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Still Here...(kinda, for now).

...But, as you may or may not know, I am in transition, moving to Wordpress.

Check it out.

Oohh, Oooh!!! Me! Me!

Well, brother Mikey tagged me with one of these meme things...so...

Here it goes..

Here are the guidelines for this MEME:

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“1. Apologize for three things that Christians have often got wrong. Your apologies should be directed towards those who don’t view themselves as part of the Christian community. Alternatively, apologize for things you personally have done wrong towards those outside of the church.
2. Post a comment at the originating post so others can keep track of the apologies.3. Tag five people to participate in the meme.

4. If desired, send an email with the link to your blog post at the Christians Confess site, giving permission for your apologies to be added to the website.”

5. If you don't mind, leave a comment here to let us know about your post!!

Thank You!!

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(Although I offer this apology predominately to those who do not know Jesus, I also offer it to those that I'm just not quite certain about as well...maybe 'former' Christians, or 'almost near' believers.)

As a representative of Jesus Christ, on behalf of myself and my entire Christian Family, I apologize for,

a) TBN (in general). Although a good friend of mine has rightly described it as being an expression of 'religious comedy'.

b) The fact that I would ever expect you to be a part of 'Christianity' while us Christians really just seem to talk a lot about everything, without ever really doing much of anything (Oh. Except for bible reading, going to 'church', and, uhhh..., I dunno..., how about driving around in our nice new cars while you are in despair and going hungry. (Oooohhhh. Does that one sting!?)

c) All of our ridiculous antics geared at trying to convince you of anything, while all along Jesus said quite simply that you would know us by our love for one another.

Okay...now a word to all.

These answers of mine are based on the rule rather than the exception. Fact is, most folks that I would consider to be closest of 'kin' fall under the category of 'exception'.

Now.

Who do I tag?

Hmmmmm.

How about...

Scott

Richard

Steve

Cheryl

Kim

On 'Church'

So...

What are my issues with 'church'?

Good question.

Let me start by saying to everyone that we all are wherever we are for whatever reason we are there.

Some of us find ourselves gathered with two, five or twenty others in living rooms in the suburbs, some are in gigantic stone architectural masterpieces with stained glass window.

Some folks meet in strip malls, apartment buildings, trailer parks, warehouses, city parks, local pubs..., and the list goes on and on.

To me, location or physical building structure are not an issue.

I am no longer troubled with the pagan origins of the steepled houses, or pulpits.
The fact that the protestant order of worship has it's basic roots in the catholic mass (which actually grew out of ancient judaism and paganism) no longer troubles my soul the way it used to.

If we really wanted to abandon the "pagan" elements in our lives, we would certainly have our work cut out for us.

For one, the standard calendar would have to go.
Do you realize the implications of that?

If the Lord moved me to go that way, I think that I would at least try (with His empowerment, of course), but He is not.

Thats just the tip of the iceberg.

If you want to know more about this sort of thing, a good start would be by checking out this website.

I'm glad I did, but I'm not stuck there.

For the sake of not being at this desk for the next ten or twelve hours, I'm just going to say that my issues with 'church' in general (while maybe not with your church), are more about the fact that the Lords people are not free to express themselves during the corporate assembly.

One man speaks, while the many listen.

This way of 'doing church' cannot be found in the new testament scriptures.

One man is not supposed to have that kind of control.
Possibly even more importantly, no one man is supposed to carry that kind of burden!!!!!

No matter how sincere and well meaning he may be.

{I take that back. There is One Man...
One New Man.}

The Lord is sovereign, and He can certainly utilize this kind of activity, but I tell you the truth;
this is not the way set forth in scripture.

Now...

I don't live by the scripture, but by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
That may stumble some of you, but, one day you will see for yourselves.

The scriptures point to Christ.

This conviction about 'church as usual' has been with me as far back as I can remember...way before I ever found it in the scripture or before I read about it anywhere else.

I am not against message meetings per se.
I am not against giving one man the floor for a while, to hear him out, and allow him to express his heart and his word of the Lord, but this should not be the continous experience of the church meeting.

I do not condemn or think less of anyone for doing what they think they should be doing.
That is what we all do (I hope).

Ironically, here is a recent post from a dear sister whom I find is frequently tuned in to the same 'frequency' as myself (it's kind of spooky sometimes, but neato!).

Anyway...
I hope this brings a little more clarity as to why I am where I am.

Peace in Christ.

A Contrast in Spirits.

When things get quiet around here, I can't help but wonder if I scared everybody off.
I hope not.

Either way, I must preach the Gospel.

'All that I have today' is a little nugget.
BUT WHAT A NUGGET IT IS!!!

