Friday night, August 29, 2008 [a beautiful night and 78 degrees],
Continuing the subject of wild abandon to Jesus, I offer the following excerpt from the late Mike Yaconnelli's book, "Dangerous Wonder," pages 53-54: Little children start their lives unrule-ly, without rules, oblivious to society’s prescribed laws, which, according to the rule makers of our society, exist for children’s and everyone’s good. Eventually children are socialized. Domesticated. They learn how to behave, how to conform to the cultural ‘norms’ for the greater good of society. Children are told that learning the rules, becoming responsible and orderly, and discovering the boundaries of a civilized world are what growing up is all about. But is it? Or, in the process of socializing our children to follow the rules, do we rob them of the discernment needed to know when to follow rules and when to break them? Have we robbed our children (including those of us who have grown out of childhood) of the childlike intuition that caused us to know in our hearts how to recognize the Rule Maker? Christianity is this wild religion that has always been more concerned about following Jesus than following the rules of Jesus. Remember when you said yes to Jesus that first time? You didn’t know all the rules, but you knew Jesus. Sadly, the church immediately stepped in and told us we needed to know more than Jesus; we needed to know the rules of the Christian faith, otherwise we might end up in confusion and spiritual anarchy. The church is always worried we might make a mistake! Mistakes are the guaranteed consequences of wild abandon. Mistakes are signs of growth, which is why the Old and New Testaments are filled with stories of people who made mistakes. The church should be the one place in our culture where mistakes are not only expected but also welcomed. Every time the disciples started establishing rules—no children near Jesus; don’t let the crowd touch Jesus; don’t talk to Samaritan women; don’t let people waste expensive perfumes—Jesus told them to knock it off, and His rebuke was usually followed by a lecture that said, ‘You still don’t get it! We are substituting religious rules with Me!’ Jesus kept saying, ‘Follow Me,’ not, ‘follow My rules.’ So most of us have spent our Christian lives learning what we can’t do instead of celebrating what we can do in Jesus. What a tragedy! What a misunderstanding of Jesus; He is the One who taught us how to break the rules.
Maybe this helps us understand why Jesus said, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Mark 10:14). The truth is, Jesus is simply too bizarre, too radical, too dangerous for adults. There is no wonder that so many abandon Him. It is much more comfortable for them to abandon Him, than it is to abandon their religion. Interestingly, children have no religion to abandon until some adult brainwashes them into conforming to his/her idea of what religion should be.
I dare you to become like a child and live in wild abandon to Jesus!
Blessings,
Mac
PS: You should read Yaconnelli's book; it is excellent.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Living in Wild Abandon!
Thursday evening, August 28, 2008 [sunny and 89 degrees],
Have you ever considered the fact that, although Jesus repeatedly told us to follow Him, e.g. Matthew 16:24, He never once told us to follow His rules? He did, however, say this: If you love Me you will keep my commandments (John 14:15). You see, our loving Jesus and loving one another are the fruit of being His children; they are not rules we must learn to obey. His call to us is to follow Him, not His rules!
I really do believe that God has a people who truly desire to live in wild abandon (to use Brennen Manning words) to Jesus. Are you one of them? This is one of the true indications that you are: you are struggling to abandon something. What are you afraid to abandon? Your comfort? Your religion? Your riches? Your career? Your theology? Your parent's expectations? Your security?
Remember this: the rich, young ruler could not abandon his riches and he, therefore, missed out on knowing the true riches of living in wild abandon to Jesus. The Pharisees could not abandon their religion, and they, therefore, missed out on knowing the joy of living in intimate relationship with Jesus, intimacy that only wild abandon could produce.
By the way, this was Jesus' prayer: And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent (John 17:3). Did you notice how clearly He stated that eternal life has to do with knowing Him rather than following some system of rules? Did you notice that for Jesus, relationships were far more important than obedience to doctrine?
Until we are willing to live in wild abandon to Jesus, we will never truly know Him; instead, we will spend our lives trying to follow a system of rules, to obey some theological dogma, in an effort to please Him and, thereby, gain His acceptance. To say that another way: until we choose to live in wild abandon to Jesus, we will be nothing more or less than modern-day Pharisees—hypocrites. Rules will be far more important than relationships, and doctrine will always take precedence over relationships.
