From my lofty little tower high up in the interwebs, gazing across the seas of Blogdom and the little islands of the Facebookians, I see crazy weather. Seas tossed by wild winds, thousands of ships being thrown around in all directions.
But in all this mess, I also see the common factor - the wind! It all seems to be coming from the same direction. Some boats are frantically tacking across the wind to get where they want to go; others sinking, desperately bailing; even some engaged in futile attempts to head into the wind; and some just letting themselves be blown along, sails ripped and torn; and a handful carefully navigating the treacherous conditions with tightly trimmed sails, breakneck speeds in unison with the wind, hanging on for life.
Each boat is completely preoccupied with its own survival, some even to the point of ramming others out of the way, completely indifferent to the consequences of their actions.
But still the wind blows, relentless. Slowly, some on each boat look out and notice that everyone is actually heading in the same direction, that they will all eventually end up at the same place if they just let it blow and go with the flow, and maybe instead of fighting it, they could make the most of it and go for the ride of their lives.
No matter what the boats look like and who is manning them, they are subject to the wind. It blows where it will.
The wind is Love. Nothing escapes it. Nothing resists it. It will take all of us to where it chooses as surely as light dispels the dark.
The wind in my heart!
Monday, 7 May 2012
Friday, 4 May 2012
More on The Word...
Well here's where I'm probably going to go up a rung or two in the heresy ladder!
I have been having ongoing discussions with a friend about many issues relating to grace, leading into the ideas around Ultimate Reconciliation. Although we have agreed to disagree, I thought I might share my final communication by way of relating my current stance - my theology as of this week, next week may be different, lol!! I've mentioned many of the points in previous posts and blogs, but this sort of came out as a summary...
After all our discussion I realise I don't view scripture as the word of God. Jesus is, has always been and will always be the Word of God. Scripture is scripture, nothing more and nothing less. It is subject to the Holy Spirit. It is a collection of letters and documents written by men like you and I, full of the same emotions, fears, and joys. It is full of errors, contradictions and emotions.
But here's the thing. It is exactly what God wanted, for then and now. It describes God's heart, man's heart, their interactions, adventures, loves and hates, the whole gamut of of who we are and our relationship with him. If he had laid out a totally unambiguous user manual, then there would be no heart to heart search, no longing for truth that drives us to him, instead of a book. The bible is invaluable, because it leads us to him, its NOT him. This is where the intellectual/scholar thing turns to custard on every level. He can never be expressed through a book, and never wanted to be. His wonderful grace as expressed through the new covenant, caused us to be totally reliant upon Holy Spirit in us and to trust him in everyone else. Yes there is the Law, which was for the Jews, and the wonderful passionate poetry of Psalms, and the Prophets, all so beneficial to our walk with Him! But they are not Him, nor are they to be taken as literal truths. He is soooo much bigger!
Paul had amazing revelations and expressed brilliant truths, but he was all over the place too, often contradicting himself and throwing in his personal opinions. With all his letters we only see his side of the story, we can only assume what he is responding to. But that's fine, because God wants us to listen to Holy Spirit first. Its scary because we have to trust him, something not many people are even willing to consider, saying its license to do whatever we want, but of course it isn't, that's absurd. Its license to find our union with him free from sin/law/religion, and He's more than happy to take the risk that we'll blow it.
I've been looking at the Preterist viewpoint. Not saying I totally agree with it, but there is so much that is obviously right. And its the same with many other ideas - if we get stuck in our paradigms we spiral into fundamentalist dogma that leads to bondage, not freedom, and completely cuts across our ability to have pure intimacy with God.
The kingdom and the gospel, the work of Jesus and the love of God are so much bigger than we ever imagined or could be explained in a few words penned by fragile humans like us, that God had to present it in all its warts and shortcomings. But we still bury our heads in the words thinking that truth lies there, when its in front of us and in us right now, the words of scripture confirming what is in our hearts.
Jesus was the fulfilment and the end of the law, he had to be familiar with every last bit of it so he could complete his "mission". Yes, scripture is beneficial, but it isn't the source of all truth. Its is totally inspired by God, but not because its indisputable truth, but for the opposite reason - it causes us to turn to him for truth and clarity and to make sense of life. We have been taught to worship the bible rather than Him, and the implications of that are huge.
Our journey with God is meant to be totally unique to each of us, enabled by the finished work of Jesus when he died and resurrected. The scriptures are a wonderful guide to that unique journey, but they will never supersede our unity with the fullness of God right now, and the amazing intimacy that brings every moment of our lives!
