PC vs. PC

Initially you might think I’m doing a feature by feature blog about personal computers.  Typically that would be between the trendy-cultish Apple Mac people versus the Microsoft driven various brands of white-collar-rule-keeping-non-Mac-PC-users.  But that’s not what I’m writing about.

Several days ago I had this thought regarding the all too common informal term PC or politically correct, that has come to mean; inoffensive, nondiscriminatory, unbiased, neutral, appropriate, and nonpartisan language.  And frankly I’m exhausted by this inane mantra parlayed by the media, politicians, Hollywood, left wing and right wing nuts and lastly and most sadly, the church.

Oh not the true Church.  You know the one that seems overshadowed by the modern PC church of popularity, entertainment and cash flow.  So relax if you believe yourself to be part of the true Church.  You can stand on the sidelines and watch the fray swell regarding this subject.  But please be slow to take up sides, especially when basing it upon one’s own righteousness.

When the thought came of PC vs. PC; this was my grist for the mill.  Politically correct versus being Pneumatically correct – or Spirit correct.

Now granted I truly hate, hate speech.  I was never a name caller nor was my family.  As a matter of fact, I would have been summarily spanked with a belt by my father if I was ever found to be a person of that vernacular.  My dad spent all his adult life championing the cause of the underdog.  Be it any minority of color, lifestyle, or economic disparity – he had a heart for the oppressed of our society and the world.  All driven by a divine compassion and love for people.  So any mean spirited or derisive epithets were NEVER used, promoted, or tolerated in my upbringing.  Thereby shaping my mind, heart and behavior – I don’t name call.

But what I have realized especially recently is a dire and ceaseless juggernaut of culture and religion that will not put up with Truth.  For the lie we are being sold is this: all things are relative, to included truth and a person’s view on anything, anytime, and anywhere.  Ergo the burgeoning and stifling PC police so prevalent today.  Even within our pulpits and pews.

Jesus came into the world to clearly define Truth over lies.  And from the Genesis garden narrative to this very day, we are at odds within ourselves, with all of creation, and clearly with other humans who are juxtaposed between light and dark.  And this battle is in full swing over the solid and sacred ground of Truth, versus the alluring and popular specter of unending lies.

PC vs. PC is all about the present and continuing battle between our propensities to fall towards being politically correct versus being Pneumatically correct – or as the Bible calls it being Spirit led; i.e. Spirit correct.

Being Pneumatically correct will ALWAYS and ever mean that we speak the Truth in Love (the primary goal for the work done by the 5 fold ministry office and the pinnacle of all Christian maturity); regardless of the lions or the possible losses we may suffer.

Being Pneumatically correct is ALWAYS about being in agreement with God.  Yet we live in a church age where too many will pick and choose what they like or don’t like about God and His Word.  All on the basis of their idea of Christian liberty, or the basis that they just don’t like what God has to say, or how it may cause others to feel about them (the person called to cite God’s Word and not themselves or their own opinions).

Far too often we are worried about what people think, and how it makes us feel, or god forbid and worse yet causes us to be ostracized from our circles of acquaintance.  All the while claiming “we don’t want people to get the wrong idea about God.”  When in fact our fear is what silences the only Truth able to save a lost and dying world.

When altars were removed from many evangelical churches some 20 years ago, and pop culture, psychology, step programs, feel-good short sermons, and that café feel was added to our houses of worship, plus the best of religious entertainment in word and song – that my friends became the standard for a western, Christian church, business model – and we got the glory for getting the crowds.  But we lost the life giving presence found only through heartfelt and honest soli deo Gloria!  Who gets the glory these days?

We became PC to the world around us by giving up the Spirit and the Word.  We are at a grave loss if we have abandoned our practice of being Pneumatically correct; and supplanted it for being politically correct.  Is anyone up for a seeker sensitive latté and some new smoke, mirrors and lights instead of the weight of the Spirit?

