It Happened To Me

I didn't see it when I was young and dumb.  I arrogantly and off-handedly dismissed all things Spiritual as drivel -  someone's idea of right and wrong, ultimately reduced to a long list of do's and don'ts.  

But, I have since discovered that the Christian walk is about something much bigger and better than that.  It is really about a deeply meaningful friendship.

And that friendship means this.  Every day of our lives, we rise to the presence of the Living Jesus.  As a result, we are never alone in any circumstance.  He shares with us, every challenge, every achievement, every fear, every joy - every milestone and circumstance of any kind.  Thus, in all of our life experience, we enjoy a constant access to His divine companionship.

And, through this shared life experience, He provides to us a truly empowering synergy with which to face life's challenges.  He enlightens us with perspectives which move us beyond the smallness of our self.  And, as any true friend would, He sometimes confronts us and becomes insistent - in our best interest.  

And, it is true.  I have never seen my divine Friend.  Indeed, He is normally entirely invisible to the physical eye.  But, that has no real impact on our friendship; because, it is not through the physical eye that we come to know God on this most intimate level.  Instead, there is an "inner sight" which allows us to see Him very clearly in ways that the physical eye never could.    

This is an entirely new inner sensitivity, which Christ awakens in the heart of devout believers.  It is essentially a very  heightened God awareness.  And, indeed, this new level of simply knowing enables the believer to move far beyond the limitations of the totally unsuited physical senses to finally experience a true daily intimacy with God in a deeply meaningful friendship. 

So, through this inner awareness, we are now able to perceive the full spectrum of the dynamics of our relationship with God.  We can now sense His relevant thoughts, His demeanor, and even the unspoken whispers of His heart, as is and should be normal to any deeply vested relationship. 

Thus, the physical senses are made largely irrelevant to the divine friendship by this internal sense of sight.  Why do we need to physically see, when we can simply know?   

I understand that many balk at such ideas.  Indeed, as did I, many people arrogantly dismiss anything they cannot perceive and verify through the physical senses.  But, when we taste the wonderfully pure and simple essence of God's loving companionship, we quickly cease to be one of those people.   At least - I did.

"A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 

 ^"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."  - Jesus

The Even Bigger God

It is one thing to encounter the God who deals with the needs of our soul.  It is entirely another to encounter the God who takes on the needs of our days.  The God of our souls is certainly big.  But, in some sense, the God of our everyday need is even bigger.

The Apostle Paul recounts in the New Testament how he sought God three times for one such need, what he called his, “thorn in the flesh.”  We are not entirely certain of the nature of the problem to which Paul was referring.  But, we know it was a difficulty which was both insurmountable and enduring.
So, Paul was completely outmatched in this struggle.  

Thus, He goes on to relate that he “pleaded with the Lord” to take this “thorn” away.  And this was the Lord’s answer to him.  “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”

This was probably not the answer that Paul was hoping for, at least at first.  He was probably hoping that Christ would answer in His “almighty-ness” and simple flick the problem out of existence with His divine finger. 

Most of us, when facing a similar intimidation, probably, approach God, initially, in that same way.  Our first hope is probably just to gain a quick fix. 

But, as the Lord indicated to Paul by His answer, there is another solution which God often chooses to employ as an alternative to instant deliverance.  It is the “graceful solution.” And that is the solution that He offers to Paul for his “thorn.”

This offer of Grace instead of Raw Power may sometimes be disappointing, at least initially, to those who are actually enduring the pain of some overwhelming problem.  But, when we understand the full implications of the graceful approach, then we do gain some comfort and hope.  And that encouragement begins with the word Grace, itself.

It is often the case in more recent times that Grace is merely understood to be God’s “unmerited favor.”  This definition actually better defines Mercy.And, mercy is certainly a product of God’s grace.  But Grace is a much larger term than Mercy, and so, the two don’t equally interchange. 

Grace, as generally defined by any dictionary, is best and more accurately understood to be “an innate or naturally occurring goodness.”  And, that is precisely how it should be understood in the New Testament usages.

So, what we are really seeing in the Lord’s offer of His graceful sufficiency to Paul is His willingness to bring the innate goodness of His divine nature to bear.  Christ is offering to put His natural goodness to work in Paul’s behalf. 

This is the same Grace (natural goodness) which designed the redemptive plan for mankind.  This is the same innate goodness mentioned in the Book of Ephesians, where Paul writes, “For by grace [God’s natural goodness] you have been saved through faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God…”  So, Christ is offering to employ His own limitless goodness to design and provide a wonderful solution for Paul’s dilemma.

But, why?  Why not simply use His “mighty cosmic powers” to just instantly remove the problem?  Why travel the longer path of the graceful solution, when quick and easy are so available.

