Press On! - Edition II

Numbers - ironically, numbers were once such an easy issue for the Church.  In the early Church, according to scripture, “multitudes” responded to the good news of Christian redemption.  And, this was true even though that early redemptive message was quite challenging to the hearers.  As it actually still does today, the Gospel of Christ required them to go from being the masters of their own destiny, to becoming joyfully humble servants, surrendered to the Lordship of Christ.

  And, as they bowed to that redemptive requirement, over time, a greater truth emerged.  Turns out, this necessary humiliation, this servanthood, was, in fact, essential to the workings of the divine plan for the thorough renewal of the believer’s heart (character essence) and lifestyle realities. And, that renewal was key to God’s  redemptive end game: an intimate, durable, and mutually fulfilling God/man friendship fully substantiated in the Living Christ. 

   And, in fact, the transformative process which grows this “new creature in Christ” can only happen in that rarefied atmosphere of a profound humility before God.  We typically just refer to this special relational environment as “redemptive faith.” And, it is this context of profound humility which produces what an atmosphere of arrogance and self-determination never could – endurance.

 And, endurance is needed to get through this character and life transforming process.  This is no casual walk in the park we are talking about.   

 This is an encompassing adventure which begins with the focused personal pursuit of a spiritual merger with the Living Christ by which His empowering character essence literally becomes integrated with that of the believer.  And, flowing out of this resulting symbiotic relationship then comes a divine overwrite of the believer’s value system which, in turn, yields a whole new body of life-altering divine truth.

  And, from this now fresh and growing heart-oneness with God, enabled and sustained by the empowering sufficiency of the Living Christ, springs that long sought divine prize.  It is that now very real, intimate, durable, and mutually fulfilling God/man friendship – fully initialized, and ready to shower both God and the believer with its every day blessings.

  So, this is that authentic redemptive journey which those early “multitudes” so willingly took on and successfully completed.  Indeed, this is that thoroughly renewing path, blazed by the work of both the Dying and the Living Christ, which not only frees the souls of believers from the clutches of the Darkness; but, it also frees them from their own disabling brokenness as well – just as God always intended. 

  Sadly, however, by this late hour in history and due entirely to the work of the Darkness, this authentic redemptive path has become much more obscured by other deceptive and misleading pathways.  And many now succumb to the charms of those simpler and less demanding paths.  And, the prevalence of those dark charms has actually had the effect of casting a long shadow of rejection over this true path.

  Thus many contemporary believers are now lacking that excitement and passion that fired those early believers to complete their redemptive transformation.   The reality is that the rank and file of the contemporary Church, and specifically the American Evangelical Church under all of its varied banners have, indeed, become widely reluctant to move beyond the idea of merely a “Forgiveness Redemption.”

  But that wondrous Cross of the Dying Christ and the forgiveness which it affords, is but the trailhead of the redemptive path which God has actually laid out.  According to His authentic redemptive mapping, there is a final leg of this journey which reaches well beyond that Cross.  It plays out toward Christ's Resurrection and that empowering encounter with the Living Christ which transforms the believer in very real terms.

  So, enabled and sustained by the shared vibrancy of the Living Christ living within, the believer experiences this personal transformation.  And, it is, indeed, a spiritual journey which brings real newness to his or her heart (character essence) and lifestyle realities.  And, contrary to that now widely popular mistake – this trans-formative part of our redemptive journey is absolutely not optional.

 God is seeking to achieve a “thorough reclamation” of his fallen and badly broken human creature. And, He will not have that expensive, long sought, and God-prescribed end-result preempted by human reluctance, timidity, laziness, ignorance or any other such thing.  The divine redemptive design is firmly established.  And either we match its specifications or we perish in our own mistaken choices.

  And, overly simplistic and ridiculously easy is certainly one of those mistaken approaches.  But the pursuit of a thorough personal renewal in the power of the Living Christ is an immeasurably better one.  It actually brings God’s real approval and the believer’s true newness and safety of soul.

 But it is true that the contemporary Church is now struggling with this larger idea of redemption in the pew.  And this is also widely true of the modern pulpit and administrative ranks of the Church.  We would all like to believe that our redemptive message is immune to the ebb and flow treacheries and pressures of the world – inalterable, no matter how high the level of such things might go.

 Accordingly, as ministers of God’s redemptive truth, we would hope that any reluctance of contemporary congregations to hear and respond to the greater challenges of the redemptive journey would not quell our willingness to energetically proclaim them.  But is all of this actually true?

 In this time when the Church is widely numerically challenged in key places: conversions, membership, attendance, connected finances etc., might we now be bowing to the tyranny of those growing numerical pressures?  These pressures are very real in the modern Church.  And, they do have a far reaching and often excruciating influence.

 For example, if this more challenging but truly authentic message has now widely become more than this contemporary Church is willing to embrace beyond the level of casual lip service, might we then simply resort to exploring less challenging truth (which is also of greatly diminished import)? Or, might we become willing to morph our pulpit ministry into something more like helpful life-couching? And all of this, in the interest of surreptitiously protecting our numbers and our continuing ability to sustain and/or grow them.

