The Divine Nature

Tangents – Part 2

2012-01-17T14:46:00.001Z

Another phase or tangent I see emerging quite often amongst grace believers is that of Universalism or Ultimate Reconciliation. I can see why this concept emerges amongst grace believers, as they struggle to come to terms with how a loving God could punish people for eternity - just because they didn't say a "sinner's prayer". I would say that it has a lot to do with the psychological condition known as Cognitive Dissonance: where a discomfort is caused by holding conflicting cognitions (e.g. ideas, beliefs, values, emotional reactions) simultaneously.

Personally, I stand with the hosts of the God Journey and Into the Wild podcasts on the subject of hell: basically, I don't really know. There seem to be compelling arguments either side of the hell argument. In the Bible, Jesus talks about the Second Death and Gehenna. But there are verses in the Bible that say that everyone will be saved. There is also a website called tentmaker which gives a very compelling argument against the concept of eternal damnation.

The Universalism versus hell argument is typical of Christians who often get carried away with other-worldly, future-based concepts - instead of focusing on the present. It is in the present, the here-and-now, which we find ourselves. This is where life is happening, right here, and right now. Yet Christians prefer to discuss matters that no-one can really know for certain, things that science cannot prove. I do believe in spiritual things and I'm open-minded about miracles and such like. But the more people tend to veer away from present-day reality - the more insecure and just plain whacky they tend to become.

For me, the Bible points me towards Jesus as my Saviour. I'm loved by God because He first loved me and sent Jesus to die that I might have life. That's a spiritual concept that science cannot really prove; a concept that not everybody believes - but I do. But we have to come to terms with the fact that this message of Good News, this grace, is so we can live our God-given and God-ordained lives - right here, right now. I like what the hosts of The God Journey podcasts often say, "We should love the people that are in front of us now." The bottom line in life really comes down to living our normal, everyday life, loving others and being content with what we have. It can be hard to let go of fantasies - but it is essential if we are to be normal people who are able to get on with others and get on with life.

Eternal life is to be lived now! In the New Testament, the Greek word Zoë is often translated as life and eternal life: it is the life-giving presence of God; it is joy and a source of a vibrant personality that other people are attracted to. The Bible talks about the light of life: this speaks to me of having the expression of the presence of God; the expression of fullness of joy. Instead of focusing on heaven, hell, end-times and other such concepts - we should really focus on having the life of God in us now. Wrong beliefs and attitudes, more that what we see as sin, is what diminishes that light of life in us.

A really good book that I would recommend on this subject of tangents is Phil Baker’s hilarious, but relevant and honest book, Weird Christians I Have Met. It amazes me that this book was actually written at the peak of the charismatic movement; it deals with all the excesses and pitfalls that charismatic Christians often get caught-up in. It uses fictional characters, like End-Time Ed, that epitomise that particular tangent.

Tangents – Part 1

2012-01-17T14:43:00.001Z

What I’ve noticed on this spiritual journey is that people often get caught-up in tangents. I‘ve already discussed in previous blog entries how Christians go through phases and stages on their Christian journey. But they also tend to get stuck on particular phases for rather too long. They can also tend to get carried away with certain concepts – hence the term “tangent”. I wouldn’t mind if these tangents were beneficial but, most of the time, they tend to be anything but beneficial.

There are various tangents that Christians get caught-up in once they come into the grace message. One such tangent is that phase of being angry with the institutional church for the perceived abuse that they have had to endure at the hands of that entity. I think it is natural, even necessary, to go through a phase of being angry at the religious system that most of us believers have been through at some point. But there is a definite need to let it all go and to get on with your life.

I, personally, dislike "scare-monger" preachers such as John Bevere - someone well known for frightening his followers into obedience. But Bevere does have a point, I believe, when it comes to the assertion that holding onto a bad attitude can cause problems in your life. This bad attitude could be unforgiveness towards a person or bitterness towards an institution, event, and concept and so on.

I do honestly believe that in order for people to be free - they should be allowed to sin. The notion that people will not sin once they know they're right with God is akin, in my opinion, to the ideal that once Christians discard tithing - they will end-up giving more to the church. There is a need to have the freedom to be where you are right now in life - to live in that space and to progress in your own time and in a way that is right for you. The analogy of being God's children is an accurate one - this should serve to help us to see that God loves us as we are - even when we make mistakes.

There are natural shocks in life which have the effect of shaking free the wrong beliefs, attitudes, ideas and behaviours that we often cling on to. There is a natural correctative mechanism which does put pressure on people when they are not walking in God's perfect will for their lives. This mechanism can be anything from a vague sense of uneasiness about something or a mild sense of discontentedness - all the way up to a significant level of depression and anxiety about something.

In order to get on with our lives, and to get on with God, we need to throw out the antiquated way in which we have viewed sin and punishment and our relationship with God. No longer is God judging us and punishing us for our sins. Now, it is more a case of living the life that God has already predestined for us to live. It goes without saying that God has a perfect will for our lives, and that the closer we adhere to that life-plan - the better our lives will go for us and the more contented we will be. Conversely, the more we veer away from God's perfect will - the more frustrated we will become. Once again, this all comes down to the analogy that the Bible gives us of a father-child relationship.

God does not punish us for our sins, neither are we cursed: Jesus bore the curse of the law and the punishment for sin at the cross on our behalf. But it must be said that having a bad attitude in life will make trouble for you in one way or another - so will poor decision making and destructive habits. No-one can say they're being punished for their sins by God, because they contract lung cancer from heavy smoking, for instance.

For me, having established the foundation of righteousness in Christ by faith - I am left wondering, "Where do I go from here?" It is for this reason that I find myself in a new phase of letting-go: of wrong beliefs and attitudes that do not serve me. I no longer rail against the institutional church - I've gone through that phase.

Now, I see taking the fastest path to peace, as the most important thing for me right now. I cannot see any benefit to my life, by constantly reminding myself of past abuses by religious organisations. Some people are not going to like this, but neither can I see the benefit of constantly studying what the Bible says about my righteousness in Christ. For me at this moment in time, my struggle is with finding contentment and lasting peace.

If continuous Bible study could bring me that peace - that would be great. But I find that the "joy-stealers" in my life are not caused by a lack of Bible knowledge or even the devil - it has a lot to do with my own ideals and taboos. I find that the primary cause of anxiety tends to be what we believe we ought to be, do and have; this naturally extends to other people and things, such as the government, weather, job title, etc. Find freedom from these ideals and taboos, and you'll find lasting peace and joy. Knowing that you're right with God through Christ is very important - but haven't you already come to that conclusion yet? Therefore, it would seem that intensive Bible study itself, can become a Christian tangent.

Where I Am Today, Spiritually Speaking – Part 2

2011-12-27T21:27:00.001Z

I used to be heavily focused on the grace message from a Biblical perspective. During much of that time, I attended a popular mega-church in London called Hillsong. Joseph Prince has preached at Hillsong London several times. In fact, the leadership at that church often say that his initial visit to the church changed the direction of the church towards that of grace.

I would often get annoyed with Hillsong Christians, because I didn’t get the sense that they were as excited as me about the grace message. They always seemed to be much more interested in church building, getting people saved (first time commitment to Christ) and fellowship. These people were typically very sociable people, so they took to the demand to fellowship, like fish to water! Now, when I look back on those times, I can see that their attitude and approach to the Christian life was more like what I’m like now. In fact, I’d rather be around laid-back down-to-earth Christians who in-tune with reality and excited about relationships – than someone who’s more interested in the Bible and spiritual concepts!

There are some Christians who are intent on relating over-the-top stories of Biblical heroes and other believers. But I’m much more interested in what you believe, how you relate to this spiritual journey and how the Gospel message applies itself to your life – right now. The Bible was based on the accounts of real people, in real situations during those times. Although we can learn something from those accounts – there is a real need to experience God, and life, in our own lives and in our own way.

There seems to be too much fantasy in the lives of Christians. There is too much focus, I believe, on the supernatural – instead of focusing on normal, everyday life; there is too much of a focus on heaven than on planet earth; there is too much focus on the afterlife and end-times than on the here-and-now. In fact, the more a person dwells on anything other than on reality – the more weird and dysfunctional they become. This is something that was discussed in the Freebelievers Network podcast entitled Glossy Eyed Spirituality, dated 23^rd November 2011.

I tend to enjoy listening solely to The Freebelievers Network and The God Journey podcasts. I love the format of these podcasts: a discussion between two or more believers who seem to be at a similar stage as me in this spiritual journey. I absolutely love the honesty of these people and the way in which their sense of humour helps me to relax and enjoy the discussion. I prefer this format a lot more than someone who purports to have all the answers, which he or she needs to teach me.

In the absence of any real, tangible fellowship with other Christians who are on the same wavelength as me – I almost feel as if I’m in the same room as these podcast hosts, listening to their discussion and being amazed at how their beliefs and experiences are similar to my own. I believe that there’s not much new understanding I can glean from these podcasts now, as I feel as if I get the message. But often when I’m bored and on my own, I like to listen in to enjoy the humour, honesty and experiences of these people.

The Gospel message was never meant to be what it seem to have become today – an obligation, an institution and set of staff that we are somehow dependant on. I don’t even believe that the Gospel is a message that we need to hear over and over again, in order to get on with our lives and be happy and effective in life. As we mature in the freedom that the grace message brings us, there should be an unfolding independence that develops in us, as our reliance on religious leaders and institutions gives way to our own understanding and dependence on Christ. We should expect a veering away from the teaching of others and focus on Bible verses, towards our own heart-felt knowledge, confidence, wisdom and intuition which enable us to get on with our own lives.

Where I Am Today, Spiritually Speaking – Part 1

2011-12-27T21:23:00.001Z

Nowadays, I tend not to focus so much on the Biblical aspects of the grace message. It is not that I don’t disagree with the Bible or that I don’t see its relevance. I just feel as if I have established a solid foundation of the Gospel message, from a Biblical standpoint. I would also say Bible verses are often used to manipulate people by distorting the truth and focusing on things that, in the grand scheme of things, aren’t really that important.

I am by no means perfect and I still make mistakes. Dare I say it – I still sin. The consensus amongst grace preachers seems to be that if a person sins, it is because they don’t know they are already righteous through Christ. I agree with this concept, in part – it is true that a person will typically be prone to sin if they are trying to be right with God through their own efforts. But this concept can lead to people continuously listening to Joseph Prince sermons, with the belief that doing so will dramatically change their behaviour for the better. There also seems to be a popular idea that focusing on righteousness in Christ will bring all sorts of blessing and favour, such as wealth. Again, I’m not sure I entirely agree with this approach.

If I’ll be honest, I’ll admit that I’m much more interested in what I, and others, believe in their heart – rather than just mindlessly following words written in a book – even if it is the inspired Word of God. Many Christians seem content to simply quote Bible verses, with some sort of implied meaning in mind. When believers are unable to live from the heart, they revert to head-thinking, following the Bible like a rulebook. In this way, Christians can become like religious robots, devoid of the wisdom, confidence and intuition required to live life happily and effectively.

It’s as if some Christians can only speak in snippets of Bible quotations, like some kind of messed-up sacrosanct version of Bumblebee from Transformers (the yellow car dude that can only communicate by flipping between radio stations).

Even grace believers often revert to speaking in Bible verses. The grace message is a rather short message. In times gone by we used to get a broad spectrum of ideals, taboos and spiritual concepts from the pulpit. This smattering of ideas and ideals used to rely heavily on a huge variety of Bible verses. But now, grace believers, quite rightly so, only focus on a small sub-section of New Testament verses – those which reveal our freedom in Christ. So, with this need to provide scripture to back-up any spiritual concept they wish to convey – we often hear the same Bible verses quoted, again and again. Furthermore, these Bible verses are used to create popular grace quotes, such as, “It’s not about law its about grace – you can’t be justified by works of the law.” I’m more interested in people – their own lives, beliefs and experiences – instead of hearing some well-used quote from a popular preacher.

Phases and Stages of the Gospel – Part 3

2011-12-27T21:21:00.001Z

Freebelievers / Letting Go / The Journey

Yes, the Free believer path is in a category of its own. This is named after the website and podcast, The Freebelievers Network. This is the focus on living free, exposing religious abuse, reconnecting with the heart and restoring balance.

This message can be construed by some as being an anti-church message, but is actually more to do with love and freedom. Darin Hufford, the founder of the Freebelievers Network, asserts that people tend to leave church when they are free to choose to no longer go; he insists that as people discover love, they no longer feel the need to adhere to the religious duties that they once held onto – such as going to church.

I have found that this liberating message has a lot to do with letting go – of past hurts, guilt, shame, fear and strongly held beliefs that did not serve us and only brought misery. Even though I immersed myself in the grace message (righteousness and oneness with God), I still held tightly to typical, religious approaches that were instilled in me by the church. I call these religious mindsets of a grace believer, an Institutional Carry-over.

The church has attempted to create a central point of administration for all Christians; a central point where Christians must gather for fellowship and to hear the Word being preached. But I believe that this has taken away the freedom for Christians to enjoy their life-in-Christ in the context of their own individual lives, with their own unique relationships and life-plans.

As believers begin to accept the grace message, they often seek a grace equivalent to all those things that the church insisted that every believer should have and do. There becomes a need for grace fellowship, in a grace church, with grace worship, with grace believers. I can see why people seek other grace believers, but it only seems to be The Freebelievers Network and The God Journey which dares to challenge this age-old concept that Christians must have fellowship by gathering together, on a regular basis, in dedicated buildings with other Christians.

I recall the final years of my church attendance, how I felt compelled to serve God by serving in the church. I can honestly say that ever since I became a Christian, I have never served in church out of anything other than a sense of obligation. By listening to The Freebelievers Network and The God Journey podcasts, I was able to experience a freedom that Joseph Prince’s righteousness message alone could not bring me. I needed a rawness and honesty that could enable me to let go of the last vestiges of religion. It’s as if listening to these podcasts literally sandblasted the religion off me.

Phases and Stages of the Gospel – Part 2

2011-12-27T21:15:00.001Z

I see certain main categories of the grace message emerging, as follows:

Unionist

The focus on the belief that God lives His life in-and-through us; we can do nothing apart from Him. We have the illusion that we are in control of our lives, when we are not. This approach is thoroughly Biblical and focuses on the divine nature and the Holy Spirit. The emphasis shifts away from what we can do for God, onto what He has already done for us through Christ; as well as the continued work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Unionist message is freeing because it does not put standards and obligations upon people. This is the main focus of Bible teachers such as Major Ian W. Thomas and Norman Grubb.

I will admit that my transition into grace was through my own revelation of this Unionist message – even before I’d even heard of grace preachers and their message. The unionist message has brought me a lot of relief from religious demands, but I wonder what its benefits are and whether there is a downside to it all. I, like many others, got off on a tangent of believing God for things - I have Word of Faith to thank for that. So I believe that placing expectations on God can meddle with the purpose of the unionist message. This message is meant to bring freedom and peace, rather than become a means for insecure Christians to become obsessive about performance and achievement; believing that they can have, be or do something that they don’t already experience in their life.

Righteousness

This is the focus of grace teachers such as Joseph Prince, Bertie Brits, Steve McVey, Paul White, et al. This takes us away from the focus on our own efforts to be right with God and, in accordance with scripture, emphasises the redemptive work of the cross. Just like with the Unionist message, the righteousness message veers away from imposing standards, obligations, rules and principles on the believer and looks to the cross and the right-standing we have through Christ, once and for all. This is a very liberating message and brings an enormous sense of relief to the guilt-ridden, anxious believer.

Like many other believers, my appreciation of righteousness had become diluted through the traditional approach of the church, which asserted that we are all righteous in Christ – but it is up to us to ensure that we no longer sin and we strive to serve and obey Him. After my encounter with the Unionist message, I began to re-discover this incredible righteousness message which I could not apprehend and appreciate before.

Phases and Stages of the Gospel – Part 1

2011-12-27T21:05:00.001Z

It seems that it is no longer sufficient to meet someone who calls them self a Christian and to be confident that you’ll be able to adequately relate to them with regards to their spirituality. There are the traditionalists who seem to bear the label “Christian”, without knowing the basics of our redemption in Him. There are the staunch moralists who see the Bible as a rule book to be followed by our own willpower.

Then there are those who interpret scripture correctly and lay aside all of their own efforts, as they look to Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. The Bible uses the term “grace” to describe this unmerited favour and liberty that we have in Christ. It is therefore no surprise that this re-focusing on our freedom in Christ, rather than keeping rules, is called the Grace Message.

When I look back on my spiritual journey so far, I can see how I passed through what could be described as phases and stages. Each one of these phases and stages seemed to have its place in bringing me to where I am today. Now, I can see that the oppression that I encountered in the charismatic church, with its emphasis on rules, was necessary in drawing me to appreciating my right-standing in Christ.

Nowadays, it seems that this revolution of the grace message is spreading, bringing a new-found freedom to people and places that once saw Christianity as a set of rules, and God as an oppressive task-master who demanded perfection.

It seems to be important to make this distinction between the mixture of old and new covenants, which kept people bound; and the message of freedom in the pure new covenant. It is for this reason that we use the terms grace message, grace Christian, grace preacher and so forth.

Many people believe that there is just one grace message and that there is nothing beyond that. It is certainly not my intention to suggest that grace is not enough or that there is something “extra” required. But if I will be honest, I will admit that I have progressed through different phases and stages of understanding and focus, after my initial encounter with grace. In my own life I can identify different phases and stages of the grace message. As with each phase and stage that brought me to grace, I can see the importance of each phase and stage of the grace message, which I have experienced.

Third-Hand Revelation

2011-12-27T21:01:00.001Z

If you think about it for a moment, most Christian’s appreciation of scripture is what could be called Third-Hand Revelation. By this I mean that, to begin with, we read in the Bible about the thoughts and experiences of someone from ancient times in the Middle East, especially that of the Judaic tradition – this is the first-hand revelation.

Then, a charismatic preacher comes along; his entire focus is on running a religious institution, much like a business. This preacher will present the Bible in a way that stirs-up the crowd emotionally; making all sorts of unrealistic promises; presenting God and the Bible as a spiritual vending-machine. The preacher will tell you some over-the-top story of some sort of victory and achievement (typically oriented towards the institutional church). Then, he will tell you how that experience somehow ties-in with one or more scriptural texts. He will then present that text to the congregation as a one-size-fits-all principle or formula that will yield similar results. This is second-hand revelation.

The third-hand revelation is when a believer takes that testimony or sermon of the preacher, the second-hand revelation, and uses it as the basis for his or her own expectations, beliefs and fantasies – this is third-hand revelation. In this way, scripture becomes loaded with all sorts of meaning, implicit and explicit, which often seems to have very little basis. In this way, the thoughts and experiences of someone in an ancient, middle eastern context, becomes the basis for tying God down to a set way of doing things; trying to manipulate God into getting what you want in your life now. This leads to insecure, desperate Christians trying to believe God for things, such as miracles and wealth – citing verses of scripture as the basis on which God is meant to perform and deliver in a certain way.

I remember when I first got into the charismatic movement – I found this third-hand revelation rather strange at first. I remember a well-known evangelist during the late nineties who visited my church in London. He related some story of a financial need that he had, a new building or airplane or something. He was asked, “Do you have a letter from the bank?” To which he replied, “No, but I have a letter to the Philippians.” By this he was referring to Philippians 4:19.

¹⁹ And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19

This verse was a message of the apostle Paul written to the Philippian church, at a certain time, for their own particular situation. What makes us think we can take that verse and “use” it as a formula to get our own perceived “needs” met? I thought this approach was rather strange at first. However, I got enticed into adopting this approach, because I thought that it gave me a formula for getting what I wanted – when I wanted it.

It’s for these reasons that I tend not to read the Bible as much as I once did. I believe that the Bible has served its purpose in my life: it helped reveal Christ to me, the Gospel and how it affects me personally. With this foundation, I would rather experience God in a way that is specific to my own life plan.

Naivety in Perspective

2011-10-18T21:00:00.000+01:00

One of my favourite T.V. programs is a series called Banged Up Abroad. I started watching Banged Up Abroad when I watched a couple of back-to-back episodes: the first episode told the story of and Cullen Thomas, working with his girlfriend "Rocket", arrested trying to smuggle hashish from the Philippines to South Korea. The second episode I watched was about Lia McCord, an American teenager arrested in Bangladesh for trying to smuggle heroin. I’ve been an avid fan ever since that first time and have watched several more since.

I don’t normally watch “Reality TV” – I find programs like the BBC’s Airport rather boring – who wants to watch a bunch of frustrated tourists arguing with airport staff for half and hour?

I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by Banged up Abroad – it was very well made, well acted and it appeared to use the original locations (or very close to it at least). All-in-all the program seemed to put you in the shoes of that person, during that time. It seemed to invoke the feelings they would have felt, as you watch the actors in real locations, with the actual person narrating their story. The people talk about their thoughts and feelings in a way that brings the whole experience to life for the viewer. I felt the ups and downs, the sense that you would never get caught, the uneasy feeling that something was about to go wrong.

I’ve got very little patience for criminals, “Lock them up and throw away the key”, was my motto. But this T.V. series has shown things in a totally different light for me. I come away from watching each episode with a deep sense of compassion for the individuals. I mean, your heart goes out to them as you watch. You find yourself rooting for the person and thinking, “Oh no! Don’t get caught!” Each episode is a white-knuckle ride that will have you on the edge of your seat!

These people are not hardened, violent criminals – they are just normal everyday people who are just down on their luck. I suppose that’s what makes this T.V. series so hard-hitting – you feel you can relate to the people. As their story unfolds you see how, step-by-step, they were lured into the trap that got them banged-up in jail. Each person can typically pinpoint that one moment, the pivotal point, when things went horribly wrong for them. But besides that, you can see the way the person was led step-by-step towards their incarceration. Typically, stories often involve smuggling drugs out of a foreign country.

But I think what struck me the most was that all-too-familiar sense of naivety: I can totally relate to that sense of feeling that I’m right, when I’m dead wrong; or to be emphatic that nothing can go wrong when something awful is about to happen; or having an uneasy feeling about something you are about to do – but dismissing that feeling. I have lost count of the amount of times I’ve done something, only to regret it later.

Thankfully, I’ve never done anything on the same scale as these people. Nevertheless, it hammers home the point that there exists in humanity the propensity to make grave errors of judgement, which land you in a great deal of trouble. This leads one to consider what it is that makes some people make rather petty mistakes in life and for others to make some massive mistakes – perhaps just one mistake that spells doom for their finances, reputation and/or freedom.

When I watched Banged Up Abroad I could relate to that naïve sense of, “This can’t go wrong, no-one will notice, I’ll do this just one more time, I’m making a big fuss over nothing…” The only difference between the people in the documentary and me is that their naivety landed them in a lot more trouble than mine ever has. I’m grateful that I’ve been spared making such stupid mistakes, but I have made some really big mistakes myself. So why have I been spared and these people have not? It just makes me feel vulnerable that perhaps something like that could happen to me. I mean, I’ve lost count of the amount of times I was convinced I was right and nothing could go wrong – when it turned out to be wrong. I suppose that’s what makes Banged up Abroad so exciting, and nerve-wracking: there is the overwhelming sense of, “That could have happened to me!”

We all seem to rely on that inward alarm, that “buzzer” that goes off in our heart when we’re about to do something stupid. So why didn’t that “buzzer” go off in these people’s lives? Or if the alarm did sound – why, how were they able to ignore it? You could say, “Well, they knew it was wrong but they chose to go ahead and do it anyway. So it’s their fault – they’re wrong.” Well, if the difference between Heaven and Hell here on earth is all down to my mood, how I’m feeling on any particular day, then I’m in trouble!

During the conclusion of each episode, the individuals often look back and relate how the experience has changed their life. In episode 3, Jake Libbon was arrested in Mexico for selling marijuana, and then was falsely accused of shooting two police officers. Jake reflected on the way his experience has caused him to value the little things in life and to treasure each day of freedom he has now.

I was struck by something that Lia McCord said during the end of the Bangladesh episode: she said something along the lines of her not ever wanting to go through her ordeal again; but she also said that if she could, she would not necessarily avoid going through that experience either. What happened to Lia when she was young and naïve changed the course of her life, something good came out of it and she grew up very fast!

There is a great deal of opinion and controversy over the Christian topic of suffering. Some Christians baulk at the idea that God would use suffering to bring you into a closer relationship with Him. But no-one can deny the fact that it is often life’s shocks that make the greatest changes, even beneficial changes, to us.

The Irony of Faith

2011-07-10T10:53:00.001+01:00

When I started reading Kenneth E. Hagin’s books on faith in 1997, I’ll admit that what attracted me to them was the ability to use faith to control my life.

Kenneth E. Hagin’s Faith Teaching

If you read a typical book by Hagin, you’ll notice that he uses a particular, regular style in order to convey his message: a proof text, followed by an anecdote, then an explanation of a principal that ties the proof text to the anecdote. The idea seems to be that as you read the book – you learn the principal, which teaches you the meaning of the Biblical text.

Hagin’s books are full of anecdotes, usually miraculous, life-changing events. Therefore, you often get the impression from reading these books that Hagin experienced miracles on a regular basis. This notion promotes the idea that Christians should be experiencing miracles on a regular basis as well, and they could, you reason, if they followed the principles set-out in Hagin’s books.

There is something exciting about knowing God so well and having such incredible faith that you experience miracles on a regular basis. But people often fail to realise that what you read in Hagin’s books are the highlights of 60 years of incredible ministry. Hagin admitted that he made a lot of mistakes and would sometimes go years without experiencing miracles. I do believe Hagin when he wrote about a certain time, when he was pastoring a certain church, when they would experience miracles regularly. But we still have to acknowledge the fact that miracles are, by definition, rare.

Miracles and Ministry

There is also the matter of Hagin being in full-time ministry: we should not fall into the trap of confusing full-time ministry with everyday life. Ministry is for the purpose of ministering to a group of people, typically from a church platform and pulpit, or perhaps through other media such as television, radio, books and the internet. All Christians have a ministry of reconciliation and are ambassadors for Christ. However, the way an individual ministers to others and the way a pastor ministers to others, are two different things?

