Sunday, August 26, 2012

Knowledge


Where does knowledge come from? God or man?

The Disciples were "un-educated" people. Their instruction did not come from their society's standards of education, yet they were at the head of the movement that altered the world’s history. Yet, today's churches require a "Christian" equivalent to our society’s education to be a minister... A high GPA is the beginning of wisdom; or the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, it just needs to be finished out with an accreditation from man? Something seems to be amiss...
The area of Galilee was an interesting area filled with people of zeal for the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus picked his first followers from an area filled with home schooled, synagogue saturated communities (Deuteronomy 6:5-9). They, were not schooled in the rhetoric of the Roman Empire like what Paul (Saul) would have been. His education, he considers loss for the sake of Christ. (Philippians 3:4-7)
Where is the church going to be in the decades and centuries to come if they continue to reject those who are not educated by our societies’ educational system? Jesus could have chosen the people from the most affluent, schooled, and politically connected people to be his first followers, but he picked those who were from families that loved the Lord God with all their will, actions, and life. Jesus knew that “true” wisdom comes from God. Those willing to be “schooled” by the very Soul of God will be those filled with knowledge and not information.

Monday, August 13, 2012

True Religion


Perspective is the key to “good” religion.
I have a no religion shirt, which has on the backside the words written Embrace Jesus. No one can argue the point that many “bad” and destructive things have been done in human history using religion as a cover. From nations and people groups to individuals, religion can be used for selfish purposes. What is it that makes for “good” religion? Perspective or definition is the key to that answer.
James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Many point out that the orphans and widows would be those people who are poor in that ancient society. Therefore, they make the point that we should care for the poor. I have no disagreements with that assessment. However, are these people overlooking something more?
The widows and orphans are the neglected and victims of that ancient societies political and social structure. Widows and orphans would be completely dependent on others and have nothing to be able to sustain them. Single mothers can find work in today’s society, and un-married women can be quite successful (as well as married women). Therefore, the idea of a widow being poor just because she has lost her husband is not something that is epidemic in our society as it was to James’ readers. So, who are the victims of today’s political and social structure? One of these is the students of this nation (not that they are the only). Suicide is the third leading cause of death among those from ages 15-24. Many churches still see ministry to the young as teaching them bible stories and showing them that church can be fun. Yet they do not engage their minds on what true discipleship is and show them the reality of God’s presence. Many pastors want a “youth minister” to run some programming so that the church looks better to it potential prospects. Moreover, many pastors do not view the “youth minister” as a leader in the church, but simply the youth person. This view of the person seeking to reach the students is also telling of the view of the students themselves.
It is not just the students who are “loners” or dressing odd that are susceptible to the suicide problem, but also many students who are “popular” and doing well academically. Students live in an academic system that looks over the individual in favor for the corporate all the while the philosophy of our society is “me.” They are inundated with age equivalent peers, while the “world of adults” is non-age specific. These factors plus several others has led to an entirely different culture among the young that leaves them suspect of adults and cling to their “friends.” Church is therefore just another adult place and they typically do not open up in adult places. They may comply for a while and show some interest, but once they are in college or out on their own, their worldview, which classified church as not really a place for me, manifests. Many walk away from not only church but also faith in the reality of God’s presence and the power of the resurrection of Jesus. In many ways, the students are the victims of our society. True religion will look after the young of our nation and not persuaded by our culture!
Be true!

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Love

Is love a title wave of strong emotion, or simply an action by force of will?

Have you found your “soul mate,” “true love,” “the one”? Is this even a valid question? I say no. Romance in movies is usually about finally finding that one person that completes the two parties. In my own experience, I believed that God led me to my wife, and that we were supposed to be together. As if it were his plan, to play cupid in our lives and have us “fall” in love. “Falling in love” is another statement that misses the point, as if you can fall out of love with someone. Also, the distinction I heard Chelsea Handler make in a movie once; “You can love more than one person but you cannot be “in love” with more than one person.” If love is this title wave of emotion that is so strong, why is it so fickle? Again, I say it is not. Love is a conscious effort to put another’s concerns, passions, interests, and all around everything above your own.
Jesus said it this way, “No greater love has a man than this that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 Love is sacrificial! Love is submissive! Love ignores self, and gives all it is capable of giving! To fall out of love is simply a choice that a person makes where they have decided to care more about their own well-being than that of the other. It may be warranted, and have justifiable reasons, but it is not love that failed, rather the person failed to continue to love. Our world, and more importantly our Church, could do with a better understanding that love comes by act of will.
Love takes intentional thought filled action, not emotional response to stimulation. Here is a simple test. If an action meets these four criteria, you can be sure it is love.
1.      Is what I am doing or about to do motivated primarily to benefit another?
2.      Am I more concerned about how I will look, by doing this or simply doing it for another?
3.      You do not feel like being supportive, and sacrificial, but you do anyways.
4.      Am I thinking of other ways to make this more about “you” than me.       
God is Love, let us also be love.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Spirit and Soul

Is there a distinction between the two or are they of the same essence?

Pneuma and psyche, spirit and soul, inner life and inner life. Both Koine Greek words can be translated to mean inner life. God is spirit and we are called to love God with all our soul. Could it be that these two words are in reference to the same life force? I would like to put forth a different idea on what is considered the “spiritual” realm. Ancient people classified or described things they experienced in terms that were knowable or at least fathomable for the time. Bioelectric transmissions, cosmic plasma electro-magnetic fields, and our modern use of electricity was not something they could fathom. The electric charge in synaptic fires in our brain carries information from one spot to another. Our modern use of electricity transmits information as well. Electric charges can be found in all plasma and since nearly (99.999%) all things visible are in a plasma state, our entire existence is electrical. Outerspace is a vacuum, however it is permeated with the plasma of solar "Wind" What if this electric interface is the spirit. Not to get into a new age philosophy, but that the very Soul of God is not like humans in their organic state, but an infinite network of electrical transmissions that function similar to how our brain transfers information.

This means that when the Soul of God (Holy Spirit, Counselor, Comforter) comes to dwell within us, it is in our very brain that he dwells. That infinite network of life intimately connects to our thoughts, ideas, knowledge, wisdom, insights, hopes, and dreams. John15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father —the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.” (John 14:23-28 is superb for understanding my thoughts on this as well.)

Jesus, being the Son of the Living God, did not have a soul-hybrid (for lack of a better term) like we do. He is the Word of God in organic form. Jesus was that infinite electrical network encapsulated in a biological human brain. He never once had the fear of death as we do, and thus was able to be free from the “instinct of me” for his entirely earthly life. We struggle to let go of old pathways of bioelectrical communication and rely solely on the Soul of God. Where our biology fails us, the Grace of Christ claims victory!
You are not alone!