I have been having ongoing discussions with a friend about many issues relating to grace, leading into the ideas around Ultimate Reconciliation. Although we have agreed to disagree, I thought I might share my final communication by way of relating my current stance - my theology as of this week, next week may be different, lol!! I've mentioned many of the points in previous posts and blogs, but this sort of came out as a summary...
After all our discussion I realise I don't view scripture as the word of God. Jesus is, has always been and will always be the Word of God. Scripture is scripture, nothing more and nothing less. It is subject to the Holy Spirit. It is a collection of letters and documents written by men like you and I, full of the same emotions, fears, and joys. It is full of errors, contradictions and emotions.
But here's the thing. It is exactly what God wanted, for then and now. It describes God's heart, man's heart, their interactions, adventures, loves and hates, the whole gamut of of who we are and our relationship with him. If he had laid out a totally unambiguous user manual, then there would be no heart to heart search, no longing for truth that drives us to him, instead of a book. The bible is invaluable, because it leads us to him, its NOT him. This is where the intellectual/scholar thing turns to custard on every level. He can never be expressed through a book, and never wanted to be. His wonderful grace as expressed through the new covenant, caused us to be totally reliant upon Holy Spirit in us and to trust him in everyone else. Yes there is the Law, which was for the Jews, and the wonderful passionate poetry of Psalms, and the Prophets, all so beneficial to our walk with Him! But they are not Him, nor are they to be taken as literal truths. He is soooo much bigger!
Paul had amazing revelations and expressed brilliant truths, but he was all over the place too, often contradicting himself and throwing in his personal opinions. With all his letters we only see his side of the story, we can only assume what he is responding to. But that's fine, because God wants us to listen to Holy Spirit first. Its scary because we have to trust him, something not many people are even willing to consider, saying its license to do whatever we want, but of course it isn't, that's absurd. Its license to find our union with him free from sin/law/religion, and He's more than happy to take the risk that we'll blow it.
I've been looking at the Preterist viewpoint. Not saying I totally agree with it, but there is so much that is obviously right. And its the same with many other ideas - if we get stuck in our paradigms we spiral into fundamentalist dogma that leads to bondage, not freedom, and completely cuts across our ability to have pure intimacy with God.
The kingdom and the gospel, the work of Jesus and the love of God are so much bigger than we ever imagined or could be explained in a few words penned by fragile humans like us, that God had to present it in all its warts and shortcomings. But we still bury our heads in the words thinking that truth lies there, when its in front of us and in us right now, the words of scripture confirming what is in our hearts.
Jesus was the fulfilment and the end of the law, he had to be familiar with every last bit of it so he could complete his "mission". Yes, scripture is beneficial, but it isn't the source of all truth. Its is totally inspired by God, but not because its indisputable truth, but for the opposite reason - it causes us to turn to him for truth and clarity and to make sense of life. We have been taught to worship the bible rather than Him, and the implications of that are huge.
Our journey with God is meant to be totally unique to each of us, enabled by the finished work of Jesus when he died and resurrected. The scriptures are a wonderful guide to that unique journey, but they will never supersede our unity with the fullness of God right now, and the amazing intimacy that brings every moment of our lives!
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
BIG gospel
Take a step back...
Look at all the differences in doctrines, denominations. Every variation in belief over 2000 years. The passionate, religious, traditional, legalistic, free, gnostic, mystical, charismatic, pentecostal, fundamental, you-name-it interpretation of a "religion".
A religion that by its very nature allows for thousands of interpretations, because its a religion that deals with individuals, one on one in relation to God himself. He left a book for us all that could be read like a list of rules and standards, or passionate relationships, or any way we choose really.
But the point is, God planned that, it was His idea. You see, He wants every single person to figure it all out by themselves. Everyone has their own unique journey in this life, and God, knowing this from the beginning, reconciled everyone by what Jesus did, so they are free to pursue that unique relationship with Him. We are all free to accept, ignore, struggle, argue, embrace and wrestle with life and God's love any way we choose, because He is unendingly patient, loving and knows each person's heart and all the pain and passion that makes them who they are.
Jesus didn't die and rise so that we could follow a strict set of criteria to avoid eternal damnation and squeeze into heaven down an extremely narrow path. He opened the door to freedom so everyone can explore and find who they truly are in Him. So we can willingly embrace Him because He has met us at every level in our life and stand with Him and in Him with integrity, unashamed, and knowing fully who we are.
We have no right to impose our journey on others. We can present the freedom and joy of truly knowing Father and how it has impacted us, but we must honour every single person's unique journey. Only God knows their heart and what it takes to draw them into His presence, and the perfect timing of every step - his unforced rhythms of grace!
