Author Archives: cameron

Home

Posted on by
Reply

Home: a place of residence or refuge. For believers, home may mean not only the place we live while here on earth, the physical place as in “Home is where you hang your hat”, but Heaven, our end place with Jesus, as in “Home is where the heart is”. The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can be as we are, wearing only one face and no facades. i think everyone is looking for home in some way or another, it is a quiet ache or persistent longing that tugs at even the hardest of hearts … and everyone has an idea of “home” that is unique to them. For some it may be sitting on a porch swing, swaying and creaking back and forth under summer stars, yet for others it is among kind friends and smiling faces, the smell of familiar bread, a laugh that fits just right. As we search for “home” we weave through memories, chasing belonging and connecting. i think these days there are many who hope for “home” but don’t find “home” nor do they know how. Maybe it’s the last place they felt safe, but i must add, in this world real, bonafide safety is fleeting and getting harder to hold.

i think we’re searching for “home” even when we don’t know we’re searching for “home”, it can seem endless and daunting, our restless heart not quite finding where we fit or belong, you know, that place where we connect. Belonging and connecting are two essential attributes for identifying “home”. How do you know when you’re home? In this earthly life we’re told home is a place which feels right – cozy, and a place of our own. Friends, to me, where ever Jesus is, there is home, and if we think we’re in Heaven and Jesus isn’t there, it is hell. It seems so many are looking for “home” and don’t know it. Some say they have found their home, a heaven of their own making. Again, i say if you think you’ve found Heaven and God isn’t there, it must be hell. God is at home, it’s we who have gone out for a long, lonely walk.

In a song by a well known artist, some of the lyrics are “Traveling at night, The headlights were bright. But soon the sun came through the trees. Around the next bend, The flowers will send The sweet smell of home in the breeze”, and “Home, Sings me of sweet things. Life there has it’s own wings.”. Is the idea of “home” one of peace to you? Should be. If home to you is a terrifying thought, i suggest it’s not really your home. For many, we love the IDEA of home, but we’ve realized with hand wringing grief, the place we really live will never be that place.

i suppose a more basic question should be, Are you at peace? Is home a place of refuge and rest, a place where you can be restored and recharged? Your sanctuary? Or is home a place of conflict and contention? Where is home to you? And if you don’t have one, imagine, what home would look like?

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late evening, cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River. It’s a beautiful evening and the stars are out in all their splendor.

Imagine with me a moment. Get comfortable, breath in and out slowly and let your mind clear. See this: It’s evening. You’re on a familiar road which stretches ahead, the road hums beneath the tires, each mile marker a heartbeat closer to home. You ride past an occasional house with a warm interior glow here and there — trees and signs are a blur. Imagine getting closer, streetlights are coming more often, seeming to guide the way with an almost ghostly light. Just follow the light home. Anticipation builds — the comfort, warmth, and loved ones wait just beyond the bend. The journey’s end promises rest, a soft bed, and the sweet relief of being where you belong. Almost there.

The words, “almost home” brings vivid memories to mind for me. After being gone on one particular mission trip, for some reason, though short, it was the one which really pulled at my heart more than any others. My heart literally ached for home. After 21 days, 18 restaurants, 31 remote villages with untold amounts of prayer and all the wonderful God-stories, after all the taxi’s, the busses, and the miles and miles of walking, i was almost home.

The plane bounced incessantly over the next 24 hours. It seemed the sun was almost where i last saw it when we took off. People slept with the shades pulled low, tired people, restless people, all trying to get comfortable in a very narrow space. The lady next to me read 2 books, slept some more and then read a third book. A little hole over my head blew cool air; food and snacks came and went. Yet through all that, my mind was thoughts like — “I’m almost home. My heart aches for home. i just want to go home.”

Man, there’s no place like our house, my shalom place, past the barns, past the fields, up on the front porch and in the old door. Ahhhh … wow, i’m home. The couch is softer, the bed is sweeter, the shower runs just the way i like it, the smell is intoxicating, the embraces are more tender, oh, and the loved ones, smiling, hugging, affectionate. i’m so glad to be home. From property line to property line, from fence to fence, that is my Shalom place, the Kingdom of Heaven field office where we live. A place of divine appointment, under the complete protection of God Himself. A place of peace, even in the midst of terrible turmoil around me, this is my refuge. Do you have a Shalom place, a place of belonging and connecting?

As a little sidebar, i think it’s important to speak about two very valuable attributes of the idea of home: belonging and connecting. They are not the same. Belonging and connecting, though intertwined like two strings woven together, are each distinct. Belonging is the state of being part of a group, possibly an identity where we may hopefully get acceptance, as seen in biblical communities like the early church, Acts 2:42-47. Connecting, however, requires the consistent employment of a dreaded word in our society today: Honesty. Connecting requires active engagement and conversation, and not just one conversation like it’s one-and-done. That’s not connecting, that’s more like a skipping stone. Connecting is more the idea of emotional bonds through shared experiences like in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. Anybody can belong to a family of some sort, or a church, or a local club yet feel completely disconnected, present but emotionally isolated, missing intimate ties but we don’t typically know that’s what is missing. For example, the Israelites belonged to God’s covenant but often felt distant from Him. Psalm 137:1-6, they belonged to God but felt far from Him and disconnected. Or how about in Luke 15, when the younger brother came to himself and returned home, he and the father went in the house to rejoice and left the angry, smoldering older brother out in the front yard mumbling to himself. The older brother was “of the family”, he had belonging, but he was not “in the house”, he didn’t connect. People, in general, who do NOT belong and/or connect in some fashion are the saddest, loneliest, most broken people ever and they wander like ghosts on the face of the earth, hopeless and homeless. Friends, it’s not necessary. God has a better idea.

True connection, unlike passive belonging, demands intentional effort to build relationships, fulfilling our heart’s longing for closeness. Belonging and connecting is not passively gained. Ok, that’s enough about belonging and connecting….

Being at home where we live is wonderful. If I can feel so welcomed and so wanted in an imperfect world, through an imperfect family, in an imperfect house, what must heaven be like — a perfect kingdom, through a perfect Father, in a perfect dwelling.

In John 14:1-4 Jesus was speaking of home, and then in verses 26-27 Jesus made sure to leave them with some encouragement until they got home, He said, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Like the disciples, there are some things about our heavenly home you and I really need to know, starting with the truth that our Heavenly Home Is Real.

Hebrews 11:10 speaks of Abraham who, “… was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” i believe that if Abraham was looking forward to it he was certainly imagining and dreaming about it before he was looking forward to his future destination. Where did he get those ideas? Imagining was before, and looking forward to something means he held it as the truth. His ideas and imaginations were not about where he was, past tense, but where he was going to be, with the verb “to be” pointing to his existence, his coming into being or becoming, his identity or abiding, and his state of being with God. The very powerful yet simple little verb “to be”, as expressed in the phrase “looking forward to”, linked him to his very essence, the roles he may play and the conditions he will live and breath in. Abraham’s descendants were also thinking about home as seen in Hebrews 11:15-16, “If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they desired, and were longing for a better country–a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” Going back to where they came from was not even in their thinking, but where they were going to was the object of all their considerations. To “long for” or “desire” in this case means to stretch or reach for, as in a heartfelt yearning and being hopeful. The word itself, “desire” or “long for”, brings with it the sense of someone climbing a mountain, and the closer they get to the top, the more hope of attaining a goal lifts their hearts. So, in Heb11:16, to say, “they longed for a better country,” is to say that they had a glimpse of where God was taking them, they had a vision enough of the top of the mountain that they were excited about attaining to their goal. In Exodus 16:3 the Israelites longed for the Promised Land, Psalm 137:5-6 the Psalmist was homesick for Jerusalem. Home.

As believers, our eyes are set towards home with Jesus. Hebrews 13:14, “For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come”, and how about 2 Peter 3:13, “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.”

