Christ in You or Christ in Christmas

 ⁵ One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. ⁶ Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. .. for they give thanks to God. (Romans 14)

     I've seen Christians go to extremes to both sides of the Christmas argument.  There are some who claim that the Christmas traditions have its roots in pagan traditons, and thus, should be ignored by the "sold out" believers.  Some have even made the contention that it is satan's way of getting us to worship him.  Others get ornery towards the commercialism of it all and insist we keep Christ in Christmas and adopt an "almost" self-righteous attitude towards those that say "Happy Holidays".
I think for God, it is 'much to do about nothing.'  How can I say that?
     There is no Scriptural mandate to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  Nowhere is Scripture are we commanded, encouraged or told to celebrate His birth.  However, according to the above verse and other parts of the Bible, we have the freedom to do just that.   If others don't wish to, they have the freedom to do just that.  Christ is more interested in saving you and living in you and with you rather than having his name included in our traditions and celebrations. There was no room for him at the inn-He was not offended.  I am quite sure He is not offended by Happy Holidays.  His heart did break at Calvary though for the pain and heartache sin brings into the world.  The heart of the gospel is through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God forgives and separates us from our sins so our spirits could be made new and have His very LIFE joined our spirits living in us.  Paul stated, ²⁷ To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col. 1)  Before Christ made my spirit new and came into my heart, Christmas was all about family, getting stuff and giving stuff. It was about our family slowing down and coming together.  When I became a believer, I vascilated between the two extremes, but as a whole, it was still about giving stuff, getting stuff and family.  I love the season and all the fun I have with my wife and kids.  Christ is in me all year, and as far as  my relationship with God goes, it is just another day.  Every day He loves me; every day I seek to be thankful for
Jesus Christ doing for me what I could not do for myself.  If you have never experienced what I am talking about, simply receive God's gift this Christmas. "To all who received in Him; to those who believed on His Name, God gives the right to be called "children of God." (John1)

oh, yeah, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

    

The Centurion Finds His Worth

  In Luke Chapter 7 there is an interesting situation, and in the midst of the interesting situation is the Lord Jesus Christ. In all of our situations, we need to see Jesus Christ in the midst; if we don’t, we will lose ourselves. Here is the passage in its entirety:

1 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

Did you notice the difference between how the elder’s viewed the centurion and the how the centurion viewed himself? The elders said, “This man deserves to have you do this…” and then they pointed out his “good deeds”. The Centurion, however, said, “I don’t deserve to have you come under my roof…I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.” There was a discrepancy between how others saw the Centurion and how he saw himself. Carl Rogers when teaching on our self image states that anxiety and distress is caused when there is a big difference between how we see ourselves, how others see us, and how we really are. That is, three things come into play as we develop a self image. It is based on how others see us, starting with our immediate family as soon as we are born; how we see ourselves based on our own mind and everything around us; and then, there is the way we really are—the truth about us. And although the Centurion was at odds with the elders who thought he was “deserving”, he was not at all anxious because He knew enough about God to be comfortable in his view of himself. Although he felt unworthy, He knew God’s love and mercy would carry him through the situation. Jesus did not address whether the Centurion was worthy, deserving or undeserving. He instead made a statement about the Centurion’s faith. This is where we need to stay. Jesus is the object of our faith; it is not the size of our faith that matters; it is not our performance that matters; it is the object of our faith that matters; small faith in a Great God will bring us to a place of peace, rest and assurance. God got over the fact of our unworthiness at the cross; in fact, before the foundations of the earth were formed, God placed us “in Christ”. Seeing ourselves in Christ is “the way we really are—the truth about us that Rogers was looking for. Others may think things of us that are not true; we may think of ourselves in ways that are not true, but what matters is “who we really are”—the truth about us, and the truth about us is we are in Christ:

Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:20)

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God... 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
 (Col. 3)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: (2 Cor. 5)

Seeing yourself as a New Creation in Christ is essential to your spiritual growth and a healthy self image. If you put up a good enough front, others will talk well of you; if you really look at yourself in the light of God’s law which demands perfect righteousness, you will think ill of yourself and say, “I am unworthy.” Although knowing our unworthiness in light of God’s perfection is a good first step, we can’t stay there. The truth is that God considered us worthy and was crucified, buried and raised again to make us worthy. Based on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have been made worthy, and possess more worth than we can ever imagine—it is a worth that creates true humility rather than false pride. *

*Tis the season, and when you sing the part in O Holy Night about the soul finding its worth, sing it like you mean it!!!

