May 22, 2009
So I took notes from another podcast (from The God Journey: "Sharing in the Father's Affection" ... at Lifestream.org) and then added some thoughts of my own. I'd like to share them here!
We have a Father who loves us more than we could know... and if we could sort that out it would totally change out we treat each other.... Some say we should figure out how Jesus loved individual people and then treat people like that - but what is needed is not actors and actresses but transformed people who live loving! How is Jesus loving me? Figure that out [ Accept it, live in His love! ] and then you can love others. "A new command I give you, that you love one another." Paradigm shift from the old command to love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor as yourself: not really a command - but a reality that starts with His love for me: I love others the way He loves me.
John 15:15 "I no longer call you slaves..." -- reflects back to the old covenant. Master to slaves, King to subjects. Jesus resoled our sin and shame on the cross - now we are friends of Jesus, sons and daughters of God - and brothers and sisters with each other. Friendship: "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend" (even if they don't give back!). Not the mutual accomodation of self-need, self-benefit... but the love of the Father. His love is all about you: other-focused. Jesus did not have our self-focused nature - and so His love transforms the ones who are loved. If you're loving to not feel guilty [ or to not be rejected or punished or whatever] - it's still about you, not about the one you are supposedly loving - that's still slave love.
When you are other-focused, you aren't afraid of what others think, or afraid of anything else: 1 John 4: 16, 18 "Perfect love casts out fear" ... when I get a sense of Father's affection for me and I start to live that alongside other people, that transforms me. All my joys and all my pains are somehow in God, and He always cares for me - I don't have to look out for myself because my Father does that for me every day. [ Now I am freed from myself - and can other-focus, living love to them, alongside/with Father]
Romans 8:15 ... old covenant: based on fear: performance-based relationship - it couldn't transform you. But now you have the spirit of sonship! Free affection - transforming - so we learn to love as He loves. How a baby looks at it's mommy or daddy: That's how Father wants you looking at Him: mama! dada! ... delight! [ I have been spending so much time with my grandson and his mommy and daddy lately - and oh! I see that love and joy between them!]
Living God's love is not an intellectual conclusion - but a life lived: experiential. Worship is good: but what Father wants most from us is affection for Him: the delight of children. We need to be like infants totally dependant [ trusting, loving, adoring ] upon our parent [ believing He is perfect, that His love doesn't fail, that He'll always love us unconditionally, that He is totally all-wise, unfailing, keeps His promises, is unlimited - which of course He is, always... unlike us human parents....]
Don't live in the orbit of your own self-preference. If anything, it's our brokenness that makes us most endearing to our Father. God saw you at your most brokenness, sinfulness, rebelliousness - and He loved you with pure Father love ... let that Father love transform you. In the new covenant Jesus changed the way God and humans relate. God never loved you for a reason - He just loves you with great affection [ because He is love!] . Get to know your neighbours, not to convert them, but in the course of a real relationship because God loves them - and you love them too because He loves you and you've been transformed by His love. Talk to people, but just see where God takes it. You don't have to purposely "bring up the spiritual"... often they will, themselves, or the direction the conversation takes will naturally lead to it... and if it doesn't come up, leave it with Father.
Until you know Father's love for you, you'll have no idea how to love others - your relationship with Him must be first! Your little baby hand in His big Father hand.
Father, make this real in my life today - win me with Your affection and transform me with Your love!
Friday, 5 June 2009
May 22, 2009
I am starting to use my pedometer again... keep coming back to the 10,000 steps advice! A lot of times I feel like I'm "wasting time" ... guess I should just use my MP3 player with the French lessons or the worship songs to "redeem the time" eh? Or? ... I got a small waterbottle for my new backpack, so that it fits better... the only thing I wish for now is a full Bible that is more lightweight... The ones I have are so big and heavy... I'd like to get one and mark it with "the salvation path" verses and other important passages I could use to help people (I also put a small French language New Testament in the backpack, as well as bandages, wipes, snack bars, etc that might come in handy helping someone out... I really want to care for people, for You, to share Your love that You have shared with me, Papa! I want to share the wonder and love of YOU!) Thank You!
I need to ready Your Word now! I need You! Please forgive me for being so... useless? ... these days... and help me to make You - and our relationship - priority, starting immediately. (Father, the enemy - I think - everytime I want to focus on You, convinces me immediately that I'm so tired, can't focus, etc.... please, Father! Papa! Please dear Jesus! Please, Holy Spirit... give me strength and energy!
... later... Okay, so I'm finished the daily reading... now... Father, I'm feeling anxious... I feel like I've been listening and watching... but that maybe sometime soon I should step out and start telling others clearly about You. Papa?
... later still... Wrote another family story - and then listened to a podcast for 45 minutes. Loved it! Some key things to remember (which answers my question to Yo earlier, Papa, about being "useless" etc):
It's a reality you relax into: "the unforced rhythms of grace"(from The Message)... Is there any relationship you're enjoying? Recognize what God may be reflecting of Himself in your relationship with that person... It takes awhile for us to let go of our passion to "do" for ourselves...
And oh! I got a paperback pocket-book-sized version of the NASB Bible (my favorite translation) today! For my backpack!
I am starting to use my pedometer again... keep coming back to the 10,000 steps advice! A lot of times I feel like I'm "wasting time" ... guess I should just use my MP3 player with the French lessons or the worship songs to "redeem the time" eh? Or? ... I got a small waterbottle for my new backpack, so that it fits better... the only thing I wish for now is a full Bible that is more lightweight... The ones I have are so big and heavy... I'd like to get one and mark it with "the salvation path" verses and other important passages I could use to help people (I also put a small French language New Testament in the backpack, as well as bandages, wipes, snack bars, etc that might come in handy helping someone out... I really want to care for people, for You, to share Your love that You have shared with me, Papa! I want to share the wonder and love of YOU!) Thank You!
I need to ready Your Word now! I need You! Please forgive me for being so... useless? ... these days... and help me to make You - and our relationship - priority, starting immediately. (Father, the enemy - I think - everytime I want to focus on You, convinces me immediately that I'm so tired, can't focus, etc.... please, Father! Papa! Please dear Jesus! Please, Holy Spirit... give me strength and energy!
... later... Okay, so I'm finished the daily reading... now... Father, I'm feeling anxious... I feel like I've been listening and watching... but that maybe sometime soon I should step out and start telling others clearly about You. Papa?