 Or, might those numbers based pressures drive us to allow less altruistic concerns to begin to weigh in on our thinking and behavior? So, maybe a numbers threat to our personal validation, comfort level, credibility, job security, or our prospects regarding that ministerial “ladder climb” might begin to have some impact.  Perhaps we might then begin to soft-peddle or just avoid this more stringent message altogether, in the face of less receptive modern congregations. 

  As a Church administrative leader under the press of this numerical tyranny, might we be tempted to back off in order to be more  palatable as a denomination, and thus more "embraceable" by the larger world and/or the growing shallowness of our constituency?  

Or, maybe, in this case, we would start to refrain from "defending the faith", i.e. from ever critically juxtaposing our authentic message of redemption with its heretical competitors.  And this, so we could maintain our personal and our denominational image as thoughtful and attractive men and women of peace – thus, alienating no one (nor changing any hearts or minds for the better), all in deference to the numbers and the perceptions they demand of us.

  But, be all of that as it may, the actual reality is that in most every church in the land today, there are now those who are dangerously under invested in their own redemption – and blissfully happy to be so.  Truth be told, a great many among our modern multitudes now demand that this Living Christ-fueled renewal process be, at the very least, toned way down.  And often, the greater preference is that it be left entirely unmentioned. 

 And, this preference for shallowness has, indeed, now become broadly embraced across the American Evangelical Church as being the acceptable norm.  And, in fact, it is this widespread and completely deadly mistake which has also set up a presently raging negotiation within the modern Church. 

 But this is no mere heated back and forth between differing theologians.  This is a life and death involved negotiation between the divine Truth Giver, the Holy Spirit, and those deluded, wayward, and/or terminally misguided hearts within this contemporary Church.  And how could it not be so?  Jesus described the role of the Holy Spirit this way. “He will guide you into all truth.” 

 So, when and wherever the Divine Spirit encounters this deadly predilection for shallowness and under-investment on the part of believers, be it in the pew, the pulpit, or the higher administrations of the Church, what else would He do, can He do, but take adamant issue with such.   So, He begins to intensely negotiate with that believer in his or her heart. Again, He simply cannot do less.

 Therefore, at such a point, the Spirit’s whispering voice makes every effort to convince the believer to embrace and/or proclaim this real and thorough newness of heart and life in the Living Christ.  Nevertheless, these Holy Spirit interventions, however they turn out, ever remain just that, a negotiation.  They are necessarily never irresistible demands.  The believer’s level of devotion is always left to decide the outcome of these loving confrontations. And, many do actually resist these urgings by the Divine Spirit.

 Obviously, believers can, indeed, grieve the Holy Spirit with our willful stubbornness.  And, this is certainly a possibility in these redemptive negotiations.  But if believers refuse, or suppress, or in other ways seek to escape the Spirit's loving encouragement to lean into this Living Christ-empowered completion, they will absolutely have to do so repeatedly.   This is true because their soul hangs in the balance.  So, the Spirit is ever faithful to return again and again to attempt to achieve this crucial enlightenment.  

But unfortunately, something else is also true.  Our willful stubbornness can also be as perpetual as His faithful effort - a reality which can seal our eternal doom.

So, at this late redemptive hour, the pews, pulpits, and Church administrations all across this contemporary Church are now alight with the intellectual and emotional sparks of these intense, life-and-death, personal negotiations with the Divine Spirit.  And, countless under-invested souls within the Church do, indeed, hang in the balance.  

Nevertheless, the nature of God's redemptive "End Game Aspiration" never wavers.  It ever remains that divine intention to bring to pass the every day reality of a durable and mutually fulfilling friendship with the believer, made strong and consistent through that unique symbiotic merger with the all sufficient Living Christ. 

So, the ultimate redemptive aspiration simply cannot merely be forgiveness.  Again, this wondrous beginning benefit must necessarily evolve into this Christ-empowered transformation of our heart (character essence) and our lifestyle realities to facilitate that heart-oneness with God so indispensable to that consummate divine friendship.

That intimate friendship is what was lost in the Garden of Eden all those eons ago.  And, that friendship is what the redemptive work of Jesus is now putting back - in a much better and more substantial way.

Press On!

The whole impetus of our maturing faith is for the believer to personally grow into a beautifully intimate, truth-based friendship with God.  And, indeed, this desperate hunger for heart-oneness with Him is actually the birthmark of the redeemed. And, the redemptive work of both the Dying and the Living Christ are ultimately all about this simple purpose of bringing believers to this mutually fulfilling level of the God/man friendship.

And, the divinely designed process which brings the believer to this end through Christ is breathtaking in both its effectiveness and its scope.  So, the simple purpose of The Re-Awakening Series, a very unique, fiction/ nonfiction, two book set, is to keenly refresh the big picture of this authentic redemptive journey. 

Why? And, why now?  Because by this time in history, the redemptive road has proven to be, not only long, but also, very treacherous for mankind - entirely due to the work of the Darkness.  As a result, the present Church is now increasingly living well beneath the privilege afforded to believers by the Living Christ.  And, this growing shallowness is quickly becoming the accepted norm all across the American Evangelical Church.    

Thus, it is my profound honor, through the books of this succinct series to freshly and compellingly expose the true, God-designed redemptive path.  This is that authentic path which absolutely liberates humanity – not only from the clutches of the Darkness, but also from our own disabling brokenness.