Easy As Breathing

 "For you were like sheep going astray,but  now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." (1 Peter 2)
God likens us to sheep, and I have heard it said sheep are the dumbest animals on the planet, and this is why God has mad it easy for us to come back into relationship with Him. God has made it easy for us to be in relationship with Him. Peter recognized this when he told the religious leaders of his day that "we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God." The idea that God is some far off deity that we can not reach is foreign to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One of the first things Jesus said to the crowds is the "kingdom of God is within you."(Luke 17:21) He told the disciples that when He left he would send The Spirit of God to live with us and be in us. He said on that day we would know that Jesus is in the Father, the believer is in Jesus, and Jesus is in the believer.(John 14:20) This spiritual reality of us being "in Christ" and "Christ" being in us is not some religious mumbo jumbo.  It is the absolute truth and the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can not focus on any one aspect of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Making our relationship with God as easy as breathing involves understanding the purpose of all the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  In His death, Jesus removed sin once for all -  the penalty and the presence of sin in the spiritual life of the believer. Man's sin problem lies more with his lack of faith and attachment to and obsession with the physical realm making him grossly unaware of the spiritual realities of God within.  Having removed sin, the One thing a Righteous God can not tolerate, He is now able to put His Spirit in us - but where in us? Our physical body? No, when Christ was crucified, we were crucified with Him.(Galatians 2:20) We were buried with Him, and when He rose again by the Spirit of God, we were given new birth, a new spirit, a new spiritual life and a new creation. It is in our spirits that God Spirit takes up residence. God announced this through the Prophet Ezekiel :  ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws This spiritual reality is an eternal reality outside of time and space.  God's Spirit lives in our spirit, so communication with God is as easy as breathing, He has made it that simple.  We can communicate with God in our whispers and thoughts. We can listen to Him speak to our hearts and minds.  It is always, constant, never changing.  It is everywhere all the time.  It is grace, truth, love and mercy flowing to us all day long.  We are not far away, we have been brought near through the work of Christ. As close as our next breath.

O' Wrecking Ball, Where is Your Sting?

I haven't listened to Bruce Springsteen's song "Wrecking Ball" since Clarence Clemon's death, and today I listened to it in an entirely different light.  The song was written for the final shows at Giant's Stadium which I had written about in a previous blog* The song personifies the stadium telling the wrecking crew to bring it on! The song also is an allegory for the aging process and ultimately death. Bruce had just turned 60 and was defying death itself, saying, "Bring it on!"  Although I admire the Boss's zeal, I could not help to think today that the wrecking ball came to E Street, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it--not even the Legendary E Street Band.  I am not at all trying to be callous or flippant--this is serious.  I cried a lot the week the Big Man went home, and I did not even know him personally.  However, death is inevitable and is part of life even if you think that someone is "too f___ing big to die."*  BUT, the good news is there is a way we can defy death and sing, "Bring on Your Wrecking Ball!"  There is a section in Clarence's book, Big Man and Tall Tales where a store clerk in Hawaii asks Clarence, "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?" Clarence repsonds with a difinitive "Yes!"  For me, this is Clarence's wink to me that all is OK.  Death is excruciating, and the most painful element we face in life, and if God chose to leave us in the dark about it all, I would consider God to be a cruel prankster.  But He does not leave us in the dark.  One of the missions of Jesus was to "bring light and immortality to life."  In other words, through the gospel of Jesus Christ, God is bringing us comfort and hope during the most painful trial in life.  He wants us to know something great lies beyond the grave.  He wants us to know that the pain of separation is temporary; He wants us to know that His grace and mercy is available during our darkest hour.  Here is the entire verse: "This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰ but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."  (2 Timothy 1) Jesus Christ destroyed death, Jesus Christ died voluntarily, Jesus Christ said, "Bring on Your Wrecking Ball, and only Jesus Christ was too f____ing big to die "because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." (Acts 2:23), and the good news is that all who believe in Jesus Christ have eternal life. 1 Corinthians 15 tells us that death has lost its sting and the grave its victory calling death, the final enemy, and Jesus defied death and defeated it once for all, and because of that I can say, "Bring on your wrecking ball!"
*see blog from 2009 "My Jersey Roots"