Are you longing for, looking forward to, looking for “home”? i read a quote by a sorta famous fellow who said, “America cannot continue to lead the family of nations around the world if we suffer the collapse of the family here at home.” And that is “home” as in more than just a house, but a place where family lives, where familiar pictures are hung, and the place of our personal things and memories. Home not only includes all that but can also include familiar geography, streets and stores, faces of shop owners and weekly workman and women we grew up knowing. Home.

i was thinking this morning during my prayer time, so much of the American home idealogy is under incredible attack. We say a truth …our nation needs to be on track with God, but it starts in a much smaller and unique environment, our homes. If our homes and families are not on track with God, then hell has done it’s job and disrupted us at our core. Home is truly where our heart is, it’s where our treasure is, and, again to reiterate, if home is a shambles and God is not there, all i can conclude is, what we call Heaven must be hell. If in our homes we are always at odds with our spouse over power, money, or sex (and it seems it is truly always one or the other or any combination there of), if we’re always at odds, our home, sweet home, comfortable sacred home, our sanctuary is at war with itself, and we all understand this, that no nation divided against itself can stand. Selah!

Home – Through the Hebrew we get a word picture of home. It is seen through the idea of a dwelling place, a house, but with family and community attached to it, even including those who are socially bound together under one roof. That says to me a it’s a dwelling place with others of whom we relate to. Home, where we eat and relax and we can hopefully, be who we are with as few facades as possible.

In light of that, we can easily conclude that at least 50% of homes in America are not a refuge or a sanctuary, in fact it would seem they are chaotic and conflicted. If the divorce rate is at least 50%, and that is truly much too low, then the idea of home has been, and is being sabotaged at least 50% of the time. Hell is striking at the heart of mankind by breeding destruction in the very center of our sanctuary, our individual homes. At that rate, i’d say there are far, far more people who are homeless in their heart and mind than we can imagine. They aren’t belonging, they don’t connect, and their friends seem like no friends at all. Don’t you know? Belonging and connection are fundamental to all our well-being, it’s where we find shared purpose. i like that, “shared purpose”. Belonging and connecting within our community was God’s idea and design, and His purpose was for us to have support, accountability, transparency without fear of reprisal for merely being ourselves, and being grounded with love as our bond, like in John 13:34-35. We are not only made in God’s image, but His image AND reflection, similar to God inside and out, and it’s always personal and relational.

This is important so listen: Home isn’t the building but who inhabits the building. Having a dwelling place is one thing, but having a home is another. Edward Whiting said “You can no more measure a home by inches, or weigh it by ounces, than you can set up the boundaries of a summer breeze, or calculate the fragrance of a rose. Home is the love which is in it.”

i think Mr. Whiting was on to something there. If home is measured by the love which is in it, then Jesus and Heaven are obviously the highest choice. The Love of God exceeds and excels beyond our wildest imagination. God Himself and His house are our destination, not just because it is a place to live, but because of who lives there.

If Heaven wasn’t a “place” Jesus wouldn’t have said so in John 14:3. Heaven and our home are not a “spiritual condition” or a “state of being” but a place where Jesus is. God has created us to take pleasure in His companionship, and in each other’s. Home isn’t a solitary existence, there are others in Heaven, or at Home, and we can relate to that great cloud of witnesses. It is a family. All things will be right at home with Jesus – no abortion clinics or mental hospitals, no missing children, no rape, no murder, no drug addictions, no swindlers, no robberies, no worry, depression, illness, failure, or miscommunications. No hidden agendas, no politics or backroom deals, no secret ambitions, plots, hatred, or condescension. Can you imagine sitting and eating with God Almighty, mealtimes full of stories, laughing, singing, maybe a game of touch football in the backyard sometimes. Can you imagine such happiness without fear of being judged or measured, no lust or jealousy, no inappropriateness or hurt feelings? Can you imagine that? My heart aches for home, how about you?

One woman wrote, “It’s been easy for me through the years to find fault in the house we’ve lived in for the past eleven years.  Our abode is well over 100 years old. That means it has a lot of “character” right? Yes. If by “character” you mean that the toilets don’t flush well, the basement looks like the Adam’s Family lives there, and the dust from the Dirty Thirties is still stuck in crevices around each of our fifty drafty windows. That’s how I look at my house when I have a self-focused perspective. The world tells me I need new, shiny, perfect, better, best, improved, highest quality, and spotless.”

“Pinterest tells me I need my home and the contents therein to look as though they climbed out of a magazine – completely unique, yet altogether trendy (how it can be trendy and unique at the same time is beyond me). We must have the right color scheme, a lovely furniture arrangement all set up in a proper pose like movie props, and classy wall decor. Otherwise, we must feel guilty, deprived, and less than. What if we just decided to be thankful instead? i am thankful for where i live, and infinitely grateful to God for where i shall live. We can’t allow ourselves to judge where we will be by where we are, for no man can hold a candle to the things God has prepared for those who love Him.

The Lord is calling us to look above our view of where we live to see a greater vision, one which He has made for us beyond this world of brick and mortar, beyond the have and have not’s to see Jesus. Friends, if there is vision then there is provision, and if there is vision and provision, there is most certainly preparation. Let us cease to obsessively focus on where we are but begin to look to where we are going.

Jonathan Edwards wrote of Heaven: “No inhabitants of that blessed world will ever be grieved with the thought that they are slighted by those whom they love, or that their love is not fully and fondly returned. There shall be no such thing as flattery or insincerity in Heaven, but there perfect sincerity shall reign through all in all. Everyone will be just what they seem to be, and they’ll really have all the love that they seem to have. It will not be as in this world, where comparatively few things are what they seem to be, and where professions are often made lightly and without meaning. But there, every expression of love shall come from the bottom of the heart, and all that is professed shall be real and truly felt.”

Once at home in Heaven, the hungry will fill up, those who weep will laugh, and those who suffer tragedy will be compensated the victory.

i realize this is a lot of very positive and wonderful stuff about something that isn’t exactly in the here and now. And i realize most of us might be far more interested in things we can do in the now to help our present circumstances or situations, BUT, in putting the idea of home on the table and talking about being at home with Jesus, eating, walking, and talking with God, family, friends, and all the participants of the entire salvation message from beginning to end, it generates hope, the anticipation of becoming and overcoming, and hope is in very short supply in our world.

Revelation 21:3-5 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.””

Those are the words of Jesus and we can take it to the bank. Live everyday in light of them. Let me encourage you to make every choice in light of God’s promises. C.S. Lewis wrote, “A man who has been in another world does not come back unchanged. A man who gives sustained thought to God and his future Home in Heaven, does not remain the same. He smells the banquet being prepared for him and he’ll never be the same, in Jesus Name.

Think about it.

Randy Alcorn wrote in his book titled “Heaven”, “We were all made for a person and a place. Jesus is that person. Heaven is that place.”

If you know Jesus, i’ll be with you in that resurrected world. With the Lord we love and with the friends we cherish, we’ll embark together on the ultimate adventure, in a spectacular new universe awaiting our exploration and dominion. Jesus will be the center of all things, and joy will be the air we breathe, and right when we think it all couldn’t get any better, it will!

Thank you for joining me here at Outposts for cool jazz and contemplative conversation! i’m Social Porter and this production has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, 22 Skidoo Boots and Shoes on 3rd and main, Tempo Music, Kevin, Tommy, and Perry of the Mebane Freedom League, Area 22 Guitars, Sisters Coffee, and Trinity Bakers, the sweet spot on main street where there’s always something good in the oven.

Come on home with Jesus, there’s a party going on for eternity and we ought not to miss eating, dancing, and talking with the King of the Universe!

Be strong and courageous, drive carefully, and i’ll see you at home where God makes all things new. Amen.

031 Innerlike Vryheid

Posted on by
Reply

Johannes 17:17-19: “Heilig hulle deur U waarheid; U woord is die waarheid. Soos U My in die wêreld ingestuur het, het Ek hulle ook in die wêreld ingestuur. En ter wille van hulle heilig Ek Myself, sodat hulle ook deur die waarheid geheilig kan wees.”

Solank ons as gelowiges in hierdie wêreld leef, gaan ons op een of ander manier teen die stroom van die wêreld se stelsel inswem. Dis net hoe dit is. Ons gaan druk ervaar, moeilikhede, probleme, versoekings en geleenthede om verkeerde dinge te doen. Dis deel van die lewe. Maar in al hierdie dinge – omdat Jesus die wêreld oorwin het en deur geloof in ons woon – is ons ook soos Hy … oorwinnaars. As Jesus nie die wêreld oorwin het nie, sou ons ook nie kon nie. Maar Hy het, en daarom kan ons. Dis altyd waar: omdat Jesus dit gedoen het, kan ons dit ook doen. Omdat Jesus gebuig het in gebed (Lukas 22:41), kan ons ook in geregtigheid buig.