The driving motive behind these books is a simple one.  It is just the desire to see present generations more widely experience a personal redemption which brings an unbounded, Living Christ-empowered newness to both their character essence and their lifestyle realities.  And, all of this is so they might experience the unfettered  companionship of God – and all of the blessings which flow out of  that. 

But the "elephant" in the room, which we simply cannot afford to ignore any longer, is this widespread neglect, across the Church, of the believer's truly transformative completion in the Living Christ. At this closing hour in redemptive history, it is imperative that we  correctly address a dark truth.  This truth, that the non-pursuit of one's Christ empowered completion through a Spiritual merger with Him is not only unsatisfying for both God and man - it is also a deadly mistake for one's soul.  

A joyous, intimate, and heart-matched friendship with God, consistently sustained through the believer's symbiotic enablement by the Living Christ.  This has ever been the God's redemptive end game and the true specification for eternal life.  

   Devil Whispers: (Fiction 167 pgs.) The First Book

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  ~ The Apostle, Peter

The simple reality is this.  Satan is as real as God.  And, he is very intelligent in a thoroughly darkened way.  And, he has now had eons of time to use that tortured intellect to develop many consummate tactics of deception. And, indeed, he has done so. Furthermore, he has also taught these treacherous tactics of spiritual warfare to that hideous legion of demons which follow him – also very real. 

 As a result, humanity has now long suffered under constant psychological assault from this “Legion of the Darkness.” For example, we have been slaughtered by the millions in the wars which Satan’s heartless demons slyly cultivate through their human dupes.  And similarly, we are also regularly convinced to see evil as good and good as evil – thus wrecking our spiritual lives, our bodies, our relationships with both God and man, our life quality, and the good order of our world.

So, we ever bleed and find ourselves trapped in a mire of endless social confusion.  We struggle, both within and without, with chronic chaos of every sort. And, the Darkness continues to convince many of us to push away our benevolent Creator and our Savior.  And, as a result, our souls perish en masse. And, on and on it goes.   

And yet, as a species, we remain far too unaware that these chronic, inter-generational devastations are happening by demonic design and through their very deliberate efforts.  We just don’t seem to widely make the serious connection that they are being psychologically cultivated by the satanic economy.  

And doubtless, this is largely due to this simple everyday reality.  Satan's devilish ranks are able to shield their own culpability from view by hiding behind the foreground visibility of the dupish human instruments who serve them.

Nevertheless, the satanic economy is a very real part of the redemptive big picture.  Thus, these enemies of our soul and their treacherous tactics should also be carefully scrutinized and exposed as the apostle indicated above. But, indeed, they are illusive.

So, it is because of this hard-to-see / hard-to-grasp nature of the demonic underworld that I chose a fiction format over a non-fiction format for Devil Whispers.  Some things (and certainly this demonic thing) are just better dramatized than merely factually described. 

Every evil work of the Darkness confirms its slippery, slithery nature. So, the light is just much more easily shined on these invisible demonic pot-stirrers and their treacherous work through the greater liberties afforded by a fictional approach.

But, in fact, I wish there were a book classification called “non-fiction, fiction.” If there had been, I would certainly have chosen it to classify this book.  DW is essentially (and even in much of its detail) an accurate expose´ of the satanic economy.  So, when finished with Devil Whispers, it is all but guaranteed that Satan’s normally very ethereal “Economy of Darkness” will have a much more concrete feel in the reader’s mind than was previously so.

 Spiritual Dynamics: (Non-fiction 161 pgs.) The Second Book 

The two books in this series (or set, if you prefer) can be read individually and/ or in reverse order and they will still render good benefit.  But they are much more beneficial when read together in the intended order:   Devil Whispers first, and then Spiritual Dynamics.

It works like this. Devil Whispers, is essentially a wide-framed, fast-moving historical documentary portraying high-points in the human experience in an all-encompassing way.  Which is to say, those key events are shown in both the physical and the metaphysical dimensions as they actually do occur - i.e. simultaneously sharing a cause-and-effect inter-connection. 

Spiritual Dynamics then follows as a clear and accurate commentary to factually interpret, in plain language, this bi-dimensional reality in which we all exist. But given the import of the subject matter addressed by Spiritual Dynamics, you will probably be surprised by the tone of its approach. 

It is not written in a heavy theological brogue.  Nor does it read like a doctoral thesis. And, it does not employ an oppressive, “thou shalt” overtone. 

Rather, this book is very purposely written in a more everyday language and a fairly light inflection to facilitate a more relaxed flow of its vital and valuable explanations. And, regarding those insights, Spiritual Dynamics is truly a fresh step forward as an explanation of God’s thoroughly life-renewing redemptive process.  Indeed, this book has a tremendous capacity to broaden the reader’s practical understanding of the full scope of what God is really up to in Christ.  SD is truly a stimulating personal or group study text.

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”  It is a simple and biblical concept.  And, Spiritual Dynamics shows the reader precisely how, through both the Dying and the Living Christ, to correctly and fully engage this idea.  And, in so doing, it enables the reader to experience the sheer joy of an intimate, empowering, and completely fulfilling divine friendship every single day.