People who are not in full-time ministry cannot expect to experience signs and wonders on a similar scale to those of pastors and evangelists. Signs and wonders are for the purpose of bringing people to Christ and edifying those who believe – it is not really meant for personal edification. God can still perform miracles in your life, but it’s usually on a different level than ministry.

The Fear Behind so-called “Faith”

When a believer is exposed to many different miraculous testimonies, it does give the impression that you should be experiencing those things yourself, on a regular basis. You can begin to wonder if you’re praying enough, if you have enough faith, perhaps there is sin in your life. There is something exciting and enticing about the miraculous; the ability claim what you want and control your life is alluring, to say the least.

What I have noticed from my own experience is that the more fearful a person is, the more inclined they are to want to control their life. It would seem that the Word of Faith teaching, as it has come to be known, of the likes of Kenneth E. Hagin, actually appeals more to neurotic Christians than to confident Christians. The more fearful a person is the more confused and gullible they are – the more likely they are to make mistakes, miss out on good opportunities and to be deceived. I know what it is like to be convinced that you need to buy more books on faith so that you can find the “key” that you are missing: there is often a frantic search for a faith “formula” that will give you the power and control that you’re looking for. There is often the thought that if you could just have “this” or “that” – everything would be fine.

Conclusion

The irony of faith is that the more faith you have, the less inclined you are to try to control things. The more faith you have, the more you trust in God and in life to make things work for you. The more faith you have the more you are able to relax, consciously, and allow things to happen without your need to consciously control them. When you have faith, you can relax in the confidence that when something needs doing, when a decision need to be made, it will happen. Faith welcomes the unexpected and does not panic when things happen that aren’t included in your original plan.

The Sin Red Line – Part 2

2011-07-02T10:51:00.001+01:00

How do we curtail wrongdoing? I've found that if a person has the desire to do something society considers bad or wrong - they're likely to do it anyway. But the fear of punishment does not take away such desires - it represses them, if they're not expressed.

The act of simply saying, "This is bad - don't do it", can result in the creation of a taboo. Whilst, saying, "This is good - everybody should do this", can result in the creation of an ideal. Taboos and ideals are no replacement for living from the heart, in fact, they usually make matters worse.

There is the threat of the legal justice system which keeps crime at bay; there is also our own conscience, our heart. I also believe that sin carries its own form of punishment through emotions and circumstances. Its tempting to believe that sin is fun, exciting and liberating, whilst in actual fact, it is limiting, addictive and destructive.

Trying to determine the "Red line of sin" can be a slippery slope. The Bible says that all sins are as bad as each other when it comes to being rejected by God. This is why we needed a Saviour - Jesus Christ. The Gospel sets us free from condemnation and allows us to have a relationship with God, progressing at our own pace.

What people often do is that they'll compare themselves with other people and conclude that there sin is not as bad as theirs - like the Pharisee and Tax Collector in Luke 18:11. Jesus does away with this futile like-for-like comparison and shows us that no-one is good enough to meet God's perfect standards.

I'm a firm believer in once-saved-always-saved. But I do wonder about whether the life of God, zoe in the original Greek, is operating through someone who sins. I've found that the adulterer and the homosexual both seem very much seem to be alive - more so than the repressed Christian. I'd say that many homosexuals are genuinely nice people and have wonderful, lively personalities. But I suppose whether or not these people are really happy deep down on the inside, is anyone's guess - I suppose they aren't.

I have learned a way of simplifying my beliefs, a way that could be considered controversial for Christians - it is The Work of Byron Katie, also known as Inquiry. I’ve learned to ask four simple questions and allow my heart to give me the answers, as a way of finding peace. Katie asserts that contraction around a belief, to the point of stress, is the only evil in life and must be questioned. This is controversial because it can be taken to extremes, such as deeming a convicted criminal as innocent. But I've found in my own experience that this approach makes the most sense and is the only way.

Picture red line ~ vertical courtesy of striatic (Hobvias Sudoneighm).

The Sin Red Line – Part 1

2011-07-02T10:47:00.001+01:00

Christians often debate the idea of taking grace too far. Are there some sins that are covered by grace, such as a little white lie. Whilst there may be some sins that do not merit the grace of God, such as rape and murder.

I think its human nature to seek the boundaries and workings of something, such as moral conduct, and create a set of guidelines and rules about it. If I was going to take up a hobby or new business venture such as cheese making, carpentering, gardening or whatever - I'd want to study the facts and methods of best practice about it. Even a set of actions, such as mountain climbing, warfare or policing, I’d want to know the methods of best practice as well as the legal constraints.

There have been a slew of self-help books on relationships and successful living over the last fifty years or so, such as The Rules of Life, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

But I think that's were we get it wrong when it comes to morality: we want to define a set of rules and guidelines for life. This approach doesn't work because it attempts to intellectualise something which must be spontaneous; it moves us from the heart to the head.

I like what Frank Viola wrote in Pagan Christianity: Christianity has become a combination of Greco/Roman culture (morality or rhetoric) and frontier revivalism (the drive towards salvation). This approach, again, moves us away from the original intention of the Gospel: relationship with God through faith in Christ.

God lives His life in us and through us - this is the mystery. But we still find ourselves like Paul in Romans 7: we often do what is considered wrong. In fact, the more we try to force ourselves to follow rules, often under the threat of punishment - the more we struggle with sin. What this shows us is that the Gospel is intended to set us free from the law: we are free to live our lives without fear of God's wrath. This allows us to live our lives freely so that we can progress and mature in our own way and timing. This is the only way it will work, because God does not seem to zap those wrong desires out of us.

What I've found is that everyone is born into a rather unique set of circumstances: parentage, birth-place, education and so on. Some of these factors are conducive to healthy development, whilst others are not. By the time someone reaches adulthood, they literally become the product of all of those conditioning factors. It will not work to simply place unrealistic expectations on certain people, according to their development. We humans seem to forget this important fact, but thankfully, God doesn't.

God meets us right were we are in life and beckons us into a relationship with Him. This is evidenced in the ministry of Jesus, like when He met the Samaritan woman at the well, or when the Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in the act of adultery. While the law and the Pharisees cry "Stone her!" Jesus says, "Neither do I condemn you." This shows us the contrast between the Old and New covenants.

Picture red line ~ horizontal courtesy of striatic (Hobvias Sudoneighm).

The Gospel and Inner Transformation (Part 2)

2011-03-26T18:01:00.001Z

I think Christianity has got to be one of the most confusing things on the planet. One group of people alludes towards the attainment of wealth and the manifestation of miracles, whilst one group emphasise living frugally and being content with what you have. It is often preached that we are righteous, having been made right with God, and yet, Christians are intimidated into not sinning on a weekly basis.

Since around 2005 I have become part of the growing trend amongst Christians who are part of the grace movement. My beliefs have changed dramatically since 2005, I used to be heavily into the Bible, something of a theologian. But now, I hardly ever read the Bible, as I am much more interested in living freely and developing my own convictions, in my own way and in my own time.

I am much more inclined towards accepting myself, life and other people, just as they are, than anything else. In fact, the most popular grace preacher today, Joseph Prince, often preaches that it is our very efforts to not sin that actually keeps us captive to sin. Knowing that we are loved by God and accepting ourselves as we are, is one of the greatest, most freeing things we can ever do.

As far as modalities to change the subconscious mind are concerned, I don't use prayer or affirmations any more. I use releasing through The Sedona Method. I also use another method, which I prefer to releasing, called The Work. The Work is a method of self-inquiry that asks four simple questions in response to an anxious thought:

1. Is it true?

2. Can you absolutely know that it's true?

3. How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?

4. Who would you be without the thought?

The four questions are followed by something called a "turnaround" - the opposite of the anxious thought. For instance, "I hate my job", becomes, "I don't hate my job." But rather than jumping too quickly to the turnaround, you take yourself through a gentle process so that the turnaround is not so harsh.

Rather than trying to answer the questions using logic - you allow the questions to be answered from the innermost part of your being, from the heart. A few years ago I'd reached a lull with my prayer life. But when I started using The Work, I found that the answers just flowed out from me - almost as if The Work was doing itself and I was an observer. I typically seem to spend about 20 minutes in one session, spending most of the time on question number 3. I always feel a profound sense of peace after doing The Work.

You can find out more about The Work at the official website: http://www.thework.com

Photo Transforming silk again courtesy of fdecomite.

The Gospel and Inner Transformation (Part 1)

2011-03-26T17:55:00.001Z

I've struggled with depression and anxiety, to one degree or another, for most of my life. It was this struggle which motivated me to become a Christian. As soon as I got hold of Word of Faith teaching - I thought I'd hit the jackpot! Before I became a "serious" Christian, I had read The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Dr. Joseph Murphy - a classic book on the effect of your thoughts on your subconscious mind and how you can use affirmation to re-program your mind. Like many other Christians, Word of Faith became a Christian version of positive thinking and affirmations for me.

Just like me, many people become Christians because they have had emotional issues, have struggled with everyday life and needed something to change their life for the better. It's shocking what some Christians will do in order to try and get God to bless them. It’s unfortunate that all of those religious antics can become a massive distraction for some Christians, when all they probably need is professional, psychological help. I think maybe some regular deep relaxation would probably be more beneficial to them than what they do.

According to Psychology, internal change starts with the old subconscious, you move it to the old conscious, then the new conscious, then the new subconscious.

We have behaviours, thoughts, feelings in which we are not aware of as being destructive, let alone where they are sourced. This is the old subconscious. You discover/uncover these things. This is the old conscious. You deconstruct them and learn new truths/patterns. This is the new conscious. After repetition these things become the norm in you. This is the new subconscious.

Any means of establishing this change in the new subconscious could be called a modality. A modality is defined as a means of attaining an end; a method. As far as modalities to effect change of deep-seated beliefs are concerned - Christianity is certainly not one of the best. Christianity is not really designed for that purpose, but for salvation and relationship with God.

Unfortunately, you cannot develop a profound, close relationship with God when you are wracked with fear. In fact, religion exacerbates the situation because you start to believe that God is punishing you for your sin, or that you need to read your Bible more, give more in the offering, and so on. It’s as if as soon as a neurotic believes in the existence of God, it opens up a whole new world to them and a whole new way of thinking, in a way that is potentially very negative and damaging. Previously, a person might have wondered about the effects that his excessive drinking has on his health, but now, he also has to worry about whether God will punish him for it and so on.

I was baptised in the Holy Spirit in 1998 and it changed my life for the better, for all of two months. But during that time I felt like God was telling me, "You see, my love is all you need. See how all your wants melt away when you have my peace in you?" I suppose I have been trying to re-establish that amazing experience and peace of mind in my life ever since - without much success.

Regrettably, I have tried to establish happiness in all the typical ways that humans use: wealth, success and with Christianity, the pursuit of miracles. Wealth and success in themselves are not wrong, if that was the case, King Solomon would be the most evil person who ever existed. No, it is the desire for these things that corrupts. If I was to simply accept myself as I am, with all my faults, be content with what I have and quit worrying, I think that I’d find the happiness, freedom and even success and prosperity that I’ve been seeking all along.

Photo Möbius transformation courtesy of fdecomite.

The Scope of the Gospel – Grace, a Message of the Heart

2011-03-26T16:47:00.001Z

There is a desperate need for Christians to arrive at their own conclusions, to establish their own convictions, in their own way, through their own experiences and in their own time. It simply will not do to have people who assert their spiritual authority above others, to come along and dictate what is right or wrong to others.

The Gospel is not a matter of determining what is right or wrong: such a pursuit constitutes eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – notice it is the knowledge of good and evil, not good and evil themselves. It becomes religious oppression when a minister forces their will and opinions on others, especially when their attitude is patronising and threatening. Even if universal morals are established which most people agree to – there is no way to enforce those morals other than through fear-mongering.

The Gospel is a message of the heart, not the mind. The Gospel must be known, in the heart, not logically reasoned and debated. If you don’t come to know the Gospel, the message of God’s love for you, in your own heart – you will be left intellectualising the Bible.

Word of Faith teaching drummed into me the importance of following the Spirit and The Word, “The Word” meaning the Bible. Bible teachers like Kenneth E. Hagin would emphasise the importance of finding back-up verses in scripture for everything that you do. But experience told me that you cannot live your life like that. If you do, you find yourself anxiously scouring the Bible for verses that you can creatively take out of context to mean what you want them to mean.

I believe that to the greatest extent, Christians really have to live their life from their heart, according to their own convictions. As soon as rules and standards are imposed, people live unnatural, restricted lives, becoming someone they are not. Rules suppress honesty and integrity, promoting dishonesty and repression. Rule keeping turns people into actors as they make a performance out of trying to behave like someone they are not. This way of life is unappealing to others as they think you have got something to hide and you can become rather weird.

James 5:16 in the NKJV begins with; “Confess your trespasses to one another.” We make this into some sort of stuffy, formal, religious practice. But I believe that The Living Bible translates this more accurately, “Admit your faults to one another.” I believe that instead of making a big fuss over sin, which has already been remitted, it would be better to simply be honest with other people about your faults – rather than trying to pretend to be someone you are not.

Sure, people are likely to make mistakes, but they have to be allowed to live their lives, without the constant pressure and fear that comes from constantly matching against the Bible. I believe that there is no replacement for love, self-acceptance, confidence and self-esteem – not even the Bible! It is for this reason that people in the world win hands-down when it comes to living life in freedom, love, happiness and fulfilment.

Grace allows people to be just as they are in that moment. Grace allows people to establish their own convictions, in their own way and in their own time, without external coercion. Grace does not seek to determine universal rights and wrongs, but lovingly welcomes people’s differences and shortcomings. People have to grow, mature and develop in their own method and timing. My Christian life turned around when I realised that simply establishing and holding onto a sentiment, was not enough for me to establish positive changes in my character and behaviour.

Photo Heart courtesy of seyed mostafa zamani.

The Scope of the Gospel – The Bible (Part 2)

2011-03-26T16:37:00.001Z

We can learn a great deal from the Bible, especially the Epistles of Paul, which provide us with an account of what happened after the death of Jesus, together with a revelation of the redemptive work of Christ through the cross. But a lot of the Bible is actually history, such as the Book of Numbers.

The first five books of the Bible are known as the Pentateuch, this is the Mosaic Law. We can learn a lot about the Old Covenant established by God through Moses. From books such as Leviticus we can see how exacting the standards were; we can see how awkward and oppressive those rituals were as a means of knowing God and being accepted by Him.

We can clearly see when we contrast the Old and New Covenants, why the New is a better covenant. We can see just how much freedom we really do have in Christ. This freedom is conveyed in verses such as Romans 7:6 in The Message, “But now that we're no longer shackled to that domineering mate of sin, and out from under all those oppressive regulations and fine print, we're free to live a new life in the freedom of God.”

This understanding lends itself to an appreciation of the way the Gospel seems to be intended originally for the Jews. In fact, the Jews already had a covenant with God, but in a way that was not perfect and was actually oppressive. You would have thought that the Jews, who knew of a Messiah to come, would have embraced this Good News message wholeheartedly, but they rejected it. In fact, it was the Jews who demanded the crucifixion of Jesus. The rejection of Jesus as the Messiah was conveyed in the Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen in Matthew 21:33-44.

1 Cor. 1:23 states, “but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness”. Jesus was not easily accepted into the beliefs of the Jews or the Greeks (Gentiles), for various reasons.

For the Jews, it is suggested that:

(1) They were expecting a magnificent temporal prince. Their hopes were dashed when they heard that He was crucified.

(2) They had common feelings of pride, and self-righteousness, by which they rejected the doctrine that we are dependent for salvation on one who was crucified.

(3) They convinced themselves that He was the object of the divine dereliction and abhorrence.

For the Greeks, it is suggested that:

(1) They saw the whole account a fable.

(2) The message disagreed with their own views on the way of elevating the condition of man.

(3) They saw no truth in the doctrine that a man of humble birth was put to death in an cruel manner to make people better, or to receive pardon.

(4) They had the common feelings of unrenewed human nature; blind to the beauty of the character of Christ and blind to purpose of his death.

The Gospel is difficult to comprehend, as something relevant, practical, powerful and freeing in today’s society. Our reasons for rejecting the Gospel now might not be too dissimilar to those listed above. But I would say that the concepts of righteousness, sin and so forth, have very little meaning and application in modern life, it seems. Indeed, words such as righteousness and sin are never used in modern speech, and are only found in the Bible.

There is a legitimate, practical scope of the Gospel for today’s culture – but it must be understood by the heart, not just intellectualised in the mind. The Gospel must be responded to with honesty and integrity, in a way that is relevant to the person, according to his lifestyle, convictions and disposition.

Photo Open Bible with pen Antique Grayscale courtesy of ryk_neethling.

The Scope of the Gospel – The Bible (Part 1)

2011-03-26T16:28:00.001Z

I think we can determine the scope of the Gospel from studying the Bible to see how they spread the message and how they would have responded to it. I have come to the conclusion that the Gospel would have been the Good News that would have been conveyed by word-of-mouth.

The printing press was not even invented until the fifteenth century according to an article here. There would have been no Bible to speak of and up until the 60^th century AD, only the Old Testament would have been written. A list of the books of the Bible and their approximate year they were written, can be found here.

The Old Testament would have been written on stone and clay tablets – you can read more in an article here. Access to the Old Testament would undoubtedly have been restricted to the Jewish scholarly elite.

As the Gospel would have been communicated via word-of-mouth, it would have been in a local language and dialect that people could relate to. The Bible as we know it is a medieval translation of ancient Greek and Hebrew texts, originating from ancient Middle Eastern culture. So it is little wonder that it is often difficult to understand and relate to against the backdrop of modern, western culture.

I understand the argument in favour of having a literal translation, such as the King James Version or the New American Standard. But I would say that in order to get the true essence of the Gospel message, it would be better to read a modern paraphrase version, such as The Message, or my personal favourite, the original 1971 The Living Bible.

Over the centuries, theologians have poured over the scriptures, analysing them in great depth, to such a degree that the original essence has been lost. The Bible as it has been written is very much open to interpretation and is often the subject of heated debate. Unfortunately, most people tend to be inflexible in their beliefs, only looking for and perceiving what they want to see and believe. The Bible seems to be full of contradictions, but I believe that the Bible must be read as a whole in order to gain the full picture.

Verses of scripture are often taken out of context and repeated like slogans in support of a person’s own personal beliefs and motives. Pro-prosperity Christians become fixated with verse such as 2 Cor. 8:9. Whilst the anti-prosperity crowd often quote Heb. 13:5. There is no doubt truth to each of the verses and arguments, but I believe that a balance can be found.

Photo Gutenberg Bible 02 courtesy of jmwk.

The Scope of the Gospel – The Church (Part 2)

2011-03-26T16:20:00.001Z

A key to understanding the Gospel is in the original meaning of the word, which from the Greek translates to “the nearly too good to be true news”. The Gospel is the Good News of salvation and redemption through belief in the New Covenant in Christ’s own precious blood.

The Gospel is not necessarily church meetings, neither is it the rituals we associate with it, such as sacraments, the rosary and so on. I believe that early Christians would not have had buildings whose primary purpose was for fellowship and worship – they would have gathered together in people’s homes around food and drink. Early Christians would have known each other, rather than sitting in an auditorium, surrounded by strangers, as they listen to a man on stage preaching.

The meaning of “church” is the body of Christ, the people – “church” is not a building, as it has become today. The church would have gathered in social settings to discuss the Gospel – it would have been a celebration. There would have been no intimidation from a pastor, desperate to instil discipline and elicit acts of servanthood. There would have been no paid staff and little in the way of formal rules – it would have been natural and spontaneous, truly as the Spirit leads.

When attending a church becomes mandatory, a religious obligation, it often becomes stifling, coerced and even boring. Church has got to be allowed to form through natural, organic relationships. When this happens, the relationships are primary and the Gospel becomes secondary. This sounds sacrilegious at first, but it is the only way it can work. Otherwise, what happens is that people end up following religious routines in a church meeting, developing false friendships.

I honestly see no evidence, Biblical or otherwise, to support the notion that Christians are meant to gather in organised religious settings every single Sunday, engage in corporate “worship”, listen to a sermon and engage in religious ceremonies. Neither do I see any evidence to support Christians talking about God and Jesus as much as they do, or even reading the Bible as much as they do. My experience and heart tell me that once you know the Good News message of the Gospel, to the greatest extent, you are supposed to get on with your normal life, in a way that is natural for you.

For more information on organic churches, check out the book, Reimagining Church, by Frank Viola.

If all the things that man has attributed to the Gospel, don’t actually work, it begs the question what response from man the Gospel was meant to elicit?

Photo Eröffnung Restaurant Rheinspitz (Altenrhein, 07. Mai 2009) courtesy of Poiseon Bild & Text.

The Scope of the Gospel – The Church (Part 1)

2011-03-26T16:01:00.001Z

Ever since I became a “serious” Christian in 1997, my journey into Christianity began with a fascination in Word of Faith, through Kenneth E. Hagin’s books. I’ll admit that my motives for becoming a Christian were born out of a desire to seek a better life: security, prosperity, success and happiness – the usual things.

But now as I look back on those years I’ll have to be honest and say that the Gospel does not seem to have been conducive to improving my life in any of the ways that I would have hoped. I’m not sure what my life would have been like had I not become a Christian, I suppose I’ll never really know; there must have been some benefits to becoming a Christian, but it just becomes hard to tell. It is certainly too early to tell what benefits my belief in Christ will yield in the afterlife.

One thing I can certain vouch for is the confusion and frustration that seems to have been perpetuated in my life through what seemed to be my pursuit of the Gospel and intimacy with God. I think many Christians tread a similar path in their quest to know God, many ending up confused and frustrated as I have become. Some Christians end-up leaving church, but still believing in Jesus, whilst others give up on believing in Him altogether.

My Christian life has led me to ponder the scope of the Gospel: what was it intended for? Who was it addressed to? How are we to respond to it and incorporate it into our lives? These might sound like fairly obvious questions, but many Christians don’t stop to ask themselves these questions.

I think the reason why we don’t stop to ask ourselves the scope of the Gospel, is because we have been spoon-fed other people’s Christian beliefs, rather than being permitted to formulate our own. We have become accustomed to sitting in church and shifting the responsibility to the pastor and ministry staff for our spiritual development and welfare.

Sure, the Bible talks about the “five-fold ministry”, consisting of pastors, teachers, evangelists and so on – but I’m certain that we have lost sight of what these roles entail. For instance, we have become acquainted with the role of Evangelist as a very charismatic, and typically well-renowned, Christian speaker who travels to churches to motivate people who are already Christian, whereas an Evangelist in the Bible would be someone who brings the Good News to the unsaved. I think an example of the latter would be someone like Reinhard Bonnke, who would preach the Gospel in crusades across Africa.

I would recommend the book, Pagan Christianity, by Frank Viola, which dares to question the way we do things in church and explores the often Pagan roots of the institutional church as we know it today.

Photo Church courtesy of Bruce Fingerhood.

The Anatomy of Fear

2011-03-12T12:45:00.001Z

Just like many other spiritual people and Psychologists, I always find myself desperately searching for spiritual formulas that can cut through the haze of spiritual teaching, something that can simplify things, expose fallacies and re-focus my attention to what really counts. I believe I have made some progress towards understanding the anatomy of fear: ideals, taboos, fantasies/expectations and fears.

Ideals

These are the "shoulds", the standards that people set for themselves and others. Ideals are used as challenges and platitudes, such as, "The Bible says that we should love one another, if you loved other people you would do this or that." The Bible is a veritable source-book of ideals - Christians often quote Bible verses as a universal, one-size-fits-all set of ideals to aspire to.

Ideals can move a person away from love by coaxing them to do things out of fear. There is often a sense of failure amongst Christians if they do not attain, or at least aspire towards, the standard, accepted ideals that have been set for all Christians.

Ideals are used to coax people to take action through the threat of guilt, shame and rejection. With ideals there is encouragement through striving towards a perceived reward, such as a blessing from God for following Biblical rules.

Taboos

These are the things we have been conditioned to avoid based on what other people tell us. Taboos are established when someone tells us, "Don't do that! That's really bad. If you do that then this or that might happen!"

To an extent, taboos seem to serve us well. We have been told that being bitten by a rattlesnake is painful and that we might die - so people will do everything to avoid one when they see it or when they hear that distinctive rattle. But taboos only serve as a safeguard for people with a fearful disposition. Taboos become part-and-parcel of rule keeping, which does not bring freedom and empowerment.

Churches attempt to control the congregation through the application of taboos. But the truth is that just making a taboo out of something cannot change a person's disposition from fear to love - assuming that love also includes confidence, common sense, self-discipline and so forth.

Christianity seems to thrive on taboos, especially in the area of sex. Taboos involve a great deal of rejection - as evidenced in the churches stance towards homosexuals.

The truth is that taboos only serve to contribute towards a person's sense of fear and moves them further away from love. With taboos there is encouragement through avoidance of a perceived punishment, such as a curse from God for doing something that the Bible forbids.

Fantasies/Expectations

Fantasies seem to be an aspect of the various self-defence mechanisms that the human mind creates when under duress. Fantasies seem to be a substitute for hope when there is no hope. The abused child uses fantasies, like the little girl who dreams that she is a fairy-tale princess in order to escape the abuses of her life, in her own mind.

I do believe in hope, which is an expectation of good. But hope is more often then not a vague sense that everything is going to be okay. Hope is conveyed in the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:25-34. I particualrly like the message about “the birds of the air” in Matthew 6:26 and not worrying about tommorow in Matthew 6:34. Hope has confidence in God and I would also add in self (to some extent) and in life (others and circumstances – seen and unseen). Hope does not need to have all the answers, but just happily goes with the flow of life.

When a neurotic becomes a Christian he inevitably hands God a "to-do list" of things that he expects God to provide him with. There is a place for genuine dreams and aspirations, but it seems that the neurotic confuses these with baseless fantasies. With fantasies there is a belief that if you had that thing - it would make you happy. This of course is not true because a person's happiness does not depend on a person, place or thing. Happiness is a state of being which only oneness with God and cooperation with Him can bring.