I would just like for you to notice this one word.

"again".

In context, Paul is differentiating between the old covenant and the New:

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."

Now.
Who are the sons again?

Those who are what?

And what spirit have we not received?

To what?

And which Spirit have we received?

Now.
If you have no idea what any of this means....
please leave a comment letting me know....
I'd just love to help you out.

If you do know what this means, how about an amen or two.

C'mon.
Don't be afraid!!!!

On How Not to Devour One Another

Well, over the last couple of weeks, I have written a little bit about the practical outworking of the inner life.

Now I would like to share a bit about something else the Lord is showing me in my personal walk with Him.

Among many, many areas of fault and weakness, the one that He is exposing most definitely to me is in the area of back biting.

You didn't think that I was above that, did you?

This is something that has always been so easy for me to see in others.
I remember a certain job that I had several years ago where the back biting was rampant.
No matter what combination of co-workers I found myself gathered with, there was always talk behind the backs of whoever wasn't present.

Isn't that horrible?

For the first year or two, I did not speak much (at all, to anyone there).
I was very quiet.
After while, I began to 'go with the flow'.
What a mistake that was.

It's not that I didn't already know how to back bite, it's just that it wasn't a common practice for me.

Before I go on here, I would like to say that I do believe that there is a place for seeking private counsel about a situation or a relationship, and I believe that there is room for speaking about things in confidence.
However, those conversations should never take the form of "secret attacks".

This reveals so much about what is going on in the heart.

It's not that our redeemed hearts are bad, it is that there is still something dark going on inside of them. Something that needs to be dealt with and kept in order.

We do not deal with that thing, but we allow our 'resident boss', as Watchman Nee has referred to Him, to deal with it.
In this process, the Spirit reveals an issue with His light, makes us aware, we acknowledge and apply the priestly work of the Lord Jesus.

His blood has covered the offense and we reckon the old man dead on the cross, thus allowing us to walk free in His victory.

I could see how some could read the last few posts that I've written and conclude that I have a perfectionists concept of the Christian life.
This is not true.

I have a perception of Jesus Christ, and I believe in who He is, what He has done, and what that means to God and Man.
That's all.

So getting back to my thought...

No, I am not at all 'walking on eggshells' before the Lord.
Instead I am learning to walk in the Spirit and to be sensitive to His leading and His work.

Jesus said that when we have been offended by someone that we should go to them first, not to someone else.
This requires courage and honesty.
The way I see it is that it requires Jesus Christ.

Lord, we have no fear when our eyes are set on you. You are our patience when we would rather take offense.
You are our peace when we would rather stage a attack, and you are our courage in the face of the enemy.
You are our wisdom when we are found to be foolish.

So be it, Lord.

Have a wonderful day!

Everything Must Change

I'm just sitting here, mulling over some things that Brian McLaren wrote about in his new book, Everything Must Change.

I'm only into the second chapter, but am nonetheless stirred a bit by something that he has touched on...

The Kingdom of God.

There is so much that could be (and has been, and will be) said about this, but currently, I am looking at the fact that so many Christian people are preoccupied merely with the message of getting saved and not going to hell, that they have almost completely overlooked the message of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus preached the Kingdom more than anything else.

I just don't understand the "Christ centered escapism" mentality anymore.
Maybe it's because my life is "too good" for me to want to be such an escapist.
I dunno.

I can hear it now, "But,...'Whoever loves their own life shall lose it...' " etc, etc..
I'm not discounting that, not one bit.
I understand all of that and have been through that and even continue to see that.
However, there is a distinction between what "my own life" is and HIS LIFE which is credited to my account!

Now, I love His Life, which is in me.

It is a Life of wisdom.
It is a righteous Life.
It is a sanctified Life.
It is redemption.

Do you believe these things about yourself, dear Christian?
Scripture says it to be true.

Wanna know where?
You'll have to find it for yourself!

hint: I blogged about it recently ;-)

Since this IS true, what should that mean for us now, and for "the world" in which we find ourselves?

Admittedly, I'm not really in the reading mood lately, and quite honestly, over the last three years, I have grown tired of feeding my soul with book after book on the newest and hottest, or the oldest and truest.

I'm trying to figure out just how many books a Christian must read in order to 'get it' !!
According to what is out there, it must be a lot, and whatever 'it' is, 'it' seems to metamorphose from time to time.

No, I'm not anti-book.
Yes, I like to read, but I think I understand what C.S. Lewis had to say about books in Shadowlands;

"I read to know that I'm not alone".

Okay, I can settle with that.

So Brian, you are not alone brother, and thank God, neither am I.
I think Jesus would agree with you, Brian...
Everything must change.