A Toxic Faith

 The muslim men who flew the planes into the towers were nothing more than a group of sex addicts in deep denial of their condition due to their toxic faith. Think about it. They sacrificed everything, their very lives, so that they could have 70 virgins in heaven. They were looking forward to nothing more than a wild orgie in heaven.  Sorry to be blunt, but lets bring it all down to the bare facts.  It is quite easy to recognize this as toxic faith, but there is toxic faith within Christianity that is subtle, but it also brings death, a slower death, but it brings death in many ways.  First, when we make man the intiater and God the responder, we become toxic. God is the initiator from start to finish. He initiated creation; he initiated when Adam and Eve hid; he initiated with David when David was hiding. He initiates a realtionship with each one of us and forgave us freely and fully at the cross.  We think forgiveness is something we get when we ask for it, but it is something that we receive when we receive Jesus Christ. We were born forgiven but dead; when we receive Christ, we receive forgiveness and are raised from the dead spiritually. Spiritually we are born and spiritually we are a New Creation. What did we have to do with it?  NOTHING! God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves.  It was not our idea to have Jesus go to the cross; there was no one praying for God to send his Son to die for our sins.  The prayer was "Send the Messiah to kick the Romans out of the Promised Land!"  But, God obtained eternal redemption without our help, prayers or initiating.  Likewise, we become toxic when we try to grow spiritually on our own using the law not realizing that we depend on Christ for our very breath.  Paul contrasts the two ideas in the Colossians. He tells us, "⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."   We received Jesus by grace through faith, and we grow spiritually by grace through faith.  We rest, and God works and it is in this paradox that we grow.  We desparately need a revelation of this paradox; it can't be taught intellectually. God can make it real to us. The alternative to resting in Christ is the toxic approach Paul outlines later in the chapter. 20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence."   Toxic faith not only thrives under this approach, but it becomes ever increasingly toxic when the "faithful" believe it is up to them to enforce this approach--"the rules that are destined to perish."   Notice that the rules appear to be wise, aka, they make sense, but they lack any value in restraining sensuual indulgence. Sensual indulgence is doing whatever it takes to feel good; they can not help the addict; in fact, applying these rules, applying the law actually stirs up the sensual indulgence* and religous boys usually use sex to take the edge off because it is secret and not as obvious as being drunk or high.  Thus, the sex addicts of 911, but sadly and secretly, countless Christian men struggling in secret with their sexual addiction.  It is in secret that it grows and becomes stronger, so the first step is honesty with God and with other men.  It will be hard to be honest without realizing the good news that it has not nor never will separate you from God.  It is almost impossible to be honest without knowing that is is not you, but sin living in you that does it. (Romans 7:17 and 20). It is difficult to be honest without knowing that the New Creation is separated from the deeds of the flesh.  Honesty will come when we learn who we really and truly are in Christ and stop our relgious nonsense.  28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Courage men, and let the healing begin.

* study Romans 7 in order to understand how laws and rules add to the sin problem rather than solve it.

The Gospel According to Harold

Harold Camping’s prediction of the coming Rapture ushering in Judgment Day was a blatantly obvious error because everyone knows Jesus said, “No one knows the day or the hour.” However, Brother Harold has been preaching a legalistic, morbid gospel for years. According to Harold, anyone who did not believe like He did was following “another Gospel” and was condemned to hell. He has been preaching that for over 30 years. Likewise, Harold Camping’s call to repentance is morbid, and Harold Camping’s view of God is very impersonal. He view’s God’s holiness as a reason for God to be angry and wrathful and unwilling to show grace and mercy unless we beg and plead with God as though the begging and pleading might get God to be merciful and kind. He writes on his website:
Sadly, the Holy Bible tells us that only a small percentage of today’s world will turn from their evil ways, and with great humility and fear will cry to God for mercy. Nevertheless, the Bible assures us that many of the people who do beg God for His mercy will not be destroyed. We learn from the Bible that Holy God plans to rescue about 200 million people (that is about 3% of today’s population). On the first day of the Day of Judgment (May 21, 2011) they will be caught up (raptured) into Heaven because God had great mercy for them. This is why we can be so thankful that God has given us advance notice of Judgment Day. Because God is so merciful, maybe He will have mercy on you. (http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/judgment/judgment.html)

Mr. Camping says that we have to “beg” God for His mercy, and that “maybe” God will have mercy on you! MAYBE???? While He insists that Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for sins is the only payment for sin and faith in Christ, the only way to Heaven, He seems to doubt that in his preaching; in other words, I don’t think Camping thinks what Jesus did on the cross for him was good enough, and thus, Harold fell into the trap of legalism, leading to a religious addiction demonstrated in his constant, obsessive-compulsive, numerological approach to Bible Study.  Contrast Mr. Camping’s statements with Jesus’ interaction with the child of God traditionally known as The Thief on the Cross:

“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[d]”

43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23)

