Apuckerlips Now!

Apocalypse - Apuckerlips!! Get it? Pucker lips - kiss - love, anyway...

My point is this: Are we doomed to an apocalyptic nightmare where God's wrath is poured out on mankind, or is the kingdom of God going to be fulfilled in love on this earth?

We are all familiar with the devastation in the world - the poverty, injustice, hate, oppression, bigotry, racism, greed, war, conspiracies, you name it! Yes the world is really full of the worst of mankind. There are things happening that fill us with revulsion and horror. The governments are corrupt and the powerful forces behind them are mind boggling.

But lets have a closer look. One thing that we must be aware of is the complete change in media and communication in the last century. We are now privy to every little piece of news in every corner of the world. We can instantly see every atrocity and injustice committed as it happens. The internet floods us with millions of images and reports of how bad and evil mankind can be. The capability to search out every little detail of every news item, every political activity, military, conspiratorial, corruption, fraud... We see live footage of mass murderers, terrorist bombings. We are confronted with an endless barrage of evil and carnage, to say nothing of all the natural disasters.

We use all this information to conclude that these are the end times. But history may lead us to other conclusions. the world has been full of evil and darkness for thousands of years. There have always been corrupt leaders, dictators and fascists. In fact, very few of the leaders we know of throughout history could be called "good". Probably most were worse than our current leaders. Poverty and oppression was rampant. Injustice was the norm through so many cultures. The Dark and Middle ages were horrific. Even life in Victorian times was oppressive unless you were rich.

But here's an even more important thought. They didn't know what was going on in every small corner of the world. Nobody knew what was going on outside their own small world. 

Its all relative. In reality, the world is a much better place than its ever been! We are all aware of what's going on. Democracy and justice is finding a firmer foothold through all the world. Slavery is is all but gone (yes it still exists). Discrimination of any kind is actively opposed in most countries. We are working together in so many ways that I find it incredible and inspiring. Technology, health, social welfare - all at a level that was unheard of even a century ago.

Yes, we have a long way to go. Yes there is a lot of "evil" working through this world, everything we see that is so disgusting about the world is true. But the thing is, we are constantly exposed to the negative every minute of the day and painted an image that negates all the good and all the amazing progress mankind has made.

So the next question is of course, what about the bible? It says we are all doomed and Jesus will come and take his elect and destroy everything else. Really? Have we actually done our homework on that? Yes, there's Revelation and the things Jesus said, and all the "experts" tell us in never ending (although conflicting) detail about how the world will end, but have we stopped to really consider and examine this stuff? Its way beyond the scope of this post to look at in detail, but research the idea of "preterist" beliefs and you may be surprised.

Anyway, lets suppose that the good news of the gospel is really way better than we could imagine. Lets suppose that as more and more people embrace the unconditional love of God and all that He has done for us, and how incredibly inclusive He is, and how much His heart aches for every single person ever created that He will establish His kingdom on this earth? His kingdom of love and inclusion. His kingdom of justice and equality - everything every human dreams of. What if that were actually beginning right now? What if his whole plan all along was not to wipe out all the evil nasty people, but to overwhelm and embrace them in His love, and bring that to our tired aching planet that has been groaning for the sons of God to be revealed?

Maybe we are those who will bring that kingdom. Maybe it will take generations as His love slowly but inexorably conquers all. Maybe we need to step back from the horror stories that bombard us every day and start to see the awesome things that God is doing and make some real comparisons about the state of the world.

Maybe we need to be love! Apuckerlips - not Apocalypse!

Jim's Gospel

Things in Christendom are coming undone. 

The fundies are waging war (or should that be raging war) against anything that defiles literalistic dogma. Doctrines, denominations, cults abound in ever greater numbers. People are discovering we have been ripped off by centuries of misinterpretations, political/religious manipulation, power struggles, incorrect translations, you name it. And the temptation to hang on to traditional christian thought is like grabbing at the rope as the anchor slips over the side - you'll get rope burns, or dragged overboard with the anchor.

Sifting through the morass of what's left of Christianity is daunting. Those who have taken the time to attempt to understand some of the issues are often tempted to only go so far, for fear of losing faith completely. Many threads of thought will lead to slippery slopes that by their very nature will fly in the face of the mainstream church.