... later still... Wrote another family story - and then listened to a podcast for 45 minutes. Loved it! Some key things to remember (which answers my question to Yo earlier, Papa, about being "useless" etc):
It's a reality you relax into: "the unforced rhythms of grace"(from The Message)... Is there any relationship you're enjoying? Recognize what God may be reflecting of Himself in your relationship with that person... It takes awhile for us to let go of our passion to "do" for ourselves...
And oh! I got a paperback pocket-book-sized version of the NASB Bible (my favorite translation) today! For my backpack!
But what are you DOING?
May 21, 2009
Went to coffee time this morning. Met a guy along the way, street guy with a buggy and all... and he came along with me.
I took a couple little walkabouts. And we picked up lettuce, spinach, mixed greens and radish seeds, and a parsley plant... and I planted them in my garden since ___ brought over that nice organic fertilizer for me! I also created a "kitty-proofing" system of sticks all over the garden to try and keep it safe from the neighborhood cats who think it is the most wonderful kitty-litter spot around here! I also mowed down the latest round of dandelions before they go to seed, though I hated to see their beautiful yellow blooms bite the dust in the process!
I went to a baby shower for a teacher I worked with at the Christian School. It is funny how friendships that develop in specific situations seem to have a hard time moving outside them. Not teaching now, I kind of felt like an outsider... but maybe it was "just me" .... I did have a nice chat with one of my former students (the senior girls were invited to the shower)... and with the other teachers, as long as we all stayed on the "baby" topic, things went fine conversationally. A few of them asked, "So what are you doing these days?" and I mentioned my blogging, and spending time with my grandchild who has just moved to town, and writing the family story and posting up the photos and all the responses I've received from kids who spent time with our family, and church-in-the-park and Tuesday and Thursday morning coffee times and all... and they listened politely, and then asked, "But what are you doing? I mean, haven't you got a job or something?" They seem to think I'm kind of wasting time or something. I kind of got the feeling that maybe they feel like I'm not doing something "worthwhile" as in teaching at a Christian School (and thereby leading kids to Christ, etc)... Or maybe it's just my imagination...
Went to coffee time this morning. Met a guy along the way, street guy with a buggy and all... and he came along with me.
I took a couple little walkabouts. And we picked up lettuce, spinach, mixed greens and radish seeds, and a parsley plant... and I planted them in my garden since ___ brought over that nice organic fertilizer for me! I also created a "kitty-proofing" system of sticks all over the garden to try and keep it safe from the neighborhood cats who think it is the most wonderful kitty-litter spot around here! I also mowed down the latest round of dandelions before they go to seed, though I hated to see their beautiful yellow blooms bite the dust in the process!
I went to a baby shower for a teacher I worked with at the Christian School. It is funny how friendships that develop in specific situations seem to have a hard time moving outside them. Not teaching now, I kind of felt like an outsider... but maybe it was "just me" .... I did have a nice chat with one of my former students (the senior girls were invited to the shower)... and with the other teachers, as long as we all stayed on the "baby" topic, things went fine conversationally. A few of them asked, "So what are you doing these days?" and I mentioned my blogging, and spending time with my grandchild who has just moved to town, and writing the family story and posting up the photos and all the responses I've received from kids who spent time with our family, and church-in-the-park and Tuesday and Thursday morning coffee times and all... and they listened politely, and then asked, "But what are you doing? I mean, haven't you got a job or something?" They seem to think I'm kind of wasting time or something. I kind of got the feeling that maybe they feel like I'm not doing something "worthwhile" as in teaching at a Christian School (and thereby leading kids to Christ, etc)... Or maybe it's just my imagination...
outdoor church... street church... the Spirit gives life
May 19,2009
Did the usual morning stuff, then off to coffee time. ___ was talking about his "rules"- no swearing, no drinking or drugs, no fighting... but he said if someone is really in a bad space, like someone they love died or whatever, it doesn't matter how drunk or whatever, some and I'll cry with you - like Jesus!
They were also talking about the local town "culture" and how the police enforce it.... People get charged for walking across the street on a red light when there are no cars in sight, down and out people (sometimes drunk, but sometimes just hanging out) picked up and taken to the lock-up for a few hours (mostly because they don't make the street look pretty...) ... but they so often don't go near fights, drug-dealing, wild parties in school grounds in the evening, etc, so long as it's not done out where respectable people might see it (if a bunch of school kids have a planned fight - advertised by text-messaging etc - as long as it's in a school grounds in a lower-middle-class neighborhood, the police often don't come by even if they are called; but if its in a higher class neighborhood or an area where tourists gather etc, different story!). It's like the attitude is that as long as things look pretty and safe on the surface (for well-off people, or for tourists bringing in the bucks), who cares what's happening in alleys, back streets, low class neighborhoods, etc. And sadly, that ends up pretty bad for an awful lot of decent, ordinary people, who can't afford to live in the pretty, safe places... And I was thinking, yes, that affects an awful lot of people!
And he was also talking about people who come out to "volunteer" with him and are all gung-ho and offer to help... but after 2 or 3 weeks they stop turning up... and so he doesn't feel free to give out responsibilities (even when they ask) until he can see they really do plan to stick around...
And he was talking about all the "background" stuff he has to do that he's hoping people will come to help out with... like shopping, and setting up Sunday mornings, and buying food... and I'm thinking, I want to help, I want to do stuff... but I just don't know what You want from me... Anyway, Father, You know what You want me - us! hubby and me both - to do... and also, I want to do what You want, not just to rush in and "do" ... maybe You still have me at the listen-and-learn stage... not just charging in.
I have been thinking about that "outdoor church" website I was looking at... the outdoor gathering of the church seems to be at someone's pretty nice cabin out in the country-side, or at least, around someone's picnic table in their back yard - and every fourth gathering is an "outdoor adventure" like canoeing and stuff - which certainly does attract young people and people who like that kind of action - and it is radical, perhaps, in comparison to "traditional" church... but I'm wondering, where is the outreach? I'm just kind of wondering if it attracts many people outside the already churched crowd who are maybe a bit bored with the regular in-church stuff? (Though of course that's important too...)
Haven't read Your Word today, Father - could be that's why I'm "off" eh.... will do that now. Please,speak to my spirit, Holy Spirit, Father, Jesus. Thank You! amen!
Check these out: ISaiah 35:10 Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing into Zion and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away... v8 A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it... v 7 The scorched land (or - the mirage!) will become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water. [ Isn't that an amazing thing to look forward to? I'm meeting so many people whose lives are like scorched, thirsty land... and oh, I'm wanting to love them and bring springs of living water... and everlasting joy... into their lives!]