Some time ago my 10 year old grandson came to visit me.  In his hand was a Walmart bag.  In the bag was a bunch of parts from a lamp, now thoroughly broken.  Together, he and I built this lamp for his room, a couple of years before. 

He said, “Paw Paw my lamp is broken.  Will you fix it for me?” 

Now, I could have said, “Oh, let’s just run to Walmart, and I will buy you a new one.”  That would be the quick and easy, “almighty power of Paw Paw,” flick the problem away, kind of solution, of course.

But, I much prefered the gracefulness of another solution.  That is the solution where I take my grandson to our beloved place, my workshop in the back yard, and we spend time together doing what he needs done. 

There, while we fix the lamp, we will talk about a thousand things.  We will tease each other.  We will challenge each other.  We will laugh.  We will brainstorm. We will tell tall tales. 

And he will learn, not only about lamps, but about Paw Paw, and Paw Paw's values, and Paw Paw's God.  And I will learn the details of his life.  And our love, and the depth of our relationship, will grow through this purely good time as it unfolds.

That is the answer to the “Why.”  God chooses to employ Grace, to allow His natural goodness to unfold before us, to set up the interactive process of relationship building.  And, in that interaction, our love grows, and our relationship is deepened, and we are transformed.

Paul’s response, when He eventually understood the inestimable worth of what God was doing for him, was this. “Therefore, most gladly will I rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 

Paul eventually understood that his troubles were only the opportunity to experience a new level of relationship.  And, it was the unfolding natural goodness of Christ’s which became the matrix for it all. 

The simple reality is this.  What life presents as trouble, grace (the divine goodness) is able to transform into a good, life and character changing experience.  It is the kind of  experience which allow us to discover the even bigger God in ways not previously known.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." - The Apostle, Paul

Another article regarding "Grace" which you may find interesting is "The Nature Of Grace."  

                  
                           Go To:  "The Nature Of Grace" article.

R/Gap

Truly Redemptive Faith, as opposed to other kinds of faith, is actually best understood to be, "an all-encompassing humility before God."  And, this redemptive humility is most clearly defined by our eagerness to embrace, through Christ, God's values, truth, and meaningful daily companionship and guidance in our life.   

But the contemporary American Church has allowed this true concept of redemptive faith to widely morph into the perverted idea of the believer's "non-responsibility"  This is the idea that essentially the believer is impotent when it comes to resisting the sin motive.  Therefore, we are not capable of being consistently faith-expressive in our heart or our lifestyle realities.  So, it logically follows that a just God does not require that consistency of us.  

But, the true reality is this. The first premise, that the converted believer is left impotent and therefore non-responsible is completely wrong. So also, then, is the the second premise, that God does not require the believer to be consistently faith-expressive.

This belief that man is incapable of consistently faith-expressive behavior certainly seems to have escaped the Apostle's notice as he wrote these words in the New Testament in his letter to the Church at Rome.  Paul said in that letter, "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!

"Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?  But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.  And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

That doctrine to which Paul refers is simply the doctrine of the Resurrection of Christ.  It is the Resurrection which furnishes to the believer the promise of a divinely empowered personal renewal in the Living Christ.  The mechanism of that renewal is what the Church calls The Baptism of the Spirit.  

This is that life changing merger so easily seen in the records of the New Testament when God effects an integration between Christ's character essence and that of the believer.  And, through this symbiotic integration with the Living Christ, the ascendance of the sin motive in the believer's heart is defeated by the power of that Christ essence which now strengthens the believer's heart.  

And, by that same divine character essence of the Living Christ, the faith motive is raised to ascendance in the believer's heart and begins to redefine the believer's entire existence - both within and without.  Thus, this new Living Christ-empowered heart, does, indeed, begin to consistently re-inform the believers lifestyle realty to the specifications of faith rather that those of sin.   

So, indeed, we are not merely saved and forgiven only to remain broken in heart and life.  The true Gospel is not merely one of  forgiveness.  Truly, it is a much more meaningful and completely  fulfilling  Gospel of  forgiveness and personal renewal.  

Certainly, the Christian Gospel does begin with the forgiveness of that magnificent Cross of the Dying Christ. But, from that Cross, the authentic Gospel immediately points the believer toward that spectacular "Target Event" of the New Testament - that thoroughly heart-renewing metaphysical merger with the Living Christ.

So, it follows then, that to embrace the ideas of the believer's impotency and non-responsibility, one must entirely ignore this truly life-transforming impact of the Living Christ furnished to us through the Resurrection.  And if one does that, simply preferring to surrender to the baseness of their human nature, this has the same impact upon our relationship to God that we would expect it to have upon our relationships with each other. It entirely destroys both the meaning and the authenticity of the relationship.