In Johannes 14:18 sê Jesus: “Ek sal julle nie as wese agterlaat nie; Ek kom weer na julle toe.” Dit beteken God gaan nie toelaat dat ons alleen agterbly of verlate voel nie. As Hy iets sê, dan bedoel Hy dit. God maak nie grappies nie. Jesus het altyd reguit gepraat – Hy was nie vaag of dubbelsinnig nie. Dít is wat goeie grense wys. En omdat Jesus goeie grense gehad het, kan ons ook leer om goeie grense te hê.

Omdat Jesus die wêreld en alles wat daarmee saamkom – soos aanloklikhede, skinderstories, gemor, oordeel, veroordeling en begeertes – van die hand gewys het, kan ons ook keer dat die wêreld ’n plek in ons lewens kry. Hy het die pad vir ons gebaan – heeltemal, sonder om ooit te struikel. Omdat Jesus ons eerste liefgehad het, kan ons Hom liefhê. Omdat Hy vry was, kan ons ook vry wees. Niemand hoef vasgevang te bly in slegte gewoontes of in die mag van die dood nie.

Hier is iets om oor te gesels: Dink jy God gaan mense wat Hom nie liefhet nie, in die hemel toelaat? Het jy Jesus werklik lief? Verlang jy regtig daarna om Hom te ken – die Een wat vir jou gesterf en opgestaan het? Wat sê jou gewete daaroor? Wees eerlik… die rou, ongefilterde waarheid.

Dit gebeur gereeld dat gelowiges in Christus geskok is wanneer ’n bekende Christen of leraar in sonde vasgevang word. Selfs mense wat die Waarheid ken, kan in die moeilikheid beland as hulle nie toelaat dat God se liefde diep wortel skiet in hulle lewens nie – en as hulle, hulle honger na Jesus verloor het. As ons nie versigtig is nie, kan ons die waarheid begin opdeel – dit net tot sekere dele van ons lewens toelaat – en dan mis ons hoe eg en werklik God werklik is. Dan bly dit by “kopkennis”, maar dit bereik nie ons harte nie.

Ware heiligmaking gebeur wanneer ons toelaat dat God se reinigende waarheid elke area van ons lewe binnekom – elke kamer, elke hoekie. Dit beteken daar is nie plekke waar ons vir God sê: “Hier mag U nie inkom nie.” Maar die waarheid is, God sien alles in elk geval. Dis nie asof daar enigiets is wat Sy oog ontglip nie. Hy is nie ’n halfblinde Koning nie, en Hy sukkel beslis nie met sy sig nie. Hy sien alles, altyd.

So maak daardie deure oop. Sê vir Hom wat regtig in jou hart aangaan. Vra Hom die moeilike vrae – jy moet weet Hy gaan nie terugdeins vir eerlike gesprekke nie. Stil twyfel word nooit beantwoord nie. Gee daaraan ’n stem. Soms moet óns self hoor wat ons eintlik dink – praat dit uit. God se ore is oop en Hy luister.

Omdat Jesus ’n oorwinnaar was, kan ons ook oorwin! In werklikheid het die Here gesê ons is meer as oorwinnaars (Romeine 8:37) – ons moet dit net begin leef.

Innerlike vryheid is soms net ’n geselsie met God vêr.
“Gesels net ’n bietjie met Jesus, vertel Hom van al jou moeilikheid.
Hy hoor selfs jou stilste sug, en Hy sal op Sy tyd antwoord.
Jy voel hoe die gebedswiel draai, en jy weet daar’s ’n vuur wat begin brand.
’n Geselsie met Jesus maak dinge baie beter.”

-Vertaling“Have a Little Talk with Jesus,” geskryf deur Cleavant                        Derricks in          1940.

Baie dankie dat jy geluister het – ek is Social Porter van Living In His Name Ministries.

Hierdie vertaling is gedoen deur Chané de Clercq

Pray For Someone

Posted on by
Reply

            Through out the Bible, prayer, or an address to God (as a petition), is used or encouraged as a means to express ourselves to God, in joy or agony. Prayer is more than just words, it is an action and a life posture towards God. It is the words and actions human beings employ in an effort to communicate with God. Interestingly, people don’t just “talk” to God, they “pray”. We “talk” to each other or ourselves, but it would seem “prayer” is something more than simply “talking”, at least in the way it is presented to us at church many times.

           Paul prayed incessantly, or without ceasing for the believers in Romans. We are also, ourselves, encouraged to find a posture before God where we pray without ceasing like in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” It would also appear that rejoicing and a thankful heart are directly connected to our time devoted to prayer.

            In Ephesians 6 we are encouraged to pray in the Spirit with all supplication, meaning to talk to God with all your words, with all your heart, with all your feelings and intentions; to throw yourself into communication with God. 57% of the people in a survey said prayer saves the dying. When asked to imagine their own relatives being gravely ill or injured, only 20 percent of the doctors and other medical workers interviewed said God could reverse a hopeless outcome.

            i like these words by Margaret B. Gunness, “The power of thanksgiving and prayer is the constant renewal of perspective. Genuine thanksgiving and prayer opens our eyes. It extends our horizons. It sheds light into the darkness of our fears and our sorrows, our hopes and joys, our shame and our pride. It gives us new ways of seeing life and relationships, of understanding work and the cost of growing.”

            When you’re coming out of the store, as you’re headed to your car, you may see an elder person, a mom running in the store for something, a man pulling in for groceries … ask God to give you the words to pray for that person. You don’t have to run them down and do something dramatic, but right where you are, in the moment, just between you and God, with thanksgiving, pray for that person. What would it take to create in your heart an attitude of praying with a thankful heart for people as they came to mind during your day?

            Through a thankful heart and prayer, a simple foundation of deep faith and trust in God is established. We are encouraged to turn to Him in prayer and thanksgiving, not only in need, but also to rest in the arms of the Father — body and spirit.  

            Once, at Mother Teresa’s mission in Calcutta, India, the lady in charge of lunch that day came and told Mother Teresa that they had planned poorly and didn’t have enough flour to make the necessary food to feed all the children who would come to the mission to eat. They knew for most of the children it would be their ONLY meal that day. Mother Teresa told the woman, “Well then, go into the chapel and tell Jesus we have no food. That’s settled. Now let’s move on. What’s next?”

            Lo and behold, ten minutes later there was a ring at the door and Mother Teresa was called downstairs. A man she had never seen before was standing there with a clipboard. He addressed her saying “Mother Teresa, we were just informed that the teachers at the city schools are going on strike. Classes have been dismissed and we have 7,000 lunches we don’t know what to do with. Can you help us use them?”

            Trust God, tell him what’s on your heart. Pray for someone today as you go your way. Be thankful for recognition of the need of others knowing that if God had not given the recognition to you, it simply wouldn’t be there. i can guarantee, if you’ll thankfully pray and talk to God, soon you will begin to see a change and a little fire in your heart will begin to burn as never before. If you’ll pray for someone as you go your way, there will grow a confidence, rest, and assurance that something more than just life on this planet is happening. And be sure and persist in your prayers, it’s not merely a one and done. Prayer is not a one night stand. Make thanksgiving and prayer a habit, pray for someone today; it makes a difference and brings a focus in their lives and yours that will surely surprise you.

            Would God be someone else if we didn’t pray? No. Would God hate if we didn’t beg God to love? No. Would God ignore an illness or marriage unless we remembered to pray and did so fervently? No. It is God’s nature to love, to show mercy, to forgive, and to redeem. God is not manipulated because we pray or because we don’t.

            What, then, do our prayers do? At one level, they are like a child’s cry for a parent’s help. They just burst forth. We see a need, and we call to God. We feel a pain, and we call to God.