And: 2 Corinthians 3: 2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men. 3... a letter of Christ, cared for (served) by us, written... with the Spirit of the living God... on tablets of hearts of flesh. 4. Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. 5.... our adequacy is from God. 6... as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life... 9. For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, how much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory... 12. Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech... 16. but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. [ This is exactly what I meant, in response to that book "reviewer"! Of course Your Word says it perfectly, Father! Thank You! ]
Did the usual morning stuff, then off to coffee time. ___ was talking about his "rules"- no swearing, no drinking or drugs, no fighting... but he said if someone is really in a bad space, like someone they love died or whatever, it doesn't matter how drunk or whatever, some and I'll cry with you - like Jesus!
They were also talking about the local town "culture" and how the police enforce it.... People get charged for walking across the street on a red light when there are no cars in sight, down and out people (sometimes drunk, but sometimes just hanging out) picked up and taken to the lock-up for a few hours (mostly because they don't make the street look pretty...) ... but they so often don't go near fights, drug-dealing, wild parties in school grounds in the evening, etc, so long as it's not done out where respectable people might see it (if a bunch of school kids have a planned fight - advertised by text-messaging etc - as long as it's in a school grounds in a lower-middle-class neighborhood, the police often don't come by even if they are called; but if its in a higher class neighborhood or an area where tourists gather etc, different story!). It's like the attitude is that as long as things look pretty and safe on the surface (for well-off people, or for tourists bringing in the bucks), who cares what's happening in alleys, back streets, low class neighborhoods, etc. And sadly, that ends up pretty bad for an awful lot of decent, ordinary people, who can't afford to live in the pretty, safe places... And I was thinking, yes, that affects an awful lot of people!
And he was also talking about people who come out to "volunteer" with him and are all gung-ho and offer to help... but after 2 or 3 weeks they stop turning up... and so he doesn't feel free to give out responsibilities (even when they ask) until he can see they really do plan to stick around...
And he was talking about all the "background" stuff he has to do that he's hoping people will come to help out with... like shopping, and setting up Sunday mornings, and buying food... and I'm thinking, I want to help, I want to do stuff... but I just don't know what You want from me... Anyway, Father, You know what You want me - us! hubby and me both - to do... and also, I want to do what You want, not just to rush in and "do" ... maybe You still have me at the listen-and-learn stage... not just charging in.
I have been thinking about that "outdoor church" website I was looking at... the outdoor gathering of the church seems to be at someone's pretty nice cabin out in the country-side, or at least, around someone's picnic table in their back yard - and every fourth gathering is an "outdoor adventure" like canoeing and stuff - which certainly does attract young people and people who like that kind of action - and it is radical, perhaps, in comparison to "traditional" church... but I'm wondering, where is the outreach? I'm just kind of wondering if it attracts many people outside the already churched crowd who are maybe a bit bored with the regular in-church stuff? (Though of course that's important too...)
Haven't read Your Word today, Father - could be that's why I'm "off" eh.... will do that now. Please,speak to my spirit, Holy Spirit, Father, Jesus. Thank You! amen!
Check these out: ISaiah 35:10 Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing into Zion and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away... v8 A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it... v 7 The scorched land (or - the mirage!) will become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water. [ Isn't that an amazing thing to look forward to? I'm meeting so many people whose lives are like scorched, thirsty land... and oh, I'm wanting to love them and bring springs of living water... and everlasting joy... into their lives!]
And: 2 Corinthians 3: 2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men. 3... a letter of Christ, cared for (served) by us, written... with the Spirit of the living God... on tablets of hearts of flesh. 4. Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. 5.... our adequacy is from God. 6... as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life... 9. For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, how much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory... 12. Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech... 16. but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. [ This is exactly what I meant, in response to that book "reviewer"! Of course Your Word says it perfectly, Father! Thank You! ]
Monday, 18 May 2009
more thoughts on "The End of Religion" .
May 19, 2009
Over the past month or so, a friend has been sending emails of things he's been learning from the Word -- and today, I printed out the last 1/2 dozen or so, and went down to the beach (it' s such a beautiful day!) and sat on a bench, and read through them... and heard the voice of Father speaking through them, confirming so much He has been teaching me. They also related a LOT to the thoughts I've been having about the book The End of Religion ... and I would like to share some of what he said, because it really adds to and confirms what I wrote the other day. (If you haven't read the blog from May 14 "My thoughts about "The End of Religion" by B. Cavey" and May 17 "Thinking about your amazing love... and other discussions with Papa" you should probably read them first; then you'll see how these thoughts from my friend fit in!)
He wrote:
You are worthy. You're OK. The cross made you OK... 'Worthy, worthy in His sight, I cannot more worthy be, For in the Person of His Son, I am as worthy as He.' ... speak out what [you] know and believe...declaring all [you] know about that Cross. Out loud.... 'He bore it all.' .... 'The cross of Christ, the blood shed there continuously cleanses and frees us from all sin.'... the finished work of Christ implicit in those words, 'Father, forgive them' .... I [am] in fact, through His work, not mine, 'as worthy as He' .... If you are feeling unworthy and attacked...try believing by declaring anew the old, old story of the accomplishments of the cross. The grace and power of His magnificent love Who shed His blood from within its cruel grip will come through for you. You will be restored.
And....
... there is, in the universe, a Resurrection principle... [which], at work, means that 'God works all things for good to those who love him' .... in the affairs of men who will, against all odds, trust God and not give up on His plan. Or even if they do, the principle works because God, not man, controls our affairs ultimately.... the Resurrection changed everything. That event whose principle had been at work in the time of Jacob and Joseph resulted in Jesus walking out of the tomb alive. He killed death that day, giving us the hope that everything will come right in the end, however dreadful the mess we're in and how much it seems to be our own fault.... the Resurrection bypasses all considerations of fault and blame.... Our part is to believe.... Personally, I have seen the death principle savagely at work on many of my circumstances... It has reaped its grim harvest and done its worst.... But, only if we give in to it can it win today and, even then, it will only lose in the end because the Resurrection principle is higher than the laws of sin and death.... trust in and declare the Resurrection even when [you] do not understand [what is happening in your life]...
And ...
Ephesians 2:7... envisions the 'whole purpose of everything' in one verse: 'He did this that HE might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immesurable riches of His free grace in kindness and goodness of heart towards us..." ... God did what He did so that He could demonstrate GRACE throughout the ages to come.... grace is: an act of love for no other reason than that the one who gives it out likes you and wants to make you happy.... God's purpose is to demonstrate GRACE, not to flex His divine muscles, not to 'Lord it over' His creation but to permeate His creation with His grace... God made certain people alive by placing inside their spirits the Holy Spirit of God even when they were 'dead in sin.' Paul rewords it... 'He gave us the very life of Christ.... He did this in order that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in His kindness and goodness toward us.' (Amp.)