For example, operating under the idea of "Well, since I'm not really capable of rising above my base nature, I'll just surrender to those  inclinations."  Obviously, this begs the questions, "Where would such a surrender leave the parent/ children relationship if that was the child's attitude? Where would it leave the husband/ wife relationship?  Would not society, as a whole, actually lose all relational meaning and fulfillment since all serious relationships necessarily involve an abiding responsibility toward others.  

Thus, it becomes easily obvious that the idea of personal non-responsibility before God is not only ludicrous, but indeed, it is also devastating to our relationship with Him.  Again, the loss of this anchoring fidelity essentially destroys both the meaning and the actual reality of our relationship.  And yet, this is the very flawed concept of Redemptive Faith which we have far too widely embraced in the contemporary American Church at the grassroots level under all of our various banners.    

And, it is this widespread and serious error in our concept of the redemptive process which largely explains the Relational Gap between God and the contemporary American Church. This "R/Gap" is just the natural result of our now widespread misunderstanding of how to correctly engage God through a properly re-constituted faith enabled by the Living Christ.

 And, it is a prescribed certainty that we will not be able to close the emptiness of this R/Gap until we once again embrace the correct idea of what a truly redemptive faith actually is and how it is sustained in the Living Christ.  And if, in fact, we do widely fail to fill that relational gap with redemptive truth, it will most certainly be at the great expense of a great many souls. 

~

"Not every one who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in Heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not preached in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never intimately knew you: depart from me, you who practice self-determination."  ~ Jesus

For a more comprehensive look at the concept of A Truly Redemptive Faith you may want to read "The Dark Light"  in Reading Room 4.     

(Jump to: "The Dark Light" now)  

And, for a truly in-depth look at the authentic redemptive process you may want to read:  Spiritual Dynamics: The Metaphysical Realities Explained

(Visit Meet The Books: a description)

         (Visit The Back40 Bookstore)        

Dark Spiral

Within the human being is this wonderful, maddening, unpredictable, (and did I mention wonderful) thing which we call a heart. In general, our heart, not the physical heart, of course, but the figurative heart, is the centralized essence of all that we are.  Basically it is our character essence.

OK -  I guess if we have to be more specific, it is made up of both our conscious and our subconscious minds. And, certainly it contains our emotions. And, without doubt, it houses our conscience and, most importantly, our value system.

But, most days, it is just - "our heart." It is what we feel. It is our sense of good and evil, right and wrong. It is the driver of our day, the setter of our direction, the decider of our actions, and our reactions.

When our heart is right, i.e. living in harmony with God’s truth, we are truly blessed. Our existence becomes fulfilling, meaningful, and beautifully ordered.

But when our heart goes wrong, when we start to live in discord with the divine truth, everything goes spiraling downward into a very dark place. And sometimes that spiral transcends generations to become an inter-generational decline – enabling the darkest of the Darkness to touch our existence.

And, this downward spiral of perception, thought, and attitude toward God is very traceable. Its trajectory is clearly etched in the pages of the Bible, beginning in the early regions of the book of Genesis - chapter 3, to be exact. 

There we find Adam and Eve living in perfect harmony with God and His truth. And we can notice the ideal state of their faith, which was essentially this:  "There is a God, and He is watching out for my best interests. And, I am happy for Him to do so."

We can see this simple confidence in the first couple when the Adversary comes to Eve and sarcastically accuses God of being restrictive to the pair. He does this through his question, which he delivers with a negative spin regarding God’s protection of the couple. The Adversary says, “Has God indeed said, ‘You may not eat of every tree of the Garden?’”

Eve responds to this negative accusation by pointing out that God has kindly given them access to all the trees in the garden except one, and that, only to protect them from the consequences of its deadly fruit. Thus, with a perfect confidence in God’s care, she says, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But, of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it; nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

So, this is the high place where God intends for us to live. Faith is to bring us to the simple truth that, yes, indeed, there is a God; and he is, in fact, looking out for our best interest, which we are happy to allow Him to do.

But then, we notice the beginning of the downward spiral. A background question is introduced to the conversation between Satan and Eve. And, it marks the first point of the trajectory toward the Darkness. The question is this.  “Yes, there is a God.  But, is He really watching out for my best interests?”

We see this inference in the Adversary’s statement when he says, “You shall not surly die. For God knows that in the day that you eat of it [the forbidden fruit] your eyes will be opened; and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [Brackets added]

Notice, the Devil does not challenge the reality of God, here. It is the verity and goodness of God which is called into question. Eve is being asked simply to suspect the motives and actions of her Creator.

