Yes, We Do Bruce!

Recently, Bruce Springsteen was interviewed about his new album, "Wrecking Ball". He spoke about the lead song of the album, "We Take Care of our Own." Bruce said that he is asking the question, "Do we take care of our own?"  I am not sure of whom he is asking the question.  If he is asking me, I have to answer, "Yes boss, I have a wife and a 9 year old girl that I take care of daily.We have another daughter who is living on her own, paying her bills and working, and still another daughter in college who we send money to monthly.I have a son who I took care of who is now serving his country as a Marine.  So, yes boss, I am taking care of my own.  I can not only answer for myself, but I can also testify to what I see in my community.  Bruce seems to say no one is doing anything for anyone when he says, "There ain't not help, the calvary stayed home, no one hears the bugle blowing." Bruce sounds like a politician blowing out glittering generalities out of his own bugle. I will give a couple of examples of what is happening here on the ground in my community.  A group of men started a ministry to the homeless which grew into what is now called LAHIA. (Love and Hope in Acion). They feed, clothe and provide many other services for the poor. You can visit their site: http://lahia.org/  My church donates food on a weekly basis and friends from LAHIA pick it up once a month.  This is just a small example, and all of us know there are countless faith based or community based organizations doing this type of work every day in all 50 states.  Relationships are built through this, people know faces and names, and they care about each other. We are the calvary Bruce.  Stick it it your bugle. My wife is a school teacher who not only dontates her time and energy sacrificially going way beyond what she is paid, but she also bought clothes for a less fortunate student who she cares about deeply. She is my local hero.  This goes on all the time throughout the country. My parents' church in Lakewood, NJ, right in Bruce's backyard, has a big food bank where they also give out clothes, baby supplies etc. all of the time, every day. This goes is happening in every community.  And, I know Bruce is aware of this because he always highlights a local charity in every city he plays, and from what I am told, all the T-Shirt money goes to local charities.   So, I am not sure what Bruce is talking about. Is he throwing his hat into the political fray and talking politics here? In other words, is the question being asked of our government?  If so, he is asking the wrong entity  because the government can't even take care of themselves; they are broke, flat broke, and one of the reasons they are flat broke is because they are trying to take care of those they have no business taking care of.  We are in a big mess because the government, for the sake of  their own power and greed, has tried to be all things to all men giving anything to anybody that will vote for them. In other songs, Bruce seems to go after corporate greed, bankers and "robber barons."  I heard no mention of the corrupiton in Washington and his own democratic party that he seems to support each election, so if this album is asking the question of those who want smaller government, less spending, less government interference, I have to say the album is a bunch of political rhetoric, and Bruce is no better than the politicians, no better than the government. The only difference is Bruce is not broke.  The government can't save us, and they can't take care of us. They need to get out of the way and give power back to us in our communities--we do a much better job because we are motivated by faith, hope and love, not power, pride and greed.  So, the anwer to your question Bruce, for me and those I love is yes we do.
PS. I am going to see Bruce in Tampa this month and I am looking forward to a good concert; Bruce and E Street are still the best band in the land, musically speaking.
Also, I invite all my readers to leave examples of people taking care of their own in the comment section.

The State of the Union

 
¹¹ Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues
God will speak to this people,
¹² to whom he said,
“This is the resting place, let the weary rest”;
and, “This is the place of repose”—
but they would not listen.
¹³ So then, the word of the LORD to them will become:
Do this, do that,
a rule for this, a rule for that;
a little here, a little there—
so that as they go they will fall backward;
they will be i njured and snared and captured. (Isaiah 28)

     Whether or not America is a Christian Nation has been an ongoing argument. Christianity was founded upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The good news of the gospel is that believers in Jesus Christ are completely forgiven, totally accepted, and unconditionally loved by God.  It also means that they are not under LAW but operate on a higher plain called Grace. In other words to be a Christian Nation would mean we as a Nation operate and live in the Grace of God.  I would have to say, therefore, that we are not a Christian Nation. The idea that we are a Christian Nation may stem from the idea that many of our founding fathers were Christian men, or it may have its roots that many of its laws were based on the "10 Commandments."  But still, this does not qualify us to be a Christian Nation.  A Christian is one who was born into this world spiritually dead, but was made spiritually alive in Jesus Christ.  A Christian is one whose Spirit is joined to Jesus Christ's Spirit in an inseparable matter. And, if the same Spirit that rasied Jesus Christ from the dead is alive in us, we operate and live by the Grace of God.  The Grace of God is God's power working in us to love others, serve others and worship God in our own hearts.  The Grace of God allows us to rest from the burden of a tedious, stressful lifestyle based on laws and rules.  It causes us to look outside of ourselves realizing we have this tremendous capacity to use whatever gift God has given us to love other people.  It also enables us to be content with whatever we have materially--it recognizes GOD, not government as its source and provider of everything good. It seeks to give and not take.  Isaiah tells us what happens when a Nation forsakes God's offer of Grace and looks to the arm of the flesh to provide and produce:
 ¹³ So then, the word of the LORD to them will become:
Do this, do that,
a rule for this, a rule for that;
a little here, a little there—
so that as they go they will fall backward;
they will be i njured and snared and captured.

     All I see in Washington is a bunch of men and women waking up every morning thinking, "I am supposed to make rules; let's make some rules today. I exist to make laws, let's write some bills today."   We are snared in their game; we are captured and have bought into the lie that government has the answers. We have ceased to operate by the Grace of God where we realize our potential in Christ to contribute and have become a nation of rule upon rule, law upon law, putting up with it in order to get stuff,  and it has infected every area of our lives.  We are in big trouble America. The only answer is for each individual to receive Jesus Christ and all of the power and potential He offers us as individuals. And I don't mean that you need to start going to Church becasue many churches are operating under law and not under grace and they are in the same mess.  Just you and God--"all who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved."

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.