Constant Now
All of our praise rises to the One who is strong enough to make you strong, exactly as preached in Jesus Christ, precisely as revealed in the mystery kept secret for so long but now an open book through the prophetic Scriptures. All the nations of the world can now know the truth and be brought into obedient belief, carrying out the orders of God, who got all this started, down to the very last letter.
All our praise is focused through Jesus on this incomparably wise God! Yes!
Romans 16:25-27 The Message
I watch too much television and as a result, my wife watches too much. When we see movies that deal with time travel, she always gets confused. She asks, “How could the same character be in two places at once?” And I try to explain (always unsuccessfully), that it is a conundrum of the time space continuum. The rules of time have been bent (or broken) by a complex set of mathematical equations that have been applied in the real world via technology or other variables… Uh, maybe that is why she is confused?
Time is a formidable issue in Bible scripture. We humans tend to think in the moment. We compartmentalize and place time in the past, present or future. But we never think of time the way that God might see it, as a “constant now”. In other words, a million years ago, today, and the year 3050 are in front of God simultaneously.
God is outside of time (being the author of it) and as such is not affected by it the same way we are (aging, expired memories, unknown future variables, secret information etcetera). When Paul says the “mystery is revealed”, I think he is using the best terms he can to describe an event that has never had a beginning, is present and in trust for the future. The mystery revealed is Jesus, as the Christ (anointed one to deliver us from sin). The revelation is that Jesus is our legal council (propitiation). He purchased us from our sin condition and imparted his righteousness to us (something we commonly think we already own or have earned without Christ).
But here’s the thing. I claim to see these aforementioned events or “state-of-being” clearly, but I cannot. These are things that have been done, are being done, and I admit I haven’t a clue as to how they operate or to fully understand their meaning. The truth is that I am actively gaining a reality on these ideas over time; it seems like God is doing some new thing every time I learn more. Yet these are things that are already done in the mind of God. In other words, these are things that are complete for God. He has done it, but my mind is in the process of being opened to its reality.
The bizarre thing is that I may never understand the mystery in its entirety, but I am certainly happy about the parts I understand. I know what Jesus did on a cross.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Misguided Retribution
Misguided Retribution
...if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
Exodus 21:23-24 NIV
I read in the news that Tiger Woods has been under fire from other golfers, by the media and even by his soon to be ex-wife. All of this makes me laugh... well, sort of an angry laugh. It is true that Tiger has had some moral failures. But before I can get angry about this, I suddenly remember my own moral failures. What the guy did was wrong, but what I sometimes do is also wrong. The only difference between he and I is that his moral failures have been broadcast to the world. It is something that he and I need to ask for ecclesiastical clemency of.
Today's verse is often touted as a revenge verse but its true message is to let the punishment match the crime. Don't get over zealous in your desire to payback - be just. I wonder why people are so angry with Tiger? It isn't as if he is the only one with moral failures. What is a fair punishment for his moral malfunction? Maybe forgiveness is the only way to destroy the memory and pain of failure without destroying the person.
...if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
Exodus 21:23-24 NIV
I read in the news that Tiger Woods has been under fire from other golfers, by the media and even by his soon to be ex-wife. All of this makes me laugh... well, sort of an angry laugh. It is true that Tiger has had some moral failures. But before I can get angry about this, I suddenly remember my own moral failures. What the guy did was wrong, but what I sometimes do is also wrong. The only difference between he and I is that his moral failures have been broadcast to the world. It is something that he and I need to ask for ecclesiastical clemency of.
Today's verse is often touted as a revenge verse but its true message is to let the punishment match the crime. Don't get over zealous in your desire to payback - be just. I wonder why people are so angry with Tiger? It isn't as if he is the only one with moral failures. What is a fair punishment for his moral malfunction? Maybe forgiveness is the only way to destroy the memory and pain of failure without destroying the person.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Home Grown Righteousness
Home Grown Righteousness
I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.