Unfortunately, most of us have spent our Christian lives learning what we cannot do (the rules of our religious culture), instead of celebrating who we are in Jesus.
Come on! Take the leap into wild abandon to Jesus—the Outlaw—who lived in wild abandon to His Father.
By the way, aren't politics something else! Just thought I would ask-
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
A Dangerous Bait
Wednesday morning, August 27, 2008 [cloudy and 73 degrees],
If you are as curious as I, then you have been watching at least some of the Democratic National Convention and you have probably seen and heard far-more than you believed necessary, except for the fact that we haven't really heard (or seen) anything of substance, at least regarding the issues that concern most of us. Political rhetoric is fine but worthless, as far as really defining a candidate's ability to be President of the USA. It amazes me that so many people will gather to dance, jump, yell, scream, wave banners, wear silly hats, listen to boring speeches, sit on hard seats for hours, imbibe far too much, and who knows what else, all in the name of Democracy.
Yes, I realize that the Republican National Convention will convene in just a few short days, and we will witness the same kind of nonsense, a nonsense that ought not exist, especially in these perilous days. In my opinion, far too many Americans have taken the bait the wisdom of the world offers—hook, line, and sinker—and are, consequently, betting the future of this country on shifting sands, rather than on the firm foundation of God's wisdom.
This is what James said: "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so be against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing" (James 3:14-16). It is safe to say that we have witnessed plenty (and then some) of jealousy and selfish ambition over the past months, not to mention the past couple of days, with more to come. And then another week of it!
You can take this to the bank: people who live their lives based upon and motivated by human, ungodly wisdom are living in a world in which their own personal desires, ideas, and standards are the measure of everything. Whoever and whatever serves those ends is considered good and worthwhile; however, whoever and whatever threatens those ends is considered an enemy and worthless.
Granted, there is not much we can do to alter the mindset of those who lead this nation, but we can begin at home, within our own hearts, facing our own self-centeredness, and do something about our own proclivity toward following the wisdom of the world. What is it that we can do? We can begin by falling humbly at His feet. admitting our hopeless and helplessness apart from Him.
You think about this and do not take the enticing bait the world has to offer you.
If you are as curious as I, then you have been watching at least some of the Democratic National Convention and you have probably seen and heard far-more than you believed necessary, except for the fact that we haven't really heard (or seen) anything of substance, at least regarding the issues that concern most of us. Political rhetoric is fine but worthless, as far as really defining a candidate's ability to be President of the USA. It amazes me that so many people will gather to dance, jump, yell, scream, wave banners, wear silly hats, listen to boring speeches, sit on hard seats for hours, imbibe far too much, and who knows what else, all in the name of Democracy.
Yes, I realize that the Republican National Convention will convene in just a few short days, and we will witness the same kind of nonsense, a nonsense that ought not exist, especially in these perilous days. In my opinion, far too many Americans have taken the bait the wisdom of the world offers—hook, line, and sinker—and are, consequently, betting the future of this country on shifting sands, rather than on the firm foundation of God's wisdom.
This is what James said: "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so be against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing" (James 3:14-16). It is safe to say that we have witnessed plenty (and then some) of jealousy and selfish ambition over the past months, not to mention the past couple of days, with more to come. And then another week of it!
You can take this to the bank: people who live their lives based upon and motivated by human, ungodly wisdom are living in a world in which their own personal desires, ideas, and standards are the measure of everything. Whoever and whatever serves those ends is considered good and worthwhile; however, whoever and whatever threatens those ends is considered an enemy and worthless.
Granted, there is not much we can do to alter the mindset of those who lead this nation, but we can begin at home, within our own hearts, facing our own self-centeredness, and do something about our own proclivity toward following the wisdom of the world. What is it that we can do? We can begin by falling humbly at His feet. admitting our hopeless and helplessness apart from Him.
You think about this and do not take the enticing bait the world has to offer you.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Does God Really Need Our Help?