This thought is deep within me, for I know if we do not stem the tide and watershed of weak pulpits and pews – the Spirit may not strive to be with us.  And because I’ve seen in my own life, and in the lives of other believers, a progressive loosening of once held core values, a decline in true and biblical faith, vision and even holy ideals – I am deeply grieved and once again on my face in repentance before God for myself and His Church.  

The shrinking and easing of church membership “requirements” are a small and lesser seen PC vs. PC conflict, but nonetheless real.  And years ago there was a committee within our fellowship that took great pains and labor to maintain “doctrinal purity” for our ranks, yet their influence seems lesser and lesser – if they still even exist.

And don’t get me started about the broad confluence and brush stroke of “Christian” authors who ignorantly or otherwise have eliminate a proper and Pneumatic use of Bible exegesis, all in the name of book sales.  And worse yet this deluge of “Christian” literature being consumed these days, have all but neutered our ability and our will, to doggedly mine the true gold of God’s Word and His Spirit’s Wisdom through personal prayer and study of the scriptures.  Oh for the clarity of a Berean call, practice, and tenacity to study and prefer the Scriptures and the Spirit, over the popular velvet-tonged ear-ticklers coursing through the cardio pulmonary systems of our churches today.  Simply put, we have an epidemic of spiritual heart disease and head disease, and they seem to be accepted maladies among us.

I must end my thoughts for now, but may God have mercy upon us beyond what He has already given on the cross through His Son.  And may we together (emphasis on TOGETHER), stand our ground in the final hours of this eternal battle – PC vs. PC.

May the Spirit of Truth prevail in us!  

The Day I Disbelieved

I cannot tell you through joint experience whether God exists or not.  What I can tell you is we are in the polarity of two worlds; belief vs. disbelief.

I think it was Francis Shaffer who challenged us to live within that tension.  And countless other theologians challenged us to dissect the two.  But what I now believe is that we are called, within the world of the visible, to believe and die for the invisible.  Few of which are able to muster the grit or soul courage to march into such conflict of reason.

Because what God has called us to is less than reason, but faith.  And faith is nothing less than magic.  And we are taught to suspect magic, but not logic.  So excuse me while I beg the pardon of logistic dialectic theologians.  Because I believe God is real.  But I like card tricks too.

What I struggle with is the Imago Dei that has been defaced by doubt and fear.  For if and when a lie is planted, we fall drastically towards the watershed of logic, which has been planted in our hearts to protect us from magic.  Ergo the crazy religious cycle of grid lock.

Please pause for a moment with me and confess: I do not believe.  And couple that confession with: yet I need you God.  And as we own up to our failure to believe we receive faith to BELIEVE.  Crazy isn't it?  Get it?

I love Jesus.  But I’ve never met Him skin to skin, eye to eye.

 

Can love be the basis for relationship?  Well I suppose so, because I've loved and it’s been the basis of relationships in the past; but what about God?

Can you in this very moment say aloud; “Father God I struggle to believe that you exist, because my life circumstances are so painful that life feels like you don’t care?”  I mean if God loves me, shouldn't life “feel” better?

Where are you God?  You (if you are God) know the times I've stood in my 32x32 inch fiberglass shower in the basement of my house and cried out God?  I thought you came to make things better?

But now in my life I realize that He did not come to make things “better” but He came to give me access out of what progressively will get worse (sorry to all you Amillennialists).  And that access “out” is by truth.  For every time I embrace a lie my life feels like crap; especially if I’m trying to live for Him.

So I ask you… do you believe what He says?  Or are you in the ditch of disbelief where you wrestle with magic or logic?  Because Paul the apostle told us we are to take captive every thought that presents itself as logical.  And God is NOT about logic and law.  He is about Spirit and Grace.

Is this the day you confess disbelieved?  Or at least admitted your disbelief?  What are you afraid of; God getting ticked off that you struggle with belief or what?

Join me in the confession of faith that says: Lord I cannot believe… unless you impart faith that I may believe.

That, my dear reader, is the power of disbelief...  As we confess our humanity in disbelief, God imparts something.  He imparts an “ear” to hear where there was not an ear.  And as by His grace He provides an ear to hear… faith comes.  But we MUST confess our deafness and our disbelief.