Eventually, as we now know, Adam and Eve succumbed to satanic subtlety. So, believing the suggestion of Satan, that the fruit could make them like God, self-sufficient and with a more perfect awareness of what was truly good and truly evil, they ate the the fruit.

And, just like that, the first step away from God and toward the abyss of inner darkness was taken.  It framed out this way.  “There is a God; but, I am really my own best hope for personal fulfillment. So, I will rely on my own insights, aspirations, and actions.”

Adam and Eve quickly discovered the error of their thoughts and actions. But, they could not undo this poisonous attitude of self-determination which had already deeply infected their heart, and which would eventually chronically infect the whole of the human species through them.

And, this downward heart spiral, which Adam and Eve introduced to humanity, did, indeed, continued through subsequent generations. We can read of this in Paul’s writings, in the book of Romans, chapter 2, where the Apostle describes this trans-generational darkening.

He says there, “For since the creation of the world, His [God’s] invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they were without excuse; because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts. And their foolish hearts were darkened." [Brackets added]

So, eventually, as succeeding generations come and go, this progressing "heart darkness" brings humanity to ask the next question question in the downward spiral. Man starts to ask,
“Is there really a God?”

And now, in this late hour of human history, we have come to the place that arrogantly brags of our final and definitive answer to that question. Relying on reason, and science, and the power of our own intellect, we fashion this conclusion: "There is no God!”

And as the darkness of the species progresses man eventually arrives at the only conclusion which will ultimately satisfy the arrogance of his self-determination. It is this idea: "I am my own God."  The idea being that, “We are self sufficient, the masters of our own destiny, and answerable to no higher power than ourselves.”

But, in fact, we are not, of course. The simple truth, which such  delusion always evades, is that we all die. Thus, less a redemptive Creator, every individual in the species is born merely running headlong toward his or her own personal extinction. 

So if, in the thinking of our darkened heart, we subtract the redemptive God from our reality, the destiny with which we are all left becomes merely - oblivion. If we have no divine Savior, our end is simply to cease to exist. Obviously, all of this smacks much more of our complete insufficiency than our self-sufficiency.

But thankfully, in truth, there is a loving and redemptive God. There is, indeed, a divine Savior. He is Christ, the singular and completely unique Savior of the world. And He goes far beyond merely saving us from the consequential death of our decision to entrust ourselves to ourselves. He also restores true enlightenment to our core being.

And, with that restored character essence, one which is once again in harmony with God’s truth, comes a durable and completely fulfilling renewal of our friendship with our loving Creator. And, as a result, we are brought to a wonderful destiny of real substance - an elevated and everlasting existence.

Nevertheless, all of that redemptive process entirely depends upon this complicated inner us which we call our heart.  It depends on that inner core essence which enables us to feel, and where is housed our sense of good and evil, right and wrong in the form of our values. 

And ultimately, depending on whether our character essence, which contains those values, is finally enlightened by the Living Christ or darkened by our own self-determined arrogance, it will lead us to one of two things.  Either our heart will make of us a forever blessed and grateful child of God.  Or it will make of us an egocentric fool for whom "agonized oblivion" then becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

God: A Good Manager Of Bad Train Wrecks

“Poor little me” - there is just entirely too much of that emotion going around among believers these days.  Feeling sorry for yourself is not an attractive or helpful posture, and thus, not something that men and women of God should be involved in - even monthly or weekly, much less daily.

If you deserve to be felt sorry for, let somebody else do it.  Let those who love and care about you do it.  Or better yet, let God take care of that.  

God is a very good judge of circumstance.  He will certainly know when you need to be emotionally stroked, and perhaps lent a divine hand.  If you really deserve it, allow your compassionate God to feel sorry for you.  And that will come off looking, and actually being, a lot better than you feeling sorry for yourself.

On the other hand, if you don’t really deserve to be felt sorry for, then why in the world are you doing it.  “Poor little me,” isn't flattering to anyone - ever.  But it is especially unflattering when it becomes a chronic coping attitude.  So, if that's what's going on - quit it.  You're better than that.

Here is a better way to deal with life's pain, burdens, and rough patches.  #1, stop running around in your own head and listening to your own voice.  Start listening for God’s. 

And this is what His voice is going to say.  I know, because this is what He always says when we are struggling under the weight of life’s painful loads.  He will say, “Come aside to Me.”

When you hear that divine invitation, #2, Do it!  And, don't listen to the Devil's reasons why you can't.  Stubbornly determine to have a true personal engagement with God of some significant duration (make it "a really big deal emphasis time" in your life). 

Set some tedium aside.  Leave some things off.  And just go alone with Him in a very intentional way.  And, # 3, in this time of separation, devote yourself to understanding God's purposes in your present circumstance.  