Many people are being "zapped" with new understanding of how awesome God really is and how we so completely misunderstood his nature and plans for humans. Great stirrings through every stream and denomination. More divisions, arguments. A huge slow rumble that will erupt in the greatest earthquake the church has seen - not some "revival" of holiness, healing and bible bashing, but a change in the very core of Christianity.

So, what about my gospel? Glad you asked!

We all have a basic idea of what the gospel is, don't we! I mean, you ask anyone, even non-christians (well, in the western world at least), and they will probably be able to spout something. Good christians will have a good biblical answer, and you can get a range of brochures that will outline it for you in simple to follow instructions so you can "get saved" by applying the aforementioned gospel.

But in reality the gospel is getting a bit cloudy. At the very least there is Jesus' gospel and Paul's gospel, and heaps of arguments about that! And lots of discussions about what being saved really is, and being born again, and eternity, and God's perfect will, and free will, and well, just about everything that colours how you interpret the gospel - to yourself, let alone others.

So I began to realise that no matter what we think or claim about it all, our deep understanding of what God has done to make everything right for us all is uniquely personal. Most of us will parrot what we think the bible says or what our favorite teacher says, but our hearts have their own understanding. Our hearts intrinsically know what the gospel SHOULD be. Yes it can be twisted and mutilated and wrapped in conditions, fears, but deep down we know that if God really was as good as we hoped for, the gospel would be the most freeing wonderful thing the world could ever imagine. God would be all that our hearts could ever desire - perfect unconditional love and acceptance!

I began to strip away everything except the most basic thing that a child can understand without scripture - yes, that's right, especially without scripture!

Its Gospel 101! Ready?

God is Love - He loves me!

What about Jesus? He was God demonstrating His intrinsic involvement in humanity and solving the problem of "sin" - all sin for all time, for all people, whether they know it or not. To know that God is Love and we are loved by Him, IS to accept what Jesus has done anyway. We don't have to "know" about him, he sorted all that before he even made us, he confirmed it by his physical appearance to those that a physical appearance would be most significant to (the Jews), and then confirmed the whole thing by opening our eyes to our unity with him.

Theology is fun! Gives me hours of thought provoking entertainment and lively discussion. Our minds are made to explore the deeper meanings of life the universe and everything. BUT, when it comes to life and death, I'm starting to hold those ideas lightly now - it matters less everyday. I only care about it if the fruit of someone's ideas is bad. And we all know bad fruit, and we all know good fruit.

So YOUR gospel can really look like anything! It can be Jesus' gospel or Paul's gospel but mostly it's your gospel, the one that Holy Spirit speaks to your heart - the one that says "God is love and He loves me!" And we live from that place - we live loved!

Its so easy and yet so hard. Its expansive in its freedom but the narrowest road we could walk. Jesus is the centre of everything, whether we recognise it now or later. We "preach" the kingdom of God here and now in all of us, and that kingdom is the best thing unknown to mankind!

LIVE LOVED (and only use words if necessary)

A prophesy?

It is with much fear and trepidation that I dare to call this a prophesy. I have never had the guts to put something in this form before, but it is what I feel Father is saying. I make no claim to being a prophet, it just seemed right to express it as if it was Father's heart. 

You've longed for a revival.
You've hungered for more of me and seen the pain in yourselves and my creation.
The cry for holiness and justice.
The outpourings of my spirit in past times creates a yearning for my presence and power.
To see broken hearts mended, lost ones found, repentance, remorse
Miracles and healing, passion for my word and truth, the glory!

But its not coming on your terms, my reformation is coming instead.
It has started in sparks everywhere, no one person, no one movement,
Fires beginning to spread from one end of creation to the other
But not revival fires, they are freedom and passion fires!
Love fires, a declaration of my heart and passion for you
A new light that shakes each of my children to the core
A reformation of my life in you, of our unity, of your identity
Its a quiet fire that is my doing, born only of my desire for you
Nothing you have done could bring it, nothing you could pray will release it
I will open eyes to plainly see what has been hidden
To see the simplicity and power
To experience freedom unimaginable
To know love indescribable
It doesn't look like revival, it looks like division
It doesn't sound like the roaring of holy fire from heaven
It sounds like the whisper of my breath as I draw close
It is radical, bringing you back to the roots
Back to the childlikeness that sees my kingdom
That sees my love

No, there will be no revival
But the world will be changed by my heart
One person at a time.