Fear not, for He realizes that we struggle.  Cry out… call out… speak now even your disbelief.  For an honest heart is what He is seeking; a heart that declares the truth of its OWN condition.  Not a perceived religion or bravado.

Join me in The Day of Disbelief.  To God be the glory!

Day 2 of 2014 - RAK

On Things Above

Many years ago I realized I was short.  And by that I mean my maximum adult height only reached five feet eight inches.  That’s right.  I was only 5’8” and worst of all I am even shorter now.  Old age I suppose.

That may not sound all that bad to those who are taller, but from late elementary school age on into my adult years it wreaked havoc on my thinking and self-esteem.  It’s likely because of all the taunting and teasing, or maybe even the “I just-can’t-quite-reach-it” moments (not to mention Randy Newman’s song Short People).  Oh and lest I forget all of my tall friends, who by the way were usually very kind regarding our differences (caveat: I have some very dear friends who are short like me).  And yes I know being short is nothing compared to the issues and physical disadvantages many people live with day in and day out.

But my point is this: When we find ourselves devolved of a divine perspective, our view of life becomes tacitly stagnant and toxic and usually without us even knowing it.  We somehow by default hear only the echoes of accusations directed to the underdog or the naked (Genesis 3:11).

In Colossians 3 the Apostle Paul reminds us to set our hearts and minds on things above.  And in doing so our perspective will change and inner peace will come.  And for that promise I am grateful.

But here’s the rub.  I live below.  I’m earth bound.  So if and when I do have one of those “things above” moments, it’s only through divine action on God’s part.  It usually happens when my mind is changed in relation to my earth-bound-ness.  And that problem, most always stems from the fact that I fail in my belief that there is actually anything above.  I tend to fail in my belief that there is more than a simple horizontal perspective to life.

In Deuteronomy 6 we find the basis of the Shema.  A prayer and a command to believe there is only One God and how therein to live for and to love Him.  I love this passage, but even more I love how Jesus fleshed it out in the Gospels.  And the curious thing is He added something to the command and prayer.  Do you know what He added?

He added the component of our mind.  For in loving God with all our being, we must do so fully and firstly with our minds.  And further, do you know that when Jesus first arrived on the scene, to the very end of His ministry here on earth, and even to the churches mentioned in Revelation, He constantly called for us to repent.

Now most of us when we hear the word “repent” tend to mingle it with confession and a gritty will-driven cessation of sinful and destructive behaviors.  But repentance is not confession of sin nor does it originate from our own willpower or grit.  On the contrary, it originates with God speaking truth to the lies bottled up inside us.  And as God speaks truth to the inner most parts of our mind, our minds begin to change, our thinking changes.  And that my friend is the beginning of repentance – a change of thinking, followed then by heartfelt and subsequent outward changes, and never the reverse, contrary to popular belief and teaching.

My inability to see things from above has little to do with the fact that I’m earth bound, but everything to do with a mind that is yet fully repentant.  A mind that has not been transformed or renewed by the truth of God will never experience nor have the ability to be set On Things Above.  And set it must be if I am ever to get over being short, naked, blind, sinful, helpless, hopeless and retched.

So I ask you: Is your mind set On Things Above?  Can you alone by willpower and dogged determination keep your mind On Things Above?

Because I can tell you my mind tends to slip to things below, if it has not been changed by the Spirit of Truth.  For I cannot memorize, attend, partake or genuflect enough to get my mind set On Things Above, but only by the power of the Word of Truth, only by His Spirit of Truth will my mind be set like a flint and become unmovable in its perspective from above.

For if my mind is to remain set On Things Above I must turn it over to the Truth.  I must experience a metamorphosis based upon Truth being infused into memories, thoughts, misinterpreted experiences, and blatant lies and accusations thrown at me from the very beginning and from every direction.

That is the only way I can keep my mind set – On Things Above.