Romans 10:2-3 New Living Translation
I have no idea why I keep slipping into it. It is a lesson I need to re-learn often. I think I keep falling into it because of arrogance. I think I slip into home grown righteousness because it is more appealing. My home grown hooch is self glorifying. And like anyone else, I can get drunk on myself. I know I am inebriated on myself when my thoughts are only about me, and fulfilling my desires. I am drunk on me when my thoughts betray the scriptures, but I think I am in a state of complete understanding.
The scripture says that we can have religious zeal without godly knowledge. It says that without godly knowledge, we will conjure a home grown righteousness and that Christ puts an end to all that. So… what religious ideas have you created to remove the work of Christ from your life? Have you said that, “I go to church, so I am okay with God”? Have you dropped a check in the offering plate and purchased your righteousness? Do you live a good life, do the right things, and use Christian Lingo thinking that is enough? Maybe you are a bit drunk on yourself as I am on me.
The fact is that Christ did something for us that we are unable to do. His Righteousness has been imparted to us based solely on the will of God. We obtain this righteousness only by grasping the life line He threw us. What is the life line? It is the cross work of Christ Jesus.
Are you drunk on your righteousness, or are you secure in the righteousness of Christ?
I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.
Romans 10:2-3 New Living Translation
I have no idea why I keep slipping into it. It is a lesson I need to re-learn often. I think I keep falling into it because of arrogance. I think I slip into home grown righteousness because it is more appealing. My home grown hooch is self glorifying. And like anyone else, I can get drunk on myself. I know I am inebriated on myself when my thoughts are only about me, and fulfilling my desires. I am drunk on me when my thoughts betray the scriptures, but I think I am in a state of complete understanding.
The scripture says that we can have religious zeal without godly knowledge. It says that without godly knowledge, we will conjure a home grown righteousness and that Christ puts an end to all that. So… what religious ideas have you created to remove the work of Christ from your life? Have you said that, “I go to church, so I am okay with God”? Have you dropped a check in the offering plate and purchased your righteousness? Do you live a good life, do the right things, and use Christian Lingo thinking that is enough? Maybe you are a bit drunk on yourself as I am on me.
The fact is that Christ did something for us that we are unable to do. His Righteousness has been imparted to us based solely on the will of God. We obtain this righteousness only by grasping the life line He threw us. What is the life line? It is the cross work of Christ Jesus.
Are you drunk on your righteousness, or are you secure in the righteousness of Christ?
Friday, June 3, 2011
Fearless – Final Moments
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. John 14:1-3 NLT
While speaking of faith, I have often asked the question, “Why is it so easy for people to trust God about the afterlife, but it is so difficult for the same people to have faith about finance, marriage and other areas of this life?” Well, I won’t be asking that question any longer. It has suddenly occurred to me that we really trust God when we are no longer capable of controlling the situation. And death removes our ability to alter the circumstance by our own strength.
I think that when we are at the end of our proverbial rope is when we are free to trust God fully. When we realize that we can’t fix it, duct tape it or run from it, we are able to hear God’s voice, able to follow His instructions and able to believe His word. And death offers all of us that same opportunity to trust God. In death we have no strength or duct tape, only an opportunity to believe or deny the name of Christ.
I choose to believe the guy that has been there, done that and lives to tell the tale. He says that he is preparing a place and that he will come back to get us. Knowing that He will be there makes me fear a bit less.
While speaking of faith, I have often asked the question, “Why is it so easy for people to trust God about the afterlife, but it is so difficult for the same people to have faith about finance, marriage and other areas of this life?” Well, I won’t be asking that question any longer. It has suddenly occurred to me that we really trust God when we are no longer capable of controlling the situation. And death removes our ability to alter the circumstance by our own strength.
I think that when we are at the end of our proverbial rope is when we are free to trust God fully. When we realize that we can’t fix it, duct tape it or run from it, we are able to hear God’s voice, able to follow His instructions and able to believe His word. And death offers all of us that same opportunity to trust God. In death we have no strength or duct tape, only an opportunity to believe or deny the name of Christ.
I choose to believe the guy that has been there, done that and lives to tell the tale. He says that he is preparing a place and that he will come back to get us. Knowing that He will be there makes me fear a bit less.
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