            A thankful heart and our prayers also align us with God. What does alignment with God accomplish? You never can tell but in time it will be revealed. i can assure you it’s is more and bigger than you could imagine. Not to mention, prayer certainly does help put us in a mind to help others. It eases the burdens of others, and amends our lives and the lives of others, in ways we might never see. James 5:16b, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes a great deal.“

            The positive, radical and transforming impact of one person’s choosing to love another cannot be fully known, but it is sufficient reason to pray and give thanks to God for His abundant mercy which He liberally extends to us.

i’m Social Porter for Living In His Name Ministries

OP64 Vredemakers

Posted on by
Reply

Wanneer ’n mens besef hoeveel mense rondloop met ’n wrok in hul harte – mense wat week na week kerke en gemeenskapsbyeenkomste regoor Suid-Afrika bywoon – dan begin jy verstaan hoe swaar daardie onsigbare laste werklik is. Elke persoon dra aan iets, en daardie swaar hart hou baie keer hul vooruitgang terug.

’n Belediging klink dalk nie erg op die oomblik nie, maar gee dit tyd – dit kan mettertyd baie swaar begin weeg. Die kans om beledig te word is oral om ons – dit kan enigiemand, enige tyd tref. Soms ontvang jy dit, ander kere deel jy dit uit – soms selfs sonder dat jy dit besef.

Wat is dit wat jou terughou? En waar is die vredemakers – dié wat bereid is om seer dinge aan te spreek, om versoening te bring, om gewig van ander se skouers af te help dra?

Wees verseker: om elke draai in die lewe is daar ’n geleentheid om aanstoot te neem en in konflik betrokke te raak. Soms voel dit regverdig, maar baie keer – dalk selfs meestal – is daardie aanstoot net ’n saak van trots of arrogansie.

Let op, ek sê dit lyk regverdig, want daar is eintlik geen goeie rede om ’n wrok rond te dra nie. Dit onderdruk jou, dit verdraai jou denke en jou gevoelens. Hoe langer ons so ’n wrok dra, hoe meer begin dit ons oordeel en besluitneming beïnvloed – tot op ’n punt waar dit glad nie meer is soos God dit vir ons bedoel het nie. Dit raak alles in ons lewens.

Ek is seker ons het almal al iemand ontmoet wat bitter is – oor iets, of dalk oor alles. En as jy mooi dink, het dit waarskynlik begin by ’n wrok… en ’n onbuigbare, onvergewensgesinde hart.

Jesus en die Bybel is ons voorbeeld van hoe ons moet leef – in gedrag, karakter, moraliteit, beginsels en etiek. Dis belangrik om raak te sien dat Jesus nooit ’n wrok gedra het nie. Omdat Hy nie aanstoot gekoester het nie, het Hy ook nooit nodig gehad om Homself te verdedig of verdedigingsmeganismes te gebruik nie.

Elke keer as ek iemand ontmoet wat baie verdedigend optree, is daar gewoonlik ’n klomp ou wrokke wat hulle diep binne dra. Dinge wat nie hanteer is nie – wat weggepak en vertroetel is – en uiteindelik begin dit vrot.

Wat gaan jy doen met jou wrokke?

Op die ou end moet ons almal ons bagasie aanspreek en daarmee werk… of dit dra ons.

“Salig is die vredemakers, want hulle sal kinders van God genoem word.” – Matteus 5:9

Kom uit julle verborge plekke, vredemakers! Dis tyd om op te staan en aan die werk te spring.

Die Bybel gee vir ons alles wat ons nodig het om ware vrede te bring – die beloftes én die beginsels. Een van die eerste voorbeelde van iemand wat vrede help maak het, was Moses.

In Eksodus 18:13 lees ons:

“Die volgende dag het Moses gaan sit om die volk te oordeel, en die volk het van die oggend tot die aand voor hom gestaan.”

Moses het tussen mense bemiddel en gehelp om reg en vrede te bring. Dit is ’n roeping wat steeds vandag geld – vir my en vir jou.

Toe Jethro, Moses se skoonpa, sien wat aan die gang was, het hy vir Moses gevra wat hy eintlik doen. Moses het in vers 16 geantwoord:

“Wanneer mense ’n probleem het, kom hulle na my toe. Ek help hulle om reg en verkeerd te onderskei, en ek verduidelik vir hulle God se wette en gebooie.”

Moses het duidelik as ’n soort vredemaker of arbiter opgetree, en hy het God se wette en gebooie as sy riglyn gebruik. Dis beslis ’n goeie begin. Maar Moses het alles op homself geneem – hy het nie die mense aangemoedig om self betrokke te raak by God se standaarde en riglyne nie.

As ons verder lees, sien ons hoe Jethro wysheid met Moses deel. Hy sê vir Moses dat hy die mense moet leer wat reg en verkeerd is, sodat hulle self kan weet wat om te doen. Jethro stel ook voor dat Moses gesag delegeer aan Godvresende mense om hom te help met die taak om vrede te bring.

Ek hou van daardie idee – om mense te leer wat reg en verkeerd is, sodat hulle self kan leef volgens daardie kennis. Nie om ’n organisasie bo hulle aan te stel wat elke beweging beheer en soos ’n “gedagtespolisie” optree nie.

Ons almal moet weet wat reg en verkeerd is – nie volgens wat ander mense sê nie, of wat die regering besluit nie, maar volgens God se standaard.

Is jy ’n vredemaker of iemand wat maklik aanstoot neem?

En ja, ek het spesifiek gesê vredemaker. Daar is ’n groot verskil tussen ’n vredemaker en ’n vredebewaker.

Om ’n vredemaker te wees, beteken jy neem aktief deel – jy help om vrede te bou en te herstel. Dis meer as om net ’n passiewe toeskouer te wees wat nooit regtig betrokke raak nie.

’n Vredebewaker probeer net die chaos stil hou – net genoeg om dinge onder beheer te hou. Hulle fokus daarop om geweld of konflik te keer, maar hulle verander nie noodwendig die omstandighede nie.

’n Vredemaker, aan die ander kant, werk daaraan om iets blywends te bou – ’n gemeenskap wat nie net sonder geweld leef nie, maar wat gesond, kreatief en vreedsaam is.

Die een plak net ’n pleister. Die ander bring ware genesing.

Ons kan nie ware vrede skep deur net die wet toe te pas of te probeer afdwing nie. Trouens, mense wat net op die wet fokus, wen selde. Sommige glo dat ons gemeenskappe veiliger sal wees as ons die wet strenger maak en swaarder straf toepas – maar die waarheid is: veroordeling het nog nooit iemand werklik bevry van immoraliteit of misdaad nie.

Die wet kan mense dalk bang maak, maar sonder Jesus is daar geen ware kans op versoening of innerlike verandering nie.

’n Interessante voorbeeld hiervan is die 1873 Colt Peacemaker, oorspronklik gemaak deur Colt Firearms. Dit was geskik vir .45 Long Colt-patrone en het bekend gestaan as die “wapen wat die Weste gewen het.” Wetstoepassers het dit gebruik om orde af te dwing tussen strydende partye. Maar om die wet af te dwing, skep nie vrede nie – dit hou net dinge onder beheer.

Mense het opgehou baklei omdat hulle bang was om geskiet te word, nie omdat hul hart verander het nie. Die geweer het gehelp om die uiterlike vrede te handhaaf, maar dit het nie enige werklike of blywende eenheid gebring nie.

Dalk moes Colt eerder die geweer ’n vredebewaker genoem het, en nie ’n vredemaker nie.

Dit lyk vir my asof ons, om werklik vredemakers te wees, eers vir Jesus moet leer ken – en self iets van vrede moet ervaar, diep binne ons. Dink jy nie ook so nie?

Tussen my notas het ek ’n interessante feit neergeskryf in my klein boekie. Ek weet nie wie dit oorspronklik geskryf het nie, maar dit het my laat dink:

“Daar word geskat dat minder as agt persent van die hele geskiedenis van die mensdom as tye van vrede beskou kan word. In die afgelope 3 200 jaar was daar minder as 300 jaar van vrede. Historici sê dat daar in die afgelope 300 jaar alleen al 286 oorloë in Europa plaasgevind het.”

Dis ’n skokkende gedagte, nè?

Maar ons – dié van ons wat deur Jesus Christus se dood en opstanding bemagtig is – is geroep om meer te wees as net vredebewakers wat dinge probeer beheer. Ons is geroep om vredemakers te wees wat ware, blywende vrede bring – dié soort vrede wat net God kan gee – aan almal wat dit begeer.