So, this is the stuff you do to find God's comfort, help and relief.  And when you do experience God's deliverence and direction, #4, Follow through.  Allow Him to work His plan in your life, His way.  And don't start thinking you must work His plan, your way.  

If you will do these things, you can go from “poor little me” to "How Great Thou Art" as your "life song." And obviously, that will be a much more appealing tune for all concerned.  

And how did I come by all of this wonderful advice?  Hummm… Now, let’s see… Oh yeah, the hard way, of course.  

The First Words

One of my concerns when my children were growing up was that one day they would, indeed, be - all grown up. But who would they then be? Would they be people of good character? Would they be people of faith? And would their faith lead them to their own vibrant adventure with God?

Or, would their faith just be their father's faith, warmed over? I wondered, would they encounter God on the high plane of their own new story. Or would they just "phone it in," merely going through the motions of the faith habit that they learned in our home.

I don’t want my children to be on auto pilot when it comes to their relationship with the Living Christ. I want them to tussle with Him in the throes of wrestling their way to their own spiritual maturity. I want them to hunger after God and God’s highest. I want them to spend themselves on the effort of their own personal discovery process.

I want them to truly invest, and then invest some more, as growth requires it. I want them to lay it all on the line out of love. In short, I want them to be people of godly intensity. And, for that matter, I wish that same intensity for the whole of the Church. That is just the right way of things.

This early concern for my children came from a simple observation. What I saw is what I have come to call, "Second Generation Creep." That term pretty well describes what I have noticed: that sometimes, children who grow up in Christian homes develop a kind of "Rote Religion." That is, their experience with God has not the intensity of mom and dad’s experience. Rather, their experience morphs into something more shallow and mechanical. 

And it is true that this generational creep also seems to sometimes touch the Church as a whole, both on the local and the larger scale. When we get "all grown up" as a church, we sometimes just find our rut and get in it. 

We do what we’ve always done. We stop being bold to win the world.  We stop being fresh in our approach to God and to ministry.  

Nevertheless, the words of the first admonition remain simple. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength."

In one sense, these words are the First Words. And as we occasionally revisit them in our heart, these words, can save us. They can save us from the quagmire of an "Automated Religion" which merely takes us through the motions of faith.

When allowed to envelope the heart, these first words can awaken us to fresh levels of relationship with God. They can infuse us with new devotion. They can animate us with curiosity and heightened interest. They can move us to a heightened investment. 

No one ever really finds God in the fog of Ho Hum. We only ever truly come to know Him in the clarity of our All in.

Are We There Yet ?

It’s been a long and tiring journey to this point - through history, that is. And even just the distance of our own little part makes our bones ache with road weariness. And some of our brothers and sisters have already fallen asleep as we have traveled. 

But some of us "kids" are still awake.  And we are just ready to be Home.  And so we ask our Heavenly Father - "Are we there yet?" And this, I suspect, might be His patient reply...

"No, dear child, we are not there yet. But we are almost there. There are a few more miles to make through the night, but we will all be Home soon. Just be patient.

"Perhaps you could pass the time by thinking about just how good it will be when we get there. Your sleeping brothers and sisters will all awaken to join you in a brand new, bright and shining day. And you will all be able to laugh together in the warmth of its unending Son shine.

"Just think, when you get Home, you will never cry any more tears - except for tears of the purest joy. Everything that ever made you cry with sadness will be behind you, all the bad people, all the pain, all the haunting fears.  All of that will all be soon forgotten. Because, only good things happen at Home.

"And you will have whatever time you need to pursue your God given passions, to become great at what you love, to perfect your every effort. Your mind will be your greatest tool; and your body will entirely cooperate with all of your wishes.

"At home you will know true freedom; because, aging, and disability, and death will no longer be able to set their harsh limits upon you there. Rather, you will laugh with unending laughter at the sheer joy of your creativity, your abilities, and your power, even to make the mountains play leap frog, if you wish.

"And, at Home, there will be no anger, no discord, no harm among the family. For those things will be dispersed by the rule of Love. Because Love rules at Home. 

"So just anticipate the morning child. With the Son rise you will be home. And you will be free to rest, or sing, or work, or soar, or contemplate, or create, or compose, or walk and talk with Me. At Home, in the morning, you will find yourself - and all that you were meant to be. Just be patient, child, and watch for the Son rise..."

"Father."

"Yes, child."

"Are we there yet?"

Irrelevant? YEAH RIGHT

It is a "hoot" to be a preacher today. It reminds me of the days when I was in elementary school and the teacher would ask me a question to which I actually knew the answer. It was such a rare occurrence back then, that my head would almost explode with excitement waiting for her to finish the question so I could give her the answer.