The Thief on the Cross simply recognized who Jesus was, what Jesus came to do, and what Jesus had to offer him personally. Notice Jesus loving response and promise. He was bringing this child home to the Father with Him! Jesus did not say, “Well, maybe if you beg, I will have mercy on you.” So, if you were thrown off by all of last weekend’s events, simply recognize that Jesus Christ is the Son of God come to save you, and ask Him to do with you what you can’t do for yourself. He offers complete forgiveness of sins and the entrance into paradise based on His work. Some ask me if Jesus is the only way to heaven, and I tell them, "Well if you want to try, you can bring your own works and righteousness before God. You can see if God will accept your sin stained life over the Gift of Righteousness he offers you in His Son. Yes, that’s it, tell God, “God, I know you gave your Son on the cross and punished all sin in Him so we might have eternal life and freely enter your kingdom, but I really did no need that. I don’t need your Son…I am good enough to get in on my own, so let me in.” And, good luck with that. As for me, I know there is no way I can ever measure up and make myself acceptable to God, and I gratefully clothe myself in the very Righteousness of Christ and receive forgiveness of sins, and eternal life in His Name. I am thankful each day that His blood continually cleanses me from all sin. And God is more than willing and able to pour out his mercy on us every single day. He delights in mercy and he tells us that “Mercy triumphs over Judgment! (James 4) I am not disagreeing with Mr. Camping that God is Holy and Just; full of Light and Truth, and cannot tolerate sin, but God is absolute 100% love, and the cross of Jesus Christ allows His love and Justice to meet face to face so He can treat us with utmost love and respect as His children.  And let the reader take heed; Harold's error does not mean that Jesus will not rapture Believers in Jesus Christ, and it does not mean that those who want to trust in their own righteousness rather than the free gift of righteousness God offers us in Christ won't have to face their own judgment day.

Are You Secure?

2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

     In this passage, we have Jesus Christ, King of Kings washing the disciples feet which was the task of a common house servant. That is wonderful in and of itself; however, Judas was included in those disciples whose feet Jesus washed. Jesus knew that Judas had already conspired to hand Jesus over to the politicians and preachers who wanted to kill him.  Jesus spoke to each disciple, including Judas with love and compassion.  What kept Jesus from hating Judas and calling him out in front of the disciples and running him down as a worthless individual?  He was secure in God's love for Him and He was significant in God's plan for His life, and He knew His true identity.  "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;"  It is very important to note that a tthis point, Jesus had all power because it was what He did with that power and authority tells us why God wants to and has empowered us.  He did not empower us to rule over others; He did not empower us to beat up on the devil (all you have to do is resist the devil and he runs like a scalded dog--he's nothing); He did not empower us to whip the infidels; He empowers us to use that power to come under others and lift them up; in other words, He has given us the authority to love.  We can not begin to exercise this power to love if we don't understand and know what Jesus knew at that moment. Let's face it; Judas was about to hand him over to be crucified, and Jesus was able to still reach out and love Judas, but if someone looks at us wrong, our hair falls out. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church.  The image of Edith Bunker telling Archie to put his feet up and running to get him a beer has the roles reversed there.  Husbands are called to love and serve their wives, not take the throne and position of authority and lord it over them.  Get the picture; we have to know we are secure in God's love and significant in His plan if we are to love others*.  The good news is that God has made us secure in his love and significant in His plan by the death, burial and resurreciton of Jesus Christ.  Jesus shed his blood for the total removal of our sins from God's sight. He did that so He could put His spirit in us by the power of His resurrection.  He puts His Spirit in us to tell us our true identity:  "16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. "  This should grab us in the depths of our hearts and settle the issue of our security and significance once for all.  We are not only God's children, but Co-Heirs with Christ. That means that our signigicance on this eart his just as important to God as Jesus presence. It means that God's love for us is no less than is love for Jesus Christ!  Knowing this and believing it are two different things.  The rubber meets the road when someone is criticizing, disappointing or betraying us; it is at this point we must believe the beauty of the gospel and the fact that all of our needs are met in Christ lest we pay attention to our hurt feelings believing we have to save our own butts and seek to eliminate the threat to our needs. When we do that we will react in the flesh and lash out at our source of discomfort because everything inside of us will be screaming out to be loved, accepted and forgiven!! We must lock into the gospel telling ourselves, "I am significant in God's plan and secure in God's love; I don't care how it feels, what it looks like or what my circumstances may be; right now based on the good news of Jesus Christ, I am totally loved and accepted; empowered and equipped to love myself and others. 

*To study out your security and significance further, read The Alpha Series by John Glenn

The Marriage Builder by Larry Crabb