Tuesday morning, August 26, 2008 [cloudy, stormy, and 77 degrees],
This is another quote from McArthur's commentary on James (p. 59-60): ". . . God's sovereign and uninfluenced will is the source and basis of the new life. Not only theologically but logically, that is the only way life could be given to those who are dead. The dead have no awareness or understanding of sin, no desire to turn from it [John 3:19-20], and no power or resources to change if they wanted to. They do not, of course, even know that they are dead. Regeneration could only happen by the sovereign will and power of God, the source and Giver of spiritual life . . . No child has ever been born into the world by its own will or plan. Its conception, gestation, and birth are completely out of its consciousness and control. It is merely the passive recipient of the will and action of it parents. Just as certainly, no person wills, much less creates, a new spiritual nature within himself . . . The natural man not only cannot make such a change in himself, but, apart from God's revelation, he cannot even know that he needs such a change. To the contrary, if he thinks he needs change at all, he underestimates what he really needs and presumes he can make it satisfactorily by himself. 'A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God,' Paul explains, 'for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised' [1 Corinthians 2:14]" In the end, this is the long and short of McArthur's comment: The Spirit of God sovereignly moves in where He wills and gives new birth to those whom He has predestined to salvation.
This is the way Paul (the Apostle) said it: "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed upon us in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:4-6). You see, left to ourselves, we are hopelessly lost and, completely, unaware of our need for The Savior. Left to ourselves, we do not improve; instead, we continue in our depraved state, aimlessly wandering through life.
In my opinion, this should raise some serious questions about the techniques of modern-day evangelism. For example, why is such emphasis placed on the "altar call," especially in evangelical churches? Do we, somehow, think God needs our help to redeem His elect?
Just thought I would ask-
This is another quote from McArthur's commentary on James (p. 59-60): ". . . God's sovereign and uninfluenced will is the source and basis of the new life. Not only theologically but logically, that is the only way life could be given to those who are dead. The dead have no awareness or understanding of sin, no desire to turn from it [John 3:19-20], and no power or resources to change if they wanted to. They do not, of course, even know that they are dead. Regeneration could only happen by the sovereign will and power of God, the source and Giver of spiritual life . . . No child has ever been born into the world by its own will or plan. Its conception, gestation, and birth are completely out of its consciousness and control. It is merely the passive recipient of the will and action of it parents. Just as certainly, no person wills, much less creates, a new spiritual nature within himself . . . The natural man not only cannot make such a change in himself, but, apart from God's revelation, he cannot even know that he needs such a change. To the contrary, if he thinks he needs change at all, he underestimates what he really needs and presumes he can make it satisfactorily by himself. 'A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God,' Paul explains, 'for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised' [1 Corinthians 2:14]" In the end, this is the long and short of McArthur's comment: The Spirit of God sovereignly moves in where He wills and gives new birth to those whom He has predestined to salvation.
This is the way Paul (the Apostle) said it: "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed upon us in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:4-6). You see, left to ourselves, we are hopelessly lost and, completely, unaware of our need for The Savior. Left to ourselves, we do not improve; instead, we continue in our depraved state, aimlessly wandering through life.
In my opinion, this should raise some serious questions about the techniques of modern-day evangelism. For example, why is such emphasis placed on the "altar call," especially in evangelical churches? Do we, somehow, think God needs our help to redeem His elect?
Just thought I would ask-
Monday, August 25, 2008
A New Identity
Monday morning, August 25, 2008[ [overcast and 78 degrees],
Well, now that we have the Sunday School issue settled, let us move on to simpler and less-controversial matters, such as sovereignty. The following is a quote from John McArthur's commentary on the book of James (p. 61): "The new birth results from God's sovereignly coming down to a sinner and by His grace cleansing him, planting His Spirit within him, and giving him a completely new spiritual nature. He then has 'put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth' (Ephesians 4:24). After Augustine [354-430] was converted, a woman he formerly lived with called to him as he walked down the street, but he did not answer. She persisted and finally ran up to him and said, 'Augustine, it is I.' To which he replied, 'I know, but it is no longer I.' Our conscious experience of conversion, of believing in Jesus Christ, in His death and resurrection on our behalf, of committing our life to Him, is all the consequence of God's sovereign will."