In Galasiërs 5:22 sê die Bybel dat een van die vrugte van die Gees vrede is, en in Markus 9:50 lees ons: “Wees sout in julself, en wees in vrede met mekaar.”

Ek hou van daardie vers: “Wees sout in julself, en wees in vrede met mekaar.” Kom ons wees “sout” vir die wêreld – ons moet diegene wees wat vrede bring en nie onvrede nie.

Interessant genoeg het die idioom “jou sout werd wees” oorspronklik beteken dat Romeinse soldate dikwels in sout betaal is. Dit het beteken dat die persoon se waarde gelyk was aan die hoeveelheid sout wat hy ontvang het vir die werk wat hy gedoen het. Hoe hoër die rang van die soldaat, hoe meer sout het hy gekry – wat sy groter waarde weerspieël het.

Volgens Matteus 5:13 is ons, diegene wat in Christus glo, die sout van die aarde. Ons moet in staat wees om ’n werklike impak op die aarde en die mense daarin te hê. Sout was en is steeds van groot waarde, en ek dink die Here sê vir ons om waarde in onsself te hê en om te oefen om in vrede met mekaar te leef.

Ons moet die gawes wat die Vader vir ons gegee het, gebruik en nooit konflik toelaat om voort te duur as ons dit kan help nie. En jy weet, die geleenthede vir konflik is altyd daar – dit is oral rondom ons. Onopgeloste konflik is soos om die duiwel saam met jou te dra. As jy hom toelaat om saam te reis, sal hy later die stuurwiel probeer oorneem.

As mense wat versoen is met God, word ons geroep om op ’n manier op konflik te reageer wat heeltemal anders is as hoe die wêreld dit hanteer. Die wêreld antwoord dikwels met woede en oordeel – ‘n oog vir ‘n oog. Maar Romeine 12:18-19 sê: “As dit moontlik is, sover dit van jou afhang, leef in vrede met almal. Moet nie vergelding neem nie, liewe vriende…”

Ons samelewing lyk obsessief oor vergelding en wil altyd seker maak ander kry wat “hulle verdien”. Maar ’n goeie vraag wat ons kan vra, is: Hoe meet ons wat iemand “verdien”? Volgens wie? Volgens watter standaard?

As ons kyk na wat die wêreld sê ons verdien, dan is die enigste reg wat die wêreld aan ons bied, die reg om te ly. Maar as ons dit meet volgens wat ons van Jesus kry, is daar iets heeltemal anders: versoening. Ons kry nie wat ons verdien nie, maar genade – omdat Jesus gekry het wat Hy nie verdien het nie: oordeel, lyding en kruisiging. As Hy nie gesterf en opgestaan het nie, sou ons nie genade gekry het nie, maar veroordeling.

Toe Jesus gekruisig is, het Pontius Pilatus die mense gevra wat hulle met Jesus wou doen, en met een stem het hulle uitgeroep: “Neem Hom weg! Kruisig Hom!” Die ongegronde oordeel en vooroordeel was ongelooflik. Jesus het gekom om die mensdom die geleentheid te gee om vrede met God te maak. Hy was die vredemaker tussen die mens en God, maar tog kon die mense net sê: “Kruisig Hom!” Die gewonde gewete en bevooroordeelde gedagtes van die mense was so blind vir die goeie nuus dat baie die besoek van God gemis het.

In plaas daarvan om ons oë op ons eie begeertes te stel, of onredelik baie tyd te spandeer oor wat ander mense mag doen of nie doen nie – wat hulle moes gedoen het of kon gedoen het, maar nie gedoen het nie – kom ons verkwik onsself in die Here en gee getuienis van Sy liefde. Ons kan dit doen deur vergifnis, wysheid, en ’n voorbeeldige karakter te leef.

Konflik is maklik. Die hel maak seker dat daar altyd geleenthede vir konflik is. As die duiwel mense teen mekaar kan laat optrek en hulle eenheid uitmekaar skeur, sal die mense van God – wat die bron van hulle vrede is – vervreem word. Miskien kan die duiwel hulle selfs beïnvloed om met ‘n diep gewonde gewete te leef, chaos te aanvaar, en vir hulself te sê: “Oo, dit is net hoe dinge is.”

Vir die meeste mense is vrede eenvoudig net die afwesigheid van rus. Maar God se siening van vrede is baie dieper en groter as net die afwesigheid van konflik. Die Here sê ware vrede kom wanneer ons verhouding met God herstel word.

Wat sal dit vir jou neem om ‘n vredemaker te wees in plaas van ‘n onvredemaker? Is ons bereid om die taak van vredemakers op te neem? Uiteindelik sê Matteus 5:9 dat om ‘n vredemaker te wees, een van ons kenmerke as kinders van God moet wees.

Een van die vyf punte in die Vredemakers Gelofte sê punt 2: “Kry die balk uit jou eie oog.” In plaas daarvan om ander te blameer vir konflik of weerstand teen straf, kom ons vertrou op God se genade en neem verantwoordelikheid vir ons eie bydrae tot die konflik.

As ons aanstoot neem en dink dat die ander persoon die probleem sommer sal erken wanneer ons dit aan hulle blootlê, is die kans groot dat die ander persoon nie eens weet hulle het ons aanstoot gegee nie. Ons kan nie verwag dat die ander persoon alles vir ons regstel nie. Dit is ons verantwoordelikheid om versoen te word met God. Niemand kan die vredesaanbod van die Bloed van Jesus namens ons aanvaar nie, en ons kan nie hierdie gawe van God namens iemand anders ontvang nie.

Nog ‘n aanhaling uit die Vredemakers Gelofte sê in punt 3: “Herstel sagkens.” In plaas daarvan om te doen asof konflik nie bestaan nie, of agter mense se rug oor hulle te praat, sal ons nie klein konflik ignoreer nie. Ons sal persoonlik en met genade met diegene praat wie se optrede aanstoot gee en wat te ernstig is om oor te sien. Ons sal streef om te herstel eerder as om te verdoem.

Wanneer konflik nie privaat opgelos kan word nie, sal ons ander in die liggaam van Christus vra om ons te help om die saak op ‘n Bybelse manier op te los.

Matteus 18:15 sê: “As ‘n medegelowige jou seergemaak het, gaan en vertel hom—los dit tussen julle twee op. As hy luister, het jy ‘n vriend gemaak.” Dit is wat ons noem ‘n vredemaker. Het jy dit begryp? As HULLE jou seergemaak het, gaan JY na hulle toe en oefen jou konflikoplossing. En as hulle nie luister nie, skud die stof van jou voete af en wag op God om die dilemma op te los.

Hoeveel van ons neem aanstoot, gee die verhouding op en gaan huis toe, en sê: “Ek gaan nooit weer met haar praat nie!” of “Dis die laaste keer wat ek vir hom enige van my tyd sal gee!” Of, en ek dink dit is dikwels wat die meeste mense doen: glimlag ons en gebruik ons geestelike taal net wanneer dit nodig is, bly oor die algemeen stil terwyl ons die fasade van welstand handhaaf, en beweeg dan net weg—dalk selfs na ‘n ander kerk—en laat die konflik staan om te roes in ons gedagtes. Ons dink dat as ons net niks sê nie, dit dalk van self weg sal gaan.

My vriend, nee, dit gaan nie net “weggaan” nie! Daar is geen woorde wat uit jou mond kom wat niks doen nie en net “weggaan.” En glo my, jy kan nie van alles af weghardloop nie.

In Johannes 6, toe Jesus gesê het: “Hy wat My vlees eet en My bloed drink, bly in My, en Ek in hom,” Sy dissipels het dit moeilik verstaan. Toe vra Jesus vir hulle: “Is julle aanstoot gegee deur dit?” Aanstoot is soos ‘n strik wat die persoon immobiliseer en neutraliseer.

Aanstoot is ‘n struikelblok, maar deur God se genade kan ons dit verander van iets wat ons laat struikel, na iets wat ons help om op te staan.