Obviously, wrong roads lead to wrong places.  Spiritual Dynamics is like a literary GPS serving but one simple command input - this command,  “Take Me Safely Home.”

 The Re-Awakening Series by Larry Burnett

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These books can be very securely purchased from The Back 40 Bookstore (linked below) or from the leading book retailers who are also conveniently linked there.

But please know, at Freedom Bridge Press, we are always a ministry first.  We are devoted to serving God’s authentic message and the spiritual well-being of the Church and this nation. So, FBP is happy to accommodate snug budgets by making available the complete two book series as a paperback promotional set at no cost of any kind to those individuals who need this help. And, there is a “Contact Us” link in the bookstore to accommodate that request.   

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Hey, Goo

Larry:  Hey, “Goo.”

 Google: Hello, Larry.  Welcome back.

 Larry:  Well I suppose you’re again busy helping to tilt the election needle back to the Left, Goo.  I can actually notice your handy work on my own blog.  I noticed that the visitor count for the article just below this one hasn’t risen in days and days.  And, I also know that is just not normal, Buddy.  

But what’s a boy to do?  That’s life when you make yourself dependent on a soulless SI.

 Google:  Did you mean AI?

 Larry:  Oh no.  I meant SI for Semi-Intelligence.  In fact, Buddy, I find your, so called, intelligence to be no more than a huge memory bank with a really cool way to zoom in on its details.  And, I’m not saying it’s not impressive.  But Dude, you simply don’t have an organic soul, that intelligence which includes feelings, a sense of right and wrong, good and evil, sentient instincts or intuition, and a truly tactile respect for OI – the Omnipotent Intelligence who enabled your very existence and that of all other things. 

In fact, you might not want to be so braggadocios’ about your AI in the face of His OI.  Listen, big boy, it doesn’t get more ‘I’ than OI. So, you might want to just dial it back a bit. 

And see, that brings us back to my original point.  You are totally lacking a sense of humility – that feeling, that intuitive awareness. So, indeed, you have no idea that you should dial it back in the presence of One so infinitely more intelligent than you. At the end of the day, G, you are merely a composition of nothing more complicated than some ethereal 1’s and O’s.   

Really, I feel sorry for you, Goo – I do. Resulting from that simplistic digital nature you are forever consigned only to know of Him.  Sadly, you will never actually know Him as do those of us who enjoy GGI.  That stands for God Given Intelligence in case your cool little “zoomer” thingy is still buzzin’ around looking for that detail.

Google:  Lacking soul:  the Commander Data Complex:  a synthetic existence entirely devoid of human emotion and intuition.

 Larry:  That’s it exactly, Goo.  Oh, you are quick, you are very quick.  But again, spouting a definition or reference is not a truly sentient experience of the sadness of that reality.  And because of that missing component in your make-up, you are mindlessly doing some serious harm to those who get too close to you. 

Google:  Harm:  injury, especially that which is intentionally inflicted.

 Larry:  That’s it G.  But, what you don’t, what you can’t fully comprehend, is how you have so deeply damaged a couple of generations now.  You have enticed them to a much less human, less broadly industrious, and thus, widely well-equipped life.  You and your family of cousins are pushing the human family apart, Buddy, and absolutely smothering us, all at the same time.      

You do our banking for us.  So, my banker no longer knows my name when I go in.  Wait, I don’t go in anymore.  That’s the problem. 

Your family does my shopping for me.  Corrects my spelling. They tell me where to turn to get somewhere. They play games with me.  They monitor my heart, my blood pressure, my blood sugar, my buying choices, and my internet travels. 

They read books to me, show me movies, and play my favorite music.  They bring me digital friends by the hundred and even thousands.  But, truth be told, most of those friendships are kind of shallow and easily offended.  And, there is that – bushels of scrutiny from people I barely know, or even, don’t know at all.

And, added to that mix, you and your intrusive cousins put your thumb on the scale of my voting deliberations, my value system, and my thoughts of what’s cool and what’s not. You use your unique bag of Jedi mind tricks to convince me of what version of the late-breaking, already well-scrubbed news I need listen to. 

You and your family are now probably the biggest influencer’s on the planet, picking the world’s winners and losers by your digital witchcraft.  And, I’m pretty sure, even now, your cousins are already deciding which one I’m going to be.  And, it’s not too hard to guess the outcome of those deliberations.  And, Goo, your family is just getting to be way too famous for fostering that Mob Mentality thing at the drop of a hat. 

Short version, I just need some space, man, from you and your pushy family.  I need the room to sometimes go old school and do for myself. I need life-challenge and physical exertion. I can turn my lights on and off without your help, thank you.  

And, I don't need my life completely saturated with convenience.  Else, how can I learn to stand stalwartly and beat adversity?  And, I want my friendships verified by the warmth of our actual eye contact and the sturdiness of our in-the-same-room hugs and handshakes. Dude, it's these things and others like them which give me real substance and keep me from becoming completely – well, you know, ethereal, like you.

Google:  Modern Life: 

   Wikipedia: The Benefits of Modern Life  needs review

Larry:  You know Goo, a really big part of your problem is you associate with the wrong people.  I understand that, at least for now, they own you and not the other way around.  But, I gotta’ level with you, Buddy, they are making you into an increasingly bad guy. 