The gospel is BIG, much bigger than our favourite doctrines. God isn't worried about if we get everything right. He doesn't care if we learn Greek and Hebrew and study every nuance of scripture. He's not concerned if we wonder off into some gnostic waffle or literalist nightmare. He is concerned for each persons heart and will never give up - always giving us the space to work through it all while patiently pouring out His love to us.
Lets draw each other to Him, lets share His love and goodness, the freedom of His love and grace, allow Him to love us so that it can't help but overflow to everyone around us.
Look at all the differences in doctrines, denominations. Every variation in belief over 2000 years. The passionate, religious, traditional, legalistic, free, gnostic, mystical, charismatic, pentecostal, fundamental, you-name-it interpretation of a "religion".
A religion that by its very nature allows for thousands of interpretations, because its a religion that deals with individuals, one on one in relation to God himself. He left a book for us all that could be read like a list of rules and standards, or passionate relationships, or any way we choose really.
But the point is, God planned that, it was His idea. You see, He wants every single person to figure it all out by themselves. Everyone has their own unique journey in this life, and God, knowing this from the beginning, reconciled everyone by what Jesus did, so they are free to pursue that unique relationship with Him. We are all free to accept, ignore, struggle, argue, embrace and wrestle with life and God's love any way we choose, because He is unendingly patient, loving and knows each person's heart and all the pain and passion that makes them who they are.
Jesus didn't die and rise so that we could follow a strict set of criteria to avoid eternal damnation and squeeze into heaven down an extremely narrow path. He opened the door to freedom so everyone can explore and find who they truly are in Him. So we can willingly embrace Him because He has met us at every level in our life and stand with Him and in Him with integrity, unashamed, and knowing fully who we are.
We have no right to impose our journey on others. We can present the freedom and joy of truly knowing Father and how it has impacted us, but we must honour every single person's unique journey. Only God knows their heart and what it takes to draw them into His presence, and the perfect timing of every step - his unforced rhythms of grace!
The gospel is BIG, much bigger than our favourite doctrines. God isn't worried about if we get everything right. He doesn't care if we learn Greek and Hebrew and study every nuance of scripture. He's not concerned if we wonder off into some gnostic waffle or literalist nightmare. He is concerned for each persons heart and will never give up - always giving us the space to work through it all while patiently pouring out His love to us.
Lets draw each other to Him, lets share His love and goodness, the freedom of His love and grace, allow Him to love us so that it can't help but overflow to everyone around us.
Monday, 16 April 2012
The Book of Jim
An allegory - few holes in it, but serves a purpose...
A friend has written a book about me, well both of us really. Kind of like the story of our relationship over the years; how we met, kept bumping in to each other, discovering similar interests and ideas, finding we had a lot of the same friends. How we flatted together, and became the bestest of friends. I told all the stories of my past, my family. Shared my heart about nearly everything. So yeah, I guess we are pretty intimate, no secrets, we love each other, respect each other.
So here's this book about us, from his perspective. Of course, he ran it all past me, I read the first draft, and I liked it - the good and the bad. There's stuff where he's made a lot of assumptions about me despite our relationship, I mean, there's a limit to how much he can really get inside my head! And there's the limitations of the written word. But I like that it's his heart about me, even if he doesn't quite get me at times.
There's lots of great stories about things we did together, and stories he remembers me telling him, well, his version of the stories, lol! Sometimes he just gets me all wrong, as friends do, but I love that he's put it all in there, because that's what relationships are all about - getting to work through these things. Knowing that in the working out, the friendship grows deeper. Oh I trust him, totally, because we are besties, and what he doesn't get now, he'll get later on.
So its a great book, warts and all, and I wouldn't want it any other way, cos even though its about me, its really about both of us and how he sees that. Not sure if it will ever really be finished, but its published anyway!
A friend has written a book about me, well both of us really. Kind of like the story of our relationship over the years; how we met, kept bumping in to each other, discovering similar interests and ideas, finding we had a lot of the same friends. How we flatted together, and became the bestest of friends. I told all the stories of my past, my family. Shared my heart about nearly everything. So yeah, I guess we are pretty intimate, no secrets, we love each other, respect each other.
So here's this book about us, from his perspective. Of course, he ran it all past me, I read the first draft, and I liked it - the good and the bad. There's stuff where he's made a lot of assumptions about me despite our relationship, I mean, there's a limit to how much he can really get inside my head! And there's the limitations of the written word. But I like that it's his heart about me, even if he doesn't quite get me at times.
There's lots of great stories about things we did together, and stories he remembers me telling him, well, his version of the stories, lol! Sometimes he just gets me all wrong, as friends do, but I love that he's put it all in there, because that's what relationships are all about - getting to work through these things. Knowing that in the working out, the friendship grows deeper. Oh I trust him, totally, because we are besties, and what he doesn't get now, he'll get later on.