Apart from stark fantasies and the God aspect - many people still hold onto expectations, like the little boy who says that he is going to be a policeman when he grows up, but probably ends-up doing something entirely different. Christians often hold onto expectations in relation to God, such as, "God would never let that happen to me", or that favourite amongst the Ecclesiastical elite, "I'm against abortion and war - and so is God!"

Just like opinions, expectations become negative and harmful the more emphatic we are, to the point of being stubborn, and the more stress they induce in us.

Fears

I suppose fears are similar to expectations in that they are things that you expect to happen to some extent. But whilst expectations are for something good to happen, fears are an expectation of something bad happening.

Fears are the "what if" syndrome, "What if it starts raining today? What if she doesn't call me? What if I fail?" A lot of the time the sense of dreading something going wrong is worse than the actual thing happening. In fact, there can be a sense of relief sometimes when something bad does happen so that we no longer have to dread it. People often attribute seemingly related events to their fears, such as food and fuel price rises meaning that they won't be able to pay all their bills. Sometimes, our fears can be completely baseless.

Conclusion

So if we bear in mind the anatomy of fear, we can see straight away what is happening in churches across the world. If we begin to see fear in relation to these four categories - we can quickly identify spiritual abuses and move away from them. This also gives us an insight into what love is: perhaps love is simply the identification of where fear is manifesting in our lives? Fear exists only in our mind and if we can see it for what it is - it should help it to dissipate of its own accord.

Sowing and Reaping in Relation to Money

2011-02-27T13:12:00.001Z

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8

From the outset this extract from the Bible seems to point us towards principles and formulas: the more you give, the more you get. But as some of us know from our experiences with Word of Faith and the prosperity message, in fact, works-based Christianity in general - principles and formulas don't work.

With works-based Christianity what we get is a bunch of neurotics or self-justified people trying to prove their spiritual status according to what they achieve. But we all know that does not prove a thing: just because someone spends time on a Sunday working for the Sunday School at church - it does not mean that they are a kind, generous person.

So, it is for these reasons that I have switched focus from works to disposition, or you could say nature, personality, etc. When we change the lens from works to grace, when we read the Bible, everything changes: those demands for performance are seen for what they really are.

I believe it is the same situation with 2 Corinthians 9 - this is not pointing towards works with a view to encouraging people to works - I believe that must be referring to a person's state of being, their disposition. As always, writers of the Bible often attempt to get a handle on unseen, spiritual concepts, which is what Paul is doing here - we see this in the parables of Jesus.

In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul attempts to get a handle on the difference between a good and bad disposition. Here, Paul is contrasting the difference between a generous and a miserly spirit. If we think outside of the Bible-box a moment, simple logic tells us that this is a difference between a secure disposition and an insecure disposition: if I have a sense of security, I'll be more generous with my money and vice-versa.

This contrast of security versus insecurity was something that Jesus related in the Parable of the Talents. Again, the Parable of the Talents can be seen as a call to works - he who gives the most finds favour with the Master, whilst he who does not, earns His contempt. But in actual fact the Parable of the Talents is a contrast of dispositions: the insecure person feels the need to preserve what he has for fear of losing it; whilst the secure-minded person is confident, willing to take risks and is more likely to part with his money. An insecure person will always struggle financially because of the unwillingness to take risks which his fear brings and a sense of apathy. I also believe that there is probably some kind of spiritual aspect to that as well - something to do with trusting in God for provision. Faith is, after all, trust in God.

I believe we also see a clue in verse 7, "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion." It could never be about works because that involves a sense of coercion. If a person gives generously out of a genuine heart of kindness - the is no compulsion there - he is a "cheerful giver".

In conclusion, we either see 2 Cor. 9 in relation to works or disposition - if we see it in reference to works, the result is an endless striving, guilt and an inevitable sense of hopelessness; but if we see it in the light of disposition, the perspective changes to who we are in Christ and the new nature.

What I Believe About the Supernatural

2011-02-23T23:15:00.001Z

The thing with the supernatural in the church is that it is part of the bigger problem: the one-size-fits-all mentality was people cease to think for themselves and just get swept away with whatever is dictated to them. I'll admit I've been there; I got carried away with the supernatural when I attended Kensington Temple in London, well known for signs and wonders, during the late nineties and early noughties. It was during this time that I went to see Benny Hinn at the Royal Albert Hall. I witnessed healing, being slain in the spirit and all of those things. I honestly believe that it is this period of my spiritual journey that attracted me to church and to Christ. I'm sure I would have given up otherwise.

Now, I look back on all of that and laugh - it seems ridiculous to me. I feel led to think of those things in line with the experience of Elijah when he ran from Jezebel.

11 Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;

12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

1 Kings 19:11-13 nkjv

It seems that Christians become distracted by anything seemingly supernatural to the point whereby they just get all excited, carried away by the experience, but they don't think. We need to ask ourselves how these experiences pertain to us, otherwise, we take these occurrences as a rubber-stamp of approval that what the showman in a suit on the stage is telling us is actually true.

We need to step back, calm down a, take a deep breath and ask ourselves, "Okay, so someone just fell down on the floor and started shaking after an alter call - that's pretty weird. I'm sure that's God, because it doesn't normally happen. Nevertheless, how does this pertain to me, in my particular journey with the Lord? Does it even apply? I need to know because I could end up getting carried away with this and getting distracted." We blame the snake oil salesman on stage for duping us - but, as they say, it takes two to tango: he might have manipulated a situation - but I was the sucker who was naive and desperate enough to believe what he was saying.

I have experienced the supernatural in my own life on several occasions. The most incredible moment of my life was when I was spectacularly baptised in the Spirit in October 1998 - it really did change my life. Then there was the time when I found two ten pound notes, in two different locations, on the same day, within about an hour. Come on! I don't care what anybody says - one ten pound note, okay, but two? That just doesn't normally happen! Ever since I was baptised in the Holy Spirit, I prayed in tongues fervently; that lasted for a couple of years and gradually fizzled out. I used to hear God's voice speak to me audibly, but that too has come to a standstill.

I still believe firmly in the supernatural, but I believe that like everything else in the institutional church - it can become a distraction from the main event - everyday life! “Everyday life” is a dirty-word to neurotic Christians who are enamoured with everything supernatural. I'd describe myself as a recovering neurotic. Anxiety, I believe, is established and maintained by running away from reality, instead of embracing and working with the life that surrounds you - the people, places and things. Christians read the Old Testament about how God moved in some spectacular fashion, and we want it! We want God to "use a sledgehammer to crack a walnut" on our behalf! We want to feel special and loved of God; we want to stand out from the crowd for all the best reasons.

I'll admit that I have gradually veered towards what is known as cessationism: I believe that spiritual gifts and supernatural occurrences will cease and have already ceased, to an extent. I believe in the supernatural to an extent and I don’t go out of my way to stubbornly refute it, like sceptics such as James Randi. I just take issue with the abuse, manipulation and misplaced expectation that often surrounds the supernatural.

I don't believe in a total cessation of the supernatural, just a fading away as the most important thing takes centre stage - I'm talking about love. When you have love you are able to embrace the miracles that you see in everyday life; the little things around you that you take for granted - birds singing in the trees, the sun shining millions of miles above you in a clear blue sky; the stars that shine at night - light years away; the miracle of child birth and the complexities of the human body; the wonderful, rich feeling of loving someone for no other reason than they exist. This is where God is! This is where the miracle is to be found!

Miracles are, by definition, rare. When we move away from everyday life, we veer towards fantasy, unrealistic expectations and a world of stress! It is so much better to love "what is" and enjoy whatever life brings to you in the moment. When we put all sorts of expectations on God, the end result is always disappointment. I believe the supernatural is designed to bring us nearer to God and closer to love - in one way or another.

8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13 nkjv

Sowing and Reaping In Relation to Disposition

2011-02-20T20:30:00.001Z

7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

Galatians 6:7-8 nkjv

Sowing and reaping is often viewed in relation to principles if I do "this" and "that" will happen. But I feel that Galatians 6:7-8 is talking about a person's disposition more than a particular action: if a person expresses or "sows to" their higher nature, they will reap the consequences and strengthen that aspect of their nature - the same is true about expressing the lower nature. This concept of higher nature and lower nature coexisting in a person's personality and vying for attention and expression, brings us back to Galatians 5:7, "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."

I just find it fascinating that there is this reference in the Bible to sowing and reaping in relation to disposition, personality or nature. There doesn't seem to be any references in scripture that attribute sowing and reaping to a particular course of action, from which we derive principles.

I concede to the fact that Paul lists the "Works of the Flesh" being things like lewdness and adultery. But again, I feel that Paul is simply stating that these things are typical expressions of a person who is yielded to their lower nature, and therefore, has a "bad" disposition. Apostle Paul is not necessarily saying, "Don't do these things - these are really bad!" There seems to be a mindset in the church that if you can make a taboo out of something, you can manipulate people's behaviour so that they don't do those things - but that simply does not work. We can tie this line of thinking in with the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:15-20.

15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?

17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Matthew 7:15-20 nkjv

In conclusion, I believe that it is much more important to focus on disposition, who you are on the inside, rather than a set of principles that Christians should follow.

Disposition and Quality of Life – Part 2

2011-02-19T12:34:00.001Z

Although not an exact science, it seems to me that it is a person's disposition that determines how well they cope with life, the quality of the decisions they make, as well as the people and circumstances they attract.

As many wise people have concluded in the past: happiness is a state of mind, rather than what you do or have. Ultimately, the things we aspire to attain in life, be it wealth, success or some kind of achievement – is all for the sole purpose of being happy. If I believe that I need such-and-such in order to be happy, but I don’t have those things, then I’m inevitably going to be miserable and discontent. But if I accept myself, the world and other people, just as they are at this moment, I am much more likely to attain that precious happiness that we all seek.

Discontentedness is not a driver for success. Nothing good can come from those emotions that Apostle Paul labels “Works of the Flesh”. Should we just drift through life, content with all that we are and all that we have? I would say “yes” – if that is where peace leads you – why change anything if you are truly happy and content? Shouldn’t we strive for achieve more? People have thought the same thing in the past – and look where Capitalism with its greed and selfishness has got us now. There is a strong, motivating force for good, which God promotes and is the very source of – it is called love. Love does not need to be bitter, frustrated and content for it to function properly.

So it would seem that our level of happiness if affected more by our beliefs, than our environment, possessions and the people in our lives. A person’s disposition seems to affect how well they “flow” with life – I believe that this comes down to a person’s beliefs and how well they are able to accept their life and the people around them. If I believe that you should be different than you are at this moment – it does not help you to change for the better, but it could make it difficult for me to relate to you. If I accept my life situation as it is now, it does not mean that nothing will ever change, but it does mean that I will be happier and more cooperative with my circumstances. Wishing things were different to the point of frustration and bitterness, will not contribute a great deal towards a solution.

So instead of people focusing on taking action through principles and formulas as a means of changing their lives for the better - it would be better to focus on whatever it is that forms a person's disposition.

Disposition and Quality of Life – Part 1

2011-02-19T12:33:00.001Z

It does seem that there is a lot of confusion around the concept of life "going well" - how do we define it? Some would measure it in terms of health, others wealth, others according to happiness. All of these factors do come into play to some extent when it comes to life "going well" for us. But how do we explain the kind, friendly relative who is taken ill with a debilitating disease? How does the concept of "going well" figure in the life of the rich man who made his wealth through deceit and manipulation? It just does not make sense a lot of the time.

The Christian world seems to concentrate a great deal on taking action to the point of attempting to define what action is right and what action is wrong; the church loves to prescribe formulas which, if followed, will change a person's life for the better. But when it comes to life "going well", I think that it has a lot more to do with a person's beliefs, desires and attitudes. One could say that such attributes form a person's disposition. According to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, the word "disposition" means: a person's inherent qualities of mind and character. An inclination or tendency. It is a person's disposition which determines whether they will grasp opportunities or if they will procrastinate and shy away from taking responsibility. The Parable of the Talents was all about this contrast of dispositions.

I believe that the classic components of a person's disposition include maturity, wisdom, self-esteem, self-confidence, friendliness and sincerity. Some people are confident but lack friendliness and sincerity. I struggle to understand why God allows unpleasant people to prosper financially. But it is wrong to assume that such people are content in life and will not reap the consequences of their disposition. A lot of people have wealth, but are discontent in life; some people have success, but suffer ill health or relationships problems. It is not easy to say that a person suffers in life because of their disposition; it often seems that good people are the unwitting victims in life. But it seems that it is a person's disposition which greatly influences the choices they make, their behaviour and what they experience in life.

Like often attracts like, unfriendly people often attract people who are just like them. Some women tend to attract abusive partners, but could it have something to do with that woman's disposition? Could she be in a state of fear which leans towards pride and selfishness as a means of self-protection? People-pleasers will often attract manipulative people like a magnet - each compliments the other and sustains that person's flawed disposition, even though they are equal opposites in many respects.

What I Believe About Sowing and Reaping

2011-02-19T12:18:00.001Z

I believe in every action having a reaction. I think there is a need to get away from the concept of punishment from God. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. When we go along the lines of punishment for sin, it negates the redemptive work of the cross. The whole punishment for sin mentality causes a lot of confusion and stress as Christians anxiously analyse every little thing they do for hidden sin and potential consequences.

I believe that we are no longer punished for sin, but that sin itself has its own built-in correction mechanism. If we bear in mind the grace and mercy of God, and the fact that each of us differ in terms of maturity, beliefs and calling - we find that it is often impossible to predict the likely outcome of certain decisions and actions we commit to.

There is also the issue of God causing suffering to teach you something: I do believe that God allows certain things to happen to us for a reason. I believe that something good can come out of these bad situations. It seems that God meets us right where we are on the journey, knows what's right for us, knows what action we are likely to take and works with us to teach us, refine us and define us. That might have the appearance of punishment to us, but God simply works with us according to where we are on the journey of life. Could certain situations be avoided? Well it seems to be the case, but God often allows us to make the decisions that are in-line with our current beliefs, attitudes and desires. Anything else is divine intervention.

But I think it does help to not over-spiritualise things and just know that every action will bear natural consequences - there's nothing weird or other-worldly about it. If I neglect my need for physical exercise and overindulge in junk food - my physical appearance and level of fitness is likely to show the consequences of that - natural law of action and reaction. I am not being punished for my sin because I get unfit and flabby - there is a perfectly normal, logical explanation for my condition in this example. Now, for me to gorge on junk food and neglect exercise, and maintain the same level of fitness as an athlete, would require divine intervention.

Sometimes God does intervene in our circumstances according to His grace and mercy. But I believe that to a great extent, God prefers us to live out the natural consequences of our beliefs, attitudes and desires - which all culminate in our disposition.

Now, whatever it was that led to the overindulgence in this example, is another matter: it is likely to be a whole chain of thoughts and events along the path of life that contributed to that outcome. In the bigger picture of life, it could be seen as the sum total of all the thoughts you have thought and actions you have taken so far in life.

Being Led By Man Instead of The Holy Spirit

2011-01-15T11:14:00.001Z

If we try to take the place of the Holy Spirit in our lives with all sorts of man-made doctrines, then we potentially block a move of God. We can think “Oh, pastor says we should not do that”. When in fact, God wants us to do that, but we pay no heed to the inner witness. This grieves the Holy Spirit. It creates dependence on the pastor and on man-made doctrines, instead of God.

So many people are so used to being spoon-fed rules and regulations that they do not think that they can be guided by God themselves. The pastor perceives that the people do not know what to do. Perhaps they don’t seem to achieve much, no-one seems to be witnessing effectively, there is no church growth, and people in the church are still sinning. The pastor takes it upon himself to take the place of the Holy Spirit for others - he becomes their light instead of God.

We look to the pastor as being almost perfect and a chosen vessel for God – so we do not ever consider that he might be wrong sometimes or that he might not know what is best for us in a given situation.

It seems that when we are struggling in life, going through a hard time and generally trying to find where we fit in with life as a whole – we can be rather vulnerable, frightened, cautious, confused and tentative about making decisions. But it is important that we learn to find our composure, develop maturity, sharpen our intuition and just get on with our own lives. We can never give the responsibility for living our lives to someone else. This means that we are likely to make more mistakes and we will get hurt along the way – but it is better than allowing someone else to take control of our lives for us.

There is an increased danger in that the pastor will usually veer towards caution, which is wise when someone He is not sensitive enough to the guidance of the Spirit, and when ministering to others - this has the effect of limiting God. It sets parameters on how we are willing to allow God to move in our lives. A good example could be in the office, some work colleagues ask you if you want to go to the pub after work. Straight away, your religious teaching says “No”. I agree that pubs are not the most ideal environments for Christians to spend their time. But if you were sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, then you might feel led by Him to go. You might struggle with this and stand by your “No”.

But the Holy Spirit might insist and therefore you might then say “Yes”. As you are in the pub sipping your soft drink, one of the guys might bring up the topic of Christianity. You might find that words come to you to say to him, and before you know it, you have witnessed successfully. You did not plan to talk about Jesus, but because He is in you, it came naturally for you to be His witness.

The more yielded we are to God, the more He can do through us. But if we set up rules and guidelines – we can end up missing out on what God has for us and wants us to do.

A New Perspective on Repentance

2011-01-05T22:46:00.001Z

Okay, I'm probably stirring a veritable hornet's nest with this one, but here goes...

For a little while now I've been pondering the role of repentance in the life of the Christian. Most people are aware of the raging debate in Christendom about 1 John 1:9 and whether or not a Christian should confess their sin or not - some say that verse is written to non-believers, others disagree. I'm well aware of that and I've been there: I've been in that place whereby I've trembled in my boots every time I say a cuss word, or something, and wonder if I'm out of fellowship with God. I'm over that now and I've been set free. But I'd just like to possibly bring a new perspective on this much debated topic of repentance.

The Greek word for "repentance" literally means "a change of mind". This makes no mention of verbal confession of sins to God. Anyway, most Christians know when they've sinned and don't need to remind themselves, and God, of it. So what role could repentance play in the life of the Christian? Have you ever experience those moments when you were completely unaware of something, when suddenly, you become very aware of it? Perhaps you were treating someone in your life very disrespectfully, when all of a sudden you are struck with just how much of a self-righteous ass you have been. In that moment, you are like thinking, "Oh no, what on earth have I been thinking?"

Another thing that comes into play is what I call the "ticking time-bomb analogy": you're getting on merrily with your life when all of a sudden, something you've been doing or something you've been putting off, suddenly explodes in your face. Perhaps you've been mistreating your wife and now she's had enough. It's as if there's nothing you can do in that moment to compensate for all those years of ignorance and neglect. I think that's it: it's about awakening from a state of deep-seated ignorance. This in in stark contrast from lighting-up a cigarette and going through some half-hearted ritual about how you know it's bad and your sorry to God about it and so on.

For me, I believe that repentance is a change of mind, attitude and awareness. It's like something suddenly dawns on you. It could be various different circumstances which are "brewing" in the background and all of a sudden it just comes to a head and falls down on you like a ton of bricks. So if this is repentance, what are we all fretting about? Because we know that this concept exists and is in full force in our lives. I suppose what is debatable is whether we confess our new found awareness to God. But in this situation I see God as the invisible, but ever-present "third-person" who is available for us to talk to and mull things over.

I suppose God does not have to be our confidante - it could be a close friend, spouse, neighbour, the cat, the dog, the aspidistra or the brick wall - perhaps the difference is that God is ever-present, real, willing to listen and willing to give feedback through impressions and feelings? This is very different to the angry God, whip in hand, ready to pounce on us because we did not read the Bible as much as we should have last week.

So, having said all of this, I'm all in favour of repentance. Repentance is important to moving beyond a sticking point in our lives, an attitude that held us back. Perhaps you repent of being angry towards your ex-wife and the alimony you have to pay? Repentance is a good thing if it sets you free from the burden of getting upset about that situation?

What are your views on repentance? Particularly in light of the alternative view of it that I've hinted towards in the above text?

The Lure of Full Time Ministry

2010-11-20T14:03:00.001Z

I'm just reflecting on something that used to be so alluring to me in the past: the desire to get into full-time ministry.

When I first became a "proper" Christian in the late nineties, there was always this feeling that the Senior Pastor had all the answers - because he seemed so wise, popular and even performed miracles. The idea was that life for most Christians really sucked: like we were these innocent little lambs in this harsh world that seemed to difficult and disappointing for us. There was always this sense that the only way for you to find satisfaction as a Christian, because you were ever-so spiritual, was to become a pastor.

I remember listening, or reading, wide-eyed at these beguiling stories of ministers getting their needs met in some spectacular fashion. The favourite seemed to be a minister having some "need", which was always full-time ministry related (such as a new youth ministry building), praying about it, then someone in the congregation giving them an envelope with the exact amount in it. It seemed to me that as soon as a Christian got his act together and was no longer a moron - God would immediately whisk him or her away from their mundane 9-to-5 existence - into an exciting life in the service of God (as if anything else is not serving God).

I suppose my desire to get into ministry grew more intense when I started attending a popular mega-church in 2005. There was something captivating about that charismatic speaker bounding on stage, that I wanted to re-create in my own life. They could command the crowd's devotion and obedience: they could tell the crowd when to laugh, sing, sit-up, sit-down or even turn to your neighbour and say...whatever. It's great that I can now watch the Northpoint - Sunday's Coming - Movie Trailer and laugh at what I used to take so seriously.

It's only now after years of frustration that I can now see the futility of it all. I can see how flawed that whole system is. It's only after hearing the Into the Wild and The God Journey podcasts that I'm finally awake to what was really happening. Wayne Jacobsen especially has been really expressing in recent podcasts, just how silly it all is as well as revealing the wrong motives and desire for attention that is behind it all. As I have now begun to take an honest look at my own desires, I can see that I craved approval, attention, position, power and wealth.

Another good MP3 series on this subject is "Safe Harbor Conference 2008" on Bertie Brits' website http://www.dynamicministries.com I was amazed at the honesty of Allen Speegle in this message as he related his own insecurities and wrong motives for becoming a minister and how grace has changed all of that.

A Commonsense Hope and the Need for Balance – Part 2

2010-10-09T17:58:00.001+01:00

We do not need to think about God all the time, pray to Him, ask Him permission to do certain things and the like - it makes people really quite weird. In the Institutional Church, believers have trained themselves to inject Biblical statements and catchphrases into every other sentence. I recall listening to a Free Believers Network podcast in which one of the hosts, Kim Scott, who said that she literally had to wean herself off saying words like, “God, Jesus and church”, every other sentence. That might sound heretical to some people, but it is common-sense and practical. We can honour God, whilst at the same time, not being over-spiritual to the point of appearing fake and weird.

I listened to the The Free Believers Network podcast today entitled Spiritual Veal – 8^th October 2010. In this podcast, Darin and Aimee discussed the way in which Christians often wait for God to do things in their lives, often in supernatural ways, instead of just doing something for themselves. I think there really is a need to just get on with life like any other normal person, making decisions as necessary without complicating things by introducing layers of religious performance. Christians become rather weird when they impose all sorts of religious, seemingly Biblical concepts on their lives. Life becomes complicated when almost every single decision that you make must first be validated against the Bible, prayed about and discussed with a prominent member of the church you attend.

Charismatic preachers have given us the impression that a life in Christ will always be exciting, prosperous and full of miracles - but I don't get that impression at all. Surely, miracles by definition are rare? Revivals in the past, such as the Azusa Street Revival are often held-up as a standard to which all Christians are to attain through diligent spiritual practice. But I wonder to myself if such revivals are simply one-off experiences that occur from time-to-time, rather than something which is to be ushered in through our own efforts and experienced on a daily basis? All I know is that when I was praying for revival at Kensington Temple during the late nineties, it was really quite weird, obsessive and oppressive. Furthermore, nothing substantial and lasting happened.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t get the impression that God is desperately trying to move in the lives of Christians in order to make them perform miracles so they can stand out in the crowd. I don’t find many parents disappointed with their children because they aren’t prodigies, such as a maths genius or a music maestro. Most parents love their children even when they come out with naïve statements that make no sense, make mistakes or fall on the floor and hurt themselves. Neither do I find children who are devastated at performing a simple school play rather than appearing in a professional Hollywood production. I’m not opposed to miracles, they have their place, but I’m not going to get obsessive about them like I was encouraged to do in the past.

There really is a need to accept yourself as you are other people as they are and the circumstances of your life as they are. There is a great deal of peace and joy, even prosperity to an extent, to be found in contentment.

A Commonsense Hope and the Need for Balance – Part 1

2010-10-09T17:57:00.001+01:00

A recent Free Believers Network podcast episode entitled Getting God to Perform – 5^th October 2010, very much summed-up where I feel I am right now from a spiritual perspective. This podcast also relates how charismatic Christians have been fed a diet of incredible stories of how God moved in powerful ways in the past. All of this has the effect of prompting us to hold on to specific expectations of how God is going to move powerfully in our own lives, typically through some sort of miraculous manifestation.

People who put their hope in something incredible happening in their life reminds me of naïve teenage girls who dream of becoming pop stars. The X-Factor has become very popular now: what makes the X-Factor hugely popular is not just the truly talented people who appear on the show – it is also the people who believe they can sing, but couldn’t sing to save their life. I think one of the most extravagant examples of this is that of two teenage girls who called themselves “Ablisa” – you can see the video on You Tube: X Factor 2010 - Girl Gets Punched Onstage (Full Ablisa Audition). What got these two started on this track was probably the two just singing to pop songs in their bedrooms. It amazes me that these two unpleasant and untalented teenage girls actually believed that they had what it takes to become professional singers.

When you put your hope for a happy and fulfilling life in what you do and what you have – you somehow become deluded into thinking you have what it takes to make something incredible to happen, and for Christians, that God will back you all the way.

We need to build a foundation of knowing that God accepts us as we are, is not mad at us, will never leave us, cares for us and lives within us. From that moment on, I believe, we need to just get on with our lives like any other normal person. One of the reasons why I really enjoy listening to The God Journey podcasts is that the focus is very simple and narrow: it is all about living in the love of God. I also enjoy listening to the The Free Believers Network podcasts – what makes these podcasts so refreshing is not so much the sense of anti-I.C. (Institutional Church) sentiment, but rather, their focus on living simply, knowing that you are loved by God, accepting yourself as you are and loving others. If during your pursuit of living in the love of God eventually leads you to leave your church, then so be it.