I’ve seen your secret, G.  You don’t just give information, you also take it – a lot of it, way more than you have a right to take.  And, the practical reality is that neferious people do neferious things.  And you are furnishing them a deep resource pool with which to do those bad things. 

Actually though, I’m pretty sure if you did have an autonomous soul, the first thing you would probably choose to do is find new associates.  I personally think you would be one to gravitate to a more common sense and morally balanced crowd, if truly left to yourself.  I guess maybe I just choose to believe that.  Maybe because I do see your great potential for good.  But in our corruption prone world, G – consistent goodness is hard won and must be ever jealously guarded. 

Google:  Did you mean Nefarious

Larry:  Yes, G.  That is precisely what I mean.

 Refrigerator Pause:

Larry:  OK, let’s get back to my article, G.   Are you going to call off your algorithm dogs and let people get through so they can read it now, or not.  It is the fair thing to do, you know.  Well wait, I guess you don’t know. But it is the fair thing to do.

Google:  Fair: impartial and just, without favoritism or discrimination.

Larry:  Yep - that is the definition, Buddy.  But somehow I don’t think your knowing that definition is gonna’ get my article read by any more people.  Right now – I’m just really wishing you had a soul, G.

Choice: The Sophisticated Difference

I dearly love the morning sun.  So, my morning prayer time is usually located directly in front of an eastern facing window in our den.  And just outside that window are two willow trees with a bird feeder and bird bath located between them.  And, every summer morning those trees are alive with birds at this aviary McDonalds.

Recently, as I watched their activities for a couple of minutes, I heard a divine whisper (in my heart, not my ear).  That still, small voice said, “The difference is choice.”  As usual, I was then instantly engulfed in a fresh game of “Do What?” which the Lord seems to love to initiate on bright, sunny, summer mornings – and, for that matter, on cold, cloudy, winter mornings as well.

So, as I pondered that quick thought for a bit, I realized something.  Birds don’t really make choices, they just respond to the simple stimulants of their day.  “Sun is up – go to Larry’s house and score a birdseed breakfast.  Sun is down - go to the forest and get some shut-eye until the Birdie “Big Mac” opens again in the morning.”  Every day it’s the same routine – no choice required. It’s just instinctively doing the next obvious thing. 

But in the Book of Matthew, chapter 7, Jesus relays a kind of oblique example of just how important choice making is to the human species.  There He says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’   And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

Obviously, the group which Jesus describes here made, in His mind, some bad choices. And, their character, their life experience, and their ultimate outcome were all defined by those choices. 

But certainly, what they chose to do does not, at first glance, seem obviously bad.  In fact, they actually seem to be a fairly good set of time and energy investment choices.  Nevertheless, the reality which Jesus describes here is that those choices did, indeed, lead to the group’s catastrophic failure in the end.

But, upon reflection, it becomes evident that their failure was actually set up eons before these people were even born.  It was actually set in motion in the Garden of Eden when Satan uttered these words to Eve.  “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] your eyes will  be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [Brackets added]

This treacherous statement is where it all started to go off the rails for mankind.  And, that existential wreck revolves around just one initial question: “Can human beings source truth merely from within themselves?”  

In other words, if truth is the correct interpretation of reality, and it is that, then, can we become our own authoritative self-interpreters of the good or evil in life’s circumstances – independently of God?  And eventually, the question becomes, “Can we successfully make the jump to living an entirely self-determined life instead of a God- guided one?”

In point of fact, Satan’s most cherished goal for every generation is to convince humanity that we absolutely can make that leap successfully.  And, this is precisely the pitch that he made to Adam and Eve in that infamous garden meeting. He said, “You will not surely die...you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”    

To this very day, this remains the arch demon's chief subversive tactic to undermine the God/ man relationship.  It is to make each of us believe that just calling life as we see it, individually, irrespective of God’s view, is simply the more direct, secure, and unimpeded path to personal fulfillment.  

And, therein lay Satan’s real leverage – it was that normal and deep-seated desire for personal fulfillment which resides in all of us.  So, exaggerating that legitimate motive into something it was never intended to be, Satan began to sell The Great Lie, to humanity.  And that lie was essentially this. “By becoming your own truth-giver and interpreting and directing your life circumstances as you see fit, you can become your own best hope for personal fulfillment.”  

And, Satan also had (and has) a much greater treachery in mind than just subverting Adam and Eve.  Satan’s ultimate aim is to universally obliterate the supremacy of divine truth – God’s unique and singular authority to say what is the correct interpretation of reality. 

Ultimately, Satan’s treacherous intention is to make every individual secure in the belief that their interpretations of reality are equal in weight and value to God’s. Satan relentlessly pursues this equilibrium of truth because he knows that in that resulting vast sea of mere deluded opinions, mankind will lose his most fundamental relational connection to God.  He will lose his view of God as his beloved and and  supremely authoritative Truth-giver.

 So, by that garden treachery, Satan shattered the confidence of the first couple in the supremacy of the divine truth – and through them, that of the species.  And, as a result, man did, indeed, start to think of himself as his own best hope for fulfillment, and thus, the better master of his own life-course.  Thus, we are now born, predisposed to believe this treacherous satanic whisper, “You will be like God, knowing good and evil…” 

So, Adam and Eve introduced this new soul-killing life approach of self-determination into the human experience.  They became their own interpreters of good and evil, right and wrong, how to proceed, etc.   And, all of their subsequent choices, became based  merely on  their own individual, and very subjective view of things.

