirit is free, completely free to do what He needs to. No time limits (20 min of worship time) no restrictions (35 min sermon) He sets the times and situations. Before you call me crazy, before you dismiss what I'm saying, look it up yourself, what we call Church doesn't exist in the Bible. The next time you read in the Bible try replacing the word “Church” with “Those who have been called to Christ.” Check out the examples below.
Acts 12:5 “So Peter was kept in prison, but those called to Christ where earnestly praying to God for him.”
Romans 16:4 “They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all of the Gentiles who have been called to Christ are grateful to them.”
1 Corth 5:12 “What business is it of mine to judge those outside of those called to Christ? Are you not to judge those inside?
You see how simply describing the meaning of the word instead of using the word itself changes the religiousness of these passages? It takes the emphasis off of the building or system and puts it on us, where it should be. The most poisonous phrase I can think of is “Lets go to Church” Because if you go to Church, then Church is a place for you and if it's a place for you, you've lost its true meaning. If you think this is an important subject that needs more thought and discussion, please forward this to your friends and family.
So one road we have tried and it has lead us to division that the Bible so strongly opposes. So in essence the institution that we call Church, the white building with a Cross on top, with pews and a pulpit, with 4 song standing up and 3 song sitting down, with passing the collection plate, with a nice message for 40 min.... this entire format that we call Church never occurs in the Bible at all.
What is the other way, what is the alternative to Church? If we are not being called to Church then what are we being called to?
Consider this...“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. And also “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” To repent means to change your mind, to leave one way and go to another. So now it starts to become clearer, we are not being called to a building on Sunday, we are being called to Christ Himself, we are being called to turn from our life and submit to His life, this is what it truly means to be a “Called out one” But, as I pointed out earlier we are told to assemble together, so, how should these assemblies look?
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20. The assembling of the called out ones is nothing more than this verse states, two or three brothers and sisters coming together in Christ. We pray for each other, we study the Bible, we encourage each other, we worship God together. We don't need a pretty little building to do this, we don't need pews, we don't need a pulpit. All we need is a living room, a kitchen table to share a meal with friends, an extra chair to offer a neighbor. This way the Holy Spirit is free, completely free to do what He needs to. No time limits (20 min of worship time) no restrictions (35 min sermon) He sets the times and situations. Before you call me crazy, before you dismiss what I'm saying, look it up yourself, what we call Church doesn't exist in the Bible. The next time you read in the Bible try replacing the word “Church” with “Those who have been called to Christ.” Check out the examples below.
Acts 12:5 “So Peter was kept in prison, but those called to Christ where earnestly praying to God for him.”
Romans 16:4 “They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all of the Gentiles who have been called to Christ are grateful to them.”
1 Corth 5:12 “What business is it of mine to judge those outside of those called to Christ? Are you not to judge those inside?
You see how simply describing the meaning of the word instead of using the word itself changes the religiousness of these passages? It takes the emphasis off of the building or system and puts it on us, where it should be. The most poisonous phrase I can think of is “Lets go to Church” Because if you go to Church, then Church is a place for you and if it's a place for you, you've lost its true meaning. If you think this is an important subject that needs more thought and discussion, please forward this to your friends and family.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
As Children
A
few months ago I felt God put these scriptures on my heart, I felt
like there was something in them that I had not heard or thought of
before....
Matthew
18:3
And
he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like
little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew
19:14
But
Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Don't stop them! For
the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children."
Mark
10:15
Truly
I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a
little child will never enter it."
I
think we have all heard the explanation in Church of this meaning
that we have to have the faith of a child. I'm not going against that
explanation, I just felt like God was telling me there was something
more to this. So I was meditating on these scriptures for a few days
and trying to think of some clever answer to this question when one
day as I was thinking about it I felt like I was Gibbs smacked on the
back of the head...
I
felt God saying “It's you, you came to believe when you were a
child. What did you know about me when you accepted me?” So, I
started trying to remember what I knew about God at that young age. I
knew “God is good, Satan is bad” I knew “Jesus is God's son and
that he was punished for the bad things I did and that he rose from
the dead” That is it. I knew nothing about man made denominational
doctrines, I knew nothing about the “trinity”, I knew nothing
about the deity of Jesus, I knew nothing about whether or not laying
on of hands for healing was for today or not, I knew nothing about
pre, mid or post tabulation rapture. I knew absolutely nothing about
the things that divide us, I only knew the things that all Christians
agree on -God is Good -Jesus is God's son- Jesus died for my
sins-Jesus was raised from the dead-period.
Seeing
God through the filter of religion:
If
you come to God through some denomination, organization,
non-denomination or any other such organized group, generally you
will be taught the basics of truth BUT you will also be taught man
made rules, regulations and doctrines with the same importance as the
Biblical truths you receive. So, in other words you might hear things
like this “You have to dress up for Church” with the insinuation
that if you don't dress up, you are somehow less of a Christian. Or
you might hear things like “We should only sing the old hymens”
or the opposite “We should only sing the modern worship songs”
with the insinuation that anyone who doesn't subscribe to this belief
is some how less of a Christian.
In
truth these things are not addressed in the Bible at all, these along
with many other things are simply man made rules and doctrines.
Sometimes these man made rules might be necessary, but they should
NEVER be elevated to the level of Biblical truth. In this case you
are literally seeing and experiencing Jesus through the filter of
religion.
Coming
as a child:
On the other hand, when we come to Christ as He demanded, as
children, that means we literally have to let go of everything we
know and everything we think we know. We have to take all of the
religious, denominational, Church thinking, all of the theology and
all the man made doctrines and precepts and just throw it all in the
trash, everything must go and then we must go back to just the very
basic thing that a child understands when he or she accepts Christ “
God is Good -Jesus is God's son- Jesus died for my sins-Jesus was
raised from the dead” It is only then that He will be your
teacher...
1
John 2:27
As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you,
and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches
you about all things and as that anointing is real, not
counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
It's
not to say we can never be guided or taught by man, because we can.
It simply means that we pass the teachings of man through the filter
of Jesus, instead of passing the teachings of Jesus through the
filter of man. God is our teacher. As the religious pass Christ
through the filter of their religion, if we come to Christ as a
child, we will pass the religion and denominations through the filter
of Christ. We will take the truth from it and leave the religion.
My
goal is never to tear anyone down, to simply criticize for the sake
of criticizing. My goal has been and remains to try to help people to
think outside of the box of religion. You see, religion takes God and
tries to package Him in a way that you get everything you need at
Sunday service. The truth about God is that He is so much more than
we could ever imagine. If we have read the Bible hundreds of times
and we think we know everything about God, than we are only fooling
ourselves. He is so infinitely more than we can ever understand on this
earth. What we call Church, what we call religion in most cases is
just holding us back from experiencing God in a bigger and more
meaningful way. Always remember that if you think you know what love
is, His love is more infinite than you can imagine. If you think you
know what goodness is, His goodness is much more infinite than we can
imagine. If you think you know who God is, He is so much more
infinite than you can imagine. We are only scratching the surface,
lets dig in and break open the pretty little box of Church, religion
and denominationalism and unleash the infinitely powerful and loving
God!!
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