Konflikoplossing is een van die min vaardighede wat in die Liggaam van Christus goed ontwikkel is. Eerlik gesê, ek dink dit is moeilik om werklike ‘vredemakers’ vandag te vind, maar ek glo ook dat God ons sal opwek om dit in die toekoms te wees.

Hoe sal dit lyk as ons nie vroeg al kompromieë aanvaar of verhoudings toelaat om te verwelk nie? Hoe sal dit wees as ons aktief werklike vrede en versoening nastreef—en ander mense vergewe net soos Jesus ons vergewe het? Hoe sal dit lyk as ons die tyd neem om regverdig te wees en wedersyds voordelige oplossings vir ons verskille te soek en te vind?

Ek sê ook vir jou, net omdat ons iemand wat aanstoot gee of konflik veroorsaak, vergewe het en na daardie persoon gegaan het om ‘n vreedsame oplossing te vind, beteken dit nie dat ons daardie persoon terug in ons lewens moet toelaat nie. Daar is soms mense in die wêreld wat werklik nie goed vir ons is nie.

My taak as ‘n vredemaker is om mense met God te versoen. Toe Jesus as mens op aarde was, was die wêreld verdeel. Een ras het ander rasse gehaat, een nasie het ander nasies gehaat, en mense van een godsdiens het ander godsdiensaanhangers gehaat. ‘n Voorbeeld hiervan is die gevoelens tussen Jode en nie-Jode. Die Joodse man het vir God dankie gesê dat hy nie ‘n nie-Jood, ‘n slaaf of ‘n vrou was nie. Hy het die Samaritane verag, selfs tot die punt dat hy baie myle ompad geloop het om kontak met hulle te vermy. Hy het vir homself gesê: “Ek is so bly ek is nie jy nie, want jy is so verkeerd en ek is so reg.”

Bemiddeling begin by die huis. Die beginpunt van bemiddeling vir ander is dat ons eers vrede met God moet maak. As ons in ons eie vel in vrede en gemak kan wees, glo ek dit is ‘n groot struikelblok wat ons deur die genade van God oorwin het, en dit kan maklik die wêreld rondom ons beïnvloed.

Wat dink jy? Is jy ‘n vredemaker of ‘n aanstootnemer? Wat gaan jy kies? Gaan ons leer hoe om konflik op ‘n regverdigde manier op te los, of gaan ons net van die een konflikson na die volgende beweeg, soos skape? Gaan ons probeer om wen/wen-oplossings te vind, eerlik wees en God vertrou, of gaan ons ‘n lewe lei van aanstoot neem en gedurig na ‘n volgende plek beweeg? Dit is iets wat ons elkeen vir onsself moet besluit. Dink daaroor na.

Luister na hierdie woorde van iemand wat geskryf het: “Jesus het die ergste sondaar omhels, die vuilste melaatse aangeraak, die mees afstootlike prostituut gesuiwer, en al die mense bymekaar gebring in ‘n pragtige gesin van God. Hy het ‘n hoë prys betaal, maar het sy missie as vredemaker as ‘n prioriteit in sy lewe gesien.”

Die oplossing vir gesinsprobleme, rasseskeuring en burgerlike konflik is Jesus. Vrede kom nie deur politieke partye, ekonomiese stelsels, nasionale vlae of die Verenigde Nasies nie. Jesus is die Een wat vrede bring.

Spandeer jy jou tyd om net pleisters op situasies te plak, die chaos en opwinding laag te hou totdat die volgende konflik en drama in jou lewe uitbreek, of is jy bereid om die werk te doen om ‘n vredemaker te wees? Is jy bereid om God se idee van konflikoplossing te oefen en te leer hoe om ‘n langtermyn, kreatiewe oplossing te bevorder wat ‘n wen/wen situasie vir almal skep?

Matteus 5:44-45 sê: “Maar Ek sê vir julle: Julle moet julle vyande liefhê en vir diegene wat julle vervolg, bid, sodat julle kinders van julle Vader, wat in die hemele is, kan wees.”

Maak vrede met God, jouself en jou naaste. WEES die voorbeeld van hoe die Here van ons verwag om onsself te gedra. Vrede, my vriende, werklike vrede in die naam van Jesus. Amen.

Dankie dat jy gelees het. Ek is Social Porter van Living In His Name Ministries, en dit was Outposts.

Vertaal deur Chané de Clercq

God Is Life

Posted on by
Reply

God Is Life
Life. Real life, life in Christ is the God-imparted, illustrative, comprehensive, and fundamental primary source, which makes us who believe on Christ a living soul, living as in animated and dead as in inanimated. It is the essential “something” which God imparted to us because of the sacrifice of the Son, Jesus. In the N.T., speaking of “imparted things”, from God’s perspective, it is to give something away which is always present and at work, that runs forward in the power of God’s livingness. That’s what God means when He says He “imparts” something to us. That same concept also holds for Genesis 2:7, as in when God imparted “the breath of life…”. After the fall is another story. After the fall of mankind, without Christ, we are no longer able to do anything other than breathe and choose, meaning we are NOT all children of God. Some love to say, “We are all children of God.” Ummm, no, that’s not true. In order for us to be blood relatives, we must also choose Christ. Just because we all have dirt, breath, and have the ability to choose in common does not make us blood kin folk. We can only be in the family of God through Christ, and Christ alone, who is the only way to live in the brilliance of life that is always present and at work, running forward in the power of God’s livingness.
In John 3:16, “everlasting life”, “life” being the Greek word, “zoe”, means, “the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animated”. Again, to be “alive” is to be animated. To be dead is to be inanimate. Life … real life is the gift of God, and is accessed through faith in Jesus Christ. That animating faith also imparts a new nature to us which results in fellowship with God in Christ, never to be interrupted by death.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that “… if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” The Lord alone has absolute life in Himself, and He alone is the source of all life, and i’ll say it again, although it may be difficult to accept for some: Just because we breathe and choose doesn’t mean we are alive. Breathing is not necessarily evidence of life as God purposed, but more the evidence of being given, by God, the right to breathe, act, and choose. Life, as God intends it for us, is something far more dynamic than simply breathing and choosing.
All have been given, by God, the right to breathe, act, and choose. Romans 5:12, “… through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned”. Without Jesus Christ we have lost our animation and have become inanimate. Sin did not kill us, the breaking of fellowship with God brought death, and sin was the result. Being animated means we have weight to accomplish and influence, but to be inanimate means we are weightless to make a difference, a real difference in the state of the universe.
God is NOT angry with us and does not hold us in contempt or disdain, for the Almighty loved the world so much, Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice and offering for the sin of the world, and an offering is something given of value and comes with a vow. 1 Chronicles 1:24 paints a picture of a foreshadowing of things to come when David refused to give a burnt offering which cost him nothing because he knew the offering without cost was valueless. God gave the offering of Christ, His Son, who was the ultimate offering, and His vow was that, as believers, He would no longer be angry with us. (Isaiah 54:9-10) God vowed to redeem us if we would repent, give us a destiny and an inheritance, adopting us as royalty, share with us His attributes which are of endless worth, and would love us all the way back to Himself forever. All the wrath of God was poured on the Son at Calvary. Are you OK with that, or do you feel you need to suffer, and be flogged a little extra so you feel worthy to receive God’s gift? Not only did Jesus die for us as an offering, but He rose from the dead because “In him was life (zoe) and the life was the light (or fire) of men”, John 1:4.
Now THAT is value that is not possible to ignore and is over the top, past infinity, and beyond anything the world or darkness can offer. God is life. Life cannot be gotten or bought in easy dispensers, pull tab cans, or zip open sacks, neither does life just happen, as is commonly advertised in today’s advertising medium. Life is exclusively in God Almighty alone, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, One God. God is life.
In John 10:10, Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” That is “abundantly”, in the sense of beyond our imagination, superabundant in quantity, superior in quality, and by implication excessive. Life in those terms can NOT be touched by the universe. Only God has it and we are, simply put, dead in the water without it.
Habakuk 2:19 uses the phrase “no breath at all”, in reference to idols, the whole scripture declares “Woe” upon those who seek knowledge and life from wood and stone, which are created materials; materials which possess neither life or knowledge, nor can impart life or knowledge to anyone. Men, all too often, look to escape God, looking for knowledge and life beyond the Lord, worshiping and serving the creation rather than the Creator, often celebrating the donkey instead of the Savior who rode on the donkey (Matthey 21:1-11).
God is life, the only life, super-abundant, superior, and excessive. He is extremely God and there is no other.