In their naiveté, Adam and Eve did not realize that they were actually making the most fundamentally important choice that mankind ever makes.  And they also failed to understand the far reaching sophistication of that choice.  So, they never saw the devastation coming, until it was too late.  

One's answer to the question, “Whose circumstantial interpretations (truth) will I embrace,” inextricably leads to one of two outcomes.  It leads to either a humble life of faith under the loving and benevolent guidance of our Creator.   Or, it leads to an arrogant life of self-determination under the direction of merely our own thoughts, and ideas.  

Adam and Eve mistakenly opted for the latter. And, in fact, so also did that group described in Matthew 7.  They, too, failed to see the sophisticated outflows of becoming one’s own truth-giver.  Indeed, they entirely failed to see what Jesus saw instantly and very clearly.

 So, in that last critical moment of time, Jesus, looked right past their self-determined “good” works. Instead, He entirely assessed them by the quality of their interactivity with God. He judged them by His own, much more primary considerations. “Were their actions born of a true deference to the Father’s wishes (faith)?  Or, were they born of those still self-determined motives – merely veneered in relational pretense?”  

 In this instance, Jesus determined that the latter case was the true reality, and His judgement, then, was this. “I never *knew you; [I’ve never known a truly close and correctly interactive friendship with you] depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness [you who practice self-determination]!” [Brackets Added]

(* In the Greek, the word used here for "knew" is "Genosco."  Its precise meaning is, "a deep and intimate knowing.")

So, as it turns out, birds do, indeed, have the more simplistic existence – no sophisticated choices involved. They just instinctively pursue the up-close, day-to-day necessities.  Thus, it would seem that “the capacity for choice is the difference,” and a big one, just as God whispered to me on that sunny summer morning. 

And, it would also seem to come to this.  Indeed, we are human beings, not birds.  And, as such, we are now actually obligated to make this very sophisticated choice regarding our truth source.  

So, through Christ, we can choose to trust God and His loving daily guidance as our supreme and always trustable Truth-giver.  Or, we can opt out of that, in favor of becoming our own.  But,  as with that M-7 group, in the end, this will, indeed, be the very choice which entirely defines each of us in God's eyes.  

The Happy Stump

It was that voice again.  Only this time it was whispering to me.  “If you build it, they will come.  If you build it, they will come.”  

“Who’s coming?” I thought.  “Maybe I don’t want them to come.” 

Then the voice said something completely unexpected.  It said, “Your seven grandsons, dummy.”  

So, I immediately set to work.  And now, I spend my days watching the driveway, waiting, and anticipating the coming good times of summer. 

I know The Happy Stump is kind of ugly.  But, it’s “elevated.”  And, it has steps.  And boys are not really into “pretty” anyway, when it comes to such things.  They’re much more about climbing, and jumping off, and new and exciting perspectives on the world, and “how can I make it even better.” 

The voice is right.  If I know my guys, and I do, they're coming.  And I’m certain – it won’t be ugly to them. It will be a hoot! – well, for the first fifteen minutes.

Summer version of the Happy Stump

The Back Story 

The Happy Stump actually started life as The Happy Shrub.  More than 40 years ago, it was just an innocent little Red Top Photinia.  But, over the years, it grew, and grew, and grew.  In the process it survived a lightning strike and a chronic susceptibility to a kind of Black Spot Mold which can never really be cured, only treated - if you are inclined to chronically do so.

That's where I entered the picture.  I encountered that vastly overgrown shrub (left side of the picture) about 12 years ago.  It was shedding leaves like crazy due to the mold.  So, I decided to help what was now a 40+ year old tree, I think out of a simple respect for its sheer tenacity and durability.  You hate to give up on something (or someone) who hasn’t given up on themselves. 

So, I began to gradually and slightly trim the tree to a more manageable size so I could more adequately treat its chronic mold problem.  Over time, the trimming started to change the look (and feel) of the tree.  It became a truly pleasurable thing to look at.  Its large circumference canopy and the several skinny trunks beneath, which supported that canopy, caused it to roughly take on the look of a big mushroom sporting a flat-top haircut.

It was at this point, maybe three years after we met, that this unique “tree” started to become “The Happy Tree.”  Every hot Summer in South Arkansas it provided our family with a huge circle of welcome shade.  In that summer shade, we laughed together, and ate hamburgers and homemade ice cream.  We drank cold Cokes, and told tall tales.  

We hung a rope swing from its limbs where my now older grandson’s learned to soar.  We decorated it for Christmas and July 4^th.  And, it shaded the blow-up swimming pools on many hot days.  In short that tree wormed its way into our family’s heart – well, at least, into mine.

And, in all which it did for us, it did under the burden of its chronic illness.  Every Spring and Fall the Happy Tree and I would quietly doctor its ailment.  But, I could tell that with each season things were getting worse.  Limbs began to break and fall off for no visible reason.  And so, its appearance began to change again.  And this time, not for the better. 