[A comment of my own here: The more I consider the review of "The End of Religion" which I have already discussed a couple days previously, the more it seems to me that the writer of the review seems to have a different view of where mankind is, in the "ages" the Word of God speaks of, than I do. My friend has, from his own study of Scripture over many years, created a possible outline of these "ages" ... and I'd like to share it here. Of course others have also made their own outlines; this one I think is simple and pretty accurate. I believe we are in what he calls the "period of grace" ... that we are freed from the "period of ... God's law: God's character in a code" .... (and that, while we are already experiencing the kingdom of God, as believers, the fulfillment of it, the "Age of the Kingdom" as described below, is yet to come...) Anyway, I found this outline interesting... and the comments following the "Age of the Kingdom" definition....what do you think? As we are already under grace, what does this say to us as we ourselves live in the Kingdom, even if it isn't yet in its fullness? This does not seem to be a simplistic faith, but a great challenge to love and follow our Savior with all our hearts... and all aspects of our being!]
Anyway, he also wrote:
1. The Age Before Creation - God, who always was... fellowshipped with Himself...
2. The Age of Innocence - God lived in His creation with His children, walking with them 'in the cool of the day' before their terrible choice to go their own way without their creator... [making] themselves slaves of evil and participants in a fallen age that would fill the earth with violence and death.
3. The Age of Sin and Death - is the destructive age that came from the above choices...
a. Period of Human Government - leading to the catastrophe of the great flood and following it for some years.... We call it history - man's story of sin and death...
b. Period of Israel and God's law - a nation was ... given 'God's character in a code' .... They badly obeyed this holy law but still, it was a light of life for those who would choose it...
c. Period of Grace - God will use the witness of those who deliberately choose grace to spread, in the ages to come, that message of love to the race of man. Eph 1:10 says... 'He planned for the maturity of the times and the climax of the ages to unify all things and head them up and consummate them in Christ, both things in heaven and things in earth.'
4. The Age of the Kingdom - ... after 'certain adjustments' in history - perhaps the collapse of everything in which man has put his faith - the world will see the King and His Kingdom in full measure... the prayer Jesus said to pray - 'Thy Kingdom come' - .... It will be answered!
Those little glimpses we've seen... will be common practices of the ones whom God chooses to entrust with these powers in the Kingdom Age.... When they exercise those powers in love and grace, not as religion, not for profit and not for personal power, the world, by the millions, will turn to the truths of the Gospel. This message will not have any other agenda than grace, pure undeserved grace with no motives other than love, exactly as Jesus showed the world before it hung Him on a cross.... Can you try to imagine how long it would take [for people to] choose Jesus... if incorruptible servants of grace healed them, fed them... removed monstrous laws from their society.... What delight and what acceptance would all those stiff Christian religious people enjoy given true reality with the real facts to prove it. In the Kingdom Age, the Gospel will be preached in all its fullness... re-establishing order into the chaos of human affairs...
5. The Age of Judgment - time during which the wrongs of history are addressed, when justice is pronounced... justice will be understood to have already occurred on the cross when the payment of all sins was meted out in terrible fullness as He 'drank the cup' of sin.... When He cried, 'It is finished' or 'paid in full' He was pronouncing the full payment of the purchase price necessary to redeem man from the mess he had made and the slavery to sin he had accepted as 'normal life.' Legally, it was a 'done deal' although practically it will take the ages to unfold it all 'on the ground.' Nevertheless, within the justice of God and within the principle of restitution so clear in the code of the Hebrew laws, there will be an additional personal accounting.... the age of judgment will be in the good hands of those who have learned both of justice and mercy. In the end, it will have righted all the wrongs, established a true justice always tipping the the scales in favor of grace because that is the whole purpose of the ages.
6. The Eternal State - 'heaven'.... We know little about it but must believe that it is, in fact, beyond all dreams, wonderful and beautiful....
Finally, to conclude, the purpose of the ages - and you may understand them differently from me - is to demonstrate grace. When it is all over, when the ages have unfolded and the last case has been heard, it will be all about grace. I think I should make my life 'all about grace' as well. But how? And how about you?
[My comment: that last paragraph: what a challenge! ... and if you haven't read my blog from yesterday, "reaching out to people on the streets," you might enjoy seeing one way that some people are living grace...]
Over the past month or so, a friend has been sending emails of things he's been learning from the Word -- and today, I printed out the last 1/2 dozen or so, and went down to the beach (it' s such a beautiful day!) and sat on a bench, and read through them... and heard the voice of Father speaking through them, confirming so much He has been teaching me. They also related a LOT to the thoughts I've been having about the book The End of Religion ... and I would like to share some of what he said, because it really adds to and confirms what I wrote the other day. (If you haven't read the blog from May 14 "My thoughts about "The End of Religion" by B. Cavey" and May 17 "Thinking about your amazing love... and other discussions with Papa" you should probably read them first; then you'll see how these thoughts from my friend fit in!)
He wrote:
You are worthy. You're OK. The cross made you OK... 'Worthy, worthy in His sight, I cannot more worthy be, For in the Person of His Son, I am as worthy as He.' ... speak out what [you] know and believe...declaring all [you] know about that Cross. Out loud.... 'He bore it all.' .... 'The cross of Christ, the blood shed there continuously cleanses and frees us from all sin.'... the finished work of Christ implicit in those words, 'Father, forgive them' .... I [am] in fact, through His work, not mine, 'as worthy as He' .... If you are feeling unworthy and attacked...try believing by declaring anew the old, old story of the accomplishments of the cross. The grace and power of His magnificent love Who shed His blood from within its cruel grip will come through for you. You will be restored.
And....
... there is, in the universe, a Resurrection principle... [which], at work, means that 'God works all things for good to those who love him' .... in the affairs of men who will, against all odds, trust God and not give up on His plan. Or even if they do, the principle works because God, not man, controls our affairs ultimately.... the Resurrection changed everything. That event whose principle had been at work in the time of Jacob and Joseph resulted in Jesus walking out of the tomb alive. He killed death that day, giving us the hope that everything will come right in the end, however dreadful the mess we're in and how much it seems to be our own fault.... the Resurrection bypasses all considerations of fault and blame.... Our part is to believe.... Personally, I have seen the death principle savagely at work on many of my circumstances... It has reaped its grim harvest and done its worst.... But, only if we give in to it can it win today and, even then, it will only lose in the end because the Resurrection principle is higher than the laws of sin and death.... trust in and declare the Resurrection even when [you] do not understand [what is happening in your life]...