The idea of just embracing everyday life and getting on with your life just like any other normal person, might seem dishonouring to God at first, but I believe it is the most realistic way to live. As soon as we entertain the idea of the existence of God – we get caught-up in all kind of religious cobwebs. It can take a lot of time and effort to sift through all the religious chaff, until finally, we are left with the wheat. When we get to that place we might find that a life in Christ looks a lot different to what we were told it would look like; it might actually look a lot more like normal, everyday life than we once thought it would. This might seem disappointing to some people, but everyday life sparkles with a wonderful, joyous glow when we allow the light of God’s love to flood the darkness of our souls.

Abandon the God Idea?

2010-10-09T17:52:00.001+01:00

I recently read a post on the Free Believers Network forum entitled, Abandon the God Idea. In this post, the woman related how she had grew up as a Christian, with the idea that God would be like a perfect father to her. But as time went by, she realised that this was more of an ideal rather than a true experience. She then left the church, wondering what to do about the whole concept of God as a Father – should she let go of her God ideas? Should she even let go of the belief in a God altogether?

I kind of get what this person is feeling here. I don't think it is the concept of a God who created the universe that we should consider letting go of - it's all the religious junk that comes with it. It's when we over-spiritualise things that we get into bother. It's when we pray for God's protection when we go on holiday and get other people to pray that our luggage won't go missing and so on.

We talk about God as if He was separate to ourselves, instead of being one with us. This was discussed in a recent podcast by the Free Believers Network entitled, The Oneness Revelation – 2^nd October 2010. The ramifications of the separation mentality are huge: instead of just making spontaneous decisions, we are supposed to check the Bible to see if there is a verse that validates our decision; we have to pray about every little single thing we want to do, discuss things with a pastor or elder in the church and so on.

I think to a great extent we need to get on with our lives without having God in our mind all the time. There is a need to get on with our lives without worrying if we will get caught-up in some kind of sin. We should not go out with the intention of sinning, but be mindful that all we can do is our best – if we end-up making a mistake or succumbing to temptation in one way or another – so be it. God loves us the way we are and when we try to earn his acceptance of us through something that we do for Him – we end-up missing the whole purpose of righteousness by faith.

I believe that a life in Christ really should look a lot more like everyday life than what the church has led us to believe – that is something that disappoints and frustrates some Christians. When someone has lived a disappointing and frustrating life, they can tend to hold-on to thoughts of a better life as a means of coping. But the adherence to fantasies is not real hope: hope is an expectation of good and the Bible tells us that it is an aspect of love, just as kindness and patience is. When Christians put their hope in something amazing happening in their life, they experience the anxiety of trying to control their life. This inevitably results in disappointment when the thing they were hoping for does not materialize.

We should not feel the need to abandon the belief that God exists. But we should strive to attain a balance: honouring God where appropriate, whilst giving ourselves credit when we achieve something good; seeing God as living within us, whilst having the sense of freedom to make decisions for ourselves.

I’m Not a Serious Christian – Part 3

2010-09-25T16:47:00.001+01:00

In order to experience the love of God for yourself, it’s not about the accumulation of spiritual knowledge or “serving God” by performing benevolent acts in the institution church. When a Christian believes that they have to get serious about serving God in the church, in order to be blessed and favoured by Him, they open themselves up to a whole lot of religious abuse. One of the main things that cause Christians to become so serious is the threat of punishment. When Christianity becomes all about avoiding hell or living right, they tend to become frightened people and critical and oppressive towards others - the grace message sets people free from such oppression.

You cannot qualify yourself as being a “loving person”, simply by making yourself do some of those things which someone associates with the character of a “loving person”. I believe that experiencing grace and love is much, much simpler than that. A loving personality comes from within, it is natural and is not something that you earnestly strive to prove or exercise through good works. You know when you are around someone who has a genuine heart of love: their body language exudes it and you can even feel it in your spirit.

I listened to the latest The God Journey podcast episode today: It’s the Living Loved That’s Important 25^th September 2010. Wayne and Brad related a lot of things along the same lines as what I have written above, in relation to the wrong motives that Christians have. I like the way that Wayne Jacobsen openly relates his experiences with desiring to establish a ministry empire from the flesh, together with how empty and unfulfilling all of that is. You can tell when someone is not living loved and are using the love of God as another spiritual “concept”, when they earnestly strive to get other people to agree with them on forums and other such platforms. When you live loved, you don’t have to prove it to other people – you live it. People who live loved don’t have to defend themselves or feel the need to argue their case – they can just walk away with the other person still holding onto their contrary beliefs.

The more you are in the flesh, not knowing the love of God, or treating the love of God as another spiritual concept that you have to master and teach others – the more serious you are bound to be. The more you live in the love of God, the less you feel you need to master spiritual concepts; and the more free you are to live life freely – and to not be so freaking serious about it!

Photo: Big Laughing courtesy of Tommy Wong.

I’m Not a Serious Christian – Part 2

2010-09-25T16:35:00.001+01:00

I look back on my life and realise just how much time I wasted trying to become an “expert” in spiritual knowledge. I could have learned to speak another language or I could have read some really good secular novels with the time I spent studying. We often assume that people will be more influenced by us and will delight in us, as Christians, if we know as much as possible about Christianity – that is not the case in my experience. I find that it is often the people who hardly have any spiritual knowledge, who seem to excel in this “living loved” lifestyle. To be honest, I don’t think people in the world are impressed with serious looking Christians who spout off a load of spiritual concepts. Such Christians tend to be rather proud and highly opinionated – which is a huge turn-off for anybody. People tend to be more attracted to those who humble themselves, not abase themselves, but people who don’t assume to have all the answers: people who put others first and accept other people as they are.

I find that the Christians at Hillsong London tend to get the balance right when it comes to having fun and not being too serious. Studying Theology is not at the top of the list for these Christians, neither is the need to prove they are right and everybody else is wrong. The most important things for these Christians tend to be making people feel welcome, socialising and having fun. I used to think that they went overboard with having fun and being sociable – but now I realise that they have it right. If you are a “serious” Christian, you too would probably arrive at the same conclusion that I used to arrive at. But what does bother me about the Hillsong crowd is that they are hooked on excitement, moreover, anticipation.

There’s always something going on at Hillsong London church that gets these people excitedly anticipating something: a new worship CD is coming out next month, or a charismatic speaker is visiting next week or there is a charity football match on tomorrow or the annual conference is coming up in a few months. I suppose it has to be exciting to get people interested enough to keep on coming, otherwise, it would get rather boring. But it does bother me somewhat that a Christian can get serious about a certain speaker or concept, just because they are exciting. I’ve noticed that the Hillsong crowd will get just as excited about hearing someone like Joyce Meyer, than they will about grace preacher Joseph Prince. Nowadays, I tend to not get so bothered about such things: if a Christian is humble, laid-back, fun and good to get on with – that’s just fine in my book.

I don’t think that there is anything “right” or “wrong” about Hillsong, as such. In fact, I’d say it’s my favourite church at the moment, although I don’t attend as much as I used to. I think it is just like any other church experience in that it’s a phase that you go through and hopefully enjoy and learn from, to some extent. Those who move on from Hillsong usually do so because of their circumstances, such as their visa expiring. There are those people who leave because they get ticked-off about something. Whatever the case, I think it is fine to experience something for a season and then to move on at the right time.

Photo: Laughing on the Bus courtesy of Peter Smithy.

I’m Not a Serious Christian – Part 1

2010-09-25T16:32:00.001+01:00

I recently noticed the unusual title of a rather popular blog which I follow: the blog is called Voice of Grace and the title of this particular blog entry was I’m Not a Serious Christian. In this curious blog entry I read something that I really resonated with: how exhausting it was to be a serious Christian.

Coincidently, I listened to my favourite Christian podcast a couple of days ago: The Free Believers Network, entitled Laughter Therapy 21^st September 2010. This podcast emphasised the importance of having fun and how serious institutional Christianity can make a person. It seems that the pursuit of religion and theology above relationship with God and other people, inevitably leads to overindulgence in analysing things and absolute seriousness about so many things. It’s like Christians have trained themselves to no longer be fun and to adopt a serious persona. I suppose they do this because they don’t want to be seen as being flippant, especially when it comes to spiritual things. I like this quote from the introduction to this podcast episode, “We’ve lost our sense of humour because we’ve been pickled in a jar of seriousness our entire lives.” I also like something that Darin Hufford said in this podcast, something he has said before, “Christians believe that a good marriage should be 95 percent seriousness and 5 percent fun – but it should actually be the other way around.”

I became very serious in my pursuit of truth as a Christian. I began to look down on those things that were deemed “ungodly” and criticized those people who did not “honour God”. It all blew up in my face when, after pursuing spiritual concepts, principles and formulas for several years – I realised that my life was not changed for the better. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to map spiritual concepts to my life as a means of making my life more prosperous, happy and attractive to others – but it has not worked.

I believe that motives play a huge role in whether the pursuit of spiritual knowledge really yields any tangible benefits. In his book, Mastering Your Emotions, Pastor Colin Dye says that the basic human wants are security, significance and self-worth; we try to satisfy these wants through the pursuit of people, power and possessions. I will admit that although I convinced myself that my motives were pure, they really were tainted with security, significance and self-worth. We are all motivated by these core human needs – every single one of us; although, some experience them more than others and we all express them in various different ways.

The pursuit of a ministry empire, were you seek establish yourself as a “font of all knowledge”, is obviously an enticing trap for many people. I will admit that I wanted to become an “expert” in my new-found theology: the grace message. But when grace or “living loved” becomes something that you study with a means of teaching others who are seeking fulfilment in life – we inevitably miss it. It really is shocking just how far a person can travel down that road of studying about love and grace – without actually experiencing it.

Photo: Laughing courtesy of Anthony Kelly.

Blessing and Favour Through Obedience – Part 5

2010-09-19T02:52:00.001+01:00

If Christians make a connection between obedience and blessings, there will often be a tendency to believe that they are not obedient enough because the blessings just don’t seem to be there. This approach can lead to obsessive rule-keeping and adherence to all sorts of principles – principles being a subtle form of rule-keeping.

The conclusion that I have come to on the subject of being guided by God, is that peace of mind is the most important thing. Peace and faith always go together – you cannot have one without the other. When you trust in God there is a peace about it. It is when a person’s mind is in turmoil, wracked with anxiety that they fail to hear from God and typically go off and do their own thing – just like Moses when he struck the rock with his staff; just like the twelve spies who spied out the promises land and gave a negative report.

I cannot help but feel that being exposed to all of these extravagant stories which are attributed to scripture can have a detrimental effect on Christians, especially if they are insecure and prone to worry. When it comes to being provided for materially, I think nothing beats not worrying.

³¹ "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³² "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Matthew 6:31-33

I believe that “kingdom of God and His righteousness” has to include peace. In fact, Romans 14:17 tells us exactly what it is: the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. How can you have the kingdom of God in you if you are not happy and you are always worrying about things?

I have always struggled with the “standard” preaching in church on taking action. The conclusion I have now come to is that life just does itself and things just tend to happen. We have both a conscious mind and a subconscious mind: it is the subconscious mind which forms our habits and it is the subconscious mind which leads us to do things spontaneously, often without hardly thinking about it. Why are Christians so pre-occupied with rules and principles, when a lot of the time they are not consciously aware of them most of the time and they often end-up doing something different anyway?

One of my favourite verses in the Bible is Philippians 2:13. I think that other versions of the Bible really help to bring out the meaning of this verse:

¹³ for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Philippians 2:13 NKJV

¹³ For God is at work within you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants.

Philippians 2:13 TLB

¹³ For it is God who is the cause of your desires and of your acts, for his good pleasure.

Philippians 2:13 BBE

¹³ For it is God Himself whose power creates within you the desire to do His gracious will and also brings about the accomplishment of the desire.

Philippians 2:13 WNT

If it is God working in us to give us the desire to do what He wants and to actually perform it – why are we trying to anxiously control our own lives through rules and principles? Surely, a peaceful mind which trusts in God is the most conducive way in which to surrender to God and obey Him as He moves freely in our lives by the Holy Spirit? I suppose that Joel Osteen’s teaching on obedience leading to blessing is a move towards the concepts I’m trying to convey here – but the way he and other well-renowned Bible teachers go about it, leaves me feeling that they are not going about it the right way.

I would again like to re-iterate the need to find hope through the assurance of what Christ has already done for us; not finding hope through being give elaborate, unrealistic anecdotes and testimonies. It is about finding peace of mind through the assurance that we are right with God, through Christ by faith, not by our own works. It is not our obedience through our behaviour which attracts blessing and favour per se, it has a lot more to do with establishing peace of mind.

Blessing and Favour Through Obedience – Part 4

2010-09-19T02:50:00.001+01:00

I cannot help but feel that the life that God has for most Christians to live, looks a lot more like everyday life than the jacked-up, far-fetched, unrealistic life that Christians have been led to believe. Everyday life can appear to be too mundane or even too difficult for some believers.

I think it helps if you can close your eyes for a moment and think about a time when you felt really happy. This might be difficult for some people to do, if they have lived a disappointing and difficult life. But I believe that almost everyone has some happy memories in their mind, especially when they were a child. Perhaps you can think of a time when you were a child and something nice happened, like it was Christmas and you received a nice gift; or perhaps it was just a time when you were surrounded by people you really love. Now, imagine living in that kind of happiness everyday. In reality, I believe that there will be times when we feel rather sad, or angry or afraid. But I do believe that when Romans 6:4 says we shall walk in newness of life – I believe it is hinting at a new-found freshness to our lives in which we can enjoy unconditional love and happiness.

When our lives seem to be normal, without all the amazing, way-out things we were told would happen – we can be tempted to believe that there is sin in our lives, we’re not praying enough, we need more faith or we need to give more money to the church we attend. I think it helps to aim towards being happy – right where you are now. If you can be happy and at peace right now, anything else that God does in your life from here is a bonus; also, a peaceful mind is more aligned with faith, which is trust in God, than an anxious mind.

I believe that God will meet our needs, but not necessarily our wants; also, I believe that the way in which God does meet our needs might not be in the typical, sledgehammer-to-crack-a-walnut fashion that we so often see in the Old Testament. So if you’re expecting a burning bush, a talking donkey or a coin in a fish’s mouth – you might want to think again.

Another thing that bothers me about the typical obedience-leading-to-blessings message is that the guidance is always unnatural and other-worldly. Yes, I agree that God can lead Christians through supernatural means – I’m not against that. But I am also inclined to believe that being led by the Holy Spirit is not very far off from just going with your own instinct, your gut-feeling. Therefore, there is a tendency to believe that it is you living your own life, unless you are distinctly aware of anything that resembles God speaking to you in some way. This tendency can lead people to become disconnected with their own heart, as they fight with their own instincts. Little do they realise that their own heart is that place in which the Holy Spirit takes up residence and leads us in all areas of our lives.

I have seen many Christians adopt an attitude whereby they don’t even trust themselves: they think they are too sinful for God to communicate with them. These insecure Christians often seek the counsel of other, wiser Christians. There is often a pursuit of Words of Knowledge and spiritual advice from such people.

If what God tells us to do is not way-out and amazing, as we have been led to believe, we can assume that God is not pleased with us, that He has chosen not to “use” us for His great purposes. I personally believe that God’s great divine purpose is worked out in our everyday lives, often in ways that we don’t expect. We are often too focused on the weird and wonderful, in order to notice the beauty and wonder that is going on in everyday life around us.

Blessing and Favour Through Obedience – Part 3

2010-09-19T02:48:00.001+01:00

I suppose it is the excitement of challenges from the pulpit that make it all so enticing, leading us to eagerly buy the next book that gets published by that author or to download the latest podcast. There is the excitement of being chosen by God for an incredible task – together with the promise of an amazing prize – but if only we will obey Him. I suppose this gives us the motivation to listen to challenges and pep-talks from our favourite spiritual coaches: because we will then be more inclined to obey God when He calls us to our next grand spiritual assignment.

Considering that a lot of Christians are, let’s face it, neurotic and prone to fantasy – I don’t believe that these kinds of challenges to do the impossible, empowered by God, is such a good idea. For goodness sake, a lot of Christians struggle to get along with the things of everyday life – never mind becoming the next Noah or the next Moses!

Christians have hidden behind the excuse of pointing at, and identifying with, seemingly weak people in the Bible who were superly-anointed. The will point towards Gideon who said, “My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.“ (Judges 6:15). We can also feel inspired by King David who was just a shepherd boy when he defeated the Philistine giant Goliath. John the Baptist can make us feel comfortable in the fact that we was a social outcast, but was greatly favoured of God and “used” by Him.

All of these inspiring Biblical stories are wonderful and they have their place when it comes to our everyday lives. It is true that God can take a weak person and do incredible things in his or her life. Apostle Paul wrote about God’s encouraging words to him in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

I feel that we cannot look to our weakness and struggle in life as a sign that God has some way-out, spectacular, world-changing divine assignment for us here on earth. This might seem to be a major disappointment for some, but it is the truth. Neither can we look upon an unappealing personality as being evidence that we, just like John the Baptist, have been chosen to do great things for God. Christians often say that they are not of this world; I get what they mean in that they want to separate themselves from the selfishness and unpleasantness that we see in this world. But at the same time, we must not look to this as a cliché which excuses a holier-than-thou attitude or as a validation for an unappealing personality.

I know what it’s like when you feel upset, hurt, bitter, down-trodden and desperate. But the path to hope is to be found in Jesus, not in what we do for Him and not in clinging desperately to extravagant ideals. The inspiring stories that we hear preached in church a lot of the time do not give us hope – they just stir-up the unrealistic expectations that desperate Christians have. The inevitable result of this is always going to be disappointment, as they realise it is just not going to happen.

Blessing and Favour Through Obedience – Part 2

2010-09-19T02:47:00.001+01:00

It is not just the motivation-to-works concept that bothers me about the obedience-blessing approach. What also bothers me about this whole thing is the way in which Christian teaching on the whole has tended to veer towards over-spiritualizing things and blowing things out of proportion. I feel that tendency towards sensationalism is found to a great extent in modern teaching on obedience. To illustrate what I’m getting at here, read the following article quoted below:

Did you know that when God spoke to Noah about building the ark, it had never even rained before? Can you imagine that? Noah knew people were going to make fun of him or call him crazy. I’m sure he had every opportunity to talk himself out of it. He could have come up with plenty of excuses. But Noah didn’t do that. He recognized that God had asked him to do a difficult thing, and he chose obedience. Noah didn’t run from the challenge; he chose to believe God. Noah’s obedience is what opened the door for God to supernaturally empower him to fulfill his destiny. Now he is one of the great heroes of faith.

If you will decide to do the difficult things God is telling you to do—even when it looks impossible—if you’ll choose to be obedient, then God will do more than you could ask or think. He’ll take you places that you’ve never dreamed of. He’ll bring up out of you gifts and talents that you never even knew you had. He’ll empower you to fulfill your destiny, and who knows, you may become the next hero of faith.

From Today's Word with Joel Osteen - June 8, 2009 [Devotional]

The above text is rather typical for popular, modern-day Bible teachers. Be honest, can you really say that you have not heard this kind of thing a hundred times before? The truth is that we love the thought of rising to such a challenge. It is exciting to put yourself in the place of one of the Old Testament heroes such as Noah, Joseph, Joshua, Caleb, Moses, Ruth or Esther.

There is always the feeling of excitement when you contemplate the thought that:

God has some incredible, world-changing and impossibly difficult challenge set before you.
These incredible challenges will always come to you packaged in some kind of supernatural, other-worldly means of guidance: a vision or an audible voice.
There will be some sort of struggle on the inside as you battle with your own doubts and self-confidence – as if it is always going to be something that is not in your heart already; something that is not natural for you to do.

This epic struggle is seen throughout the Bible, especially the Old Testament. The Psalms depict many situations in which David struggles with his conscience and labours long and hard with his devotion to God. Then there is the classic tale of the Prophet Jonah who was told to go to a certain place and prophesy by the Lord; he disobeyed and was swallowed-up by a whale!

Blessing and Favour Through Obedience – Part 1

2010-09-19T02:45:00.001+01:00

I did some searching on the Internet today, not looking for anything in particular, and stumbled across an article By Michael S. Horton of White Horse Inn, which is a Christian radio station. It would seem that Michael S. Horton is staunchly set against the modern prosperity gospel that so many Christian are engrossed in. Horton seems to be opposed to the teachings of people such as Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes and so on.

Michael Horton seems to reserve most of his criticism for Joel Osteen, Senior Pastor of Lakewood – America’s biggest church. Joel Osteen is also the author of several best selling books, which are written with a view to bringing out the potential in people. Michael Horton has written a critique of Joel Osteen’s latest book, in which he pretty much goes about debunking Osteen’s entire approach to Christianity: Become a Better You: Reflections on Joel Osteen's Latest Book

I think the main thing that Horton seems to pick-up on when it comes to Joel Osteen’s beliefs, is that obedience attracts the blessings and favour of God, and therefore, the more obedient we are, the more blessed we shall be. This approach caught my attention as it reminded me of the teachings of various other popular Bible teachers, such as Joyce Meyer and John Bevere. There seems to be an element of truth in this approach, for sure; but I cannot help but feel that there is something amiss about it: I think what bothers me about the obedience-blessing connection is that it puts the onus on the believer to perform, to keep rules, with the promise of spectacular blessings. Now that I am inclined towards the grace message as preached by the likes of Joseph Prince, I tend now to look to Jesus finished work as the source of my blessing and favour – rather than looking to what I can do for God.

Another revealing article on Joel Osteen is: Joel Osteen and the Glory Story: A Case Study.

In order to convey a sense of Joel Osteen’s beliefs in this area, I came across this brief description of a Joel Osteen Video Podcast entitled #473 - The Commanded Blessing:

The Creator of the universe has put a commanded blessing on you. Deuteronomy 28 says that when you live a life that honors God and obey His Word, blessings are commanded to chase you down and overtake you. His commanded blessing will cause you to rise out of lack into abundance, out of barely getting by into overflow where supernatural increase is experienced. His commanded blessing on your life will cause you to prosper in spite of your circumstances because when you walk in obedience, wherever you go, the blessing goes.

Aren’t we blessed now because we believe in Jesus who has redeemed us from the curse of the law?

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.“

Galatians 3:13-14

I do believe that a blessing is available to us according to Deuteronomy 28, but I don’t believe that the blessing is conditional upon our efforts – that is an Old Testament approach that brings us into a works mentality.

The Predicted Collapse of Evangelical Christianity – Part 2

2010-08-07T20:07:00.001+01:00

Picture Lisbon/Lisboa/Lissabon Ruins of Igreja do Carmo courtesy of Bert K.

On her Facebook site, Anne Rice wrote this comment on Wednesday:

For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.

Five minutes later she added this:

As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminst. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanist. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.

When Christianity moves away from the Gospel and towards politics and opinion – it becomes something else entirely. It seems that the church is totally at odds with the outside world which it is meant to serve. It seems that there is something of a culture war that has been going on for a while and looks to be coming to a head very shortly. Many are predicting the collapse of evangelical Christianity as we know it – for these very reasons. The staunch viewpoints of the church on homosexuality, abortion and the like, place it at loggerheads with reality. This is what seems to have led Anne Rice to shun the religion which she once embraced. You may also wish to read this article entitled the coming evangelical collapse and The Coming Collapse of Evangelicalism. For more information about evangelical Christianity – check out the following link.

Whatever happened to Christ crucified redemption and knowing the Father's love for you? Why can't we just stick with that? Christianity does have a fellowship aspect to it, but it is also something that is intimate: a one-to-one with our Maker, our Father who is in Heaven. There seems to be a stigma attached to Christianity that many find they cannot shake. There seems to be a need for believers to prove their beliefs, otherwise, they might feel as if the outside world will blame them for following a pointless, ritualistic religion. We should not get caught in the trap of feeling the need to prove what we believe and to justify ourselves. This is nothing more than low self-esteem, shame and guilt. We should never feel the need to force our beliefs on others. We should definitely not stick our noses into politics and the like in the name of serving God, unless we a called to do so and our vocation is in the political arena. Discover what it means to be loved by God for yourself and just allow God to take things naturally from there.

The Predicted Collapse of Evangelical Christianity – Part 1

2010-08-07T19:59:00.001+01:00

I was browsing the internet today and stumbled upon an article about author Anne Rice who declared that she was through with Christianity.

Someone else posted a link to a different article on Facebook about this subject, entitled Club of Christians sometimes feels too big. This stirred-up something that has been in my heart for a while now, so I thought I’d say something about it here and include some links for your perusal.

It was no surprise to me when Anne Rice stated her reasons for wanting nothing more to do with Christianity. When Christianity becomes merged with politics and opinions, it becomes a toxic mix that totally puts people off and it can become a vehicle for pride and bigotry. It does not matter how justified you feel you are in stating your opinions, it does not matter how scriptural you believe you are; the fact is that when you believe that you are right and everybody else is wrong – it simply annoys everybody around you.

I think the number one reason that so many people dislike Christians, especially evangelical Christians, is that they are so fixated on getting other people to believe the same things they do. Yes, of course, we want other people to accept Jesus – but not in a manner that is forceful and potentially annoying. For too long Christians have been told from the pulpit that it is up to them to win souls for Christ and that they are lazy and uncaring if they don’t. But this can cause Christians to become intrusive and even cocky in their approach to sharing their faith with others. I know that it is important to spread the good news of the Gospel – but it puts people off when Christians become, quite frankly, rude and obtrusive.

Christianity should be something that is amazing, something that speaks for itself. If the Holy Spirit is within us, we can trust in Him to reveal Christ to other people through us. I know this sounds like a cop-out: an excuse to avoid having to potentially embarrass ourselves by sharing our beliefs. But it is not if we truly believe that it is God who lives His life in us and through us.

We should be able to simply relax and allow things to take their course naturally – including witnessing to others. We must trust in those subtle promptings in our heart when sharing something as important as the Gospel because some people might not be ready for it or might be put off if we are too hasty to relate our testimony to them.

Many Christians believe that it is our lifestyle that attracts others to know Christ. But this has been taken in the church to mean that Christians must aim towards living a squeaky-clean lifestyle that is rather unrealistic. I have personally found that people in the world couldn’t give two hoots about how clean a Christian’s life is.