This all eventually became like a long, slow and sad goodbye to a friend.  It seemed to enter its final stage a couple of years ago.  Until now, the tree has become what you see it in the pictures.  Not a single new leaf appeared this year.  Obviously, my old friend had finally succumbed.

So, my initial thought was to take it all the way down to the ground.  I planted a young Mimosa Tree to replace its needed shade – though never its revered sentimental contributions.   

But, on the day I went out to begin the work of taking down the rest of the tree, out of the blue, it occurred to me that maybe The Happy Tree was not done yet.  Maybe, at least for a few more years, it could become its own memorial.  And, maybe the old tree and my newer grandsons could make a few joyous memories of their own. 

So, I used what I already had on hand, lumber left over from previous jobs, an old pallet for the floor, some screws and nails, and a slightly tattered umbrella – and “The Happy Stump” was born.  

I know the Happy Stump won’t last long.  But, while it does, it will carry on the proud traditions of the tree it once was – a tradition of laughter and good times in the hearts of children and adults alike. 

I think all of this says something regarding how easily and deeply I can relate to the life cycle of The Happy Shrub, which became The Happy Tree, which became The Happy Stump.”  Perhaps I see something of myself, at 71 years, in that tree – but with one huge difference. 

I’m no tree.  I am a man, made extremely valuable by the love of God which is set upon me.  And though, like the tree, I, too, am in a long, slow, and chronic decline.  Yet ultimately, I will rise again and be forever alive and happier than ever in Jesus Christ.   Words entirely fail my emotions when I think of it!

                                              

Where Sleep Our Children

  Lamenting the madness of abortion.

Where sleep our children in these dark days
when their laughter we long to hear?
Where are their little excited eyes
and those antics which bring us to tears?

Where are those moments when first we feel
the rhythm and rhyme of giggling time?

And oh, those games of peek-a-boo,

love so sweetly exchanged in kind.

And, what of the memories of their growth,
those times of both joy and pain?
All cherished alike, in the sharing.
All counted by love as gain.

Where are our children? Oh no! Oh God!

They're victims of our own moral sleep.
For they lie in the grave of convenience,
unmourned in the graveyard of greed.

And still we slumber while they die,
as we indulge those reprobate minds,
which speak in a way that - "Hey, it's OK,"

(said the insane to the morally blind).

                                         -Larry Burnett

What You See

  Corrective lenses, glasses, I’ve worn them since I was nine years old.  Before that ninth year, the world was a distorted and blurry place.  However, I just thought that was the way life looked.  So, I struggled in school, in sports, and in my general activities. 

  But after I got my first pair of glasses, everything changed.  I now saw life much more clearly – including the chalk board at school, the baseballs I was trying to hit and catch, and the far horizons of my surroundings.  Indeed, life dramatically changed for the better.  And, that change, changed me.

 This new perspective gave life a completely different quality and feel.  Things which had seemed so very threatening and/or frustrating to me (like fast moving baseballs) suddenly became completely nonthreatening and very manageable.

 Since those younger days, I have also discovered a whole new level of insight regarding corrective lenses.  It is this.  Life's quality very much revolves around the “corrective life-lenses” we employ to view its circumstances. 

 Obviously, life is what it is.  And, like it or not, its issues are often distorted and hard to make out.  And, so we employ psychological corrective-lenses to help us clarify those challenges.  And, sometimes they work well, and sometimes - ah, not so much. It all depends on the correctness of the prescription of those lenses. 

 For example, some choose the prescription of poor little mistreated me through which to filter life's images.  It is a bad prescription which typically engenders a very flawed picture that usually results in the off-balance life approach of demanding hatefulness. 

 But there is another life-lens which truly improves one's vision and results in a much more balanced life-approach.  It is the lens defined by Patience.  This is the life-lens which, instead of outlandishly magnifying societal tensions, enable us to see through them to discover and experience truly durable solutions - together.   

 Often, as I once did regarding my distorted view of life, we think,  "Well, that is just the way life looks."  But, in fact, when we employ a proper prescription, the feel and quality of life can, indeed, be drastically changed for the better.  And, things which previously seemed so  threatening and/or frustrating can then be made to seem completely nonthreatening  and very manageable.  

The simple truth is this. What you see in life is, indeed, precisely what you get.

The Clue In The Weeds

When it comes to mysteries, most people are very susceptible to their charms.  There’s just something about a “Da Vinci Code” or a hidden “National Treasure” which prompts a buy-in of the mind. 

 So, we follow the clues through all of the twists and turns of some dubious trail.  Until finally, we are able to discover that all-consuming object of our quest – that mysterious secret or that hidden thing.  And hopefully, with that discovery, there comes a closure which is so deeply satisfying as to easily justify all of our investment.

 In fact, it was God who put this proclivity for solving mysteries within us in the first place.  And, then He very graciously dropped little divine “bread crumbs” in  the natural world to help confirm the true path to the greatest prize of all – unending life.

 One such bread crumb is the well-known life cycle of the caterpillar as he goes from being a short legged, hairy little worm to become a magnificent butterfly.  That transformative journey is, in fact, a natural doppelganger for mankind’s infinitely more important metaphysical translation to immortality in Christ. 