And ...
Ephesians 2:7... envisions the 'whole purpose of everything' in one verse: 'He did this that HE might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immesurable riches of His free grace in kindness and goodness of heart towards us..." ... God did what He did so that He could demonstrate GRACE throughout the ages to come.... grace is: an act of love for no other reason than that the one who gives it out likes you and wants to make you happy.... God's purpose is to demonstrate GRACE, not to flex His divine muscles, not to 'Lord it over' His creation but to permeate His creation with His grace... God made certain people alive by placing inside their spirits the Holy Spirit of God even when they were 'dead in sin.' Paul rewords it... 'He gave us the very life of Christ.... He did this in order that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in His kindness and goodness toward us.' (Amp.)
[A comment of my own here: The more I consider the review of "The End of Religion" which I have already discussed a couple days previously, the more it seems to me that the writer of the review seems to have a different view of where mankind is, in the "ages" the Word of God speaks of, than I do. My friend has, from his own study of Scripture over many years, created a possible outline of these "ages" ... and I'd like to share it here. Of course others have also made their own outlines; this one I think is simple and pretty accurate. I believe we are in what he calls the "period of grace" ... that we are freed from the "period of ... God's law: God's character in a code" .... (and that, while we are already experiencing the kingdom of God, as believers, the fulfillment of it, the "Age of the Kingdom" as described below, is yet to come...) Anyway, I found this outline interesting... and the comments following the "Age of the Kingdom" definition....what do you think? As we are already under grace, what does this say to us as we ourselves live in the Kingdom, even if it isn't yet in its fullness? This does not seem to be a simplistic faith, but a great challenge to love and follow our Savior with all our hearts... and all aspects of our being!]
Anyway, he also wrote:
1. The Age Before Creation - God, who always was... fellowshipped with Himself...
2. The Age of Innocence - God lived in His creation with His children, walking with them 'in the cool of the day' before their terrible choice to go their own way without their creator... [making] themselves slaves of evil and participants in a fallen age that would fill the earth with violence and death.
3. The Age of Sin and Death - is the destructive age that came from the above choices...
a. Period of Human Government - leading to the catastrophe of the great flood and following it for some years.... We call it history - man's story of sin and death...
b. Period of Israel and God's law - a nation was ... given 'God's character in a code' .... They badly obeyed this holy law but still, it was a light of life for those who would choose it...
c. Period of Grace - God will use the witness of those who deliberately choose grace to spread, in the ages to come, that message of love to the race of man. Eph 1:10 says... 'He planned for the maturity of the times and the climax of the ages to unify all things and head them up and consummate them in Christ, both things in heaven and things in earth.'
4. The Age of the Kingdom - ... after 'certain adjustments' in history - perhaps the collapse of everything in which man has put his faith - the world will see the King and His Kingdom in full measure... the prayer Jesus said to pray - 'Thy Kingdom come' - .... It will be answered!
Those little glimpses we've seen... will be common practices of the ones whom God chooses to entrust with these powers in the Kingdom Age.... When they exercise those powers in love and grace, not as religion, not for profit and not for personal power, the world, by the millions, will turn to the truths of the Gospel. This message will not have any other agenda than grace, pure undeserved grace with no motives other than love, exactly as Jesus showed the world before it hung Him on a cross.... Can you try to imagine how long it would take [for people to] choose Jesus... if incorruptible servants of grace healed them, fed them... removed monstrous laws from their society.... What delight and what acceptance would all those stiff Christian religious people enjoy given true reality with the real facts to prove it. In the Kingdom Age, the Gospel will be preached in all its fullness... re-establishing order into the chaos of human affairs...
5. The Age of Judgment - time during which the wrongs of history are addressed, when justice is pronounced... justice will be understood to have already occurred on the cross when the payment of all sins was meted out in terrible fullness as He 'drank the cup' of sin.... When He cried, 'It is finished' or 'paid in full' He was pronouncing the full payment of the purchase price necessary to redeem man from the mess he had made and the slavery to sin he had accepted as 'normal life.' Legally, it was a 'done deal' although practically it will take the ages to unfold it all 'on the ground.' Nevertheless, within the justice of God and within the principle of restitution so clear in the code of the Hebrew laws, there will be an additional personal accounting.... the age of judgment will be in the good hands of those who have learned both of justice and mercy. In the end, it will have righted all the wrongs, established a true justice always tipping the the scales in favor of grace because that is the whole purpose of the ages.
6. The Eternal State - 'heaven'.... We know little about it but must believe that it is, in fact, beyond all dreams, wonderful and beautiful....
Finally, to conclude, the purpose of the ages - and you may understand them differently from me - is to demonstrate grace. When it is all over, when the ages have unfolded and the last case has been heard, it will be all about grace. I think I should make my life 'all about grace' as well. But how? And how about you?
[My comment: that last paragraph: what a challenge! ... and if you haven't read my blog from yesterday, "reaching out to people on the streets," you might enjoy seeing one way that some people are living grace...]
reaching out to people on the streets
May 17, 2009
Went to Another Chance breakfast and church gathering... breakfast starting outside about 6:30, gathering around 8:45... normally till about 9:30 - but it was such a beautiful day we decided to do that outside too - and it lasted till nearly 10:30! Some people who feel uncomfortable going inside (into the church basement next to the lawn where the breakfast is held) seem more likely to stick around - and with coffee and cinnamon buns set out beside the group sitting around in lawn chairs, others going by stop for a snack, and some of them stay to listen in! It was great - so much discussion, prayer, really good teaching on faith and its practical outcomes (deeds, works, actions, whatever you want to call them! scriptures: James 3:14-24, Heb 13:5-8, Phil 2:11-13, Mt 6:25-34 ... and I'd add to those, Eph 2:8-10, 1 Tim 6:6,10, and Heb 11:1,6,12:2 and 2 Cor 4:16-18!) ... and stories from Mexico, illustrating those principles, by a guy who just came back (he goes down a couple times a year to help out at a orphanage and so on). Then a far-ranging discussion... And because for sure not everyone there is "churched" some really unusual ideas (for "church"!) are brought up... and the people are treated respectfully, but steered toward Jesus, the Truth and the Way... and if the conversation starts to go down rabbit-trails, ___ brings it back on-track, sometimes with a bit of humor, like "I don't believe in the X-men either!" ... and always bringing it back to the truth of the Word of God. I can imagine that if some of the ideas people brought up were mentioned in a more traditional "church" setting, there would be some gasps, and discomfort, and maybe people charging in with the Truth... But here, people are listened to, and treated with respect, and then the Truth presented gently and patiently (and humorously!). It's an awesome learning experience for me.