Conflicted!

Posted on by
Reply
Aw yea, indeed a beautiful evening, another day coming to a close. The sun has made it’s way to the horizon and daylight wains to darkness, the stars are coming out, shining and singing, on their usual course across the night sky.
I’m Social Porter and this is Outposts. In a world of changing morals, mobile boundaries, and elusive standards, we breathe life through “theatre of the mind” at a beautiful cafe at the end of Old Field Road…it’s a radio-styled program of cool jazz and contemplative conversation, touching the issues of everyday life, where the rubber meets the road.
If i’m not mistaken the last topic was about Peacemakers, those who do more than just keep the peace, but actually step into the fray and make peace with themselves and others. There is a difference, you know, between keeping the peace and making peace. Peace keeping says, “Sit down and shut up!”, and peace making does the tedious work of conflict resolution.
At this juncture, let me add, among a few other things, i figure there are two subtle but significant constants in life, waiting and conflict. We spend the majority of our lives waiting, and there is always a never ending opportunity for conflict, in one form or another. Seeing as how having to wait and dealing with conflict are such a constant in all of our lives, you’d think we’d be better at it. Amazingly though, we are not.
Our topic is conflict, do we submit and resent, rebel and persecute, or choose to step into the fray and resolve things, if at all possible? There’s just too many stones being left unturned and as a result conflict persists in our lives. Even if left to ourselves, we are conflicted by opposing ideologies banging around in our heads. To me, it seems … odd that many churches want to advance the gospel, but typically don’t offer much on how to deal with conflict. Friends, any time people gather in groups, there will come conflict, and i guarantee, eventually, somebody is going to have a conflict about something with someone else. Should we do what we usually do, just say nothing and let it ride, hoping the issues will just magically go away? Probably not the best approach i’d say. The clash among people doesn’t actually just go away, it simply morph’s into something else, only to rear it’s ugly head later on. i believe we spend a lot of time teaching nice principles and only uplifting doctrines from scripture, cycling through our “go to” Bible verses, looking for one to make us feel better about, um, something ‘er other, but we spend almost no time learning to resolve conflict, in a setting where struggle, strife, and rivalry is so at the forefront of issues which need to be dealt with.
Let’s think about 1 Samuel 22:1-2. “David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.”
i see the entire cave of Adullam experience as a defining moment for several issues. Jewish history has it that the cave of Adullam, near the city of Adullam, wasn’t far from where David defeated Goliath, it is near where Moses saw the glory of God, and historically it is the same cave where God spoke to Elijah, so it was a pretty important place.
Because of Saul’s desire to put a spear into David, the songbird of Israel took off and hid in a cave. David was conflicted, and Saul was very conflicted. i think something else that was interesting is that David seemed to have a knack of drawing to himself others who were distraught, discouraged, and dissatisfied (that is the three d’s there, did you catch that? Distraught, discouraged, and dissatisfied, and it would appear all those who joined David in that cave were in the throe’s of the three d’s in some fashion or another. They were all conflicted, with no apparent means of resolve. They were all on the run, they were all in hiding, and they were doing their best to out distance the conflict which pursued them. Whatever the problems were with each of those in the cave of Adullam, their difficulties were great enough they were driven out of where they were. How is it they all seemed to end up in the same place about the same time? Was it God’s doing, directing their paths whether they knew Him or not?
Psalm 35:11-12 says “Ruthless witnesses come forward; they question me on things I know nothing about. They repay me evil for good and leave my soul forlorn.” This scripture is the crux of our modern society political system. Conflict is on our door step and we can’t out run it.
When people embellish the truth and make sure others hear of it, it is ruthlessness seeking to set a bias for a hidden agenda, personal conflict then becomes the focus, and they discredit anyone who might oppose them. I am amazed at the people who don’t like the way you talk and they just feel it is of the utmost importance to make sure you know THEY don’t approve. I think that’s bizarre. They leave their bitter words at our feet, and then abandon us to deal with the damage in their wake, isolated and cast off. Leviticus 19:16 says we should never go around being a slanderer of others. That word “slanderer” there means a scandal-monger, as in someone who loves the chaos of conflict, and causes others to be seen as unbelievable. Being a tyrannical and terrorizing witness, interrogating others in such a way so as to make them admit to things they, in truth, know nothing about, casting shadows on justice. God says it is wrong. He likens it to standing up against the life of your neighbor, and it happens all the time in our justice system, and actually, i think this behavior is generally promoted in our country these days.
Have you ever felt that way? If anyone says ‘no’, i certainly would challenge the honesty of the reply. Conflict is all around us, and avoiding it is impossible. I don’t believe we are so naïve that we somehow believe that avoiding conflict is possible, so let us, the Body of Christ, embrace conflict and begin learning to resolve our differences instead of pretending a smile, making a face, and breaking off our relationships. Going away is not an answer unless it’s under extreme circumstances with no other option.
As in 1 Samuel 22, David’s conflict had become a crisis, but unlike David, our conflicts don’t have to become a deadlocked dilemma. Many serious issues can be prevented by simple early attention. i believe managing a potential conflict long before it’s a crisis is a great investment of time and energy, do you know what i mean? But many times we just let things fester until they are gale force winds of conflict, then we fly into action with a knee jerk reaction and none of it had to be that way had we dealt with things before they got wound up tight as a clock spring.
Maybe, instead of seeing conflict as a good reason to go somewhere else, we should be brave and have those challenging conversations as an opportunity for a deeper association with others. Before you run off make sure you’ve done all you can do to stay connected. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with everyone.  And yes i’m speaking to all the “church surfers” out there, and those who desperately want deep relationships, but find it too scary to disclose enough of themselves to actually make it happen. Is that you? Maybe it’s me. But surely it is us.
In light of the conflicted David, his “mighty men of valor” and their crisis with Saul, what did they do about it? Oh don’t you know, enduring looong running conflict without resolve, well, that sort of pressure tends to warp your head around over time. They couldn’t run fast enough to get away; they couldn’t find a cave deep enough, a ditch long enough, or a country far enough. David needed a different outcome, so, by God’s guidance and power, David did something other than run, he turned and embraced the conflict; he began to turn his problems into possibilities, and to me, he came up with some creative responses. Like in 1 Samuel 24:2-3, when Saul was chasing David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats, Saul went into a cave to relieve himself, little did he know that David and his gang of desperate men were pressed far back in the cave.
David’s rough crew wanted to kill Saul right there when the King was so very vulnerable. They figured if they got rid of Saul, then their conflict and crisis would end. Isn’t that what we do? “Let’s get rid of so-and-so, then our problems will be over.” “Let’s get rid of this-n-that, then, yes THEN our problems will be over.” But shortly, we are conflicted and in a crisis all over again. The problem isn’t outside us but inside us. In David’s case though, he knew better and said, in so many words, “No way guys, we’re not doing that! We’ll do this God’s way or no way at all!” David needed a different outcome, so he employed a different approach. 1 Samuel 24:7-8 “ ….And Saul left the cave and went his way. Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.” i bet Saul was quite embarrassed and humiliated to find out a whole gang of people were watching him relieve his bowels, and even though they had the chance to kill him they practiced self control. After that, David took the opportunity to plead his case to Saul in an effort to resolve the conflict as best he could. He played down his judgment and criticism, restraining his inclination to cast shadows on Saul.
How many of us, sitting out there listening to this, need a different outcome from the one we usually get when things get a bit testy in our relationships?
i think quite a few people prefer a large body of believers, not just because there is a greater opportunity for fellowship, but also because it is easier to control how close we get to others and how much of ourselves we reveal. In a small body of believers, there grows a much more profitable relationship … it’s closer, but it requires persistent diligence, humility, and grace. In large bodies we don’t have to be particularly responsible or accountable, and if anyone challenges us and our behavior, well, this is America, we just move on to the next place. More than a few pastors have expressed deep concerns over the fact that most of their congregation is comprised of sheep from another pasture.