So its a great book, warts and all, and I wouldn't want it any other way, cos even though its about me, its really about both of us and how he sees that. Not sure if it will ever really be finished, but its published anyway!
Monday, 9 April 2012
Taste God and see that He is good
This was a response by Todd Peirce to a post about Penal Substitution. I loved it so much I had to blog it as well!
In the garden Adam and Eve's perception of God was corrupted by Sin and the lie crept into their minds. They now saw God as someone to be feared and hid in the bushes. We have inherited that mistrust and wrong perception of God from Adam. Penal substitution is just a natural wrong understanding of what happened at the cross, it seems so logical but that conclusion has been corrupted by the lies that still invade our minds.
Colossians 1:19. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 1:20. and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. 1:21. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour.
It says we were enemies in our minds because of our evil behaviour. When we sin the first thoughts that flood in are God is angry or disappointed and we feel like hiding from Him. I believe the world is full of people that are still trying to hide from God due to their behaviour. That is why I believe that what Paul wrote in II Corinthians is key to changing peoples faulty perceptions of God based upon the Lie. We can shine the light of the gospel into the bushes and let them come out and see that God loves them.
II Corinthians 5:18. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 5:19. namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 5:20. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 5:21. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
God says to taste and see that He is good. That says that until we taste we assume that He is not good. My hope is that someone who reads this might be encouraged to taste of God and see that He is good.
~ Todd Peirce
In the garden Adam and Eve's perception of God was corrupted by Sin and the lie crept into their minds. They now saw God as someone to be feared and hid in the bushes. We have inherited that mistrust and wrong perception of God from Adam. Penal substitution is just a natural wrong understanding of what happened at the cross, it seems so logical but that conclusion has been corrupted by the lies that still invade our minds.
Colossians 1:19. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 1:20. and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. 1:21. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour.
It says we were enemies in our minds because of our evil behaviour. When we sin the first thoughts that flood in are God is angry or disappointed and we feel like hiding from Him. I believe the world is full of people that are still trying to hide from God due to their behaviour. That is why I believe that what Paul wrote in II Corinthians is key to changing peoples faulty perceptions of God based upon the Lie. We can shine the light of the gospel into the bushes and let them come out and see that God loves them.
II Corinthians 5:18. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 5:19. namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 5:20. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 5:21. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
God says to taste and see that He is good. That says that until we taste we assume that He is not good. My hope is that someone who reads this might be encouraged to taste of God and see that He is good.
~ Todd Peirce
Monday, 2 April 2012
Another UR rant, sigh...
I was reading an article by a wonderful man who has an incredible grasp on the the grace of God and our life of perfect unity with him. And there are many who teach the wonderful freedom and joy of the finished work of Jesus and our union with the Triune God.
But, I am saddened by the ignorance of many of these guys those who oppose Universal Reconciliation (UR)! Now I know many fundamentalists would not even give the idea the light of day, so I'm not addressing those. I'm talking about those who understand something of the wonderful grace and love of Father and what it means to live loved, yet take some aspect of UR, line it up with their interpretation of some scriptures and declare it to be wrong. The problem I've found in every case, is they have misunderstood the depth and extent of the concept of UR, and based their premises on a small part of the argument. They refuse to think that God could be bigger than their paradigms, biases and traditional teachings.
The most popular argument against UR is in regard to those who say we are all saved but just don't know it. They say this denies any act of faith or belief on our behalf, so assume that all UR beliefs are in error based on this assumption. Now I can understand that, because if we say we don't have to apply faith or belief or acceptance in some form, that is a total denial of vast quantities of scripture. So I agree. To be "saved" we have to make a decision, to act upon a conviction, to change our minds.
But the real concept of UR paints a much bigger picture. We are talking about far more consequential questions:
So, like I usually end up saying, we have to rely on Holy Spirit to sort things out. God did that on purpose! He didn't write a user manual with clear instructions. He compiled a bunch of letters and documents about relationships. He gave us the fullness of Himself to live in union with Him, and the brains to think for ourselves - to question and reason and wrestle with Him about everything!
So, back to UR. What does our heart say? What do we know about the unconditional love of God? What about the prodigal son, the lost sheep, what about 70 x 7? What about the god who lovingly hand assembled every human being and breathed His life into, knowing that most of them would be damned for eternity?
Most christians, if asked in confidentiality, will say they either wish all would be saved, or that hell was not really eternal torture, or that God has something better in mind and we don't really understand these things.