I've since discovered that there are two kinds of 4th graders: the ones who always know the answers, and the boys. I was, of course, one of the latter. And, I knew very well that the outcome of my whole elementary education mostly depended on "stayin' lucky." So, when I was, and I caught a question I could answer, I was ecstatic.

And, ecstatic is the way I feel these days. I feel so blessed to actually know the Answer to the desperate human questions. Questions like, "How can I recover from my broken life?" "Is death all there is?" or "What does God want for me and from me?" or "How can I really come to know God?" Oh, sometimes, I truly think my head really is going to explode.

But, I do have one problem. I have noticed lately that the question "askers" are somewhat diminishing. And, the forecast is for that trend to continue.

Still, I have been blessed across the years of my ministry to be able to enjoy interest and inquisition in the eyes of my congregation when I have preached. It has been very gratifying to see in their faces that what I was saying had value to them. But, recently, in the last few years, I have, indeed, noticed a troubling disinterest, especially among some of the older teens and the younger adults, which are, in my mind, a pretty important social subset.

I'm not speaking here of a momentary wavering of attention. It is more like they live in one world, and I live in another.  And, the issues of my world simply don't matter in theirs. So, they sort of sit there in polite disinterest. They just don't seem to really have any questions that I can answer.

Well, OK then.  I guess I can just become gracefully irrelevant to a couple of generations - YEAH RIGHT.

And maybe your thinking, "Well Preacher, you're just slipping." That is absolutely true. But, that does not entirely cover it. I think there is another reason why they think the information that I am bursting to give them (I am squirming in my seat, even as we speak) is mostly unimportant. It is because they don't have a complete picture of their existence.

So, I'm going to paint that picture one more time. Now, I am very aware that you probably don't belong to that disinterested group.  But, I have to tell somebody (it's that head exploding thing). And, I'm afraid your the only one available at the moment. So...

A long time ago God created all of this. Then He patiently allowed all human history to play out, even to the present day, giving opportunity to countless millions to taste everlasting life. He has intervened and interacted across that history in the most loving way, especially through the Savior, clearly demonstrating His interest in the well being of humanity.

But, in the near future, according to His plan and timetable, the Creator is going to convene a special hearing for humanity. It will be unlike anything the world has ever seen. This hearing will be held at the crossroads of reality where the physical world and the spiritual world intersect.

At this hearing, God will call for all of humanity to stand before Him, all who have ever lived. Then, He will conduct an interview with each one of us as to how we have responded to Him. But, when He comes to the disinterested crowd, He will be the only one talking. I suspect it will go something like this...

"I created everything; and I created you. I wanted to know you, to really know you. I wanted to experience the day to day ups and downs with you that create meaningful relationship.

"To facilitate that adventure, I gave you a Savior in my Son to heal the rift between us that occurred in Adam. He did that. When my Son died, I became willing to forgive your stubborn independence and your self centered approach to life. Beyond that, it was my intention to implant His living Spirit within you so that your character essence, and thus, your whole life, might be entirely renewed.

In this way, I intended to cement our relationship into one of love and harmony for your enduring good. In my Son, through His Cross and His Resurrection, I laid endless life and blessing at your feet. And that opportunity was there, awaiting a response from you, every day of your entire lifetime.

"And, across the years of your life, I only ever asked one thing of you. I only asked humility, first in the form of sorrow for your waywardness, and then as a sincere embrace of my values, my truth, and my loving guidance in your life. But that response never came.

"Nothing  I ever did seemed important to you. It wasn't important that I gave you life. It wasn't important how I felt about the way you lived your life. The warnings that I gave you within didn't matter. The warnings that I gave you through your life circumstance didn't matter. The love that spoke softly to you of forgiveness in my Son, Jesus, simply had no value to you. So, you just arrogantly ignored it all.

"Thus, for a few years of doing as you pleased and chasing after empty, temporary things, you have sold an eternity of happiness. That is the path you chose, and now that is the path that you will finish.

"So, I hereby pronounce you forever condemned to an eternity of punishment in the hell that I created for Satan and the angels who followed him. I command that you shall never be granted a reprieve, nor even a hearing for reprieve, from that place - forever.

"And, because the Cross of your Savior had no value to you, neither shall it have value to Me now to save you from this everlasting punishment. Because you never tasted the power of His Resurrection, neither shall you now taste the power of His deliverance from my judgment. Because you thought everything in life more important than responding to your Savior, now you shall have those things in full measure.  They will fuel the flames of your eternity. Be gone, and be forever forgotten in the agony of the wrong choices of your lifetime..."