___ was saying how he's going to be "ordained" next month (he's been "walking love" on the streets here for 7 years, since he became a Christian, learning from studying the Word, and sharing with others as he builds relationships and cares for the people on the streets) ... and one of the guys said, "I thought you were a believer, not into that religion stuff" ... and he replied, "Well, the apostle Paul says he was "all things to all people," and when I'm trying to explain my ministry to 'churchy' people, and trying to encourage them to reach outside their buildings, for some people in those churches, a "Reverend" in front of my name will give me more credibility to be listened to." [Those he reaches out to on the streets already all call him "Pastor" ... but he doesn't have 'formal' training... and he doesn't "look" like a "Rev" either... which is hard for some "church" people to accept]. Anyway, the guy smiled and said, "Oh I get it! That's okay, then!"
It turns out that one of the people at the gathering had come to our house a couple times back in the day when hubby and I had "Sunday Soup" every Sunday afternoon (we did it for at least 2 or 3 years, and there were a lot of different people over that time, so I didn't remember him specifically, though he did look familiar, and then when he told me who he'd come with and all, I remembered him!), for anyone who wanted to drop in... and he was reminiscing about the "awesome soup", and wishing we'd do it again (we stopped because hubby's new work schedule at the time interfered...). Well, I've been seriously thinking about starting something like that again, so told him to let me know when it would work for him, and we'll start again... and to bring people with him. I really had been thinking about it, but didn't know whether to start Soup again or not... and asking Father what His will is... and then this guy comes and requests it! I love the way You work things out, Papa!
Well, ___'s message on faith and deeds was right on for me, a lot of confirmation of what You've been teaching me, Father! Thank You!
Went to Another Chance breakfast and church gathering... breakfast starting outside about 6:30, gathering around 8:45... normally till about 9:30 - but it was such a beautiful day we decided to do that outside too - and it lasted till nearly 10:30! Some people who feel uncomfortable going inside (into the church basement next to the lawn where the breakfast is held) seem more likely to stick around - and with coffee and cinnamon buns set out beside the group sitting around in lawn chairs, others going by stop for a snack, and some of them stay to listen in! It was great - so much discussion, prayer, really good teaching on faith and its practical outcomes (deeds, works, actions, whatever you want to call them! scriptures: James 3:14-24, Heb 13:5-8, Phil 2:11-13, Mt 6:25-34 ... and I'd add to those, Eph 2:8-10, 1 Tim 6:6,10, and Heb 11:1,6,12:2 and 2 Cor 4:16-18!) ... and stories from Mexico, illustrating those principles, by a guy who just came back (he goes down a couple times a year to help out at a orphanage and so on). Then a far-ranging discussion... And because for sure not everyone there is "churched" some really unusual ideas (for "church"!) are brought up... and the people are treated respectfully, but steered toward Jesus, the Truth and the Way... and if the conversation starts to go down rabbit-trails, ___ brings it back on-track, sometimes with a bit of humor, like "I don't believe in the X-men either!" ... and always bringing it back to the truth of the Word of God. I can imagine that if some of the ideas people brought up were mentioned in a more traditional "church" setting, there would be some gasps, and discomfort, and maybe people charging in with the Truth... But here, people are listened to, and treated with respect, and then the Truth presented gently and patiently (and humorously!). It's an awesome learning experience for me.
___ was saying how he's going to be "ordained" next month (he's been "walking love" on the streets here for 7 years, since he became a Christian, learning from studying the Word, and sharing with others as he builds relationships and cares for the people on the streets) ... and one of the guys said, "I thought you were a believer, not into that religion stuff" ... and he replied, "Well, the apostle Paul says he was "all things to all people," and when I'm trying to explain my ministry to 'churchy' people, and trying to encourage them to reach outside their buildings, for some people in those churches, a "Reverend" in front of my name will give me more credibility to be listened to." [Those he reaches out to on the streets already all call him "Pastor" ... but he doesn't have 'formal' training... and he doesn't "look" like a "Rev" either... which is hard for some "church" people to accept]. Anyway, the guy smiled and said, "Oh I get it! That's okay, then!"
It turns out that one of the people at the gathering had come to our house a couple times back in the day when hubby and I had "Sunday Soup" every Sunday afternoon (we did it for at least 2 or 3 years, and there were a lot of different people over that time, so I didn't remember him specifically, though he did look familiar, and then when he told me who he'd come with and all, I remembered him!), for anyone who wanted to drop in... and he was reminiscing about the "awesome soup", and wishing we'd do it again (we stopped because hubby's new work schedule at the time interfered...). Well, I've been seriously thinking about starting something like that again, so told him to let me know when it would work for him, and we'll start again... and to bring people with him. I really had been thinking about it, but didn't know whether to start Soup again or not... and asking Father what His will is... and then this guy comes and requests it! I love the way You work things out, Papa!
Well, ___'s message on faith and deeds was right on for me, a lot of confirmation of what You've been teaching me, Father! Thank You!
my thoughts about "The End of Religion" by B Cavey
May 14, 2009
A friend of mine loaned me a book, The End of Religion, by Bruxy Cavey. Although I didn't agree with totally everything in the book, there was a lot of stuff that I thought was really worth reading and considering... and so I sent an email to some of my friends whom I thought might be interested in it, offering to send them the quotes I had copied from it.
One of my friends replied, and passed on to me, for my consideration, a "review" by someone else who had read the book ... and not only was the review very antagonistic to the book; it also seemed like the reviewer and I had read totally different books. I read it and was amazed again by Your love and grace - and this reviewer read it and proclaimed it to be "simplistic... dumbed down... significant error... contrary to the biblical message... heretical... wrong" and urged people to "Please stay away, far away from books like this." I was astonished!
And all day I can't stop thinking about how amazing Your love is... and I do want to obey You in return (the reviewer pretty much said that the book advocates a simplistic love of God without obedience to Him). One thing he wrote that really disturbed me was: "Adam and Eve committed original sin so we are separated from God and therefore need rules and a mediator in Jesus to help us live as we should... We need rules because sin is our true nature"...
But Father, when I read Your Word, I hear Jesus saying that we need Him and His sacrifice on the cross to free us from slavery to our sin nature... and that You have given us Your Spirit as well to guide and grow and help us... and that we love You because of Your love and grace toward us... and that as we live in You, abide in You, we will love You and others... and in that loving, come to true obedience - the spirit, not just the letter, of the law.
