Minimizing me…making much of Jesus

If you go into any place or gathering with a critical spirit, you are sure to leave with your expectations met. That includes the gathering of the body of Christ.

Looking for imperfection, you’ll find it.

Looking for hypocrites, you’ll find them.

Looking for fault, you’ll find it.

Looking for insincerity, you’ll find it.

Looking for pain, you’ll find it.

Looking for ignorance, you’ll find it.

The same is true for a hospital…if you’re looking for it, you’ll find pain, sickness, and death. You’ll also find novices and ignorance.

But if you’re looking for obedience, trust, surrender, and allegiance to the King of kings and Lord of lords, you’ll find it in the gathering of the body of Christ. If you’re looking for resurrection power, you’ll find it in the body of Christ. If you’re looking for healing, you’ll find it in the body of Christ. If you’re looking for joy, peace, love, community, purpose, and meaning, you’ll find it in the gathering of the body of Christ.

Searching the scriptures, trying to find where God instructs us to send our children of early elementary ages into the clutches of the world’s education system to be missionaries, many having not reached an age of understanding the gospel themselves. Do you know where I can find this instruction in scripture – book, chapter, and verse?

As I often say to our church body, “Hear what I’m saying…not what I’m NOT saying.” Don’t try to read between the lines…I didn’t write anything there. Don’t add tone to what I’ve said…If I wanted there to be an emotional tone, I’d have clearly stated it. Don’t read in what you think I’m implying. I am speaking exactly what I want to say with clarity…there’s no deeper message.

I’m not talking about our regenerate young men and young women in secondary school whose parents have invested years of instructing them morally, socially, and spiritually as children through diligent repetition, having God’s instructions spoken to them while sitting in their house, when walking on the road, when lying down, and when getting up. I’m not talking about young men and women who have walked in the footsteps of their godly parents, having tied God’s Word as a sign to their hands and as frontlets on their foreheads, coming from homes where God’s instructions have been written on the doorposts of their houses and on their gates.

I’m also not debating the merits of public, private, or homeschool education in this post, though I can and do. I’m specifically addressing the idea that our little elementary-age children should be sent into a secular, sometimes pagan environment so that they can be missionaries of a Gospel that they may or may not yet understand.

Extremism is the rule in the United States today, socially and politically. Common sense, common decency, common courtesy, collaborating for the good of the NATION rather than a special interest group – these are ancient practices that are foreign to those who govern today.

If you don’t believe it, watch what is shoved in your face (and your children’s) in prime time commercials and programming on HALLMARK Channel (for crying out loud), social media, the classroom, the marketplace. If you don’t believe it, ask another foreign power. Your country is the laughing stock of the world.

Protecting your liberty, your values, your family are not the agenda, even if you happen to line up with their brand of extremism. You are being used. Anarchy is the goal. If anarchy becomes the state then massive control becomes the answer. This is the goal.

Praising God today for a Kingdom and a King who reigns and will one day crush all corruption. Until then, I will exercise my privilege and my responsibility to vote my values and serve my King. I may not be woke. I may not be liberal. I may not be an elite or an intellectual, but I am filled with the Spirit of the Sovereign and Holy God Almighty, King of the Universe, Creator and Savior of my soul.

We have spent the last several years in our country listening to leaders make gaslighting accusations that have transcended into base levels of society and even into personal relationships. Gaslighting has become a common word and a common sport. The ultimate gaslighting – accusing the other party of gaslighting them. It’s genius.

This pretense is for a limited time only, though. Gaslighting is not a forever game—it is merely a transitional game. There comes a point when everybody quits pretending that the LIE is TRUTH. There comes a time when the LIE stops masquerading as TRUTH and embraces the once-masked agenda that intelligent observers had identified as present from the beginning.

Before that moment of embrace, you are a hater if you identify the presence of the lie. After the embrace, you are a hater if you fail to recognize the supposed goodness of the lie that was told in the first place.

The lie is that it’s possible to dance around the golden calf without actually listening to the lyrics or embracing the idolatry, because the bass line is really stellar. The pretense of truth did not cover up what was actually going on, but the pretense nevertheless worked as a form of gaslighting other people.

But, there comes a moment, after it is too late to do anything about it, when the music reaches a throbbing crescendo and the clothes start coming off, and the thing turns into an orgy and the truth-tellers are just out of touch.

*storyline borrowed from a friend and then altered

Being a “good person” is not Christianity.

You can be the most moralistic person that has ever lived, and still be eternally separated from your Almighty Creator.

Jesus is the only “good” person that has ever lived, and we hung him on a tree.

Making morally right decisions will not earn points toward eternity with Jesus.

Going to church as a part of the culture won’t get you to heaven.

The only way to eternal life is through Jesus.

We must be reconciled to a Holy God by repenting of our sin and trusting that Christ died in our place.

Jesus matters…that is all.

I’ve got to admit – not gonna lie – I’m just a bit excited for Election Day. American History, including the process of law and order, liberty and justice in a representative government, is my sport. I’m not a fan of professional sports, I don’t play any at my age, and I abhor the idea of fantasy sports or paying ridiculous amounts of money to watch someone who gets paid ridiculous amounts of money to play a game. But a democratic election in a constitutional republic – there’s a piece of me in this…there’s a piece of my past and my future, my children’s and grandchildren’s future involved. This is a sport that I can participate in as a citizen and learn valuable lessons without having to get on the field (running for office is not for me).