Now see, I think if that disinterested crowd, polite or otherwise, could see that picture, the real, the whole picture of their reality, they would not be so disinterested anymore. I'm pretty certain that if they ever do "get it" when it comes to the "big picture," then that beautiful light of genuine interest will also come on in their eyes.

Hopefully, all of them will come to see the import of their larger reality before it's too late.  And I'm reasonably certain, at least for some of them, this will happen. God's "chasing" love will see to that.

And then, guess what!  I get to provide the good answers of God's grace to their awakening hearts! I am ec-static at the possibility! I just hope my head has not already turned to purple smoke by the time that opportunity comes.

Me Two

I talk and write about a lot of things, but the one subject nearest and dearest to my heart is God's redemptive effort. I have made it my life's work to understand the operation that saved my own soul and brought me to this deeply fulfilling friendship with God. And the more I have looked, the more I have become enamored with the sheer beauty and gracefulness of what God has done though Christ. To this very day, forty+ years later, I stand in complete awe of the absolute genius of His Christ-enabled redemptive work.

In the early days of my search as to what God was up to in this soul saving thing, like most I suspect, I focused on the Cross and God's wonderful forgiveness. But eventually, my search took me past the Cross toward the redemptive outflows of the Resurrection.

As I moved past the Cross, I started to recognize something astounding. It was this: Redemption is not just about forgiveness. It is about Forgiveness and Renewal. I realized that the whole point of the forgiveness was to position the believer to experience a profound personal newness.

I eventually came to understand that the newness that the Bible speaks of for the believer is not actually a function of the Cross at all, at least not directly. Rather, it is a function of the Resurrection. 

So, it turns out, the Cross is for forgiveness and the restoration of our relationship to God. But, our transformation, in real terms, is a direct outflow of the Resurrection.

Said another way, it is the Dying Christ of the Cross who secures our forgiveness, but it is the Living Christ of the Resurrection who empowers us to become "new creatures." And that empowerment is entirely enabled by our Spiritual merger with the Living Christ - the event the Church refers to as the Spiritual Baptism. 

This merger literally enables a connection between the character essence of Christ and that of the believer in order to literally revitalize the sincere believer through the vitality and value system of the Living Christ. So, obviously, this personal integration with the character essence of Christ is ultimately as necessary to the redemptive purpose as is our conversion moment. 

In the redemptive process, the Spiritual baptism is primarily aimed at fixing one intolerable reality in the human condition. It is the evil inner twin who lives within all of us - even after we become believers. This is that inner, subconscious person within us who absolutely refuses to voluntarily surrender to the lordship of Christ and the authority of God, much less, truly and thoroughly embrace His value system. 

The apostle, Paul, in his writings, refers to this inner person as the "old man," the "carnal nature," or "the flesh."  And, he paints a very clear picture of this subconscious carnal us in Romans, chapter 7 where he says this, "I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"

Oh yeah, we know this condition. We have all felt the pressure of that chronic waywardness that lives within our inner person. This is that involuntary rebellion, even within the heart of a new believer, that refuses to submit to the lordship of Christ.

So, just as Paul describes above, with our conscious mind we have given ourselves to God in Christ. But, in our subconscious mind (what Paul calls, our members), this carnal self wreaks constant havoc upon all of our good intentions. 

Thus, though we can see the high road of God's pleasure, this inner evil twin keeps us from walking it. So, every day we fight this inner battle, our conscious mind subscribing to God's way, but our subconscious mind refusing to go along - pulling us the wrong way and opposing us with a thousand subversive ploys.

If this is newness, who needs it - right? But, this is not the newness that Christ offers. It is just the condition in which we find ourselves between the time of our conversion and the moment of our metaphysical merger with the Living Christ.  And, while disconcerting, nevertheless, this period of time serves very important purposes in God's redemptive scheme, and our journey toward newness.

This very personal inner conflict is the time when serious believers confront their own remaining subconscious rebellion. And this inner battlefield is the place where we are profoundly humbled by our own failures. 

It is the place where we are made desperate by our own frustration. But, driven by this desperation, it is also the place where we intuitively begin to reach out and seek after the "mystery that has been kept secret since the foundation of the world." Paul describes that mystery this way, "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

So, it's simple really. The "demon self " who lives deep beneath the surface of our conscious mind, even after conversion, has no intention of ever surrendering to God. The Bible says of this incorrigible, carnal mind that "it is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be." 

Thus, there is really only one option for dealing with this trouble-making subconscious twin of ours. He must be subdued by one stronger than himself on the most primary governing level of our core person, where he operates. Thus, he must be subdued by the vitality of the Living Christ.