Okay, and the reviewer also wrote, "The Bible is the only way we can know Jesus and why he died on the cross." But we can also know Jesus because He came and lived among us and taught us Himself... and died and rose again - and longs to live with and in us every moment by His Spirit! Without His Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, living in us, even the Bible is (to those who do not believe) a "dead" book, "foolishness!"
As I responded to my friend who had passed on the review, maybe the reason I liked the book so much was that it backed up what I have been experiencing in my walk with God: I love to obey Him because He loves me - I no longer feel rebellious against His rules and regulations because I know that He has made them for my good, because He loves me (though this does not mean that I also accept the rules and regulations and rituals of men who may even claim to be speaking for God, if their rules are counter to the Word of God - to Jesus, the Word, the Truth!).
When I read the book, I do not see the author advocating disobeying God - in fact, when I read it I see him all in favor of obeying God because of what God has done for us and the relationship God longs to share with us. The gospel message, the power of the cross, is shared clearly.
When I say a book is worth reading, I don't mean it is "perfect" ... What I mean is that it is worth thinking about - usually because it challenges our dearly-held preconceptions, the way we "perceive" truth... It doesn't mean I agree with everything. I suppose that is why two people (the reviewer and I) could read the same book and have such totally different reactions to it... I came to it with the experience and joy of a relationship with God who loved me so much that He took the judgment against my sin upon Himself, and in doing so freed me from it's bondage, and then gave me His Spirit to guide me in His way, His life, so that I gladly obey out of love and gratefulness... while it seems (though I could be wrong, of course) that the reviewer has come to the book with a deeply held conviction that at least as long as a human being lives, even as a "Christian," the sin nature continues to control, and the only solution is to follow a carefully laid out list of rules, regulations and rituals in order to be obedient and thus please God (and, perhaps, earn or at least maintain, one's salvation)....
(My first reaction was that perhaps the reviewer, who is clearly antagonistic to anyone whom he feels is "postmodern," may not even have read the book, or had just skimmed it, looking for "evidence" of "postmodern heresy" ... but on further reflection I really do think that the "preconceptions" we bring DO color our reaction to what we read, and even our understanding of it... Looking at it again, myself, trying to see it through the eyes of a belief system that emphasizes rules, regulations, and rituals - a belief system that I myself grew up with, and am therefore overjoyed to have discovered the amazing love and grace and of God - I can see how, with a deep adherence to that system, I could have at one time reacted surprisingly similarly as the reviewer did!)
The reviewer claims that the writer of the book "wants to whittle the Bible down to a simplistic message: Love God Love Each Other and get rid of all those pesky religious rules, symbols and traditions. This dumbing down of the gospel needs to stop." The interesting thing is that in my read of this book, the author isn't trying to "get rid of all those pesky rules, regulations" etc.... In fact, he says that they can certainly have value in their place: as part of your relationship with God, and definitely as an outgrowth of it: we love and obey Him because He first loved us! - but not as the road to God, or the way to gain His favor (or the way to "stay saved") (or the way to make God and/or others love us and approve of us)! I do not read this book as a "get rid of rules" approach at all. As for "dumbing down the gospel," I found this book spends a lot of time on the incredible importance of the cross, and of the fact that following Jesus also definitely includes the cross in our own lives.
The reviewer says, "Cavey says that we need rules because we do not love each other as we should" - and yes, he does say that... but Cavey goes on to tell why we don't love each other as we should - because of sin! - and then he rejoices that God has provided for the forgiveness of our sin... and that if we accept that and are walking in relationship with God, our obedience will be greater (in quality as well as in quality, as we apply the principles behind the Biblical rules to our lives) than our "rules and regulations and rituals" (letter of the law) obedience because now we obey out of love and gratefulness (and spirit of the law), rather than simply out of fear or from being "forced to."
The reviewer also says that the author "tries to demonstrate what our relationship with God should look like, devoid of institutions and rules.... Even in the beginning God did have one rule..." Oddly enough, when I read the book, the author did discuss the rule God gave in the garden; and nowhere in the book do I find advocacy of the kind of relationship the reviewer says the writer describes. On the other hand, the author of the book does advocate carefully considering the rules, regulations, rituals, traditions that we follow, as to why we follow them, and as to whether they really are Jesus' message, and so on. And I think that is important, if we are to avoid, as Paul urged the Galatians, getting caught up again into the slavery from which Jesus delivered us!
Oddly enough (in view of what the reviewer claims about the book), I come away from reading this book wanting to OBEY God more, LOVE Him more: the two are inseparable, as the author says. The book challenges me to love and obey God even more, to share the gospel more (even if it results in persecution and people disliking me).
Father, that is how I feel. If I am wrong, please show me... but please, oh please, don't take away Your love! If I had to go back to knowing about You and about Your love, in place of knowing You and being in a love relationship with You... oh Father, I don't think I could bear it!
I want to obey You. I want to love You, honor, revere, respect, worship - yes, and also fear You with trembling ... because of Who You Are.... Love, Truth, Wisdom, the Creator, the Way, the Life, the Light ... God Almighty! Not because if I don't obey a bunch of rules and regulations I will be sure to fall, or You will come after me with a big stick, or You will reject me.
Your Word says we love Him because [even though we totally deserve judgment and punishment - yes, death!] He loved us, and died for us, forgiving us that we might gain His life!
"Gospel" is good news!
......
By the way, my "readings for today" confirm this love of God that results in free obedience ... the freedom Christ's sacrifice has given those who believe in Him.... Check out Exodus 12: 13,17,41 Psalm 31 Psalm 32: 1-2, 5-11 Isa 31: 1,3 Isa 31:6-7 Acts 2:38-39, 42-47 Acts 3:15-16, 19-20 1 Corinthians 14:1,3,4,6,12,26,31
A friend of mine loaned me a book, The End of Religion, by Bruxy Cavey. Although I didn't agree with totally everything in the book, there was a lot of stuff that I thought was really worth reading and considering... and so I sent an email to some of my friends whom I thought might be interested in it, offering to send them the quotes I had copied from it.
One of my friends replied, and passed on to me, for my consideration, a "review" by someone else who had read the book ... and not only was the review very antagonistic to the book; it also seemed like the reviewer and I had read totally different books. I read it and was amazed again by Your love and grace - and this reviewer read it and proclaimed it to be "simplistic... dumbed down... significant error... contrary to the biblical message... heretical... wrong" and urged people to "Please stay away, far away from books like this." I was astonished!