The final question we end up with is: will everyone ULTIMATELY be saved. Will some face a judgement that requires refining before they can accept Jesus? Will some fall on their knees in joy at the very sight of Him? Will some realise that all their "sin" was dealt with and run to jump in Father's arms the moment they see him face to face. And will they be told "too late"!
What kind of God do you know? What is his true heart of unconditional love and justice? Why would you even want to enter into a relationship with a God that would even consider eternally torturing most of the creatures He created. It just doesn't make sense on any level. Unless of course you are happy to put your God given faculties aside, and believe the staus quo!
But, I am saddened by the ignorance of many of these guys those who oppose Universal Reconciliation (UR)! Now I know many fundamentalists would not even give the idea the light of day, so I'm not addressing those. I'm talking about those who understand something of the wonderful grace and love of Father and what it means to live loved, yet take some aspect of UR, line it up with their interpretation of some scriptures and declare it to be wrong. The problem I've found in every case, is they have misunderstood the depth and extent of the concept of UR, and based their premises on a small part of the argument. They refuse to think that God could be bigger than their paradigms, biases and traditional teachings.
The most popular argument against UR is in regard to those who say we are all saved but just don't know it. They say this denies any act of faith or belief on our behalf, so assume that all UR beliefs are in error based on this assumption. Now I can understand that, because if we say we don't have to apply faith or belief or acceptance in some form, that is a total denial of vast quantities of scripture. So I agree. To be "saved" we have to make a decision, to act upon a conviction, to change our minds.
But the real concept of UR paints a much bigger picture. We are talking about far more consequential questions:
- At what point is it too late to accept Jesus for who he is - to make that decission?
- Does the "final judgement" mean most will be eternally tortured in hell with no hope of redemption?
- Why does God outline the depths of love in 1 Cor 13 yet not apply the same standards to himself?
- When God says He will never give up on us does that meant NEVER?
- What about the mistransaltions of the words for Hell and eternity throughout the bible?
- What about the early church's position on UR for the first 400 years?
- What about all the scriptures that DO point to UR. They are probably in equal quantity to those that are used against the argument, so how do we reconcile them?
- Do we totally ignore the obvious similarities between the modern interpretation of hell with classical Greek and medieval mythology?
- What about the total absence of the concept of Hell in the Old Testament?
- If Hell is so important why wasn't it an integral part of the gospel?
- Why didn't Paul even use scripture, let alone references to eternal damnation in his Mars Hill address in Acts?
- Why are three different words that have nothing to do with eternal judgement and torture, translated as Hell in the New Testament?
So, like I usually end up saying, we have to rely on Holy Spirit to sort things out. God did that on purpose! He didn't write a user manual with clear instructions. He compiled a bunch of letters and documents about relationships. He gave us the fullness of Himself to live in union with Him, and the brains to think for ourselves - to question and reason and wrestle with Him about everything!
So, back to UR. What does our heart say? What do we know about the unconditional love of God? What about the prodigal son, the lost sheep, what about 70 x 7? What about the god who lovingly hand assembled every human being and breathed His life into, knowing that most of them would be damned for eternity?
Most christians, if asked in confidentiality, will say they either wish all would be saved, or that hell was not really eternal torture, or that God has something better in mind and we don't really understand these things.
The final question we end up with is: will everyone ULTIMATELY be saved. Will some face a judgement that requires refining before they can accept Jesus? Will some fall on their knees in joy at the very sight of Him? Will some realise that all their "sin" was dealt with and run to jump in Father's arms the moment they see him face to face. And will they be told "too late"!
What kind of God do you know? What is his true heart of unconditional love and justice? Why would you even want to enter into a relationship with a God that would even consider eternally torturing most of the creatures He created. It just doesn't make sense on any level. Unless of course you are happy to put your God given faculties aside, and believe the staus quo!
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Jimz Mission Statement
Thought I should put together a little sort of Mission Statement thingy. Just to lay out where I'm at and why am I even bothering to ramble on with all this stuff.
Basically, I've been on a long complicated journey through life. 40 years of it as a Christian. God has taken me on a wild ride through the best and the worst. For some reason, for what its worth, I really feel He wants me to share that publicly, to be transparent with my dreams, failures, love and disappointments. To allow others to see the good and the bad, and what God is doing in me and how he does it.
He seems to have given me the "grace" to do this. And if I stuff up and get into trouble, well, its all part of it! I have passions that come and go, revelations, victories, stupid ideas, good ideas - like most of us I guess! If all of this can be of help in any way to others on their journey then I think that's what God wants this for. And if I learn something from it, all the better. Hmm, maybe its all just for my benefit?!
Sometimes I will get all excited about a new "revelation" and assume the rest of the world needs this as much as I do, so forgive me if I get too in your face. Sometimes I've had enough and have to stop to think about stuff. But even then I like to post those ponderings.