And that is exactly what the Living Jesus of the Resurrection does for the believer through the Spiritual merger. This is the remedy that Paul reveals if we just continue reading in Romans, Chapter 8, where he answers his own question from chapter 7: "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"

His answer in chapter 8 is this. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life [daily vitality] to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." [Brackets added]

So, when our character essence literally becomes Spiritually integrated with the character essence of the Living Christ here is what happens. The Divine Essence goes immediately to our subconscious mind to settle the issue of who is in charge in our life. He instantly arrests this stubborn carnal twin of ours by removing the value of self-determination as the prime value of our subconscious person.  And, in it's place, the vitality of His character essence now firmly establishes Faith, a consistent humility toward God, as the prime value even on this subconscious level of our being.

At this point, that inner "tug-of-war" ends. No longer is the believer's heart divided in its loyalty between God and self. This heart is now undivided. It is singularly devoted to God, not just on the conscious level, but also on the most primary governing level of the subconscious.  

And, that singularity of heart, is the very definition of Holiness - Having a singular primary devotion in one's heart.  And, it is entirely the Living Christ, in Spirit form, who enables this heart purity, through a very real and impactful character integration with the devout believer. 

And with this personal completion, a deep peace finally comes to the believer. The peace that Jesus described as, "the peace that passes understanding." No longer is this child of God painfully suspended between two opposing governments in his or her heart.

And now, the believer is positioned to become truly and profoundly new as he or she begins to live life in the sustaining and energizing vitality of the Living Christ.  Now guided by the new values of His integrated character essence within the believer, in very real terms, "behold, old things are passed away, and all things are become new."

But, I must mention, there is also something else that these 40+ years of discovery have shown me. It is simply this. Alarmingly high numbers of believers entirely neglect this completing Spiritual Merger with Christ. For whatever reasons, modern believers seem to prefer impotency and daily failure to the experience of this very real empowerment in the Living Christ.

Thus many, these days, merely assume themselves to be hopelessly consigned to the daily failures which a divided heart always brings. So they quietly accept the failure-forgiveness-failure-forgiveness cycle as the normal reality of their redemption.

Others assume the Baptism of the Spirit to be a mostly imperceptible thing which is just an undifferentiated part of their conversion moment. So, they never invest themselves in seeking, with some determination, this divine completion as the Bible instructs believers to do (Ref. Luke, chapter 11).  

And, still others view a realistic newness in Christ as more of an option than a natural necessity and a real requirement of God's redemptive plan.  And, indeed, we do live in a time when minimal investment has become much more the norm for believers. 

Plus, the sad reality is that the modern Church has been largely drained of real clarity regarding God's authentic redemptive process by the prevalence of pop-preaching's "easy-believism"  Thus, with all of these negatives now in play, this authentic redemptive process does becomes something of a "hard sell."

 So, bottom line, it has become easy to ignore the need for this personal completion after our initial conversion. Rather, we tend to simply focus on forgiveness, and then move on to devote our energies to pursuing the temporal things of this life.   It's really a kind of "peaceful co-existence" with our own waywardness born of a heart still caught in the throes of decision between self and God.

Nevertheless, there is one thing we have trouble escaping, even in these shallow times:  His voice. The voice of God still calls to the heart of believers to finish the redemptive course, to rise, to draw near to Him in this completely devoted way.

When I encounter a younger child at the alter of conversion, I am careful to tell them something before they return to their parents. I tell them this: "Just listen for His voice in your heart." 

I tell them to do that, because I know that, as surely as they have truly embraced the lordship of Christ, He will begin to speak to them and urge them forward through the redemptive process. And those urgings ultimately always lead all of us who hear them to the exact same place: A Spiritual Merger with Christ - which becomes for us, the place of the undivided heart, the place of noble personal empowerment, the place of a true and profound newness in Christ.

And so, I would encourage everyone - run toward that voice which calls you to completeness in the character essence of the Living Christ. Ignore all others; and, obey that True Voice with a true passion.  Put the tedium of this life on hold, and begin to devote yourself to the pursuit of this empowering connection to Christ with all stubbornness. 

This literal personal integration with Christ is, absolutely, the indispensable, stand-alone, Target Event of New Testament redemption. It is to this event that God calls every believer, after conversion, in order to touch them with this pervasive, Christ-enbled newness in their inner person.  Truly, this immediate benefit of the Resurrection lies just beyond the forgiveness of the Cross for every believer who will sincerely seek it.  

So, it simply comes to this.  True redemption is not merely about the  "fire insurance" of forgiveness.  It is ultimately and absolutely about this Christ-empowered newness heart. Truly, this is God's authentic redemptive purpose and His indispensable requisite for entry into His Heaven.

"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness."  - The Apostle, Paul, from The Book of Romans