Oh I’ll always be physically shorter than most, but I have overcome and will continue to overcome the lies that tell me being short is somehow bad or inferior or anything else of that nature – all lies.  Because from my heavenly Father’s perspective – I’m just perfect the way He created me and by His grace I’ll continue growing into that perfect son He loves so very much.

On Things Above – I’m slowly but surely getting His perspective.  And you? 

Lead or Feathers

Have you ever been asked the question: Which is heavier, a pound of lead or a pound of feathers?  And of course the intent of the question is to trick you into saying lead is heavier.  When in reality we all know, a pound of anything is still a pound.  Right?

This will be short I promise.

I ponder that question because pain, burden, loss, betrayal, or even entangling sin (Hebrews 12:1), tends to weigh upon a person.  And from a distance it’s easy to criticize one who is laboring under that kind of weight.  We would look upon their situation and say something like; “Well it’s only a bunch of feathers!”  Versus our shared (yet ignorant) recognition that lead is heavy and surely all of us would crumple under its burdensome weight.  But feathers?  Aren’t they lighter than lead?

Let me tell you.  A pound of feathers and a pound of lead; are still a pound.  They are still the same weight regardless of how they look from a distance.  One can only know the true gravity pull of a pound, by actually bearing such a weight.  And that is my point.

Christ alone is able to look at all the nuances of a burden borne by the broken hearted (Psalm 34:18; Isaiah 61:1-3; Matthew 11:28) and not stand in judgment.  For each of us tends to make all things relative to our own experience, yet that allows for no understanding or empathy to the one who is close to that breaking point; regardless if the weight be Lead or Feathers.

Let me encourage you this hour.  Never look upon someone else’s burden and say that it doesn’t appear to be that heavy.  Because a pound is a pound; be it Lead or Feathers.  Pain is pain, burden is burden, loss or betrayal and even entangling sin are all part of the weight humanity tries to carry, all the while attempting to look like it’s an easy load.  Yet unless we come to Christ, who promises to take the crushing load off our backs, we live with nothing less than the equivalent weight of Lead or Feathers.  A pound is still a pound.

Keep that in mind the next time you mentally judge someone who is close to breaking under the weight of a pound of feathers.  All the while thinking; "It’s not that bad, it’s only feathers... right?"

Discipline VS Devotion

I barely recollect the first time I heard the word governor used outside of state politics.  It was an early on in life conversation with a friend about a go-cart motor we had bolted on a rusty old frame.  We wanted the thing to be fast (dangerous) but just couldn’t get much more out of it, until it was suggested that we take off the governor.  That would allow us to run that bad boy all the way to red line.

I can’t remember if we blew the engine, but we took some part off the motor and indeed it went much faster.  Curious and fun is how I remember those early years.

This morning I was considering my faith journey.  For many years I believed I was compelled to growth in the Lord because of my devout heart and understanding as to what God had done for me.  Yet in recent months and through various pains and trials, I’ve been awakened to the fact that I may have been fooling myself all along.

Let me add a disclaimer:  I believe discipline is critical, necessary, and actually the ninth Fruit of the Spirit.  Therefore in no way am I rejecting its importance to our lives.

But what I am considering these days is this.  I may have misinterpreted my own disciplines as true heart devotion, when in reality they weren’t.  I may have acted in a “discipleship” manner toward the things of God, with the intent of personal growth and availability for the Master’s use, all the while believing I did so out of devotion to God.  Yet in reality using those spiritual disciplines as though they were talismans that gave me favor with God and power over the enemy or obstacles I may face on my journey towards my own desires.

I’ve really been taking a deep look at my life and ministry motivations.  Not to say they’ve been sinful or misguided, but if my hypothesis is correct, my life has been governed by attempts at Discipline Versus Devotion.  All the while believing I was devoted, yet in reality I may have been trying to work my evangelical magic through a self-efforts mentality.

Please don’t miss what I’m saying.  I believe I have a measure of devotion to God.  But I further believe that I have unwittingly operated with the idea that if I “do” certain Christian or biblical things, then I should “get” certain results or rewards.  Never believing that my salvation was predicated upon my works, but ever living as if doing “gets” me more stuff and good feelings from God.  All of which is bearing out to be quite a painful fallacy.