And all day I can't stop thinking about how amazing Your love is... and I do want to obey You in return (the reviewer pretty much said that the book advocates a simplistic love of God without obedience to Him). One thing he wrote that really disturbed me was: "Adam and Eve committed original sin so we are separated from God and therefore need rules and a mediator in Jesus to help us live as we should... We need rules because sin is our true nature"...
But Father, when I read Your Word, I hear Jesus saying that we need Him and His sacrifice on the cross to free us from slavery to our sin nature... and that You have given us Your Spirit as well to guide and grow and help us... and that we love You because of Your love and grace toward us... and that as we live in You, abide in You, we will love You and others... and in that loving, come to true obedience - the spirit, not just the letter, of the law.
Okay, and the reviewer also wrote, "The Bible is the only way we can know Jesus and why he died on the cross." But we can also know Jesus because He came and lived among us and taught us Himself... and died and rose again - and longs to live with and in us every moment by His Spirit! Without His Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, living in us, even the Bible is (to those who do not believe) a "dead" book, "foolishness!"
As I responded to my friend who had passed on the review, maybe the reason I liked the book so much was that it backed up what I have been experiencing in my walk with God: I love to obey Him because He loves me - I no longer feel rebellious against His rules and regulations because I know that He has made them for my good, because He loves me (though this does not mean that I also accept the rules and regulations and rituals of men who may even claim to be speaking for God, if their rules are counter to the Word of God - to Jesus, the Word, the Truth!).
When I read the book, I do not see the author advocating disobeying God - in fact, when I read it I see him all in favor of obeying God because of what God has done for us and the relationship God longs to share with us. The gospel message, the power of the cross, is shared clearly.
When I say a book is worth reading, I don't mean it is "perfect" ... What I mean is that it is worth thinking about - usually because it challenges our dearly-held preconceptions, the way we "perceive" truth... It doesn't mean I agree with everything. I suppose that is why two people (the reviewer and I) could read the same book and have such totally different reactions to it... I came to it with the experience and joy of a relationship with God who loved me so much that He took the judgment against my sin upon Himself, and in doing so freed me from it's bondage, and then gave me His Spirit to guide me in His way, His life, so that I gladly obey out of love and gratefulness... while it seems (though I could be wrong, of course) that the reviewer has come to the book with a deeply held conviction that at least as long as a human being lives, even as a "Christian," the sin nature continues to control, and the only solution is to follow a carefully laid out list of rules, regulations and rituals in order to be obedient and thus please God (and, perhaps, earn or at least maintain, one's salvation)....
(My first reaction was that perhaps the reviewer, who is clearly antagonistic to anyone whom he feels is "postmodern," may not even have read the book, or had just skimmed it, looking for "evidence" of "postmodern heresy" ... but on further reflection I really do think that the "preconceptions" we bring DO color our reaction to what we read, and even our understanding of it... Looking at it again, myself, trying to see it through the eyes of a belief system that emphasizes rules, regulations, and rituals - a belief system that I myself grew up with, and am therefore overjoyed to have discovered the amazing love and grace and of God - I can see how, with a deep adherence to that system, I could have at one time reacted surprisingly similarly as the reviewer did!)
The reviewer claims that the writer of the book "wants to whittle the Bible down to a simplistic message: Love God Love Each Other and get rid of all those pesky religious rules, symbols and traditions. This dumbing down of the gospel needs to stop." The interesting thing is that in my read of this book, the author isn't trying to "get rid of all those pesky rules, regulations" etc.... In fact, he says that they can certainly have value in their place: as part of your relationship with God, and definitely as an outgrowth of it: we love and obey Him because He first loved us! - but not as the road to God, or the way to gain His favor (or the way to "stay saved") (or the way to make God and/or others love us and approve of us)! I do not read this book as a "get rid of rules" approach at all. As for "dumbing down the gospel," I found this book spends a lot of time on the incredible importance of the cross, and of the fact that following Jesus also definitely includes the cross in our own lives.
The reviewer says, "Cavey says that we need rules because we do not love each other as we should" - and yes, he does say that... but Cavey goes on to tell why we don't love each other as we should - because of sin! - and then he rejoices that God has provided for the forgiveness of our sin... and that if we accept that and are walking in relationship with God, our obedience will be greater (in quality as well as in quality, as we apply the principles behind the Biblical rules to our lives) than our "rules and regulations and rituals" (letter of the law) obedience because now we obey out of love and gratefulness (and spirit of the law), rather than simply out of fear or from being "forced to."
The reviewer also says that the author "tries to demonstrate what our relationship with God should look like, devoid of institutions and rules.... Even in the beginning God did have one rule..." Oddly enough, when I read the book, the author did discuss the rule God gave in the garden; and nowhere in the book do I find advocacy of the kind of relationship the reviewer says the writer describes. On the other hand, the author of the book does advocate carefully considering the rules, regulations, rituals, traditions that we follow, as to why we follow them, and as to whether they really are Jesus' message, and so on. And I think that is important, if we are to avoid, as Paul urged the Galatians, getting caught up again into the slavery from which Jesus delivered us!
Oddly enough (in view of what the reviewer claims about the book), I come away from reading this book wanting to OBEY God more, LOVE Him more: the two are inseparable, as the author says. The book challenges me to love and obey God even more, to share the gospel more (even if it results in persecution and people disliking me).
Father, that is how I feel. If I am wrong, please show me... but please, oh please, don't take away Your love! If I had to go back to knowing about You and about Your love, in place of knowing You and being in a love relationship with You... oh Father, I don't think I could bear it!
I want to obey You. I want to love You, honor, revere, respect, worship - yes, and also fear You with trembling ... because of Who You Are.... Love, Truth, Wisdom, the Creator, the Way, the Life, the Light ... God Almighty! Not because if I don't obey a bunch of rules and regulations I will be sure to fall, or You will come after me with a big stick, or You will reject me.
Your Word says we love Him because [even though we totally deserve judgment and punishment - yes, death!] He loved us, and died for us, forgiving us that we might gain His life!
"Gospel" is good news!
......
By the way, my "readings for today" confirm this love of God that results in free obedience ... the freedom Christ's sacrifice has given those who believe in Him.... Check out Exodus 12: 13,17,41 Psalm 31 Psalm 32: 1-2, 5-11 Isa 31: 1,3 Isa 31:6-7 Acts 2:38-39, 42-47 Acts 3:15-16, 19-20 1 Corinthians 14:1,3,4,6,12,26,31
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