I’m earnestly ready and excited to cast a vote, to have a say. This is one of the most pivotal US elections of my lifetime (I said that two years ago, too), and because I am a US Citizen, I get to speak on behalf of the Holy Spirit of God, who indwells and controls me and on behalf of those who have not or may not ever get the privilege of voting. Sure, there’s a lot of junk to wade through…a lot of false narratives, ego, posturing, name-calling, divisiveness, lying, deceit, dishonesty, duplicitousness, falsehoods, fiction, and any other word that you can think of for untruths. but as the optimist little boy once said as he was digging through a room full of horse poop “with all this crap, there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!” I’m a marriage counselor…I’m used to having to dig through a lot of poop to find the truth!

On one hand, this election secures a possible future of choices for my adult children, their children, and grandchildren. It secures a possible environment of liberty and freedom for the gospel message to go out among those who have not yet heard it or responded to it.

On the other hand, the Kingdom of God extends beyond November 8th…this is only the beginning of an incredible journey, friends. This world in its current state is NOT my home. I am a citizen of another Kingdom, and whoever sits behind the resolute desk in the oval office or in the $1000 swivel chairs in Congress chambers will have been placed there by My King to accomplish His Purpose.

This election might set the stage for the day of Jesus, His return for His bride. There might be lost freedom and even some forms of persecution ahead for my family and me. But even at its worst possible outcome, there will be opportunity for devoted followers of Jesus to rise up from the ashes of the American church and be conformed to the image of His Son – who can whine about that!?!?!? There will be an opportunity for a separation of the wheat from the tares, for intense examples of surrendered and sacrificial living for the King of kings and Lord of lords so that those who seek hope and fulfillment can ask about the hope that is in us…and we’ll be ready to give an answer.

Let’s Get Into This!!!!!

God gave us the gift of Sabbath, knowing that to cultivate a relationship of loving union with God requires time.

**BTW, the Sabbath day was the 7th day of the week for the Hebrews and the Lord’s Day was/is the 1st day of the week for the early church – two different things. This is clear in most languages not based on a pagan calendar that centered around deities such as the Roman god Saturn and the worship of the Sun.

The Lord’s Day, a day of Worship and Community for the believer, was never intended as a day of physical rest but of a celebration of both the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the New Creation, the regenerated, redeemed life…a life once dead in trespasses and sins made alive by the indwelling of the Spirit of God, and the Bride of Christ, the assembly of all the redeemed in worship of their Redeemer and Savior.

The Early Church found time to make the first day of the week about the Lord even though it was still a day of work and commerce for most of them. They would gather in the Temple courts for morning and evening prayers, going to their places of labor and commerce between, and THEN gather afterward in the evening for fellowship, the breaking of bread, and continuing steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and teaching.

It wasn’t until the 3rd century, when Constantine made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire that there was a merge of the ideas of Sabbath and the Lord’s Day as a “christian sabbath”.

The enemy has tried to lay claim to this day…but it’s not his to lay claim to. This is the day that the Lord our God has made…we WILL rejoice and be glad in it. It is Reformation Day! Thank God for the reformation of the living church, filled by His Spirit. If you’re a follower of Jesus, Be The Church in your community!

If you don’t feel right about your kiddos putting on costumes, then, by all means, don’t let them. If you don’t feel right about passing out treats, then obey your conscience and don’t do it. If you don’t want to decorate your home, that’s absolutely fine. We never did either.

Regardless of how you choose to obey the Lord your God on this day, please…

…don’t demonize those who do wear costumes. Instead, pray for the testimony of Jesus in the lives of your brothers and sisters who do participate in fall festivities like trick or treating.

…don’t demonize those who do pass-out treats. Instead, thank God that His Spirit leads people to the doors of your brothers and sisters. Pray for friendly engagement and connections with the children and parents that may lead to new relationships that may lead them to Jesus.

…don’t demonize those who do put up decorations. Instead, pray that the decorations lead to conversations that leverage who we are and what we’ve been given to reach our neighbors with Gospel-centered ministries of mercy…that they might come to know, love and follow Jesus into His Kingdom.

We make time for what we value.
We give attention to what we value.
We cannot give attention to everything of value.
So we must choose.
Choose we do.

There are no but’s, just a period.

I don’t know about you, but I grow weary of language and actions that insinuate that someone else’s time is more valuable than another’s. This often happens when people give excuses for why they often cancel at the last minute, why they repeatedly postpone and procrastinate or why they frustratingly do not respond to attempts at communication.

We blame it on our schedule. “I’m just so busy”, “I’ve just got so much to do” or “there’s just not enough time in the day.”
We blame it on our work.
We blame it on digital overload.

The Bible is not a grab-bag of spiritual one-liners and inspiring stories. When we pick and choose what we want to read, skipping the confusing or uncomfortable parts, we can miss the story — the epic narrative that points to Jesus.

It’s a unified story about how God appoints humanity as His partners to oversee His amazing creation, how humans ruin that partnership, and how God is restoring us and our world through Jesus.

It was self-serving humans that ruined the partnership with God. Don’t miss the story by doing the same thing all over again.