I welcome comments, I'm no expert in anything really. Dabble in lots of things, a bit of music, teaching, training systems design, counselling, anything that gets me into trouble really. So I love to interact, learn and pass it on. Feel free to engage, I can take the flack - I dish it out so I'm prepared to get it back!
Most importantly, its my absolute heart's desire to communicate how awesome it is to find my identity in the love of Father, to express the incredible implications of what Jesus has done for all of mankind, to live loved and pour that love out - Love each other as I have loved you (Jesus said that!). He loved me first, and keeps on loving and loving and then I just love the rest of you - how selfish is that! But it doesn't get any better, and thats what He said - who am I to argue!!
Basically, I've been on a long complicated journey through life. 40 years of it as a Christian. God has taken me on a wild ride through the best and the worst. For some reason, for what its worth, I really feel He wants me to share that publicly, to be transparent with my dreams, failures, love and disappointments. To allow others to see the good and the bad, and what God is doing in me and how he does it.
He seems to have given me the "grace" to do this. And if I stuff up and get into trouble, well, its all part of it! I have passions that come and go, revelations, victories, stupid ideas, good ideas - like most of us I guess! If all of this can be of help in any way to others on their journey then I think that's what God wants this for. And if I learn something from it, all the better. Hmm, maybe its all just for my benefit?!
Sometimes I will get all excited about a new "revelation" and assume the rest of the world needs this as much as I do, so forgive me if I get too in your face. Sometimes I've had enough and have to stop to think about stuff. But even then I like to post those ponderings.
I welcome comments, I'm no expert in anything really. Dabble in lots of things, a bit of music, teaching, training systems design, counselling, anything that gets me into trouble really. So I love to interact, learn and pass it on. Feel free to engage, I can take the flack - I dish it out so I'm prepared to get it back!
Most importantly, its my absolute heart's desire to communicate how awesome it is to find my identity in the love of Father, to express the incredible implications of what Jesus has done for all of mankind, to live loved and pour that love out - Love each other as I have loved you (Jesus said that!). He loved me first, and keeps on loving and loving and then I just love the rest of you - how selfish is that! But it doesn't get any better, and thats what He said - who am I to argue!!
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
What does intimacy look like??
There's a lot of talk about intimacy these days. It's almost a catch phrase in many circles and is thrown around a bit glibly in discussions. But as I look at what "christianity" is all about, it becomes very clear that intimacy is the central issue. Yes, the work of Jesus is central in terms of the mechanics and logistics, but in terms of its purpose, its about intimacy with God, what we were created for, no more and no less. He created us for relationship with him, that's our starting point, everything in our lives comes from that place.
But what does that look like, I mean, how do we "do" it? Ask 20 christians and you may get 20 different answers. Most of us equate intimacy with God with knowing him. That's sort of OK, but intimacy implies a lot more. I know a lot of people, I have many friends I know well - even "intimate" details of their lives. But its very few people who I have shared myself with down to the most private details, bonded with my heart, shared physically and emotionally all that we are together.
That level of intimacy requires commitment, vulnerability, trust, all that stuff... but there is one factor that enables all that - communication! We have to talk, look each other in the eyes, touch each other, listen and be listened to.
Most of us tend to think we will be intimate with God by endlessly reading the bible until it becomes part of us, because its The Word, the complete revelation of God. But of course, that's absurd. If there was a detailed book of my life (heaven forbid) that you could read, you would end up knowing a lot about me, but of course you wouldn't be intimate with me. How could you? You never met me, talked to me, spent time sharing our hearts.
So to have that level of intimacy with God, it requires the same thing. Now he's in us already, in fullness - we can't get any more of him, no bigger anointing, no greater outpouring, and although he sometimes reveals something of himself in huge "whacks" and revelations we still need to renew our minds to his presence and let him build the type of relationship he wants.
He starts by talking to us. Not through the scriptures (although he can reveal truths to us that way), and not through other people (see above). He TALKS to us, that still small voice. Now scripture says its still and small, but its a voice none the less, and Jesus said his sheep know his voice. If you are a sheep, then you can hear and know his voice. Its that simple. We don't have to fast and pray, spend hours studying scripture and endless "quiet times". We just have to shut up long enough and simply trust the small voice we hear in response to our own thoughts.
We know he loves us to bits and there is no condemnation in Christ, so if that small voice says you've been bad and God is angry, you know its not him. If he just says words of love and encouragement - that's him. If he gives ideas and suggestions about how to fix up the messes we make - that's him.
