Have you noticed how we seem so intent upon making things more complicated than they really are or how we try to add more and more to simple things until they become very far from simple? Like, for instance, our salvation.
Separated from God by a price we cannot pay. Sin so deeply ingrained within our being that even our thoughts - even the brief ones - are sinful and more than enough to condemn us even if we did not start miles in arrears. The solution? God, being the only One who could pay such a debt, did so on our behalf through Christ Jesus who has paid that debt in full for us. We accept this fact through faith and that faith is given to us by God in the first place (Eph.2:8). So we no longer have to rely upon whatever sick version of righteousness or holiness or sinlessness that we have due to our own efforts as we now have a righteousness that has come directly from God, given to us by His amazing grace.
Seems simple enough.
So why, pray tell, do we seem to think we need to add to it? Why do we nod and agree with "the just shall live by faith" and add on something about our own efforts like that was some kind of implied extra? Why do think we have to earn the grace we have been shown or that if we screw up God is going to change His mind - like the cross of Christ were not enough somehow? How can we think - even in fantasy - that we, by some effort of our own, can rid ourselves of the sin which runs within the very core of our DNA? For if such were true that we could by some great effort of self denial and strictest adherence to the law accomplish such a feat, then Christ died for nothing. And I tell you this: my Lord did not die for nothing, anymore than He rose for nothing.
I remember an acronym from my school days: KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid. I think perhaps we need to remember that a bit more often.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Dear Deer...
In case you were not aware, I am not from a major city originally. My hometown is actually around 1100 people right now and that counts outside of town limits, so it is a bit rural. Rural enough that seeing a deer on the front lawn or a bear in the back yard is not something overly unusual. Now, one would think, that these things being somewhat common, that I would notice and just carry on, but I don't. I always stop and watch - watching the deer walk by, the beaver in the pond, etc.
Now then, one place I spent a good portion of my adult life is quite a bit larger at around 20,000+ people. While hardly a mega city like NYC or Toronto, it is still a decent size especially compared to where I came from and, like most larger centers, it does have a more suburban outskirt area. Recently, while I there, I looked out in the backyard of where I was staying and saw not one, but five deer grazing - two adults, one "teen" and two young. And I stood there and watched them for a solid 20 minutes. Funny thing though, the people from there only notice them sometimes and pay no attention whatsoever.
At one place I worked for, years ago, they hired a guy from Newfoundland (or Labrador). He was a nice guy and a good worker and was always on time if not a bit early every day. One day though, he was fairly late getting in. Considering his track record, obviously people were curious as to why. Apparently, on his way in on the highway, standing beside the road were three deer. And he stopped. He stopped and stared and watched until they left, even though he knew he now running late. He explained that while there were moose where he was from, there were no deer. He had never seen a deer in the wild before and he was amazed by them. He bordered on glowing in the face when he finally got in to work.
Isn't that interesting that someone who is around them often and someone who has never seen them take a similar stance. Yet those who see them now and then - even if they are in an area one would not think them to be - could almost care less and rarely even notice.
Welcome to Christianity.
While it is not uncommon to reduce our faith to knowing the correct responses to certain questions of theology or doctrine, that is by far not all there is to it. A quick tour through the New Testament - especially the Gospels and Acts - will show that quite quickly. There is, indeed, a very real power involved as well and that power is beyond merely an increase in "will power" in our daily lives.
To those outside of the Church, seeing the power of God in action brings about a similar response as that of my former coworkers to seeing the deer - awestruck.
To those who see this fairly often and act upon on it, they too react in a similar fashion - even though they have seen and done much, they continue to be in awe.
But then, there are those in the middle. Those who are content with being in the middle - with having a "faith" that is merely intellectual or emotional. These people do see the power of God in action but they're response is all but indifferent. They chock things up to "good luck" rather than God's intervention. They are skeptical and cynical of accounts of the Spirit doing the amazing, especially when done through a another person. And those stories, while they do acknowledge the hearing of them, do not even warrant a change of thought about whatever they were talking about beforehand. While they may be theologically sound and they may be active in seeking to help those less fortunate, their version of Christianity is all but completely stripped of its' power to the point that the early church may well not recognize this version as even being Christian.