There are many Christians who believe that they must prove themselves and their beliefs to a sceptical world, through achievements. This inevitably leads to the pursuit of the miraculous. I know what I’m talking about here, not because I believe that I “have all the answers”, but because I’ve been through all of this myself. I know what it is like to feel utterly disappointed with your life, to have a low self-esteem and to earnestly desire the approval of others. For such people, the allure of the miraculous is very enticing. In evangelical circles, or perhaps I should say charismatic circles, there is a constant barrage of testimonies about how God moved in an awesome, supernatural manner in someone’s life. Quite naturally, there is a tendency to want to replicate such things in your own life. But is this pursuit of the miraculous realistic and is it necessary? Whilst I believe that the miraculous has its place in Christendom, particularly in ministry, I believe that the life of the average Christian is meant to be lived without a smattering of incredible, supernatural occurrences. Welcome to everyday life people!

Picture Ruined Irish Church courtesy of Qole Pejorian.

Community in T.V. and Films – Part 2

2010-07-30T01:25:00.001+01:00

If I had a choice about what time and place I would like to live in – I think 1950s America would feature near the top of my list. Films like Hitchcock’s Vertigo give us a glimpse into a society where all the men wore suits with hats; the lady’s wore elegant dresses with long gloves – nothing saucy and revealing like you see the women wearing nowadays. I think there was something pleasant about the 1950s – a sense of coming together and re-building, just after the war. The women seemed to mostly stay at home and look after the kids – unlike today were most of the women have full time jobs. To top it all off – there would have been more of a sense of community during those days than we see today, I believe.

Returning back to more recent times, we now take a peak into Cajun society with films like Southern Comfort and The Big Easy. Southern Comfort is the story of a group of National Guardsmen on training in the swamps of Louisiana. They get into a spot of trouble with the local Cajun society and it goes from there. Although this film is rather violent, there is a scene towards the end of the movie in which two of the National Guardsmen get a ride into the village centre on the back of a truck with a pig. There is then a celebration when the people gather together in the village from the neighbouring areas. They sing, dance, play music, eat, drink and party! What a wonderful view of community life!

The Big Easy is a great film starring Dennis Quaid as a cop whose wayward methods have caught the attention of the internal affairs department. There is a scene in which the Cajun community get together at a big house, play music, dance, eat and party! I think that a person could really build a good, organic church in such a community. Unfortunately, such a community seems so far removed from what I see in modern-day, Lonely London.

I wonder if Christians are attempting to adapt home-church models to a society which has experienced catastrophic community decline. If this is the case – I don’t think it will work. But I believe that a look at how community has broken down over the years, and people have become more isolated and “me” focused, shows us why organic church models might not be working as well as we would hope. I know that pondering ideals won’t do anything to make the situation better. But I think this journey into Hollywood and the Big Screen might shed some light on the matter.

Organic Christian communities do exist and some of them are wonderful. There are even mega-churches like Hillsong London that seem to work – but they are not for everyone. The institutional church can be something of a false environment, undergirded by a religious edict that states you must go to church every week – because a Bible verse says you should.

I like what I hear on The God Journey podcasts which emphasise just loving those people around you and allow relationships for form naturally. This is better than frantically looking for other believers who get this message of grace like you do, shunning law-minded Christians, and crying, “I need fellowship.”

I’m not sure we can hope to create a sense of community where that sense of community has broken down. I think we all just need to start from where we are – loving those people around us – not trying to force some sort of model or method into place. Then, we just see what God will do in our midst.

Community in T.V. and Films – Part 1

2010-07-30T01:23:00.001+01:00

I love the way in which a T.V. series or a film can provide an “eye” into a time gone by. T.V. and films can allow us to be a “fly-on-the-wall” as we see for ourselves what that particular group of people might have been like and how they would have interacted.

So if I was to be asked what I believe Christian community might have been like in the book of Acts or how it should look like today – I think I would answer with a T.V. series or a film.

I think some of the historical films really give us a picture of what it would have been like to live in a small village or to be part of a clan or tribe. I believe that the feeling of being part of a clan in medieval Scotland is well portrayed in films such as Braveheart and Highlander. These Scottish clans would have been very close-knit and would have worked together as a community. I believe that this would have been conducive to a wonderful Christian community.

More up-to-date than this, I would look at community life in a small village in France in 1960: the film Chocolat is not a perfect example of community as the people are religious and rather reserved. But I mention it here because it’s a lovely film, the village is beautiful and unspoiled and all the people know each other.

The film Witness provides us with an insight into the life of an Amish community. The Amish are a small, traditional group of Christians who live in close-knit communities with hardly any contact with people outside of their group. There are obviously advantages and disadvantages with this way of life. I have not experienced this style of community living myself, but I cannot help but feel impressed with the Amish. There is so much that the Amish don’t have to deal with in our modern lifestyle – such as crime, isolation and over-exposure to media.

Next, we look at America during the depression in the 1930s. The film Stand By Me is something of a favourite for me when it comes to films. I just love the friendship portrayed by the young actors in this movie. You also get a sense of the strong community that they live in.

The Majestic is a heart-warming film in which Jim Carrey surprisingly does a great job in playing a serious role rather than his typical funny characters. The characters and the sense of community in The Majestic are truly warm and wonderful. Everybody seems to know everybody else and their friendliness is amazing. There are some scenes in this movie that will make you feel like crying and wishing you lived in that community. Now that is the kind of place in which you could form a wonderful Christian community!

How could we mention depression days North America and community in the same breath and not mention The Waltons? This long-running T.V. series reminds us of the big families that they had back then and how families have shrunk in size today. The classic end scene seems to take ages as all the family members wish each other good night! The Walton family enjoyed living in a close-knit community in the mountains. We saw that not only did they know the name of the shopkeeper, Ike; we also got to experience the ups and downs in this man’s life. We also get a preview into the lives of the other people on the mountain, such as Dr. Matthew Vance and Rev. Matthew Fordwick.

If we stay in the same country and wind the clock back a bit – we come to American Frontier land and the classic Little House on the Prairie. Just like the Walton’s – the Ingle family shared a great sense of community that I think we find it hard to imagine ever existed. I honestly feel as if I would exchange my modern urban existence with Charles Ingle when I see lush green fields, rolling hills and a proper sense of Christian community.

What Does Real Community Look Like? – Part 2

2010-07-30T01:21:00.001+01:00

Community Breakdown and “Lonely London”

I believe emphatically that one of the reasons why we try to contrive Christian gatherings through church models (house church or regular church), is because we have lost the sense of community that we once had. I believe we are living in a time that has seen an unprecedented rise in loneliness. You only have to look on the internet to be able to see reports on the subject and statistics to back it up. For instance, this article by the government shows that the proportion of people living alone doubled since 1971.

I live near London and it can be a very lonely experience. No-one talks to each other on the tube train or walking down the street and neighbours keep themselves to themselves. This article entitled Lonely of London You are Not Alone, claims that London is the most lonely city in the U.K. It also claims that 30 percent of Londoners admit that they feel isolated. This is rather different to some towns and villages in the U.K. – especially the more rural areas. This article by the Guardian newspaper entitled Lonely in London, but neighbourly in north-east, suggests that lonely Londoners should move to the North East where they believe it is more friendly.

The Silver Jubilee

One event which I believe demonstrates a community spirit in England was the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. I would have been five years old when we all got together and had a street party. It is one of my earliest memories when the road was blocked off and we sat together at tables joined together and celebrated with neighbours over food. I was pleasantly surprised to read on the internet that this great event in British history led to various things being named after it: many towns have a Jubilee road and even the Jubilee Line on the London Underground is named after it.

Many things have changed in this country since the Silver Jubilee. I have never quite experienced the same community spirit amongst neighbours as I did when I was growing up as a kid. I remember when my parents would deliver bundles of Christmas cards to some of the neighbours in our street that they knew and talked to. The local shops were not just a place to buy your daily necessities: they were a place to have a chat with the local shopkeeper who you knew by name. Supermarket domination has destroyed that vital aspect of the local community that we once had. Local businesses have been unable to compete with the unfair tactics employed by these retail giants.

I believe that what really provides a startling contrast with the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and modern society has been the apathy shown by the British towards the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. I believe that this article entitled All Quiet on Jubilee Road gives some insight into this contrast and the breakdown of the sense of community in Britain.

The Mega-Church

I have tried to sum-up my feelings about the mega-church Hillsong London in past blog entries. I’ll admit that I have mixed feelings about this church. There are some things about it that I really like: I do like the fact that is does seem to provide a place were Christians can meet together. It is not oppressive and religious and the people are rather cool to hang out with – in stark contrast to the average charismatic church. Some people are able to maintain some really good friendships at this church – some even get married! But I can’t help but feel that it can be rather false sometimes. You can come to a place like Hillsong London carrying religious baggage with you from your previous church; if you do, then you are likely to struggle because you might be forcing yourself to spend time with people who aren’t really your friends – with the belief that you “must have fellowship”.

Why Religion and Rules Do not Work

I now believe that were the religious system breaks down is because it tries to replace love with rules, rituals, guidelines, principles and formulas. Attending a church building once every Sunday becomes just another obligation that the believer must fulfil. We insist that we must have “fellowship”, and therefore, church attendance becomes another rule that we must obey in order to fulfil this requirement.

There is a place for guidelines, formulas and the like. For instance, if I went into business making wine – I would need to study the subject from people with lots of experience in the field. Just as there are laws in nature and science – there are also “laws” when it comes to making wine: how to source the finest ingredients, caring for the grapes, how long the wine takes to ferment, how it should be stored and so forth.

But we try to take the same formula and principle concept and apply it to everyday life – relationships and the like. Another way of looking at it is this: you cannot use principles and formulas to replace or enhance the fruit of the spirit. You cannot replace the development of patience or the administration of kindness, through adherence to a set of principles.

What Does Real Community Look Like? – Part 1

2010-07-30T01:19:00.001+01:00

One of the topics which often arise in discussions between grace believing Christians, is that of community: this inevitably leads to the subject of the institutional church and its relevance in modern-day Christianity.

The Grace Message and Christian Community

At last, as Christians are set free from the constraints of organised religion imposed upon them by the institutional church – they are left with a new-found sense of freedom; there is also a sense of re-discovering things for yourself: what is right for you, what is real and what really works; the relevant of prayer and how much you should read the Bible. Christians have been basically “spoon-fed” from the pulpit for so long that when they finally start questioning that system or finally come out of it altogether - they are left feeling clearer on some things but rather confused with others. I would say that the whole concept of Christian community certainly falls into this bracket.

At one time, going to church on a Sunday was a rule that no “proper” Christian dare question. But through the emerging grace message, that religious edict has finally been questioned. We are left wondering what Christian community really looks like and how we can incorporate it into our lives. For some, the existing church model, although not perfect, is more than adequate for their fellowship needs. For others, the church as they know it is simply not good enough

There is an emphasis on organic relationships now when it comes to how we do church. I think Frank Viola’s book, Re-imagining Church, has helped people understand the difference between contrived and organic relationships amongst believers when it comes to “church”.

I believe that all relationships should be allowed to begin, develop, change and end without the intervention of rules and guidelines. Christians are no exception to this rule and church should not be a way of trying to force something which should be natural and spontaneous.

The God Journey

If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you will know doubt be aware that one of my favourite podcasts at the moment is The God Journey. This podcast takes a light-hearted, yet honest look at the way we Christians do church; it also addresses the whole subject of Christian community and emphasises “living loved”. On a recent God Journey podcast, one of the hosts, Wayne Jacobsen, recounted his recent visit to England. Wayne talked about a large family in England who enjoyed a wonderful, close-knit Christian community. Wayne admitted something along the lines of the fact that what this family had is what he would personally like for himself (in terms of Christian community).

I love what Wayne said at one point during the podcast: he said something along the lines of this: as soon as we try to add something to our Christian fellowship, or we try too hard to keep what we already have – we are already exerting too much control.

Learning from Life’s Lessons

2010-07-17T19:02:00.001+01:00

Getting Religious…In a Good Way

It is quite possible to become “religious” about certain things. There are certain things that I will do or not do, because of my own convictions and because in most cases, I have learned what works for me. For instance, if I am getting a train, I will get their at least ten minutes early so that I don’t have to rush and in case there is a big queue for the ticket kiosk. I did not reach this conviction through someone else giving me a principle; or because the Bible told me to do it under the threat of ex-communication from God. I reached this conviction after experiencing a lot of stress because I had to run to catch the train or because I missed the train because of a long queue to buy a ticket.

I could go on with many little examples of principles and habits that I stick to, because I have learned them through experience. I will keep a small umbrella in my desk at work and carry one with me in my bag – in case I get caught in a shower. I will also keep a larger umbrella at home and one at work, in case of a heavy downpour. I don’t keep umbrellas with me because the Bible said I ought to!

A child learns not to put his hand on a hot stove when he does the very thing his mother told him not to do. Sometimes it is necessary to make mistakes in life so that we can learn not to do them again. I can see how the church wants to protect the congregation from making mistakes in life. But I think God allows us to make mistakes, even harsh mistakes, in order to strengthen and shape our character in one way or another.

The Trials of Life

It is not necessary for everyone to go through all of the typical trials that we fear in life, such as serious illness or divorce. But there is not a lot we can do to avoid such things happening to us. Such efforts to avoid the worst that life throws at us, simply leads to heightened stress levels. I think the best thing we can do is to rest in the assurance of God’s grace for us in Christ and just not get stressed about things.

The concept of God allowing us to go through trials in order to teach us something is a rather debatable one. South African Grace Preacher Bertie Brits says that God does not put us through trials in order to teach us something. Bertie often uses the analogy of him driving into the hot desert in an air-conditioned car; then he tricks his wife into stepping out of the car, before locking the doors. Then when his wife is banging on the doors and screaming to let her in – he tells her that he is teaching her something. I can understand the perspective of this analogy and how it relates to some of the experiences we go through in life.

Nevertheless, bad things do happen to people, believers and non-believers alike. The Bible says “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28). I’m inclined to believe that something good can come from something bad. There are vital lessons to be learned from some of the harshest experiences that we go through in life, such as divorce. But I think the things we learn from these harsh experiences are more subconscious than conscious: by that I mean our character may be improved in some way, but we may not be consciously aware how and why.

Why Principles Don’t Work

I think the reason why principles don’t work is that they are detached from a revelation of the heart. I find that God hardly ever gives a person a cold, hard religious edict and expects them to comply. Such commands are focused at the head and not the heart. It is only when a command is backed-up by a threat or a promise, such as wealth, that it becomes effective to an extent. Although such threats and promises might appeal for a short while, they lack love and as such, they lack the patience needed to see those commands and principles through to completion.

We read in the Old Testament how God would often speak to people audibly in the Old Testament and expect them to comply. One such example is that of Jonah who was told to travel to a certain place, but he refused, went somewhere else and was swallowed by a whale. People might wonder nowadays why God does not lead people by an audible voice like He did back then. I believe the reason could be the fact that God leads by the heart now and no longer dishes-out rules that people are not prepared to respond to simply and lovingly.

In the Gospels we read about Jesus giving people such cold, harsh commands. One such example is in Mark 10:17-23 when the rich ruler asked Jesus what he could do to inherit eternal life. Jesus could have told him to believe in Him – that it is New Testament grace answer. Instead, He responded with the Old Testament law answer:

²¹ Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." ²² But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. ²³ Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"

Mark 10:21-23

There are many Christians who cry out to God asking Him what they should do next. It’s a bit like a jilted husband desperately asking his estranged wife, “Tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it!” or the classic, “I can change – just give me another chance!” Just being told to do something or agreeing with a command or principle, won’t change your behaviour and it won’t change your life.

As New Testament believers in Christ, we have the Holy Spirit living in us; we have the divine nature and now we are to live spontaneously and naturally as the Spirit leads. God gives us both the desire to do His will and the ability.

¹³ For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Philippians 2:13

¹³ For God is at work within you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants.

Philippians 2:13 TLB

¹³ For it is God who is the cause of your desires and of your acts, for his good pleasure.

Philippians 2:13 BBE

The Essence of Scripture

2010-07-17T19:00:00.001+01:00

When I was very serious about finding scriptural truth, I often missed the essence of scripture. This subject was discussed by The Free Believers Network in the episode The Essence Revelation 12^th May 2010. It is better to understand the essence of the Gospel, to know it in your heart, rather than have a load of Biblical facts swimming around inside your head, which have no accord in your heart.

In a recent podcast episode, Darin Hufford presented an analogy of the way in which we become so focused on individual words of scripture, but lose the essence of what it is telling us. He likened it to a person who reads a personal letter, over and over again, until it loses its original meaning. It’s almost like becoming a handwriting expert and examining every little dot above the “i” and so forth.

Outside of the institutional church setting, you no longer have a spiritual coach barking out orders at you. Now you are in a situation whereby you have the freedom to learn what is right and wrong for yourself. Sometimes it is not a case of determining what is right or wrong in a way that applies to everyone: it is more about what is right for you in this moment in time.

Discover the Essence for Yourself

It is important to discover for yourself the spirit or essence behind scripture. Darin Hufford related in a recent podcast episode, the way in which we abstain from doing something, and tell others to do likewise, just because the Bible seems to say so. Now, this would have sounded sacrilegious to me a few years ago – but it makes a great deal of sense to me now. We say something like, “You should not fornicate!” Then when someone asks, “Why” – we just reply, “Because the Bible says so.” Find out what the Bible means to you personally. Discover the essence and spirit behind a verse of scripture. Learn about the context of a verse – you might find that the verse was written to non-believers or just to the Jews, for instance. I’m not condoning fornication or anything else that the Bible says we should not do, but I do believe there is a need to discover what is right and wrong for you.

I remember Joseph Prince providing an analogy of a man who tells his wife that he only has eyes for her; he will never get intimate with any other woman…because the Bible says so. It would be a lot more flattering for the woman if the man told her that he would not spend time with another woman – because he loves her. You see, love engages the heart. But when you are coldly following rules and principles from the Bible, under the threat of punishment and in fear, you become like a robot that has disconnected himself from the heart and is merely living from the head.

Hillsong London, Grace, Principles and Having Fun – Part 4

2010-07-17T18:51:00.001+01:00

No Pain No Gain

Now I have come to see an important factor in the development and maturity of a Christian: the realisation that principles and formulas don’t work. It is sad that most members of Hillsong London have not yet reached that level of maturity. But I look back on my life and the lives of others and see that this revelation takes time and effort; not only that – it hurts as well. It seems as if the only way we can reach that place whereby we are convinced that principles don’t work – is to go through the religious experience facilitated by the institutional church system. This life phase can take years of time and effort to work through. It seems as if there is no “express option” available when it comes to learning this valuable life lesson – but I think with the recent explosion in grace teaching – it might change. The pain of this journey towards grace was discussed in the by The Free Believers Network in the episodes, No Pain No Gain, 27^th January 2010 and, No Pain No Gain - Part 2, 30^th January 2010.

Grace, Scripture and Moving On

I think there does need to be a healthy interest in knowing this grace message scripturally: this can be achieved by listening to the messages of well-known grace preachers such as Joseph Prince, Bertie Brits, Andrew Wommack and Paul White. But I think the interest in scripture does die-down somewhat when you finally get the message. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. I think you reach the point whereby you feel you are saturated with this message – especially when grace is actually a short message, without all the principles we have been used to. Again, I think having a keen interest in grace from a scriptural standpoint; can be another phase that people go through. If this interest does wane after being fervent for a while – I think that’s okay.

This subject was discussed by The Free Believers Network in the episode, podcast Moving On, 10^th April 2010. In this podcast, the hosts discussed the way in which many Free Believers take time out from “the conversation”; when they come back for a brief time, they are more mature and solid people in terms of character.

I remember meeting quite a few people on Facebook who were just getting into the message of grace like I was. As I continued to engage with these people, I continued to network with other grace believers. I hardly hear anything from that original crowd now: it’s as if they have moved on in their life. Some of these people used to engage in discussions a lot and used to post-up quotes, blogs and links – but now they hardly engage in such activities. These people have done what they needed to do and are now living from that place of rest in the finished work of the cross. These people don’t feel the need to post-up verses of scripture on Facebook every day. I have also found that I don’t engage with other believers on Facebook half as much as I used to. You go through phases and seasons in life and you move onto new things.

The message of grace, whether it be scriptural-based (such as Joseph Prince) or essence-based (such as The Free Believers Network), should be something we finally come to understand and live from. There should not be the need to continuously listen to grace teaching or to rant and rave about how “the institution” hurt you. You should just be able to move on and live your life with a new-found sense of security in the assurance that God loves you.

Hillsong London, Grace, Principles and Having Fun – Part 3

2010-07-17T18:50:00.001+01:00

The Power of Unison

What really caught my attention in one or more Free Believers Network podcasts is the realisation that there is something powerful about a group of people being united together through the same cause. People at a rock concert are united in their passion for the particular artist or artists who are performing at that venue. Similarly, Christians at a mega-church are united in the belief in Christ. This can be a very good thing – I don’t doubt that at all. But I just wonder to what extent Christians “get in the flesh” when it comes to uniting together under one cause. I wonder to myself if a similar effect to the mega-church could be achieved if an environmental awareness group organised meetings every Sunday in a major city; they could play rock songs with lyrics based on saving dolphins and other such topical things. I wonder if the same kind of people who go to mega-churches would attend such gatherings if they were available!

I think what set me free from all the church emotionalism at Hillsong was listening to The Free Believers Network podcasts since the start of this year. One podcast in particular that caused me to see things in a different light was podcast The Lust of Sensationalism, 14^th April 2010. This podcast episode reflected on the way that mega-churches in particular made use of the right kind of music, lighting and pulpit message to stimulate and influence the congregation. Another good podcast on the subject of sensationalism in the church is The God Journey, Preachertainers and Pew Fodder, 2^nd April 2010.

Music, the Anointing and Sensationalism

The most recent Free Believers Network podcast episode is Nothing Wasted, 14^th July 2010. In this podcast episode, ex-worship leaders Mike Myers and Stacey Robbins recounted their experiences and how they have been put off contemporary Christian music because of what they see as the manipulation behind it. The hosts discussed the way in which music in the church is used to influence mood, which is often seen as “the anointing”. They believe that this so-called “anointing” in nothing more than emotionalism.

Contemporary Christian music has played a major part in the increasing influence of Hillsong church – both in Australia and in the U.K. I’m not entirely sure if that is such a good thing or bad thing. I personally love the way in which Hillsong “broke-the-mould” when it came to Contemporary Christian music. Hillsong have made Christian music indistinguishable from modern-day pop songs. I remember listening to Matt Le Blanc’s Celebrate Jesus, Celebrate and thinking it was good at the time. Now I cringe at the very thought of such “cheesy” worship songs! But I see the music at Hillsong and other such mega-churches, as being a major part of the stimulation and sensationalism.

When I see the promotional videos for the major conferences hosted by Hillsong, I just roll my eyes a lot of the time. I see all the people all excited and waving their arms about. Then the camera shifts the charismatic “communicator” who bounds enthusiastically onto the stage; then comes the stimulating cliché, such as, “God doesn’t want to do something difficult in your life – He wants to do something impossible!” Then the crowd cheers, both on the video and in the auditorium in which I’m seated.

Hillsong London, Grace, Principles and Having Fun – Part 2

2010-07-17T18:48:00.001+01:00

The Lure of Principles

There is something about the teaching of principles that gets people excited. There is something compelling about being given a challenge in relation to a Biblical principal. Just like the Jews with their Ten Commandments, Christians often adopt the attitude of wanting someone to tell them what to do. It seems so easy to be able to follow a set of rules or principles. But it is only when you attempt to do these things that you discover that you don’t have what it takes.

The Transition from Law to Grace

I think every grace Christian goes through a transition period from law to grace. During that transition period you are likely to attend church and make excuses as to why you do so. You will convince yourself and others that you need the fellowship of other Christians via the church; you might tell people that God has called you to be the voice of grace to your religious church. But there comes a time when you just can no longer mix the two and you make a clean break. This is often signified by a decision to leave your church – but not always and there is no “law” about that. I remember some of my grace friends on Facebook making similar excuses and announcements. I recall in my own life, not so long ago, when I made this clear-cut transition from law to grace: I stopped downloading Joyce Meyer’s podcasts and I made the decision to get rid of most of my Christian books.

Mega-Church Sensationalism

I do wish that there would have been some people in Hillsong that I could have shared this journey with. I would describe most of these people as “grace-oriented” and I would not say they were religious at all. But I think what prevents the Hillsong crowd from embracing the grace message with gusto – is because they are more interested in “fellowship” (in other words, social networking) and they just get swept away with the excitement in the church – the “razzle-dazzle” as I sometimes call it.

In fact, I wonder to what extent the people at Hillsong are Christians because they believe in Jesus. I think there are a lot of people in the church who said a sinner’s prayer under the threat of hellfire and damnation. I think nowadays there are probably an equal number of people in the church, especially mega-churches, because they were promised wealth and power. I wonder how many people go to Hillsong church because of all the sensationalism. Darin Hufford wrote a blog about these kinds of things, called Speaking Shoat. This is just observation and speculation by the way – I’ve no idea about solid facts and statistics when it comes to all of this. I’m not even going to touch on that delicate subject of how many people in church are actually saved. But I mention these things here because it really does make me wonder.

Hillsong London, Grace, Principles and Having Fun – Part 1

2010-07-17T18:47:00.001+01:00

One of the things I’m beginning to learn again is how to just be myself and to have fun. I used to believe that having fun was not as important as understanding every single word written in the Bible. I had my misgivings about Christians at Hillsong London because I believed that they were too focused on socialising (or having fellowship, as they called it); I also didn’t like the way that the Hillsong crowd weren’t as excited about Word studies as I was. A lot of the focus in the Sunday sermons at this church seemed to be on being relational. I used to think to myself, “What about Jesus and what about the Gospel?” These people just seemed to be very sociable people anyway, so when they were told “be relational” – they took to it like a fish to water!