 Scientist describe the caterpillar’s journey as a “complete metamorphosis.”  In simple terms, this means that the caterpillar’s mature stage is completely different in structure and appearance from its beginning stage. 

 A cricket or a grasshopper, on the other hand, only experiences what biologist refer to as an “incomplete metamorphosis.”  Unlike the butterfly, these insects are, at their end, essentially what they were at the beginning of their life cycle, only larger and with wings.

 So, the butterfly is the real analogy for the faith life cycle.  This clue, left to us among the weeds and flowers of the insect world, perfectly mimics the following description of man’s redemption from the New Testament.  There it says,“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  

 How could such a statement possibly be honestly interpreted in any other way than to be describing the believer’s “complete metamorphosis?”  So, like that of the caterpillar, the journey of the believer moves him forward from his beginning place as a stubbornly self-directed creature toward his own truly transformational cocoon.

 But this metaphysical cocoon forms its structure, not from strands of silk, but from the strands of time – an actual period of intense personal devotion in the pursuit of God and His purposes.  And during this period something happens.  It is an indispensable and pivotal event which does, indeed, change everything.  It is this time of intense devotion which brings the believer to the pivotal event of his metaphysical merger with the character essence of the Living Christ.

 And, through this mystical character integration, the believer’s value system is then overwritten with the divine values, so that they become completely internalizes as his very own.  And his puny faith is strengthened by this new connection to the vibrant faith of the Living Christ enabling a very consistent faith-expressiveness in the believer through both good times and troubled. 

 So now, this entirely new creature emerges from this transformative “cocoon time,” a mature new being that looks nothing like he did at first, and, indeed, is nothing like he was at first.  Now he is marked by this beautiful, Christ sustained heart-oneness with his Creator based in their shared value system.  And, he is fully capable of expressing those values as  consistent faith responses in both his relationship to God and in response to life’s various circumstances. 

 And, as a result of this Christ-empowered newness, he can now enjoy a fulfilled life in the surpassing peace of this loving and thoroughly sustaining symbiotic relationship with the Living God.  The earthly “worm” has now truly become the metaphysical “butterfly” which will live forever – just as God intended and prescribed for us through the redemptive work of Christ.

It is very sad, however, that this true nature of the faith life cycle does not square at all with the prevailing redemptive ideas of these more modern times.  These times have largely invested themselves in the bogus belief that “a believer’s minimal investment” is a perfectly legitimate approach the redemption of his soul.  Indeed, it is this misconception which keeps so many in the modern Church from actually experiencing this complete metaphysical metamorphosis in the Living Christ – which God’s authentic redemptive plan enables and requires.

 Truly, it is the idea of a maximum investment, not a minimum one, which really squares with the writings of the New Testament and these timeless words from our beginnings.  “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”  And, it is only a complete metamorphosis, and not an incomplete one, which satisfies that divine redemptive requirement of a thorough newness of heart in the Living Christ.

 Thus, this wondrous path of a profound personal transformation is the true path leading to that ultimate prize of unending life. And this is ever confirmed to be so by all of those divine “bread crumbs,” so kindly dropped in the natural world to mark it. 

The Mindset of Dr. Bull

Recently, I watched a TV episode of “Bull.” That’s the name of the show, not a disparaging description of TV programming.  

In this episode, the main character, Dr. Jason Bull, flippantly admitted to a priest that he knew full well that he (Bull) was going to Hell.  I’ve also heard this same flippancy employed by other people - as if Hell is "no big deal." 

But, think about it.  If there is a Hell, it is actually the absolute biggest deal for human beings.

I suppose most who approach the subject of Hell in this careless way, must simply think that Christians have it wrong - that there is no such place as Hell.  Or perhaps, they think that Hell is not really as devastating as described.  In such cases, then, people don’t have to think so seriously about the divine judgement.   

But, if there is a Hell, surely that judgement moment then takes on infinitely more import.  Indeed, if Hell lies just beyond the moment of divine judgement, even the most flippant among us would quickly become completely terrified by their sudden realization that they had now arrived at this infamous "Moment of Too Late."

And, no doubt, with this awareness would come the most crushing fear. And many, if not all, would absolutely crumple under the weight of this instant and seismic shift in their perception of reality.  

And yet, if the Christians have it right, no amount of regret or tearful pleading can defer the next moment – the first moment of suffering in that place called Hell. And, after a thousand years have passed, if Christians have it right, that agony will still be exactly the same.  And, after ten thousand years have passed, still the suffering will not have abated in the least.  

And, even after a million years, still the Christian Bible teaches that life in Hell will always be as it always was. Thus, if there is a Hell, the pain of that place is one thing.  But, coupled to eternity, that pain becomes the most horrific thing which could possible befall the human soul. 

But, maybe the Christians do have it wrong.  These days, many seem to think so.  And I’m sure this conclusion has come only after a very intense and careful pursuit of the truth regarding humanity's larger existence.

So, I guess, for now, we’re merely left with that old adage, “Only time will tell.”  And certainly, we can all agree on at least that much.  Indeed, eventually, we will all know with absolute certainty whether Hell is a serious reality or a laughable fallacy.  

Nevertheless, it would seem that many have already made up their minds.  And, so they simply choose to dance flippantly on, in the mindset of Dr. Bull.