This is not to condemn who you find yourself in this middle range. This is to encourage you that there is, indeed, more to your faith. I know you have felt it. You have read the accounts of what the disciples and apostles did - not to mention Jesus Himself - and it has stirred within you. But voices which should never have been listened to overwhelm your mind and you dismiss that stirring as fantasy or something to be forgotten as you go back to focusing upon your list of what to do and what not to do in this life. But it is not fantasy! It is not your imagination which stirs, it is the Spirit of God which stirs within you. Stop dismissing Him. Dare. Dare to have hope and faith in what you read, feel and know to be true. Seek God and, in that, seek also His power - not for arrogant or prideful reasons, but to see the glory of God Almighty played out before your very eyes - to know the extent of this calling He has called you to. Dare to step out and believe in the miraculous. Do not be content with scraps on the floor beneath the table for upon the table is a great feast and it has been laid out for you. The chair you scrounge like a mouse beneath is your own chair!
PS: If you have "formerly" lived within this Christian life that experienced the power and glory of God, but you find yourself not there now - do not believe the lie you are being fed. You are not being punished for something that Christ already paid the price for nor did you screw things up royally - God knew what you were going to just as He knows what you will yet do. He knew when He first called you.
Now then, one place I spent a good portion of my adult life is quite a bit larger at around 20,000+ people. While hardly a mega city like NYC or Toronto, it is still a decent size especially compared to where I came from and, like most larger centers, it does have a more suburban outskirt area. Recently, while I there, I looked out in the backyard of where I was staying and saw not one, but five deer grazing - two adults, one "teen" and two young. And I stood there and watched them for a solid 20 minutes. Funny thing though, the people from there only notice them sometimes and pay no attention whatsoever.
At one place I worked for, years ago, they hired a guy from Newfoundland (or Labrador). He was a nice guy and a good worker and was always on time if not a bit early every day. One day though, he was fairly late getting in. Considering his track record, obviously people were curious as to why. Apparently, on his way in on the highway, standing beside the road were three deer. And he stopped. He stopped and stared and watched until they left, even though he knew he now running late. He explained that while there were moose where he was from, there were no deer. He had never seen a deer in the wild before and he was amazed by them. He bordered on glowing in the face when he finally got in to work.
Isn't that interesting that someone who is around them often and someone who has never seen them take a similar stance. Yet those who see them now and then - even if they are in an area one would not think them to be - could almost care less and rarely even notice.
Welcome to Christianity.
While it is not uncommon to reduce our faith to knowing the correct responses to certain questions of theology or doctrine, that is by far not all there is to it. A quick tour through the New Testament - especially the Gospels and Acts - will show that quite quickly. There is, indeed, a very real power involved as well and that power is beyond merely an increase in "will power" in our daily lives.
To those outside of the Church, seeing the power of God in action brings about a similar response as that of my former coworkers to seeing the deer - awestruck.
To those who see this fairly often and act upon on it, they too react in a similar fashion - even though they have seen and done much, they continue to be in awe.
But then, there are those in the middle. Those who are content with being in the middle - with having a "faith" that is merely intellectual or emotional. These people do see the power of God in action but they're response is all but indifferent. They chock things up to "good luck" rather than God's intervention. They are skeptical and cynical of accounts of the Spirit doing the amazing, especially when done through a another person. And those stories, while they do acknowledge the hearing of them, do not even warrant a change of thought about whatever they were talking about beforehand. While they may be theologically sound and they may be active in seeking to help those less fortunate, their version of Christianity is all but completely stripped of its' power to the point that the early church may well not recognize this version as even being Christian.
This is not to condemn who you find yourself in this middle range. This is to encourage you that there is, indeed, more to your faith. I know you have felt it. You have read the accounts of what the disciples and apostles did - not to mention Jesus Himself - and it has stirred within you. But voices which should never have been listened to overwhelm your mind and you dismiss that stirring as fantasy or something to be forgotten as you go back to focusing upon your list of what to do and what not to do in this life. But it is not fantasy! It is not your imagination which stirs, it is the Spirit of God which stirs within you. Stop dismissing Him. Dare. Dare to have hope and faith in what you read, feel and know to be true. Seek God and, in that, seek also His power - not for arrogant or prideful reasons, but to see the glory of God Almighty played out before your very eyes - to know the extent of this calling He has called you to. Dare to step out and believe in the miraculous. Do not be content with scraps on the floor beneath the table for upon the table is a great feast and it has been laid out for you. The chair you scrounge like a mouse beneath is your own chair!
PS: If you have "formerly" lived within this Christian life that experienced the power and glory of God, but you find yourself not there now - do not believe the lie you are being fed. You are not being punished for something that Christ already paid the price for nor did you screw things up royally - God knew what you were going to just as He knows what you will yet do. He knew when He first called you.
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