But now I have come to realise that these Hillsong Christians really do seem to have the balance right: they have a sermon on a Sunday, they get together in people’s homes during the week to discuss the Sunday message in what are known as Connect Groups. But all of these activities are about the most important thing: people. It is vitally important to get together and relate to one another. And of course, these Christians know how to have fun!

Jesus used to relate to people in a personal way. Jesus would have His many disciples, and then He would have His close-knit group of twelve whom He would break bread with. It is important to have fun and this is something that the Hillsong crowd take to heart. When it comes to sharing the Gospel with others – they are really not going to be interested unless the people are fun to be around. Non-believers are more likely to get saved in a relaxed, social setting than listening to a nerdy street-preacher barking out a hellfire-and-damnation message.

What about Grace?

But I still have my reservations about Hillsong London. When I was making the transition from law to grace, I would have liked to have people from church who were going through the same thing: people who I could share findings with and encourage one another. Fortunately, I was able to find the fellowship I needed with other grace Christians from all around the world on the internet through the social networking sight Facebook. When I joined Facebook I thought it was just a way of keeping in contact with old friends and work colleagues. I had no idea that God would turn Facebook into a means of connecting with other like-minded believers all over the world.

The message and doctrinal focus of Hillsong London did switch towards grace when the well-known grace preacher Joseph Prince visited the church in 2006. You can read all about this in Joseph Prince’s wiki-page. Nevertheless, I found that the Hillsong crowd would get just as excited about principles as they did the grace message. It seemed to me that these people saw grace as just another message – instead of it being the message. Joseph Prince would often state that grace is not just another message – it is the Gospel. We tend to compartmentalise the pulpit message into different categories: prosperity, servanthood, grace and so on; but the Gospel is just one message.

Christianity and Having Fun – Part 2

2010-07-17T18:45:00.001+01:00

Correcting Others and the Need to be Right

Even when a person makes the transition from law to grace – they can still be rather dull and serious when it comes to scripture. For some people, grace can become the next Christian fad that they have to master. Some Christians just want to be right all the time and they seem to believe that it is their God-given role in life to correct everybody else who is not “on the same page” as they are. This urge Christians have to correct other Christians, is one of Darin Hufford’s “pet peeves”. Darin often complains on The Free Believers Network podcasts, that he always seems to have people trying to correct him – even when he makes the most trivial statements!

I’ll admit I know what it’s like: I’ve been just like that when it comes to correcting people - and up until quite recently as well. I used to go on the grace Christian forums, trying to correct people and putting my point of view across. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with forums – forums can be a great place to learn and share – but you really need to question your motives for writing what you do. I remember wanting to help other people out, but just as strong – if not stronger, was the desire to be right and for others to acknowledge it. I’ve really cooled-off on the forums now and hardly ever use them nowadays.

Learning to Live Again

What I hear from the The Free Believers Network podcasts quite a lot, is the fact that when you come into the message of grace and out of the institutional church system – it’s as if you have to re-learn to live your life again. You can end-up feeling frustrated, angry and disillusioned at having lost years of your life to the mindless devotion that you had towards all-things church. This was mentioned in a recent podcast episode entitled Trading in Your Principles, 10^th July 2010. The hosts compared it with like becoming a toddler again. I can relate to that in a big way: I feel as if I am beginning to re-learn a lot of things.

I remember one of the hosts, Kim Scott, saying during one of the episodes, that she had to literally teach herself not to say “religious” things so often, such as “God, Jesus, church.” I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but we can train ourselves to be unnatural and downright quirky when we obsess about using church-terms.

During another podcast, the hosts laughed about the way in which people in the church have trained themselves to use Hebrew words, such as Hallelujah. I had to laugh at this one! I mean, a word like “Hallelujah” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue does it? I don’t mean to be disrespectful towards God or the Bible, and I don’t believe that I am, but wouldn’t it be better to just use your own words? Why don’t we, as Christians, just use words that are spontaneous such as, “Alright!” or “Woo Hoo!?”

Christianity and Having Fun – Part 1

2010-07-17T18:42:00.001+01:00

If you follow my blog you will no doubt notice that I make mention of The God Journey and The Free Believers Network podcasts. We all go through phases and seasons in life and these also encompass the different things we go through in our Christian journey. For me, I delight in the way that the hosts of these podcast are not so serious and focused on correct doctrine all the time.

I’ve spent a great deal of time being theological, I enjoyed that experience, but now I feel as if I’m winding down that phase of my life. You start studying the original Greek and Hebrew in order to discover the truth – you know that you have become very serious about scripture!

I now prefer to just enjoy the freedom of living in the revelation of God’s love for me; knowing that it’s not about keeping rules and it isn’t even about following principles. I’m actually beginning to experience fun again – that’s right – fun! I love hearing Wayne and Brad on the God journey just talking about their lives, their travels and just having a laugh. I also love hearing Darin, Aimee, Robert and Amy on the Free Believer’s Network podcast just having fun and just being themselves. Sometimes they do “sail close to the wind”, but I really wouldn’t have it any other way. They don’t go out of their way to be purposefully rude in order to prove a point: they just act naturally and spontaneously – I really like that! I’m sick and tired of the way that Christians are encouraged to suppress their emotions and try to become someone they are not. Jesus called such people Hypocrites, which means “play actor” in Greek. Uh-oh! I’m getting into the original Greek again!

Christians can be very serious and rather dull people a lot of the time. But it is inevitable that anyone who lives their life by following a set of rules, with the threat of condemnation and curses hanging over their head like a Sword of Damocles, is not going to be much fun to be around. Everything in the church is encompassed or under girded by the threat of punishment. When the threat of punishment is in place, what you do is no longer becomes about being motivated out of love, but out of fear. Darin Hufford of the The Free Believers Network wrote an excellent blog on this subject called The Fear of Sinning.

When life gets this serious for a religious person – it becomes important to get everything absolutely correct when it comes to scripture. It’s as if a believers life and his sense of security and ability to prosper, depends on it. The obsession to determine truth from written text has the effect of getting us away from living according to the heart. We all become little theologians when we disconnect the heart and become obsessive about the letter of the law. I know that revelation can come from scripture: I know that someone can read the Bible, when suddenly, a verse just “leaps out of the page” with new meaning. I understand that and it has happened to me before. But when the only means of knowing the truth available to you, is to be found in your ability to dissect and analyse scripture in minute detail – something is very wrong!

There really is a need to be able to connect with your heart and understand what is right for you. I think one of the reasons why we don’t do this is because Christians can get rather confused and naïve. In this condition, they are more likely to irritate other people and make poor decisions. This fear of making wrong decisions is what drives Christians to refuse to trust their own heart. But in creating a veritable safety-net for confused and naïve Christians using principles – the confusion and fear is somewhat exacerbated. Nothing really takes the place of acceptance – of yourself, life and other people. In that place of acceptance you are free to live your life, knowing you are loved by God; in this place of freedom you are free to make mistakes and then to get up again and just live your life.

How Does the Holy Spirit Lead Us?

2010-07-12T22:21:00.001+01:00

In the previous blog entries I have attempted to understand how the Holy Spirit leads us. This brings me to a place in my understanding which seems to differ somewhat from the way in which the institutional church presents it. In this blog entry I will attempt to delve further into this important topic.

The I.C.s Perspective on Being Led

I cannot help but feel that where the church often misses it in this area is that it interweaves truth about the subject with the typical demand for performance. This demand for performance in the form of principles just brings us back to Old Testament rule-keeping. This harkening back to the law is merely an attempt to overcome inner dysfunction with something that the believer should do. I am convinced that a proper perspective on grace should be sufficient to deal with this dysfunction, thereby allowing the believer to be led, guided, motivated and prompted by the Holy Spirit.

Just Go With Peace

A friend of mine on Facebook who is mature in the grace message and whom I respect very much often says that we should just go with peace. This concept gets us away from the typical focus on principles and formulas, providing a simply way of responding the leading of the Holy Spirit. There are indeed many times when the Holy Spirit gives us a profound sense of peace in relation to something and we can just submit to that and act as necessary.

But I find that there are also times when that peace is not in such abundant supply. There have been moments in my life when I have not felt such a sense of peace about something; in fact, I have felt unsure about it and even a tinge of fear. Nevertheless, in such circumstances I have committed to a course of action that has been right for me at that time.

Do It…Afraid

I suppose this supports some of the teaching of people like Joyce Meyer who uses clichés such as, “Do it…afraid”. I’ll admit that I couldn’t stand Joyce’s preaching on this subject because I felt like I was being provoked and intimidated to do some typical church thing that I did not want to do. Susan Jeffers wrote a popular secular self-help book entitled, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. This was meant to inspire shy and apprehensive people into living their dreams – but I wonder to myself if this message really has the intended effect. Perhaps the fear that a person experiences in response to the intention of committing to a certain course of action, means that the person is not meant to do that thing? Fear is the opposite of love. The Bible tells us that he who fears has not been made perfect in love. But even those who have been made perfect in love will experience fear or apprehension at least, in response to a situation that is not in accordance with God’s will for their life. Therefore, there is a healthy application of fear. God shines His light along our path – if we stray from the path and experience darkness – that darkness is not God’s doing. We experience the darkness in our life, the fear, when we stray from God’s will for our life.

I cannot help but feel that there is something amiss about this “do it afraid” approach, because it can cause insecure people to look at their life, compare themselves with other people and then resolve to make themselves all sorts of things that they assume they “must” or “should” be or do. But a lot of these “musts” and “should” arise as a result of the expectations that are imposed upon us by society, particularly our peers. There is the supposed need to be exciting, slim, attractive, and adventurous and extravert. But these imposed social norms are often at odds with our personality and who God created us to be. God created people to be introverts and some to be extraverts, the two work hand-in-hand. Yes, I agree that introversion can be an aspect of a lack of confidence – but there are secure minded people out there who simply keep to a low-key approach when interacting with others.

Get In Tune with Your Own Heart

I think there is a need to depart from the need to perform the typical routines and duties that the institutional church foists upon its members. There is a need to get in tune with your own heart, without the need for spiritual motivators such as Joyce Meyer and church pastors. I love listening to The God Journey podcasts: Wayne Jacobsen often repeats his beliefs that we should just love the people around us and do what is on our hearts to do.

This is a radically different approach to following principles and aligning yourself with the corporate vision of your pastor. Such corporate visions include building sufficient funds to purchase a new building for the youth or getting a hundred more people making a first time commitment to Jesus in the church. Goals such as these sound noble and Biblical, but they are often a million miles away from the individual destiny and purpose that God has planted in each and every one of us.

Sure, we can play our part in the role of the church, but we often miss the fact that we are the church! This earthly vessel we live in and the other people we interact with on a daily basis should be our primary focus. But we often downplay the importance of those little, everyday events and the people we meet: we dismiss as unimportant, when we chat to someone at the bus-stop, hairdressers or whatever – this is where real community, and real-life, is to be found.

Somehow have been persuaded to believe that the vision of a pastor is more important. Oftentimes, the vision of the pastor is nothing more than religious games and a massive ego trip – not all the time, mind you. I think God’s purpose for our lives looks a lot more like normal life than we could ever begin to imagine. I like what Brad Cummings said once on The God Journey podcast: he said something along the lines of miracles being all-well-and-good – but how is that anything more amazing than the wonderful things of life that we often take for granted? By this he was talking about a couple having their first child, or someone meeting a friend they haven’t seen for a while.

“Little Nudges” and Relationships – Part 5

2010-07-04T19:28:00.001+01:00

This current, long dry season I am going through in which I’m experience a great deal of solitude, seems to be a period of time in which I am to seek God, confront my issues and become a better person for other people to spend time with. This has led me through the Charismatic movement, complete with signs and wonders, being “slain” in the Spirit and praying for revival. The Charismatic scene ushered in the Word of Faith fad, which led to disappointment. I then went through various stages or seasons of what is now commonly known as “the grace message”.

Throughout these stages and seasons of my walk with God, I have been trying to control my thoughts and actions in one way or another. I believe that during this phase of my life, I am to simply cease from my efforts to be someone I am not, and just rest in the knowledge that I am right with God the way that I am. I have to learn to trust in those subtle nudges of the heart as my guide in life. Just because I read about something that a group of people did in ancient Middle East one time – it does not necessarily mean that I have to re-create that in my own life on a regular basis. I have to learn what is right for me, with or without back-up verses or intense feelings. To a great extent, I have found that life just “does itself”, without the need to stress and agonise over every little decision that you make.

All of the depression I have experienced in my life, I believe, has been the direct result of anxiety; that anxiety has undoubtedly been the result of trying to use principles and formulas in order to attempt to avoid unwanted things happening in my life and to attract those things I do want. Then there is the dreaded guilt, the what-is-wrong-with-me factor, as I try to live my life differently from what I am experiencing. Whatever way you look at it – it all boils down to self-control and fear: this is what dampens those subtle promptings in your spirit and leads to anxiety and depression, which is bad for relationships, of course.

“Little Nudges” and Relationships – Part 4

2010-07-04T19:27:00.001+01:00

What I would find would happen with the latest house group that I went to, which was about a year ago, was that sometimes I would go and sometimes I would not. I would sometimes think to myself that I must go that evening – only to find that I just couldn’t do it. Then there would be the times when I didn’t “feel” like going, but I would just find myself putting my shoes on, grabbing the car keys and opening the door: it was instinctive, something that I hardly put any thought or effort into.

I think listening to the The Free Believers Network podcasts killed-off my desire to go to church during the start of the year. I have been going to Hillsong London in recent months because I have been meeting-up with a group of people. For me, the novelty of the professional worship, the lights and the motivating speakers, has worn off. For me, I only attend this church because I want to spend time with the people I meet there – not because I really have to. My motive has changed because the threats and the “shoulds” in connection to church services, are no longer there for me. This situation was mentioned in The Free Believers Network podcast entitled Moving On. So do I attend a church service every Sunday? No, I don’t go every Sunday: sometimes I will intend to go but wind-up doing something else – even if that “something else” is just lying in bed! I don’t stress over going to church, I feel a new-found freedom with it. Again, I just go with my heart when it comes to attending church and I don’t stress too much about it.

I will admit that I have felt rather frustrated to be exposed to so many different people who believe that they need to make a conscious effort to welcome people and to be friendly. It reminds me of what I believe speed dating would be like: meeting a lot of different people, perhaps enjoying their brief company – but finding that the attraction and the unction to spend more time with them is just not present. To be honest, I would much rather maintain just a small circle of friends, people who I feel a real connection with.

It can be a funny thing: you can meet someone with a wonderful, lively and warm personality. You could enjoy the time you spend with that person. Yet, you could be drawn to spend more time with someone else that does not have the same level of kindness, warmth, charisma, intelligence and so forth. Love is never dependant on a person’s prowess or ability – thank God! Love is not a competition, if it was, some people would be left languishing on the sidelines, as the more affable and charismatic people dominate the social scene. Love comes from God and it is the lifeline in relationships. Love is God’s perfection operating through the personality of a person. It is easy to see how love can be mistaken for a person’s personality and their perfection. Love can be accompanied by warm, fuzzy feelings; but oftentimes love operates without those strong, positive feelings.

I’ve struggled with depression most of my life, but I found that that depression would often lift when I was with people I loved. During recent years I have found that most people in my life don’t seem to have that effect of lifting my mood. I have been looking to those feelings of love to be a sign that I am with the people who are right for me. Therefore, I just thought that I had to seek out “the one” who would make my life complete, or “special friends”. But I am more inclined to believe that those feelings of love and joy were probably more for the benefit of the people I was with at the time: it can be an unpleasant experience to spend time with someone who is frustrated and miserable. For me, it has been the subtle promptings of my heart, those moments of spontaneity in the moment, which has kept relationships alive.

“Little Nudges” and Relationships – Part 3

2010-07-04T19:26:00.001+01:00

What has kept me going to church, more than anything I believe, has been the belief that as a Christian I must have fellowship. Fellowship for Christians is up there with tithing, it is an urban myth as if God Himself will strike you with lightning if you don’t go to church every single Sunday; so you had better enjoy spending time with the other Christians at your church!

What set me free from this stifling obligation was listening to The Free Believers Network podcasts. The hosts of this podcast highlighted the fact that many relationships in the church are actually false. In fact, they found that when they announced that they were leaving the church, their so-called “friends” simply disowned them.

I also have to admit that some great friendships can be forged through the intuitional church. I think that Hillsong London is something of an anomaly in that many of the people there are lively and fun people to hang out with. In fact, they strike me as being just as “normal” and fun as anyone else you are likely to meet. I mean, let’s face it, Christians can be really odd and dull bunch of people. Some people have made great friendships in Hillsong London church and have even found marriage partners through it.

My experience with Hillsong London is that I have made some really great people there, but it has often been a struggle to maintain those relationships; this is because those little nudges have not been there most of the time. I don’t know the specific reasons for that and it has been a common theme in my life for the last ten years or more: it is not just isolated to the church. I don’t know if it was God’s will that I “made more of an effort” or if I did what I was supposed to do. All sorts of thoughts can run through my head in relation to this: why was I like that? Why didn’t I make more of an effort? And so on. But all that I know is that I tried to live according to the inclinations my heart as much as I could. Despite this, it did not prevent me from feeling guilty about relationships in the church and from getting anxious about it as I tried to ascertain the deeper meaning of it all.

What kept most of those relationships going in the church was the religious carry-over of beliefs from previous churches, that I must attend a church building and have fellowship at all costs. I’m dependant on those little nudges to invite people for a coffee, to give them a phone call to see how they’re doing and so on. If those little nudges are not present – there can be no relationship. Perhaps there is something I’m doing wrong which is causing those little nudges to be missing? But if that is the case, no amount of guilt is going to replace them.

“Little Nudges” and Relationships – Part 2

2010-07-04T19:25:00.001+01:00

The institutional church has been a difficult place for me, relationship-wise. Yes, I will admit that I have met people in church whom I have liked and enjoyed spending time with. But the real test for me has been in observing those little nudges of the heart: oftentimes that nudge to keep spending time with someone, to give them a call – has not been there. It’s been a rather funny and confusing thing for me: I would sometimes spend time with someone and genuinely enjoy their company. But I would find that I would have to make a conscious effort to keep the relationship going. I never really had to make that conscious effort in the past with close friends – it just seemed to operate almost by itself, instinctually, without me having to “should” on myself. I think what has kept church relationships going, more than anything else, has been the edict from the pulpit that every Christian must have fellowship. In other words, in order to be considered a “proper” Christian, you must go to church every Sunday; and you must attend some of the weekly activities in the church, or affiliated to the church. There seems to be an underlying current of fear driving this edict, so that if you were to fail to comply, you would be punished by God and ostracized by the people in your church.

I likened this situation in church to my friendships when I was younger. When I was a boy I was part of a close-knit group who really loved each other as is expected amongst close friends. As a group, we would sometimes meet other kids and would enjoy spending time with them – but they weren’t really part of our group – we knew it and so did they. So although we liked those people, we wouldn’t see them every week, or make a consistent effort to keep in contact with them. I suppose that’s what defines love and friendship: the “comeback” factor associated with it. When I was going through my nightclubbing phase in my early twenties, we would also meet new people, but again, they were never considered part of our group. I suppose these kinds of close friendships would be considered as cliques in most churches, and therefore, would be discouraged.

“Little Nudges” and Relationships – Part 1

2010-07-04T19:24:00.001+01:00

Continuing with the “little nudges” theme – I have noticed how these little nudges of the heart play a role in our lives when it comes to relationships. There have been many occasions when I would tell myself that I would give someone a phone call, only to find that weeks have gone by and I have only managed to put off calling that person and eventually have forgotten all about it. Does that mean that I shouldn’t have called them, or that I should have called them? I don’t know, all I do know is that I cannot effectively control my life by enforcing a “should”, not even under the threat of rejection or even damnation. I can only live according to the subtle nudges of my heart – I cannot go any further than that. If my mind says, “Yes, let’s do it”, but my heart says, “No, stay here a while” – I cannot do much about it.

When I was younger I seemed to have loads of friends. I would say that this was probably one of the greatest blessings in my life. I never seemed to be short of friends: there always seemed to be kids knocking on my door when I was young and when I was in my late teens and early twenties, there was always someone calling me on the phone and inviting me some place.

I noticed with these relationships that I did not need to make much of a conscious effort to maintain a relationship. I found that I would instinctively respond to phone calls and invitations, without thinking much about it. There was nothing incredible about me to warrant such acceptance and attention. A lot of the time, I would be rather melancholy, in fact, my early years were a rollercoaster of emotions! Nevertheless, I had people in my life who were part of my life, people who I valued and people who seemed to value me. The great thing was: I didn’t have to do anything to merit these people’s approval – I just had to be myself. That did not prevent me from trying to be someone I wasn’t sometimes, as most young people often do.

It just makes me wonder how people can be expected to love someone more. You could read a book about relationships and be told that you should give your wife flowers once a month. But if your heart is not in it and you are trying to force yourself to do it – it will feel awkward, it won’t be genuine; it is likely that it won’t be accepted as readily by the recipient as it would be if it was prompted from genuine love.

Ever since my friends began to meet partners and get married – I have felt rather lonely. I have felt as if that heart-felt connection has not been present with most people, like it was with my closest friends when I was younger. The brief times that I have been in love with a member of the opposite sex, have been a stark contrast to the often mild connection that I have had with most people in my life, such as work colleagues.

“Little Nudges” and “Shoulds”

2010-07-04T19:22:00.001+01:00

I feel as if I am trying to rediscover what it really means to live from the heart – I believe that this is synonymous with being led by the Holy Spirit. After all, that is where the Holy Spirit dwells: in the heart, or the spirit of man.

In my office recently I have noticed something: I would get a thought in my mind such as, “I would like a bag of crisps” (Americans call them “Potato Chips” or just “Chips”). I would not always voice such intentions in my mind; sometimes I would just have the conscious desire without forming the words in my mind. I noticed that just thinking this thought, together with a mild desire to consume a bag of crisps, was not always enough to get me reaching for the bag of crisps. What I found was that it was only minutes later, perhaps half an hour or so later, that I would find myself instinctively reaching for the bag of crisps. It was most certainly prompted from my subconscious mind, often with hardly a conscious thought or feeling associated with it. In fact, I became aware of the fact that it was almost as if I was watching someone else reaching for the bag of crisps – have you ever experienced anything like that in your own life? Perhaps you have but you have just not paid attention to it.

This simple scenario is an example of the subtle promptings of the heart; this also reminds me that merely holding onto a sentiment, or a “should”, is not always enough for me to actually commit to an associated action. In fact, there have been many times in my life when I have put a “should” on myself, sometimes in response to someone else putting a “should” on me. Most people do not give these things much consideration and it is only when you begin to make an effort to notice these things that you become more consciously aware of them. This is a powerful reminder that principles simply do not work – you cannot expect to hold onto a mere sentiment as a means of changing your life. In order to experience inner-transformation, you need to know who you are in Christ, what He has already done for you and the fact that you now have the divine nature in you right now (even if you don’t “feel” like it’s true.)

I recently listened to The God Journey podcast entitled The Knowable God, dated 18^th June 2010. It was great to hear Wayne Jacobsen relate how we can be given principles, like being a better father or better husband. It is even possible to make an effort for a short while to live according to such principles. But without those little nudges from the heart – it is impossible to maintain that new lifestyle. That is why we are so utterly dependant on God when it comes to inner transformation. After all, things like being a better father are dependant on the divine nature, not something that I can do with a conscious effort of the will. The divine nature comes from knowing who I am in Christ and living loved. If I have to really force myself to be a better “whatever” – that is not love. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 11:30, “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

It can be rather humbling, and even unsettling at first, to come to the realisation that we are not one hundred percent in control of our lives. But we need not despair at this realisation, but take comfort in the fact that God is in charge of our lives and He does not expect us to live according to a set of principles. We haven’t got what it takes to live the life God wants us to live, apart from fellowship with Him. We need to know that our righteousness is apart from our works – it is by faith and faith alone. Principles are just another way of describing the keeping of rules, just like the Ten Commandments.

The Bible as a “Yardstick”

2010-07-04T19:18:00.001+01:00

The “Nanny Culture” in the church with its adoption of principles, naturally leads to the use of the Bible as a “yardstick”: Christians are supposed to check everything they intend to do against the Bible, ensuring that there is a back-up verse that validates it. This concept has been expounded by Darin Hufford of The Free Believers Network in his blog post entitled "Back-up Verse Theology".

The problem with using the Bible to find back-up verses is that people can tend to lose spontaneity as they try to look-up verses of scripture which seem to fit their intended course of action. This could lead people being put off doing something because it is not considered “scriptural” – even though they believe it is right in their heart. What do you do, for instance, if there is no Bible verse that says you should go on holiday to Spain for two weeks? What can also happen, I have noticed, is that Christians can become creative in manipulating Bible verses so that they mean what they want them to mean.

There is also the possibility of being led into excesses as people look to certain scriptures which they are told promise substantial wealth and incredible success by enthusiastic preachers. This leads to people “standing on God’s Word” as they indulge their fantasies about the incredible things that God wants to do in a person’s life. I believe that God has a plan for us; He wants us to do well in life and to prosper. However, I feel that this divine success and prosperity looks a lot more like “normal” life than the hyped-up claims of some preachers. Have you noticed that most of these prosperity preachers come from America – the most prosperous nation on earth?

When the Bible says in Deuteronomy 28:5, “blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl” – I believe that is saying that farmers of modest means in ancient Middle-East, will have more than enough food to eat. How on earth have we taken that verse and made it to mean something along the lines of a salesperson in 21^st century America making a million dollars in sales this year? I believe we should read scripture with its original context and target audience in mind.

The Institutional Church and the “Nanny Culture”

2010-07-04T19:17:00.001+01:00

It would seem that insecurity, anxiety, apathy and confusion all go hand-in-hand. If a person is insecure and anxious, they will also tend to be confused; they will find it difficult to make decisions and they will lack spontaneity; they will also find it hard to commit to anything for a prolonged period of time – tending to give up with something part way through. Insecure people tend to shy away from taking responsibility wherever possible and are afraid of making a mistake and looking foolish.

Conversely, all of the opposites of these character traits also go hand-in-hand as well. Secure minded people tend to not worry about things; they are spontaneous and can quickly make good decisions without pondering the options for very long. Secure minded people are more likely to commit to something and stay with it throughout its duration. Secure people are more likely to take on responsibility and are not scared of making a mistake.