We trust that voice, Holy Spirit in us. We have "changed our minds" (metanoia) about who we are and who Jesus is, our old nature died with him, and we have a new spirit in us that's uniquely joined with the fullness of God in us. The only thing that gets in the way of hearing his voice clearly is our thought patterns - the old lies left behind that just need to be renewed. The enemy loves to tell us its a battle between the old and the new, but its really simple - really, really simple (remember, like little children). We ARE a new creation, free to run to our Dad, rest in his arms and talk with him.
He loves hearing our stories, our heart breaks, our victories, our shopping list, our funny jokes, our hopes and dreams. He loves having a glass of wine with us (or a beer), eating with us, shopping, driving, cleaning, mowing. And best of all, He chats to us all the time, so simple and natural, we miss it, looking for some powerful "holy" moment when we will have incredible revelations and fall on the floor in awe.
He talks with us, not at us. He listens, and loves. We find our security and identity and live loved, and that overflows into all around us.
I feel like I've only scratched the surface on how important this is!! I may continue on this subject...
Saturday, 24 March 2012
Worship??
What do we do about praise and worship?!
Many of you probably know I've been a "worship leader" for about 25 years. I've played with some big names, done the rounds, taught in colleges, done workshops, studied, the whole kit and caboodle (whatever that is!).
Most of this time I have longed to understand the nature of worship, especially in regard to music. There are so many questions and so many factors that come into play:
Music is only a tiny part of worship
Our whole lives should be an act of worship
Is worship an act of obedience or an act of natural love and adoration
What is the psychology of community singing - every culture has it
How does our emotional state relate to worship
Should singing songs in church be considered worship
Should we even think in terms of singing a few songs in a structured meeting being an act of worship and praise
...and the list goes on!
I could give a list of all the correct responses to those points, but they would be responses based on current traditional thought and biblical interpretation.
I want to know the heart of the matter! Yes, I know, I'm probably analysing the whole thing too much and destroying the simplicity of it in the process. So if you just love signing along on Sundays and all that entails, you'd better stop here and go back to whatever you were doing.
Here's something from a worship leaders perspective. When you first start leading worship you are panic stricken that God won't show up, you'll get all the words and chords muddled, and that you'll "quench" the flow of the Spirit. After a while you start to get comfortable with the whole thing and can feel where its going and how people respond to various cues. You settle into the routine. Its just what we do in meetings.
So what do we do at home with God? Are our hearts as open to Him in a meeting/worship context, or are they more open? Can we worship Him in any context, with or without songs and music, especially in our intimate times on our own. Perhaps this is far more important than singing worshipful songs together (not saying we shouldn't).
What if there was no music at our meetings? Would we deem it any less spiritual?
What if we abandoned the whole meeting structure paradigm and just got together once a week to hang out and be friends? Perhaps we could get our teaching on-line, or print something out and hand it around. Or ask someone if they had something neat to share. Or if anyone would like to sing something, or lead us all in singing? Or whatever. Would the church fall apart? Would we all become indifferent to God?
So what am I saying in all this? I think we have formulated "praise and worship" into a particular style of corporate singing that is conducted at meetings and is a prerequisite for God to successfully move in our hearts and prime us before we hear the preacher. We then like to make sure we are in a good space before we go, so sing another one or two before we leave.
This may sound cynical, but I'm not trying to be. For me these are genuine questions and part of my journey into true freedom and allowing Father to break down the walls that divide the spiritual from the natural, to make us fully "integrated" beings, where our intimacy with God is a totally natural part of our lives.
Many of you probably know I've been a "worship leader" for about 25 years. I've played with some big names, done the rounds, taught in colleges, done workshops, studied, the whole kit and caboodle (whatever that is!).
Most of this time I have longed to understand the nature of worship, especially in regard to music. There are so many questions and so many factors that come into play:
Music is only a tiny part of worship
Our whole lives should be an act of worship
Is worship an act of obedience or an act of natural love and adoration
What is the psychology of community singing - every culture has it
How does our emotional state relate to worship
Should singing songs in church be considered worship
Should we even think in terms of singing a few songs in a structured meeting being an act of worship and praise
...and the list goes on!
I could give a list of all the correct responses to those points, but they would be responses based on current traditional thought and biblical interpretation.
I want to know the heart of the matter! Yes, I know, I'm probably analysing the whole thing too much and destroying the simplicity of it in the process. So if you just love signing along on Sundays and all that entails, you'd better stop here and go back to whatever you were doing.
Here's something from a worship leaders perspective. When you first start leading worship you are panic stricken that God won't show up, you'll get all the words and chords muddled, and that you'll "quench" the flow of the Spirit. After a while you start to get comfortable with the whole thing and can feel where its going and how people respond to various cues. You settle into the routine. Its just what we do in meetings.