Time and space will not permit me to give you the details of Augustine's life, so you will have to do a bit of internet research, and find out for yourself. It should, however, be very obvious that he was very familiar with the writings of the Apostle Paul, especially this quote from his letter to the Galatians: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20; RSV Bible). I am certain that Augustine's reply to the woman left her thinking that he had lost his marbles, and I am just as certain that, should those of us who believe these words of Paul begin to tell others, as did Augustine, we would be looked upon as being without our marbles, as well.
It seems to me that most Christians have either never read Galatians 2:20, OR they haven't grasped what Paul said, OR they do not believe what he said, and this is evidenced by the fact that few ever seem to confess that they are no longer who they were, they never seem to confess that they are new creations in Christ Jesus. It is as if most are determined to sell the good news short, to refuse to accept the perfect and complete work of Jesus.
Listen, dear friend, IF you are one of His elect, then you ARE a new creation in Christ Jesus, as in completely new—no longer in Adam but in Christ! Why don't you accept your new identity and begin to introduce yourself to others accordingly?
Just wondering-
Well, now that we have the Sunday School issue settled, let us move on to simpler and less-controversial matters, such as sovereignty. The following is a quote from John McArthur's commentary on the book of James (p. 61): "The new birth results from God's sovereignly coming down to a sinner and by His grace cleansing him, planting His Spirit within him, and giving him a completely new spiritual nature. He then has 'put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth' (Ephesians 4:24). After Augustine [354-430] was converted, a woman he formerly lived with called to him as he walked down the street, but he did not answer. She persisted and finally ran up to him and said, 'Augustine, it is I.' To which he replied, 'I know, but it is no longer I.' Our conscious experience of conversion, of believing in Jesus Christ, in His death and resurrection on our behalf, of committing our life to Him, is all the consequence of God's sovereign will."
Time and space will not permit me to give you the details of Augustine's life, so you will have to do a bit of internet research, and find out for yourself. It should, however, be very obvious that he was very familiar with the writings of the Apostle Paul, especially this quote from his letter to the Galatians: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20; RSV Bible). I am certain that Augustine's reply to the woman left her thinking that he had lost his marbles, and I am just as certain that, should those of us who believe these words of Paul begin to tell others, as did Augustine, we would be looked upon as being without our marbles, as well.
It seems to me that most Christians have either never read Galatians 2:20, OR they haven't grasped what Paul said, OR they do not believe what he said, and this is evidenced by the fact that few ever seem to confess that they are no longer who they were, they never seem to confess that they are new creations in Christ Jesus. It is as if most are determined to sell the good news short, to refuse to accept the perfect and complete work of Jesus.
Listen, dear friend, IF you are one of His elect, then you ARE a new creation in Christ Jesus, as in completely new—no longer in Adam but in Christ! Why don't you accept your new identity and begin to introduce yourself to others accordingly?
Just wondering-
Friday, August 22, 2008
Much to My Surprise!
Friday afternoon, August 22, 2008 [Fay is passing by, ever so gently; 77 degrees],
Your responses to my previous "perspective" have been quite interesting, even surprising, I must say. No, I wasn't surprised at the reactions I received regarding wives submitting to their husbands; as I told you, this isn't my first "rodeo." I was surprised at the numbers of you who picked up on my comment about Sunday School. This is my direct quote: "Why, the chances of my convincing married women of the message of this text is about the same as my convincing the Southern Baptist Convention that Sunday School is a detriment to the Christian life."
Actually, there were three surprises: (1) Many of you concluded that I see Sunday School as being a detriment to the Christian life; (2) Many of you agreed with this conclusion; and (3) A few of you asked me to share my reasons for holding this belief. So, I figured that I should clear that air of any confusion.
In the first place, I don't know that I would say that Sunday School is a detriment to the Christian life, at least not always, but I do think it should be banned from church and my reasons are several. I will, therefore, cover item #2 with this list: (1) Most of those who teach Sunday School are not qualified to teach the Scriptures; (2) Many (probably, most) of those who teach SS do so in order to meet an emotional need[love, acceptance, or belonging]; (3) There is very little, if any, connection between what the pastor is preaching and what the SS teacher teaches; consequently, no one is able to assimilate all that is thrown at them on any given Sunday morning; (4) Too many parents trust the SS teacher to do what they should be doing; (5) Attendance at SS is used as the gauge by which the local church's success is measured; (6) High attendance becomes "bragging rights" for local churches; (7) SS is often seen as a means of evangelism [Since 7 is the perfect number, I will stop with these].