What I have noticed happening in the church is that both clear-minded, secure individuals are put under the same roof as confused, insecure people. The result is that a “nanny culture” has developed in that the leaders have saw fit to protect the weaker, insecure members of the church by establishing principles for them to follow. It does not seem enough to be told that Christ loves them and that they should rest in the finished work of Christ. No, it would seem that Christian leaders feel the need to identify what is right and what is wrong, what believers should and should not do, if they are to succeed in life and if they are to please God. But what they often fail to emphasise is the fact that believers are already right with God in Christ by faith, apart from their works.

Christians are therefore treated almost like children as they are told, “Don’t go there! Don’t touch that! That’s bad for you!” I honestly find it rather patronising. The insecure people seem to take to this approach, motivated by the want for approval, as they desperately try to adopt the principles into their own life. Insecure people naturally gravitate to a follow-the-leader mentality as they seek the advice of someone who they think has all the answers. But therein lies the problem: people were never created to seek answers from other people all the time and to make decisions based on what someone else thinks is right for them. Of course, we should listen to advice from others at times and we should learn from other people’s wisdom. But there is a balance to be maintained: learning from other people’s wisdom is not a replacement to making decisions for yourself and being led by the Holy Spirit for yourself.

Secure minded people are used to making quick decisions on-the-go – without having to continually seek the advice and approval of a wiser person or a spiritual guru. I think this leaves the more secure minded members of the church wondering what to do with all of these principles they hear being preached every Sunday. You can be given a principle to follow, but then find yourself doing something else. Perhaps that principle was not relevant to your situation? Or perhaps you simply needed to make that decision which will make you less likely to do it again in the future? So I think there is a need to simply make your own choices in life, even if you do make mistakes. We cannot go around trying to make a comprehensive set of principles, with the intention of safe-guarding the more gullible, naïve Christians. Even if you intend to follow a certain principle, there is no guarantee that you will act upon it. If those subtle promptings are simply not there – you will end-up just getting confused and frustrated, as you attempt to try to force yourself to abide by that principle.

The only thing that really seems to under gird principles with power – is some kind of threat. Fear of punishment is typically the most common threat amongst Christians. There is also the desire to gain the approval of God and other people. There is also a sense of guilt and shame if a person does not follow some sort of principle that has been laid down by a spiritual leader.

Christians are told that they are like sheep, basically, the implication here is that Christians are as dumb as sheep. They are also told that they need a shepherd; Jesus is our Shepherd. We are like sheep to God – I have no problem with that. However, a pastor is given the position of shepherd and basically assumes responsibility for telling Christians what they should and should not do. I do believe in the role of pastor, as someone who assumes a basic level of leadership in order to facilitate any kind of Christian gathering. But pastors, ever since the formation of dedicated church buildings, have become our spiritual coaches! Whatever happened to being led by the Holy Spirit?

¹ "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. ² "But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ⁵ "Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

John 10:1-5

²¹ Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.

Isaiah 30:21

¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Romans 8:14

¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Galatians 5:18

Knowing it all at Once

2010-07-04T19:15:00.001+01:00

Perhaps one of the biggest hindrances to being led by the Holy Spirit, is that we want to know each step, including the eventual outcome, all at once. I have noticed that when I’ve made poor decisions in the past, I have been more insistent on knowing everything all at once: I want to know where I’m going to go, what I’m going to do and with whom. There is a tendency to want to know where our actions today will take us to in five years time. Every decision that we have made in the past, both little and big, have led us to where we are today. So it seems important to make the right decisions in each moment. When we understand that behind each action we take, there is a thought or pattern of thought, we realise the importance of right thinking. James Allen said, “You are today where your thoughts have brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts will take you.”

So what fear does is that it gives us an inclination towards wanting to know everything all at once. By that I mean we want to be able to gaze into the future and understand where a proposed decision will take us. The desire to want to know the future outcome of a decision will naturally lead to bouts of worry as we try to figure things out logically. But this is frustrating and leads to a sense of emptiness and hopelessness. Worry is an attempt to supplant the Holy Spirit, whose role it is to lead us in life. In fact, it is God who lives His life through us by His Spirit.

A lot of the time I find that God gives us just what we need in order to make the next step; in most cases, that is all that we need. I find that the insistence on knowing the next five steps and a detailed description of exactly what is going to happen and when, is simply an expression of fear. The more we trust in God and His ability to guide us and empower us, should give us the confidence to be led step-by-step by Him. We should rest our minds in the fact that if God requires for us to know more than the next step, He will let us know. There is no need for all the drama that many Christians go through as they seek to know the will of God for their lives and seek to understand their destiny. Just live your life one moment at a time – that is where God is and that is where peace is.

A Big Decision to Make

2010-07-04T19:14:00.001+01:00

At this moment in time, I have a rather big decision to make in my personal life. It is only really now that this opportunity has presented itself to me. So naturally, I saw fit to investigate further and to make the necessary inquiries to see if I can progress with this idea. This decision has something to do with re-locating and buying a house.

Coincidently, this was the subject being discussed by The Free Believers Network in their podcast entitled Midweek – Deciding in the Wild, 30^th June 2010. In this podcast, the hosts discussed the way in which Christians make such a big fuss about making decisions; how Christians search for Bible verses to back-up every decisions they make. There really is a need to Christians to live from the heart and to just “take the plunge” when it comes to taking risks.

A few weeks ago I travelled to a certain place in the hope that this decision I have to make, would become clearer to me – but it did not: I did not feel any clearer about whether I should take this new step in my life, or not. I suppose I was expecting certain positive experiences or a burst of euphoric emotions that would confirm either way what the best course of action would be for me. However, the warm, fuzzy feelings were just not there. Neither did anything happen during my visit that pointed me in the direction that I should go. Seeing that this is quite a big decision to make and given my tendency to make poor decisions in the past and the state of anxiety this has instilled in me, I would have thought that God would have made it His business to let me know in some completely obvious way, what I should do.

In the past, there have been some decisions that I have made which have been accompanied by warm, zesty feelings that seemed to make the decision a complete no-brainer. But then again, there have been times when those warm, “gushy” feelings have not been present: all that has been present is a subtle prompting that has pushed me in that direction. When I come to think of it now, I suppose that the intense feelings of joy have little to do with my making the decisions that I have made: those positive feelings have been a by-product of the subtle promptings, which have led me to make the decisions that were right for me at that time.

Some of these decisions I have made by following subtle promptings have been good, some of them bad. But I notice that even the so-called “bad” decisions that I have made, have sometimes led me towards a more positive experience. So it seems that even so-called “bad” experiences are all part of this experience that we call life. The Bible says “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28). It seems that what interferes with the flow of life and the ability to live life to the full, is all the control, fear, guilt and other pressure we put upon ourselves.

I am at the stage now were I am more inclined to just go along with a decision, even if I don’t know all of the facts. Even if I have made wrong decisions in the past – so what? Making wrong decisions can lead a Christian to believe that he lacks faith, and therefore, should pray more or read more Christian books, including the Bible, of course. But this just leads to excesses and a reluctance to step-out and do what is in your heart, for fear of failure or punishment from God. I think we just need to lighten-up and do what we think is right. It is just the fear and guilt that surrounds our decision making that brings the apathy, fear, confusion and ultimately – wrong decisions. Without that fear we would have the clarity of mind and confidence to live our lives; making both good and not-so-good decisions. But we need to be assured that whatever we do will ultimately bring us to where God wants us to be.

It is tempting to believe that the reason we made wrong choices was because we were disobedient to God because we did not “follow the Word”. But this fear just leads to an obsession with finding verses of scripture to back-up every little decision that you make. I believe that the Bible is important, but only as a means of leading us to Jesus. We are to live our lives from there, rather than trying to replicate the life of one or more of the heroes in the Bible, such as King David. We can learn something from these people and their experiences, but we must really live our own lives. The Book of <insert your name here> is yet to be written!

I am led to wonder if the insistence on the intense warm feelings that we associate with love, is something of a misnomer – something that could be classed as being rather immature. Perhaps God wants us to look beyond such feelings and learn to trust the subtle promptings that He gives us?

Being Led By the Holy Spirit and “Little Nudges”

2010-07-04T19:13:00.001+01:00

For a couple of weeks or so I have once again been pondering what it really means to be led by the Holy Spirit.

As always, I like to write down my thoughts when they come to me. But I mulled over this subject for a little while before I committed anything into writing. This was certainly not the first time I had approached this subject of being Spirit led: this is a subject I have returned to again and again. I intend to publish some of my notes on the subject in due course. The term that has been in my heart recently in relation to these thoughts, has been subtle promptings.

Conviction and Compulsion

I remember in the past, perhaps as early as 2005, when the term conviction and compulsion was running through my mind. For me, conviction and compulsion summed-up what it really meant to be led by the Holy Spirit. In fact, I noticed that virtually everything that I did was the result of having a conviction about it in my heart, followed by or accompanied with, a compulsion to do it. I noticed that without conviction and compulsion I could do nothing. But with conviction and compulsion I could do anything. I suppose for me that this brought to life the Words of Jesus in John 15:5, when He said, “For without Me you can do nothing.”

“Little Nudges” and the Knowable God

I listened to the latest The God Journey podcast entitled The Knowable God, dated 18^th June 2010. For me, I felt that this incredible podcast episode had two main themes running through it: firstly, there was the admission that a person cannot live by simply trying to follow principles; secondly, Wayne Jacobsen recounted how he had learned to live by the little nudges of the Holy Spirit. Wayne explained the fact that ever since the publication of the extremely popular book, The Shack; he has been inundated with manuscripts for consideration for publication by his company Windblown Media. Wayne described how he had more manuscripts on his plate than he could possibly deal with. So what he would do would be to walk past the manuscripts and say something along the lines of, “Lord, if there is anything here that you would like me to deal with now, please let me know.” Then, he would wait for a little nudge in his spirit that would possibly lead him to a potential publication. Wayne continued to relate how he has learned to extend this means of being led by God, into all areas of his life.

It just struck me how close this was to my own observations of conviction and compulsion and the subtle promptings of the Holy Spirit. In fact, I would say that it is impossible to do most things without these subtle promptings. When I wrote about conviction and compulsion from around 2005 to 2008 – there was hardly any teaching available to me that seemed to agree with this concept. Most Christian teaching seemed to constantly put the onus on the believer to “just do something” or to “be obedient”. So you can imagine how refreshing it was to hear Wayne Jacobsen relate how it is futile to try to follow some sort of principle – without having little nudges in your heart to maintain that behaviour.

It must be taken into consideration that Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings, the hosts of The God Journey podcast, has a great deal of experience when it comes to ministry: both of them are ex-pastors who became disillusioned by the traditional church system. I know that Brad is a very well educated man and by his own admission he loves theology. But what Brad was saying in this podcast is that he started wondering to himself, “When do people actually graduate from all of this Christian teaching?”

Love is About Giving…Not Getting

2010-06-19T16:45:00.001+01:00

We have all been told this before: love is about giving, more than it is about getting. This ties-in with the description of love which Apostle Paul gave to the church at Corinth, in 1 Corinthians 13:5.

[Love]…does not seek its own (NKJV); [Love]…is not self-seeking (NIV). Love does not demand its own way (NLT); [Love]…takes no thought for itself (BBE); Love is not forward and self-assertive (WNT); Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking (AMP); Love cares more for others than for self. (MSG). [Love]…doesn't think about itself. (GW).

This description of love also ties-in with the admonishment of Jesus, when He said “Take no thought for your life”:

²² Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.

Luke 12:22 NKJV

It is the love of God which enables us to stop worrying about the everyday things of life. When we have the love of God in us, we know that everything that we will face that day is going to be alright, even when things do not go exactly how we would personally like them to go. If we find ourselves constantly worrying about things all the time, trying to work things out ourselves, then we might find ourselves becoming rather disappointed when things do not go as we planned them.

Love gives us the ability to “let go and let God.” However, if we do not already experience this love, it can be difficult to let go of worrying and to trust God in a given situation. We cannot “let go and let God” if that love is not already working within us. It is for this reason that we need to seek to identify the sources of sin which are hindering the flow of love in our lives. At once, Christians can take this to mean that they have to “try” to resist bad habits, such as smoking, drinking, pornography, etc. It is true that these things can play a part in hindering our relationship with God to an extent. However, it is best that we seek to identify what it is within us that are driving us to do such things.

Bad habits will usually be fuelled by a wrong belief or attitude which keeps us from experiencing God’s best for our lives. This attitude could be unforgiveness, bitterness and resentment. If we deny ourselves the presence of God, then we will experience a sense of separation from God, which will in turn, drive us towards the fulfilment of lustful cravings. Covetousness is often born out of this spiritually dead state. Lust will drive people to try to identify what it is that they are missing in their lives, what it is that is robbing them of peace, what it is that will make their lives whole again. Unfortunately, lacking spiritual discernment, people will identify sources of potential pleasure and fulfilment through the use of the senses. This leads to the typical activities which Paul calls “the works of the flesh”.

When a person identifies the true source of love, he comes to the realisation that the love of God is already in Him, ready for use:

⁵ Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:5

Rather than seeking love via some external source, which is covetousness, we should seek love from within ourselves, knowing that through faith in Christ, we have become partakers of the Divine Nature. In fact, we should not “seek” this love, as such, but simply know that it is within us and cannot be generated through acts of charity or an effort of the will.

This love that is in us is for the purpose of allowing our personalities to be transformed so that God plays a part, a major part, in our daily conduct. With love in our hearts, our attitude can be like that of the Psalmist who said, “The Lord is the strength of my life.”

¹ A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalms 27:1

When we allow the love of God to dominate our lives, that love will divert a person’s attention from the issues of his own life and towards the lives of others. This does not mean that he becomes neglectful concerning himself, but it means that his focus has shifted away from himself. As a person submits to the subtle promptings of God in his spirit, the promptings of love, then he will not have to worry about himself.

The only “formula”, if you want to call it that, that Jesus gave to His disciples and the church, for the attainment of material needs, was that they do not worry. Jesus made no mention of paying tithes or doing good works as a means of achieving prosperity. It is only modern-day ministers who have turned the pursuit of prosperity into something that we are to do through the use of principles and formulas.

So it seems that the reason why people don’t get their needs met is because they worry: they try to plan and analyse things in an attempt to control their lives and make things happen in a predictable way. Our lives are more-often-than-not, unpredictable. For a neurotic, this unpredictability can be terrifying. But for a secure-minded person, the unforeseen circumstances of life can be exciting and challenging. The difference is of course all down to how much we abide in love or how much we abide in fear. Selfishness can therefore be seen as the character trait of an insecure person who seeks to control his life according to his own efforts. Selfishness is all-consuming as it absorbs all the time and energy that a person has, all in the pursuit of happiness and fulfilment. If we could only learn to let go of that selfishness we could truly learn the unforced rhythms of grace – as Matthew 11:29 in The Message translation puts it.

The reason why people worry is because they do not experience the sense of peace that can only be found in knowing the love of God. When we know the love of God, a sense of peace comes upon us that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to experience fear, and therefore, to worry.

¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

John 4:18

It should bring us a great sense of rest when we come to the understanding that we are not supposed to meet our own needs. If the burden of providing for ourselves and our families rests upon our shoulders, it is little wonder that we worry! We can therefore delight, marvel and give thanks to God for the reassuring Words of Christ in Matthew 6.

²⁴ "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. ²⁵ "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Matthew 6:24-26

One way of looking at Matthew 6:24 is that when we worry about material provision, we are actually serving mammon! According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, “Mammon” is defined as: A Chaldee or Syriac word meaning “wealth” or “riches” (Luke 16:9-11); also, by personification, the god of riches (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:9-11).

The Bible tells us that God will bless those people who attend to the needs of others:

²⁴ There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty.

²⁵ The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.

Proverbs 11:24-25 NKJV

²⁴ It is possible to give away and become richer! It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything.

²⁵ Yes, the liberal man shall be rich! By watering others, he waters himself.

Proverbs 11:24-25 TLB

We should not seek to make a formula out of Proverbs 11:24-25, in that we seek to increase our favour with God and our prosperity, by serving others and by giving money to the church and to charitable causes. It is possible to do good works but with the wrong attitude and motive. I believe that there are many Christians today who pay their tithes and even give large offerings to their church - all because they read a book or heard a sermon that told them they would be rich if they did so.

So when it comes down to love, it has a lot more to do with beliefs, attitudes, desires and motives than it does our actions. I believe that right action will be the inevitable outcome of right beliefs, motives and so forth. However, don’t be surprised if someone who has a heart of love is not so eager to put a great deal of time and effort into the church related activities that ministers have told us that we ought to do as Christians. We have been presented with a church for centuries that has been steeped in tradition, rules, rituals and selfish ambition. It is therefore difficult to discern at times the church that Christ gave His life for and what it should look like. Furthermore, we all have our own lives to live and our own personal destiny to fulfil – what is right for one person might not be right for another.

So how do we get these right beliefs and attitudes? We have been presented, in the church, with a model of positive thinking by an effort of the will, as pioneered by the likes of Norman Vincent Peale when he published his bestselling book, The Power of Positive Thinking. I’m not entirely against this person, book or concept – by the way. But I have found in my own life that attempting to control my thoughts and feelings can be the most difficult thing in the world.

So far, I have found that the best means of knowing the love of God is to cease from my own efforts to please Him and to rest in the knowledge of the finished work of the cross. There is a peace that can be found when we consider the birds of the air, how they neither toil, nor spin, nor gather into barns – yet our Father feeds them. We should rest in the knowledge that we are more important than they and that our Father will meet our needs without our need to worry and to make things happen ahead of time.

Photo Give us this day... courtesy of Mr. Kris

Miracles and the Presence of God

2010-06-03T21:30:00.001+01:00

For the past week or so I’ve been mulling over my next blog entry. I just wanted to convey my current thoughts and feelings on the area of miracles in Christianity and just getting a proper perspective on the subject.

I listened to the latest Free Believers Network podcast entitled Redefining The Presence of God, 2nd June 2010. The discussion on this podcast episode kind of dove-tailed with the topic which I had been thinking about this week.

The Charismatic Church

It seems that the institutional church, particularly the charismatic, Pentecostal environment, can really mess with your head. I have found that most, if not all, of the grace believers I have contacted, either face-to-face or on the internet, have come from a charismatic background.

The charismatic movement seems to be a blend of upholding the concept of a judgemental God, keeping principles (a subtle term for rules), together with miraculous testimonies. It is very much an Old Testament approach. Think about that for a moment – you have the concept of a far and distant God who will only come near to you if there is no sin in your life, in other words, if you follow the right principles, read your Bible and pray hard. But if you do get your life right – God will appear to you and allow you to approach Him – just like Moses and the burning bush. It is as if we are each expecting to meet meticulous, Old Testament style rules, with the prize of having Almighty God in our lives.

The image that springs to mind is that of someone wearing a bio hazard suit, cautious of what disease he might contract should he come near to you. I am also reminded of a “germaphobe” like the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, who had particular requirements: his cutlery had to be sterilised and his milk had to be poured at a particular angle, and so on.

Word of Faith

Then, Word of Faith comes along, with those who teach it telling you the most incredible things that happened to them. Naturally, you want to know how they did it, what they did to bring this awesomely powerful, yet judgemental, Old Testament God to come near you and participate in your life.

So you end-up reading a book by a faith teacher like Kenneth E. Hagin who did “A”, “B” and “C” – and then God did “X”, “Y” and “Z” – something miraculous and supernatural. These testimonies become the spiritual prize that we are all seeking after. It’s as if love, truth and good will to all men kind of takes a back seat to the pursuit of the weird and wonderful – all in the Name of Jesus and the Kingdom of God, of course. I’m speaking from personal experience here – please don’t think that I’m just assuming things here; and I know for sure that I’m not the only one! So what we do from there is that we naturally seek to somehow attach our own agendas to the faith teaching we have been given. The thinking is something like, “If God can do that for him – then he can do this for me.” But of course, this line of thinking assumes that we know what God has planned for us and that we really need those things to happen in our lives; it also assumes that we can discern the formulas and principles we need to achieve our aims, based on the faith teaching and testimonies that we read or hear.

So there is the assumption that we need something totally far-and-above our everyday experiences as part of our Christian experience. When you are in charismatic circles, there is such an emphasis on miracles that you almost feel like a failure, or at least that you are not doing things right, if you are not experiencing miracles on a fairly regular basis.

God’s Generals

In 1996 the American evangelist Roberts Liardon’s book God’s Generals was published. God’s Generals profiles the lives and ministry of men and women throughout the past hundred years or so who have experienced incredible miracles: people such as John G. Lake, Smith Wigglesworth and Aimee Semple McPherson. I remember feel rather awe inspired as I read that book (when I was still in my charismatic, miracle-hunting phase). There is something amazing about God performing miracles in the lives of people, and doubtless, people’s lives are likely to be changed as a result. But where do you and I stand in all of this? How are we to interpret all of this in the perspective of our own normal, Christian lives? Are we also to do the same amazing things as these men and women of God?

If you come to the conclusion that you are indeed meant to be just like these “God’s Generals”, performing miracles and changing lives around you through the supernatural – I think you will be caught-up in a flight of fancy. Miracles do happen and I have no doubt that they have had their place in the lives of people like Smith Wigglesworth. But we can easily conclude that if we are not “used” by God in the same way as Wigglesworth, we must be missing something, or worse still, God does not love us. Miracles are, by definition, rare; it is the height of folly to seek after miracles and to feel disappointed when they don’t happen. I believe that miracles happen as and when they do. When we attempt to identify and pursue formulas to manifest miracles – we just end-up wearing ourselves out as we are left “chasing the wind”.

The “Harvest Mentality” and High Expectations

As I said previously, many who come to the message of grace have first gone through the charismatic phase of miracles, praying for revival, following principles and so forth. What I find is that many such Christians carry some of these Pentecostal traits and expectations with them into the message of grace. There is still the expectation of miracles, wealth and reaping a “harvest”; there is still the anticipation of God “using” you: by that statement, believers hold onto the expectation that God is going to do something over-and-beyond the norm of everyday existence. All of these expectations are from an Old Testament mindset, in which we associate with Moses and the burning bush, the parting of the Red Sea and so on. There were miracles performed in the New Testament, through Jesus and the Apostles. But these were all part of ministry, I believe.

The question of miracles in today’s society is a subject that is frequency discussed amongst Christians. We certainly should not use miracles as a measuring rod of God’s love for us or our level of faith. I believe that when it comes to living the Christian life in these New Testament times, it has a lot more to do with normal, everyday life than we could ever imagine.

I believe that the miracles we read about in the Bible are for the purpose of taking our limits off God, more than anything else. Miracles are more the domain of ministry: when I hear that grace preacher Bertie Brits has performed miracles during a crusade in Malawi, I don’t roll my eyes and say to myself, “Oh, here we go again, another miracle working preacher.” No, I am delighted to see the power of God in the life and ministry of this man; I delight in that fact that God is confirming His Word being preached. But what I don’t do is think to myself, “How can I do the same kind of miracles in my life? I should be ministering with an anointing like that man. If I had enough faith – then I’d be able to minister with the same anointing and power as that man.” There is a place for miracles, and I believe it is mainly in ministry to confirm the Word being preached. Although, if miracles don’t follow the Word being preached, that is no sign that the preaching was not powerful, accurate and relevant (despite what Kenneth E. Hagin wrote on the subject).

Seeing the Beauty and Value in Everyday Life

I think normal life is not exciting enough for some Christians; they want to way-out, over-the-top stuff that they hear some evangelists come out with. But the truth of the matter is that there is something truly amazing in everyday life. It really does come down to our own beliefs, attitudes and mindsets as to how wonderful life is for us. It is just like when we fall in love: before we fall in love with someone, we could be feeling rather melancholy, but then, we fall in love with someone, and all of a sudden, everything changes! All of a sudden we are transformed from a grumpy, cynical person, into someone who is smiling and singing. Love seems to make the grass greener, the sky bluer; we notice things that we never noticed before: the birds singing in the trees, the beauty of a single raindrop, taking a walk in a park as the leaves fall from the trees in the fall. Nothing has changed externally in your life – the only change has been internal – in your heart, in your outlook on life.

God Will Guide You

We read in the New Testament that God will lead you and guide you by the Holy Spirit (John 14:26, Luke 12:12, Romans 8:14, Galatians 5:18). I think Ezekiel 36 makes it clearer and starker that any text in the New Testament:

25 "'Then it will be as though I had sprinkled clean water on you, for you will be clean--your filthiness will be washed away, your idol worship gone. ²⁶ And I will give you a new heart--I will give you new and right desires--and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit within you so that you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 TLB

I think every Christian has a different take on what this text really adds up to and how we experience it in our lives of faith in Christ. But I must admit that right at this moment in time, I cannot help but feel that it is a lot closer to the normal, everyday existence that we are used to and perhaps often take for granted. I think this text points towards natural impulses, common-sense and intuition. There is no need to pray for hours on a holy mountain, waiting for the burning bush to appear. Neither is there a need to seek out a wise, all-knowing guru who will tell you the wisdom of God. The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21).

Emotions and Sensationalism

Likewise, we also expect something way-out and over-the-top when it comes to our emotions. We attend big gatherings of believers with musicians and preachers who have the ability to strike a chord in our hearts and move us to tears or feelings of ecstasy. Just as with miracles, signs and wonders – there is a sense that if God was truly in our lives, we would experience euphoria on a day-to-day basis. The natural assumption, when we don’t experience these dramatic feelings, is that we are somehow not getting the formulas and principles right: perhaps there is too much sin in our lives, we are not praying enough or we haven’t got enough faith.

There are sometimes moments of ecstasy in our lives: when we meet a loved one, we have not seen for a while, when your wife gives birth to your child or declares that she is pregnant, when you are given news of your promotion at work and so on. But those feelings often don’t last. I think a more realistic approach to the emotional state of the New Testament, Christian believer, is a sustained state of peace, happy, but nothing incredible; this is then interspersed by moment of euphoria and sometimes moments of sadness, whether those moments are triggered by an external experience or not.