So what do we do at home with God? Are our hearts as open to Him in a meeting/worship context, or are they more open? Can we worship Him in any context, with or without songs and music, especially in our intimate times on our own. Perhaps this is far more important than singing worshipful songs together (not saying we shouldn't).
What if there was no music at our meetings? Would we deem it any less spiritual?
What if we abandoned the whole meeting structure paradigm and just got together once a week to hang out and be friends? Perhaps we could get our teaching on-line, or print something out and hand it around. Or ask someone if they had something neat to share. Or if anyone would like to sing something, or lead us all in singing? Or whatever. Would the church fall apart? Would we all become indifferent to God?
So what am I saying in all this? I think we have formulated "praise and worship" into a particular style of corporate singing that is conducted at meetings and is a prerequisite for God to successfully move in our hearts and prime us before we hear the preacher. We then like to make sure we are in a good space before we go, so sing another one or two before we leave.
This may sound cynical, but I'm not trying to be. For me these are genuine questions and part of my journey into true freedom and allowing Father to break down the walls that divide the spiritual from the natural, to make us fully "integrated" beings, where our intimacy with God is a totally natural part of our lives.
Friday, 9 March 2012
From Jesus with Love
A wonderful prophetic thingy from my old friend Ruth Harris
I became who you are
uniting myself with you, to save you
I continually transform your body into mine.
I am your atonement, incarnate in you
I am now in my body in heaven, presenting you to father.
Now your dust sits on the throne.
I have taken you with me
I am Jesus who rose into heaven
all knowledge of god is found in me
I took you to myself in union with the holy spirit
I abide in you, living each moment of your life
I bind myself to you living your brokenness and lostness and healing you from within by exchanging your humanness with myself. I live your life with you, in you and around you. Cleansing it and offering it to father, being your obedience, doing for you, what you cannot do on your own.
Inside your humanity I live the relationship of love and intimacy that I have with my father from all eternity
uniting myself with you, to save you
I continually transform your body into mine.
I am your atonement, incarnate in you
I am now in my body in heaven, presenting you to father.
Now your dust sits on the throne.
I have taken you with me
I am Jesus who rose into heaven
all knowledge of god is found in me
I took you to myself in union with the holy spirit
I abide in you, living each moment of your life
I bind myself to you living your brokenness and lostness and healing you from within by exchanging your humanness with myself. I live your life with you, in you and around you. Cleansing it and offering it to father, being your obedience, doing for you, what you cannot do on your own.
Inside your humanity I live the relationship of love and intimacy that I have with my father from all eternity
I am deeply abiding inside you forever.
I redeem your whole life past, present and future. I present your cause before the father. I take up your prayers, consecrate and purify them and present them for you to the father. Father who delights to answer me, answers you. In my name and through my body and blood you are redeemed.
I exchange me for you. Trade me your sin and I will trade you my holiness. Trade me your anxiety and I will give you my peace. Trade me your doubt and will give you my faith on your behalf. Trade me your disease and I will give you my health. I ask for what is yours and take it to myself, I drink it as the cup of wrath on your behalf and give it back to you as grace, wholeness and healing. I trade my life for your sin and brokenness. This is what love is and does.
And if you partake in me you can experience intimacy with father too. Your standing with god in not in your own strength but in me. All that is mine is ours. I am your true, dependable advocate
i came to make my blessings known far beyond the depth of the curse that came upon you. I remake your humanity. Father chose you, I found you, I carry you to the throne and stay there holding you and presenting your cause.
You are seated with me and father guided by the holy spirit. We are one. I in my father, you in me, my father and I are one, so you are one too.
I redeem your whole life past, present and future. I present your cause before the father. I take up your prayers, consecrate and purify them and present them for you to the father. Father who delights to answer me, answers you. In my name and through my body and blood you are redeemed.
I exchange me for you. Trade me your sin and I will trade you my holiness. Trade me your anxiety and I will give you my peace. Trade me your doubt and will give you my faith on your behalf. Trade me your disease and I will give you my health. I ask for what is yours and take it to myself, I drink it as the cup of wrath on your behalf and give it back to you as grace, wholeness and healing. I trade my life for your sin and brokenness. This is what love is and does.
And if you partake in me you can experience intimacy with father too. Your standing with god in not in your own strength but in me. All that is mine is ours. I am your true, dependable advocate
i came to make my blessings known far beyond the depth of the curse that came upon you. I remake your humanity. Father chose you, I found you, I carry you to the throne and stay there holding you and presenting your cause.
You are seated with me and father guided by the holy spirit. We are one. I in my father, you in me, my father and I are one, so you are one too.
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