I pray to learn this lesson: That my spiritual disciplines are not exercised because they “get” me something, but because I love the Lord and am devoted wholly to Him.  God forgive me for living my Christian life with a misplaced governor of spiritual disciplines upon all I do and say.  May I with His help; remove this governor of perceived good works, done without true devotion to Him and nothing less.

“Lord, please root-out my core motives that are based upon lies I believe to be true.  And free me by your truth that I may fulfill the rest of my days by devotion alone.  And as you work in me, remove and keep at bay that governor of false Discipline Versus Devotion.  For by that fallacy I’ve kept myself from being all you created me to be.  In Jesus name I pray.  Amen.”

Chazown

When we read Proverbs 29:18 or hear a teaching or message on its content, we generally get a correct exegesis of the text.  A divine revelation or a revealing of something that can only come from or through God is what we would settle upon as proper meaning and interpretation.  Thus spurring us on to seek God, to pursue His ways, and thereby not run amuck or fall into fleshly chaos.  With that view I certainly agree.

But let me challenge you to go from the sublime to the almost ridiculous in concept.  From a non-biblical definition, the first and most often used meaning of the word vision is simply this: eyesight – the ability to see.  What if each of us began to understand that God wants us to “see” something or at least have the ability to “see” when the opportunity arises?

Here’s the cool yet tricky part of vision or seeing.  As we look or see ahead, we usually have nothing but a horizon line to focus upon.  Granted our surroundings and objects can and often do distract or obstruct the horizon line of our future, but nonetheless, if we keep walking and focusing our vision on the horizon line, our vision does not change, but the horizon line is ever changing.

Here is where we tend to fall short in the pursuit of His divine vision.  We do so by a misinterpretation of the ever changing horizon line – falsely believing a lie that tells us the vision has changed; when in fact it has not.  The only thing that has changed and will ALWAYS change if we are moving in a forward direction with God is the horizon line of circumstances, but the Vision never changes.  It is ever focused on His revelation and voice that propels us forward through the changing landscape of an ever changing horizon line, all couched in providence and promise of His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Fear not my friends, we are not blind, nor has our vision dimmed.  But only the changing landscape as we move forward!  Let us celebrate the journey towards the ever changing horizon line.  Amen?

The Fragrance of an Emoticon

I never knew what that term meant until a few years ago.  Let me cite reference from Wikipedia:  “A smiley-face emoticon.  An emoticon is a meta-communicative pictorial representation of a facial expression which in the absence of the prosody serves to draw a receiver's attention to the tenor or temper of a sender's nominal verbal communication, changing and improving its interpretation.  It expresses - usually by means of punctuation marks - a person's feelings or mood and can include numbers and letters, as well.”

What if we never lived our lives with expression?  What if we never conjured up the idea of emoticons?  What if we were robots?  What if we had no muscular continuity connected to our souls?  My God we’d be wood.  That is not good!

As for me, I love the use of emoticons, but more than that, I love a real face with a real beautiful smile and twinkling eyes.  Yes sir, I’m all in for emoticons when it comes to writing and cyber expressions, but when it comes to flesh and blood and Imago Dei, nothing beats the real flesh and blood pathos of expressions from the human face.  Note it.  Take it.  Love it.  Leave it.  But it’s real.

Somewhere in the light of Over the Top ice cream and Holy Spirit denial, one can be lost in the power of a living emoticon.  Maybe I’m nuts, but I’d rather have the tender curve of a supple cheek, versus the digital structure of an unflinching emoticon.  Call me pathetically human.

You can’t smell an emoticon.  You can’t touch an emoticon.  You can’t hear an emoticon.  You can’t believe in an emoticon.  Thank God for the real Imago Dei found in the pulse of the human heart.

A soft cheek in the moon light is far better than a “winky face” on a digital page.  May the God of all emotion, love and humanity grant you more grace than any emoticon could ever deliver.

Sigh