Tuesday, April 23, 2013

The Upper Room


How can something small be famous?

There is something to be said of the use of multimedia and a sound system that fills a room with music capturing the attention of a crowd; the gathering of thousands of believers as they worship the God they feel great affection for; a towering monolith of architectural beauty proclaiming to all who stand in its shadow the purpose of worship. And yet, there is Jesus in an upper room washing the feet of his disciples.
During a shared meal celebrating and worshiping the Creator’s providential salvation of his people, Jesus took the time to show humility in washing his student’s feet. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, his students were again in an upper room and Christ came to them at that place. The early church was marked by people gathering in homes to lift high the 
name of Jesus as the One God. The fame of Christ was spread far by those devoted to his cause. Household after household was converted from a home to a church. Then something changed. People started to think that glory had something to do with “big.” Now in today’s time there is more attention given to how church looks than to who the church is.
A friend posed this question recently, “Is there a better way to spend a Sunday morning then in a hallway?” A hallway converting into a church, where the Creator of the universe meets with his people by the intimate connection
of His Spirit with ours made possible by the birth, death and resurrection of Christ? No. The people willing to meet in an upper room, or a house, or a hallway do so for no other reason than the purpose of their gathering.  The beauty of the raw dedication, unwavering faith, and absolute dependence of Jesus in the small things far out-shines any production or display.
Jesus once told an individual, “There will be a day when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” Jesus was telling this person that people argue about relics like a mountain, created by God, or the relic of the Temple, built by the devout, are the place of true worship; but that neither was what the Creator desires. The Creator desires the people, not the place.
No matter where we are or what style of location we have big or small, fancy or shabby, we are the church. We are the indwelling of the Almighty. We are his image, through Christ, we are his presence.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Darkness that shines within.


Matthew once wrote, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

                At one point, the words “I don’t see any color in life anymore” were uttered to my mother. Life seemed grey and dull. Boring is not an adequate description of the viewpoint. It lacks the depth of hopelessness. Life had no color, because life had no promise; no purpose; no living. There was only
darkness that shined within, driving out all things that held light. This dark nothing soon made all things as its own; keeping me a prisoner of nowhere, and in the company of no one. To be lost and alone would be one thing, for there would be hope in being found. This darkness stripped away even the purpose in searching for rescue and help. The darkness claimed me and became me. There was only one thing to do. Die.
                The god of purpose and love had been preached to me. And preach to me they did, telling me I could find hope in him because of a prayer made by my mouth. As before, when needed, I went to this god and asked for the end, for this was the only hope I could see: to
die before him and all others so that the lifeless existence would finally cease. I prayed and planned for death as if it was mid-day meal. How is death best served on a Tuesday in late Spring? Standing outside a church building starring into the sky wondering why this god won’t answer this one little prayer. Now I lay me down to sleep, in hopes to die before I wake.
                Death was the only answer, and I am glad it came to me. Though the way it came was not what I was expecting. The strong suspicion that I could not hear god was made denser by the darkness. But, what the darkness did not understand was that true light was about to show up. While musical notes filled the air and stage lights flooded the scene, with my eyes closed I heard a voice and saw green. Three words to change life forever, spoken from my savior; “I love you.” My Lord and my God, I give you my life! My will died that day. The promise and hope of a life worth living was given to me, because a long time ago Jesus died the death that I asked for and is now longer required of me.

Jesus is my God.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

We are a GMO.


Eating a fruit not made for us changed our biochemistry.

       I am not going to claim to know much at all concerning the GMO debate, but I am fairly certain that the concern is that the genetically modified organism is effecting humans when they eat it. Despite the fact that all of nature is genetically different than it was 5,000 or so years ago; this could be a valid concern. I would venture to say that our current state of our world is because of a GMO.
       The tree of knowledge of good and evil brought death, not just because the creator said we would die (so we do as punishment for disobedience), but because that is what would happen if the fruit was
eaten. The fruit genetically modified us and not in a good way. Humans gained an understanding that we were not designed to have. A friend explained his view of evil to me as the absence of God. When considering the Creator’s goodness (the standard of all things good), it is logical to assume that what is not of God is evil. This view can lead to a dualism in nature of prime reality. However, the Creator, describes himself not as the Good God, but as the I AM. God is, and the absence of “is” is nothing. God is existence and life, in which the opposite is death.
       The tree of knowledge of good and evil, made in us the existence of life and death's dualism. We fight to stay alive, but eventually death claims us all. Our survivalist instincts (to cheat death), bring about a self-focused reality and distorts our view of what the Creator declared as good. Our bio-electric and biochemical response to stimuli has been negatively modified. Public nudity…good or bad?
I know some will disagree but it is typically viewed as bad, hence the reason we have worn some type of clothing for the past 6,000 years. Adam and Eve felt shame for how they were, even though the epitome of goodness said it was good. They had an improper bio-electric and biochemical response to the stimulant of seeing each other and themselves naked.

Humans are now Genetically Modified Organisms.