I strongly believe that anxiety is something that we are not to experience as Christians, or if we do, it is on our journey into spiritual maturity and peace. In John 14:27 Jesus Himself promised us peace. The Gospel is called the “Gospel of Peace” (Romans 10:15, Ephesians 6:15). I’ve struggled with anxiety all my life and can vouch for the fact that it is horrid! I think that it is a true sign of spiritual maturity when a Christian comes to the place in which they see peace of mind as their one and only goal in this life (or at least their main goal).

There are also moments of euphoria when Christians gather together in large groups and God seems to be moving in your midst. But I often wonder if those feelings of ecstasy and the goose-bumps are nothing more than emotionalism: just like what you would experience at a rock concern?

For more information on the subject of feelings associated with the presence of God, check out the latest Free Believers Network podcast entitled Redefining the Presence of God, 2^nd June 2010. For more information on the subject of Christians and their addiction to sensationalism in the church, check out The Free Believers Network podcast entitled The Lust of Sensationalism, 14^th April 2010.

Guidelines on Making Comments

2010-05-30T14:27:00.001+01:00

Not many people seem to be making comments on my blog posts. I would prefer that people take the time to make relevant comments because I would prefer some two-way interaction rather than just me writing here.

But I also appreciate that some regular commenters have reported issues with posting comments. So I did a little test to check it out. I have changed the “Who Can Comment” setting so that people can comment anonymously. I appreciate that when commenting on blogs, you don’t always want to bother entering in your Yahoo or Google ID. In fact, not everyone has a Yahoo or Google ID, or whatever other ID options Blogger permits. So, you can now post anonymously if you wish to do so. However, you will have to enter a Word Verification. The Word Verification helps to keep out all of the spam postings for Viagra, weight loss pills and other such junk.

I noticed when I was testing comment posting that the Word Verification window did not seem to display correctly. There are some known issues regarding this on the internet, and a workaround, such as this.

I have decided to leave the Comment Placement setting as “Embedded below post”. If you comment anonymously, you can reveal the complete Word Verification window, by double-clicking on the black text “Word Verification”. This will then reveal the text box to enter in the word for verification and the Post Comment button. I appreciate that this is a glitch – but this workaround do seem to work okay on both Google Chrome and Internet Explorer.

I also noticed that some of the most recent comments were in Chinese. I just assumed that this was because people were posting comments in that language. I have checked the language settings of my blog and they are “English (United Kingdom)”. So if you have been experiencing issues with your comments unexpectedly appearing in a language other than English, please let me know.

I really appreciate comments so please feel free to comment on my posts. Whether you agree or disagree, I'd love to hear from you. Also, feel free to link back to your own blog in your comments.

The Difference Between Challenge and Struggle

2010-05-28T22:14:00.001+01:00

The concepts of challenge and struggle seem to go hand-in-hand, in fact, to a great extent; they are treated as one and the same. But in actual fact, there is a world of difference between the two. Identifying this difference, I believe, is key to understanding why the institutional church system does not work and is also the key to understanding something about yourself.

Take on a Challenge!

I previously discussed the challenge type of preaching in Challenges Part 1 and Challenges Part 2. In these posts I discussed the way in which the church often attempts to overcome stagnation by motivating its members to “take on a challenge”. The thinking behind this is that if believers were to “take on a challenge”, their lives, and the church, would be better for it.

This type of thinking is derived from positive members of the church who find that when they take on a challenge, either intentionally through confidence, or unintentionally by life and other people – they feel better for it and something good comes from it. This is then turned into a formula by which it is believed that if a person “takes on a challenge” – they will become better people as a result.

Glorifying Suffering

I suppose this challenge mentality has been the key driver behind glorifying suffering: it is assumed that suffering is God’s way of testing us in order to make us better people, to teach us something and to make our lives better. I think this attitude does put a positive spin on things, but I question how valid it is. I don’t doubt that something good can com from suffering, and even that people can become better in some way through it, but I question the entire attitude towards suffering; more than anything, I challenge the entire “take on a challenge” mentality that is so prevalent in the church.

Taking Action

It would appear that the church is besotted with taking action. This is understandable as for centuries it seems that the church seemed to have very little relevance to society. People nowadays see Christianity as a ritual that has very little practicality when it comes to everyday life. There are some Christians who are desperate to change that mindset; so they attempt to do this by getting Christians to do things. But this path often leads to the typical, charitable efforts that we are so used to seeing amongst Christians – and nothing more.

The challenge type of pulpit message is designed to get Christians doing things, taking on more responsibility, getting outside of their comfort zone – all in an effort to make positive, lasting changes to the church, other people and themselves.

Challenges could be described as adverse circumstances; they are the difficulties that lie between where we are now and where we would like to be; they are the mountains that stand in our path, which Jesus Himself said we are to move by our faith.

But I cannot help but believe that problems occur when we see taking action as the cure-all formula for apathy and stagnation.

Action versus Thought

I believe that the key to understanding the difference between challenge and struggle is to be found in the difference between action and thought. There are often times when the difficulties in our path are caused by other people and those things, which are out of our control. That is were we are blameless when it comes to creating those difficulties.

I believe that for many Christians, the obstacles standing in their way are actually self-created. These obstacles are not challenges, as such; they are the consequences of a person’s own thought life. Struggle is a state of being caused by a person’s beliefs, attitudes and patterns of thinking. Such people cannot be helped by encouraging them to “take on a challenge”. In fact, taking on more responsibility for people in a state of struggle can cause more trouble for other people as well as themselves. Negative minded people do not take on challenges because of the awful stress that results when they are exposed to circumstances that oppose what they want or expect. Anxious people like things to be just the way they want them to be; the slightest thing that happens that is contrary to what they desire, can create a whole world of hurt for them.

This way of thinking gets us away from the focus on action and onto thought. Every action we take originates in a thought, those thoughts lead to desires which prompt the action. It is assumed that many Christians don’t do the things they should and shun responsibility because they are lazy and they need to be motivated from the pulpit. I find this is not the case and that they shun responsibility and challenges out of fear.

Anxiety and Confusion

When a person is struggling with anxiety, their sense of judgement goes haywire! It is very difficult to make decisions and to know what is right for you, when your mind is full of anxious thoughts. It is for this reason that a lot of Christians always seem to be confused and not know what is right for them. There is a lack of confidence present when confusion is rife: how can a person be confident in making life choices when they are confused? It is for this reason that Christians are often seeking the advice of other people, when they should really know what is right for them on the inside, in their heart.

Unfortunately, this confusion and indecisiveness potentially leads to abuse, as they are told by strong-willed people, inside and outside the church, what they should or should not do. If a person was not so anxious, they would have all the sense of wise discernment and confidence that they needed in order to do what they need to do. In fact, I find that the “three graces” of wisdom, confidence and favour that we all need to get ahead in life, come as a result of being positive and clear-minded. Anxiety is the root cause of most, if not all, of the dysfunction that we experience in life.

Merely “taking on a challenge” is not sufficient to bring a person out of this dysfunction. Such people require whatever knowledge and assurance they need in order to bring much needed peace of mind, assurance and a sense of security. The Gospel, the true Gospel of Christ, is so designed to bring this sense of security. However, the Gospel has been twisted and taken out of context to the point in which is has been wielded against people like a weapon – a weapon of fear and manipulation.

I am convinced that the Gospel, the Good News, is meant to bring assurance to people, to the point by which they cease from their own efforts to please God and to control their lives.

The Effects of Struggle

When a person is in a condition of struggle due to anxiety, they experience struggle in life. It is difficult to comprehend the extent to which anxiety affects a person. I believe that such effects are widespread, throughout every single area of a person’s life. Anxiety affects relationships, health, career – as well as the obvious affects on mental and emotional wellbeing. The result is often a fear of commitment, a sense of powerlessness; this leads to apathy and procrastination. People who are in a state of struggle will often argue with other people, and end-up getting nowhere. People who struggle will start a project and abandon it half way through.

It can be really confusing when you are in a state of struggle, because everything seems to be against you. This makes you wonder whether you are being tested by God, and as the church recommends, you should just persevere. The church often tries to encourage people going through a hard time, by using platitudes such as, “If you’re going through a hard time, it’s because the devil is attacking you because he knows that God has something wonderful planned for you.”

The whole subject of suffering is a complex one and there has been a lot of teaching, and opinion, on the subject. We can experience difficulties in life for seemingly no reason of our own making – perhaps it is just what we are meant to do. Then again, a lot of the challenges that we do face could very well be of our own making. Grace or no grace, I still believe in the law of sowing and reaping: if you are rude towards people, don’t be surprised if they are rude to you in return!

¹ "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults - unless, of course, you want the same treatment.

² That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.

Matthew 7:1-2 MSG

In my experience, like attracts like: negative minded people attract negative people and negative circumstances. Conversely, positive minded people attract positive people and positive circumstances. I have found it at times rather uncanny at the way in which I seem to have experienced so many things go wrong in my life – it all comes down to a person’s thinking.

One way of looking at it is that God’s way is peace; so as soon as you step outside of that peace, you are moving away from God’s best for your life. It does not really matter what you are facing in life, you can and should face it in peace: that’s what patience is all about.

I think what often gets in the way of peace is when we hold onto a concept in favour of letting it go and experiencing peace. When Christianity becomes more about principles to a person, than love peace, a person can become lost in pain and struggle as they go on a moral crusade. Take for instance the attitude many Christians have towards sex outside of marriage: Christians would rather intimidate and ostracise someone who fornicates, than to accept them and maintain peace.

Jesus Himself rebuked His disciples for losing their cool and getting anxious – even when it seriously looked as if they were about to drown in a boat caught in the midst of a storm. Yes, it does actually appear from scripture that God expects people to maintain a state of peace – even in life threatening situations.

Unsurprisingly, I believe Apostle Paul is the champion we are to look to in regards to this state of mind. No matter what Paul experienced, he still had peace of mind and trust in God. Paul experienced a shipwreck, he was beaten and he was thrown in prison – that is enough to annihilate any sense of trust towards God in the lives of many people.

If Paul would have associated the challenges he was going through to God’s acceptance of him – I think Paul would have been a very insecure person. But Paul was emphatic of the Father’s love for him. This faith did not prevent bad things from happening in the life of Paul. But I believe that Paul was strong in faith: he knew the Father’s love for Him and he was a secure, positive minded person who experienced peace of mind at most times.

Consider this for a moment: how on earth have we taken the challenges of Paul in the New Testament and made the same New Testament into a system of getting luxuries and special privileges from God? I know it is difficult; I’ve struggled with these things myself.

Insecure people lose their peace at the slightest, most trivial things: when it rains when they had a picnic planned or they miss the train on the way to work in the morning. Some people get angry and feel their world is falling apart if their football team loses on Saturday!

Simply telling a person in state of struggle that they should “take on a challenge”, is insufficient to bring a about a change in their life. No amount of shaming such as person is going to help.

I think one of the biggest issues with regards to this situation, is that the church attempts to cater for different people at different levels of spiritual maturity, confidence and mental stability. We see a one-size-fits-all approach in church in many things. This approach just makes things confusing as the pastor seeks to encourage people into taking decisive action and furthering the kingdom (and his own church).

The Solution

I don’t believe it is possible to overcome a condition of struggle by simply “taking on a challenge”. I’ve tried to make myself do interesting and exciting things in order to try to please other people, become happier and to look as if I’m serving God – but it really does not work if you are in a state of apathy and struggle.

As with anything, the best way to deal with a problem is to identify and tackle the root cause. The root cause of struggle, I believe, is anxiety. The root cause of anxiety is not trusting in God and trying to control your own life.

The Gospel message is described as The Gospel of Peace. The Gospel is meant to bring a person peace, to a point whereby they cease to worry about things and control their own lives according to their own plans. So we can appreciate the devastating effects of mixing Old Covenant law with New Testament grace: the result is an intoxicating mixture of declaring that you are right with God, but at the same time, making stringent efforts to keep rules and principles. The result of this is inevitably a sense of insecurity as you come to realise that your efforts to be right with God by your own works – is simply never, ever good enough.

As always, meditating on the message of grace is a sure-fire antidote to spiritual burn-out and the anxiety of trying to control your own life. The promises of the New Testament point towards a life in which God is in control, making the plans and guiding you along all the way. We are to sit back and relax as God motivates and inspires us to live our lives according to His perfect plan – His perfect, not ours.

I raised the issue of bearing in mind the detrimental effects of having wrong beliefs and attitudes, as well as a lack of discipline, in my recent blog post entitled The Fear Factor. I hope by now that you have gathered a gist for my utter resentment of Christians being manipulated by fear tactics and rule keeping in the church. However, I still ponder the effects of having wrong beliefs and attitudes. How we are to process this concept and consider it throughout this journey into God’s grace – I’m still working on that.

Best Christian Blog of the Week

2010-05-22T00:09:00.001+01:00

I am pleasantly surprised to learn that I have won the Best Christian Blog of the Week award for May 16 2010. This is actually the second time I have won this award now. I find this very encouraging that my writing is getting “out there” and is being appreciated. It is my passion to express the message of grace that God places on my heart. This award helps to confirm to me that I am expressing myself in a way that other people can relate to and understand.

The “Harvest” Mentality – Part 2

2010-05-15T15:18:00.001+01:00

So what is the key to escaping this “harvest” mentality of unrealistic expectations and the desire for control, which seems to be so alluring?

Righteousness

I believe the first step is the revelation of righteousness: when you know that you are right with God just the way you are, it changes your whole life and your view of God. No longer are you trying to please God according to your works. Now, you are able to see the Father’s love for you and rest in the assurance that He absolutely loves you no matter what you do and how you behave.

God is Good

The next step is to come to the point whereby you are certain that God has a good life for you. If you do not trust God with your life, you will always be trying to control yourself, circumstances and other people. There is something freeing in knowing that God is in control, He loves you and knows what’s best for you. When you think you have to control every little detail of your life, you do not have faith and you do not trust in God.

God Will Bless Us Unconditionally

Allied with the point above about control, is the fact that God will manifest blessing and provision in our lives without our intervention: there is no need to claim and attract things through affirmations and prayer. If you will be honest with yourself, you will come to the realisation that most or all of the time when you have tried to claim things from God – your efforts have been driven by a fear that God demands something from you and that nothing good will ever happen unless you do something about it.

Interfering With God

This leads us to the question of why nothing good happens in a certain person’s life and what they can do about it. I would say that the irony of the situation is that the more people try and control their life, through worry, prayer, affirmations and such like – the more they are interfering with God. It is our own fear and the efforts we make to control our lives, which prevent God from moving freely in us. The more we try to prevent certain things from happening in our lives – the more we find that our efforts actually attract those things to us.

What Makes a Person Truly Happy?

We need to have a new perspective on what it is that really makes a person happy and popular with other people. It is not what we do or what we have that determines our mental and emotional state or the attitude of others towards us. No, our life experiences and the way that we see them and feel about them, are determined to a great extent on whom we are on the inside. But when a person is wrapped in fear, it seems as if “normal life” is simply not appealing enough. This causes a person to feel disappointed with everything that happens in their life. This causes people to gravitate upwards mentality so that they are always looking to get bigger and better things and to achieve great things. This approach is encouraged by many people in the world and seen as something positive. But if what you do is driven and motivated out of fear and lust, rather than from love, it will eventually consume you and confine you to a life of frustration and misery.

When a person falls in love with someone, everything around them seems to change. The sky seems to be that bit bluer, the grass that bit greener and the birds singing in the trees seems that bit lovelier. It is easy to assume that this new found happiness is caused by the other person – as if they have magic powers or something. But in actual fact, it is simply a change of heart on the inside of a person. The other person was simply the catalyst for what already exists within you. When you fall in love, it seems as if everything changes, but in actual fact, it is your heart that has changed. I think it is about time that we fell in love with life and got to that place in which we are no longer living from fear and the wretched disappointment it brings, and instead, learn to live from a heart of love and experience the true splendour of peace, joy and contentment.

Effortless Cooperation

In my experience, I find that the best way to cooperate with God is to do nothing. The less we try to help God by figuring out what we can do for Him and how we can avoid certain things and speed the good things along – the better we are able to experience life to the fullest. We have no guarantees that we are all going to be millionaires or that we are going to have a successful worldwide ministry or whatever else our fantasies may revolve around. But we can get more of God in our lives as we assure ourselves of His love for us in Christ and the belief that He will build His church and that He will add to our lives whatever it is that we need, when we need it.

³¹ "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³² "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Matthew 6:31-33

The “Harvest” Mentality – Part 1

2010-05-15T15:16:00.001+01:00

There seems to be a “harvest” mentality amongst many Christians, even grace Christians: this is based around various Bible verses that promise wealth, particularly Galatians 6:9.

⁷ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. ⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. ⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Galatians 6:7-9

During the Word of Faith stage I went through for several years, I got caught-up in a “harvest” mentality: I became convinced that I would reap a harvest of wealth, power and miracles – if I developed a certain level of faith and adhered to certain principles and formulas. I was told that faith came by the Word of God, which is based on Romans 10:17. So I assumed that the Bible was the Word of God and I had to understand it and study it in order to have faith. I was told that faith and conviction was the same thing, so I needed to know what was right in scripture, I had to rightly divide the Word, so that I could have faith. After all, how could I be sure of something that I did not even know what right or wrong or did not even understand?

So I thought that I had to have answers for everything and that I needed to persuade other people to see things from my perspective. However, this caused me to be overbearing and highly opinionated at times and to desire after control and influence. If I could have this type of “faith”, I assumed, and then I would be able to reap a “harvest”. Can you see how the wrong concept of faith as portrayed by the institutional church, enmeshes with the neurotic temperament, and thus, compounds it? No wonder the world tends to look upon Christians as being unpleasant and opinionated people.

The church, of course, was also quick to seize upon the concept of tithing as a means of reaping a harvest. This “harvest” mentality stirs-up the fantasies that people have as they feel encouraged to think about all the things that they will reap from God for their obedience and faith. It sort of makes it all worth it because they are also upholding a vision of God that is angry, demanding and judgemental.

When You Fail to Reap…

All the while, when you do not reap your “harvest” you are told to persevere and to have faith and not to lose heart (as Galatians 6:9 seems to encourage). It is little wonder that a large component of the preaching we hear in church is what I call pep-talks. It really boggles my mind how Christians will allow preachers to intimidate and patronise them – all because they believe that the person on stage behind the pulpit is closer to God than they are; that the pastor knows more than them and that they hold all the answers to an abundant life. I used to love listening to Joyce Meyer, but now; I wince when I hear the way in which she patronises people. I think she means well and she does teach some true and amazing things – but in amongst all the good stuff is an awful lot of intimidation.

I think you can reach a point when you suddenly realise that you are not going to be the next Billie Graham or Benny Hinn, you’re not going to have your own intercontinental jet plane, performing miracles before a huge audience of adoring fans. I think you come to a place in which you get the feeling that it would really be good for your mental and emotional health if you were to climb down from your cloud and embrace real life. I think this reality-check can be too much to bear for some Christians. We would rather hold onto the fantasy rather than to come to terms with the fact that the institutional church has fed us unrealistic expectations, or even lies, all of this time.

The Lust of Sensationalism

Darin Hufford of the Free Believers Network discusses the subject of over-sensationalism in the church in the podcast episode entitled podcast The Lust of Sensationalism. This is a wonderful, long awaited podcast that I feel picks-up from Darin's blog on Spiritual Porn Addiction. This podcast has helped me to come to terms with the sheer wackiness that we simply accept without question in Pentecostal circles. It is sad but true that sensationalism is like a drug to the frustrated, insecure and gullible Christian who is seeking more in life.

The Fear Factor

2010-05-15T00:23:00.001+01:00

I just recently wrote some entries in The Divine Nature which I feel provide a summary of my Christian journey so far:

This journey has led me into what has come to be known as “the grace message”. This is a focus on the true essence of the Gospel message, which means “the good news”, as express by the Apostle Paul in his letters to the church: the Epistles.

Rather than focusing on keeping a set of rules, the grace message focuses on God’s love for us and who we are in Christ. This sets us free from the burden of constantly having to analyse verses of scripture in order to extract principles and rituals to follow. It is a matter of learning not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and instead, embracing all that God has done for us through Jesus Christ.

It seems that many Christians who come to the revelation of this grace message, first go through a period of time, often years, of pursuing religious obligations that stifle a person’s life and adversely affect their personality and mental and emotional health. Yet it would seem that this season of development in the Christian life is somewhat necessary in that it prepares you for the real truth of who Christ really is and what he represents. It seems that the best way to know what the love of God is – is by experiencing for yourself what it is not. It does make a person wonder if someone can truly value the message of God’s unconditional love for us – without having first gone through the stifling religious system provided by the institutional church. This subject was discussed by the Free Believers Network in the Podcast No Pain No Gain Part 1 Jan 26, 2010 and No Pain No Gain Part 2 Jan 29, 2010.

I recently listened to a Podcast by the Free Believers Network entitled Chemo-Fear-Apy 1^st May 2010, which discussed the way in which the institutional church has used fear tactics to control its followers, to create a reverence for God and to “win souls to Christ”. The hosts of this podcast related how many people in the church today were persuaded to become Christians through a message of “hell and damnation”. Some people have also been enticed into reciting the “Sinners Prayer” through the promise of power, wealth, miracles and healing. Ironically, all of these things just so happen to be the kind of things that entice people into following witchcraft!

In the Chemo-Fear-Apy podcast, one of the host’s spoke of a well-known preacher whom he said had an “anointing from hell” – he literally turned strong Christians into quivering wrecks. The host of the podcast did not mention this man’s name, but it is rumoured that it is John Bevere.

I have read a few books written by John Bevere and heard his teaching on CD. The focus of this man’s message appears to be obedience and respect for authority. Bevere’s teaching is studded with testimonies from a full-time ministry perspective of the dangers of disobedience to God and not respecting authority. I feel that I have no reason to doubt this man’s experiences and even the convictions of his heart. I believe that obedience and respect of authority is indeed important. But it is the way this man goes about trying to convey the message and how people are meant to process what he says – that is what concerns me. Just by giving people a horror story of what happened when he made a wrong decision, is no viable means of instilling obedience and correct attitudes in people.

It seems that fear does work to some extent when it comes to influencing a person’s behaviour. If you hold a gun to a person’s head, for instance, I think you can pretty well get them to do almost anything. But on a more down-to-earth level – you can subtly influence people to do things they would not normally do, by threatening to withdraw approval or support from a person or to not do a certain thing for them. Religion uses this technique of manipulation and behaviour modification through fear; take for instance the preaching of the story of Jonah getting swallowed-up by a whale for failing to act upon the dictates of God.

It seems that many Christians dutifully turn up to church every Sunday to get a fresh infusion of fear. Fear is an effective motivator: if you are wandering through a jungle or the desert and you see a snake or a ferocious wild animal – you are likely to run for your life. But fear is no substitute for love when it comes to genuine heart transformation that really lasts.

So when a Christian comes into the grace message, the message of God’s unconditional love for them, there is a tendency to utterly reject everything they have been told and taught before in the church regarding obedience through the threat of fear.

Does this mean that the message of the likes of John Bevere and Joyce Meyer are untrue and not applicable anymore? Personally, I find myself in agreement with the likes of John Bevere in that obedience and a bad attitude does make trouble for a person. But I am more inclined to move away from the focus on disobedience in the form of action and to focus more on the root causes of disobedience: wrong beliefs and attitudes. After all, most of what we do, if not all of what we do, is motivated from a belief and attitude. An attitude is our belief system turned inside out and exposed to the world.

Trying to control behaviour through focusing on behaviour is one of the most futile and frustrating pursuits a person could ever engage in. It is for this reason, I believe, that the concept of positive thinking was established: it was realised that a person’s thinking was ultimately responsible for a person’s desires, which in turn influenced their actions. But even positive thinking is flawed in that thoughts arise from the subconscious mind with little or no warning; when they do it is often difficult, if not impossible, to control them with a conscious effort of the will.

Many adherents of the Christian grace message assert that as we focus on the message of God’s love for us, then we will experience His love and will then be more able to love ourselves, know what is right for us, and obey God and to love other people as we love ourselves. I agree with this concept to a great extent, but I have also found that just by studying this grace message, my deeply rooted beliefs and attitudes have not been transformed.

Coming into the revelation of God’s love for us is so freeing, so wonderful, that we tend to reject anything fear-based which seems to portray God in the negative light of the Old Testament. This creates sensitivity to the preaching of people like John Bevere that provokes a negative response which causes a person to reject such teaching. But I cannot help but feel that there is also something of a naivety amongst grace believing Christians in that they assume that they can have wrong beliefs and attitudes and everything will go well in life for them. I’m not trying to water down the grace message at all, but there is truth to this matter?

People will cite the story of Abraham when he went to Egypt, lied to Pharaoh, and was made very wealthy as a consequence of that. Christians will say that we can be blessed when we sin – but is there any truth to that statement? I expressed my own beliefs about this matter through a series of blog entries on The Divine Nature:

In Summary, I wrote that sin is not just wrong behaviour and action – it stems from wrong desires, thoughts, beliefs and attitudes – it is these things that we should focus on when it comes to changing our world and the world around us. I think one of the greatest revelations that I have gained during my years of spiritual study and practice has been the concept of developing a sense of security. This, I feel, is fundamental to the spiritual growth and maturity of an individual; as well as the mental and emotional health of a person. Without a sense of security – we are left to fend for ourselves through fear.

How are we supposed to process a message or teaching that seems to find its basis in fear, I wonder? I think perhaps it is simply something to bear in mind – not something that we should use to beat ourselves into submission with; neither should we reject it completely nor dismiss it as a lie. For me, I feel that this truth actually brings me a sense of comfort in that it reminds me of perhaps why life is not going so well for me, when I’m still behaving like an arrogant, overly opinionated jerk at times; or I am holding onto unrealistic expectations of myself and others.

Otherwise, I am left wondering why this grace message isn’t really working for me. I could be left wondering whether I need to buy more books on the grace message or listen to more podcasts that tell me about God’s love for me. But to be honest, I feel like I’m through with chasing after the latest spiritual fads and formulas.

The question then becomes: how do I change my beliefs and attitudes for the better? How do I develop a sense of security that releases me from the grip of fear?