I really did get the strong feeling that many of you would prefer that your church end its SS programs and, thereby, stop some of the nonsensical busyness that it imposes. If this is true, why don't you, well, never mind, as I would hate for you to be "tarred and feathered" for wanting to destroy the golden calf.
I once heard Peter Lord say (actually, he said it to me) that, if he had it to do over again (he had a very successful church in Titusville, Florida, not to mention, and incredible teaching ministry all over the country) he would eliminate Sunday School, replace the pews in the sanctuary with round tables, and have everyone come together for a brief teaching session on Sunday mornings, and then give them time to discuss what he just taught. In my opinion he was correct, which is one of the reasons we do not have Sunday School and do have round tables in our sanctuary. If my crowd could get me to abbreviate my sermons, we would be right on target! Not many people, but what's new?
Your responses to my previous "perspective" have been quite interesting, even surprising, I must say. No, I wasn't surprised at the reactions I received regarding wives submitting to their husbands; as I told you, this isn't my first "rodeo." I was surprised at the numbers of you who picked up on my comment about Sunday School. This is my direct quote: "Why, the chances of my convincing married women of the message of this text is about the same as my convincing the Southern Baptist Convention that Sunday School is a detriment to the Christian life."
Actually, there were three surprises: (1) Many of you concluded that I see Sunday School as being a detriment to the Christian life; (2) Many of you agreed with this conclusion; and (3) A few of you asked me to share my reasons for holding this belief. So, I figured that I should clear that air of any confusion.
In the first place, I don't know that I would say that Sunday School is a detriment to the Christian life, at least not always, but I do think it should be banned from church and my reasons are several. I will, therefore, cover item #2 with this list: (1) Most of those who teach Sunday School are not qualified to teach the Scriptures; (2) Many (probably, most) of those who teach SS do so in order to meet an emotional need[love, acceptance, or belonging]; (3) There is very little, if any, connection between what the pastor is preaching and what the SS teacher teaches; consequently, no one is able to assimilate all that is thrown at them on any given Sunday morning; (4) Too many parents trust the SS teacher to do what they should be doing; (5) Attendance at SS is used as the gauge by which the local church's success is measured; (6) High attendance becomes "bragging rights" for local churches; (7) SS is often seen as a means of evangelism [Since 7 is the perfect number, I will stop with these].
I really did get the strong feeling that many of you would prefer that your church end its SS programs and, thereby, stop some of the nonsensical busyness that it imposes. If this is true, why don't you, well, never mind, as I would hate for you to be "tarred and feathered" for wanting to destroy the golden calf.
I once heard Peter Lord say (actually, he said it to me) that, if he had it to do over again (he had a very successful church in Titusville, Florida, not to mention, and incredible teaching ministry all over the country) he would eliminate Sunday School, replace the pews in the sanctuary with round tables, and have everyone come together for a brief teaching session on Sunday mornings, and then give them time to discuss what he just taught. In my opinion he was correct, which is one of the reasons we do not have Sunday School and do have round tables in our sanctuary. If my crowd could get me to abbreviate my sermons, we would be right on target! Not many people, but what's new?
Thursday, August 21, 2008
A Sight to Behold!
From what I have been able to tell, via the internet, a fully-equipped military Humvee costs the taxpayer approximately $150,000, which according to anyone's notion, AIN'T cheap. Yes, when you consider the value they are to our military, then the cost is justified, especially if they REALLY do save the lives our soldiers. Anyway, I was driving along, on my way to my office the other day, when I came upon quite a sight—roughly 75 (maybe more) of these things, loaded onto rail cars, patiently waiting to be shipped somewhere—probably Iraq or Afghanistan or Pakistan. If my calculations are correct, I saw $11,250,000 worth of Humvees, unattended, and sitting on railcars, in North Macon! (See the attached pictures! ) Anyway, as I walked alongside the track, looking over these machines, I couldn't help but wonder how many of them would one day, soon, carry some young soldier to his death, as he/she valiantly worked to protect our freedom, while our politicians sit at their walnut desks, trying to find another way to pad their already-too-fat pocketbooks, at the expense of our freedom.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