Friends, when we run from the problem, we run from God’s promises, and when we run from God’s process, we run from the blessings. There are people who have encountered conflict, and rather than deal with it, they set themselves above and apart, maintain they are right so as to make the other person wrong, and then, they just move to another pasture. My friends, we are conflicted and we need to begin to learn to deal with our conflicts and resolve our differences.
Are you thinking about how things ought to be, instead of how things are? In the mind of many people, it’s usually the “other person” with the problem and we are somehow innocent and above it all. Rather than aiming our finger at the other party, let’s think about what our part is in the situation. Are we honest about ourselves? Do we strongly hold to our idea of “how things should be”? How people should behave? What ought to happen? Are you constantly judging if someone is being polite or rude, or having a personal opinion of what is right vs. what is wrong? We can get totally lost in our focus on everything wrong with anything and never get anywhere. Do you realize how many people there are who seem obsessed with what’s wrong with the church and rarely get around to being devoted to what is right with God? Conflicted i tell ya’, conflicted!
Do we hold ourselves to an impossible standard saying, “I’ve got to get this right, because if I can’t, I’d better not even try.” If we do that we’ll just turn into Eeyore and go stand in the rain some place.
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
i’d like to point out we all need rest, and faith in Christ brings us much needed rest, but it does not absolve us of dealing with our conflicts with others, nor does running off to another pasture remove the conflict, it only delays our dealing with it all. Some important words in that last scripture are “take my yoke upon you and learn from me”. i’d like to share this basic wisdom which God has planted in my heart: resolving my conflicts starts with me, not with them, but with me. If i want others to be different, then i must be different, if i want a different outcome i must begin with a different approach, being consistent and repeatable, and do it and do it and do it until the conflict in my sphere of influence begins to turn around.
Everyone has dreams and they imagine the way life might be. Of course we do, and we’d be foolish to not admit it. We were born to dream and imagine, so it’s not a fault we need to fix. But, does the movie in our head actually match the real-life situation? There are two lives going on with us. There’s the life inside our head and the life outside our head and we’ve got to make adjustments in order for the two to get along. When the life inside doesn’t get along with the life outside, when our conscience and our character are at odds, we are conflicted and need some resolution in order to live at peace with ourselves and others.
Jesus did not run from the conflicts around Him, oh boy, and He was seriously surrounded by conflict. Not only did He not allow Himself to get swallowed up by the world around Him, He chose to embrace the conflict, and respond with the appropriate assertiveness. i said, “appropriate assertiveness”.
Listen, you who are so easily offended: Jesus didn’t practice a defense because He didn’t carry an offense. What’s with all the defensiveness these days? i say there’s multiple offenses underneath driving the need to be defensive. And oh, how easily we all get offended, wow.
If we want to reduce some of our conflicts, lets open doors not close them, and i’m not talking about having good boundaries for there certainly are people who are not good for us and it is wise to created distance. i’m talking about when conflict knocks on our door (and it surely will), let’s learn to ask ourselves some really relative questions like: How can i move this forward? Do we dwell on how unfair someone was, playing the situation over and over in our minds? Ask yourself, can i improve the situation without demeaning myself? <<<SAY THAT AGAIN —Is the issue about what i imagine, do i have the facts, have i listened and understood the other person? What is this r-e-a-l-l-y about? How else could i see this? Now, i’ve got to say though, asking those questions and getting some answers is a real discipline, so it may take practice in order to entertain such self-inquisition. Be strong and courageous.
Friends, if we withdraw and then go silent, giving someone the “silent treatment”, is anything resolved? The silent treatment is an exercise in pain about who can care less, the most, the longest?. <<<SAY IT AGAIN— It should be no skin off anyone’s nose to listen and understand the other person. No one said we have to agree, but we can certainly listen, right? i believe Jesus was an active listener and he participated in the conversations with the disciples. He asked them questions as they asked him questions, He invited them into the conversation rather than just telling them answers. It was personal and relational, as God has been with the entire universe since the beginning, personal and relational. Jesus is our example of how we should live, act, and have our being; He is our example of how to live out our conduct, character, and conversation.
Conflict … ahhh, what a difficult topic. Re-thinking pain and how we deal with it can be trying, to say the least, especially when we’re the ones in pain, and ignoring it all doesn’t make it go away, in fact, if we ignore our pain, check it out, this is important…if we ignore our pain, it simply becomes triggers. Here is a sticky statement: undealt with pain today, becomes tomorrows trigger points.
i think the following is a good question, What do you do when the other person is screaming at you? Maybe just emotionally screaming, you know, some people are very emotionally loud but yet speak softly. You might feel shame that someone would dare speak to you like that, or maybe anger at yourself for feeling stupid and even being there, but never the less, there you are, getting slammed, and it seems like nobody cares. In fact, the look on their faces, sometimes, is as if other people seem to think you deserve getting yelled at. How do you act? Do you retaliate, or scream back? Gosh, that really solved things, huh? Do you remain calm and choose to engage rather than be driven by the volume of the conflict? Maybe we just smile, back away slowly, and say to ourselves “I’ll never go there again”. Yea, we’ve all done that one.
How many times in our lives have we decided, “I’ll never go there again”? Did … not going, where ever “there” was, actually resolve anything, or did the conflict follow us around, staring at us, begging to be resolved? And if we think unresolved conflict won’t follow us, uh-huh, just give it time. Hear me on this: God WILL get our attention. It’s sort of like taking a job, the boss brings up some places you need to improve. You get offended and quit. If you’ve had three or four jobs in a short time span, who is the common denominator? Maybe it’s not the job, ya’ know, maybe it’s you and the Lord is talking to you about you. He does that you know. It’s nice and makes us appear all composed when we quote the Bible and be all spiritual, but if we really, really want to know the Lord and want more from our walk, we’re going to have to quit hiding and resolve our internal conflicts.
How many of us peg the meter between worry and indifference? We think to ourselves, we’re supposed to be trusting God but yet we find ourselves worrying. To escape the weight and burden of worry, and worry does have crushing weight, we flop over to being indifferent. “Fine! i don’t care!” we say to ourselves. But before long we’re feeling guilty about being indifferent because we know God is never indifferent, we’re supposed to be a light on a hill to the world, but yet here we are being indifferent. To escape the guilt of feeling indifferent we try to press forward, quote some scripture, and tell ourselves we’re trusting God again, maybe run down our prayer list of the “scripture of the day” to find a way to bail us out of some very challenging emotions. But, it’s not long before that worry starts c-r-e-e-p-i-n-g back in, and shortly we’re pegging the meter under the weight of worry again. Back and forth, slamming back and forth. What’s really going on there? What i’ve illuminated is a conflict that is common among people in general, and i believe the Lord is the only one who can leads us to resolving the conflict.
And now for Jesus. He is the highest peacemaker in history. From the Garden of Eden, there came a conflict between God and man. God knowing the end from the beginning resolved, from the beginning within Himself, to give to us the ultimate gift to resolve our conflicted souls if we’ll simply embrace Him. This is the truth, Jesus is our example about how to deal with conflict.
Criticizing, casting shadows or slander on others, name-calling, self-elevating arrogant declarations, and passing out ultimatums are poor options which block resolve >>> and feed conflict. We often re-write our story in our minds to make it something other than what it is so we don’t have to deal with life. If we want a different outcome, we’ve got to initiate a different approach.
We are the Body of Christ and i believe God wants us to be experts in dealing with conflict. He gave to us Jesus, who bled and died for us, in order that we would be free and no longer need to be slaves to sin. Let us open doors, not close them, and quit all that running away. Behold the Lord stands at our door and knocks, and anyone who opens to Him, He will come in to us and eat with us, bringing with Him Love, Grace, Peace, and the power to change, and change we must for we can not continue as we were. God has changed direction and we must change with Him. Oh and saying, “That’s just the way i am”, man, that’s a terrible answer. Think about it.
i want to be a warrior with an open heart. i want to be an influencer like Samuel and ultimately Jesus. Let us be an influencer not a manipulator. We need a different outcome so we’ve got to let God teach us a different approach. Here’s another sticky statement: A manipulator works for the outcome to favor themselves at the expense of others; an influencer works for the outcome to favor the other party as well as the influencer, as in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that who so ever would believe on Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 is a win/win solution to our conflict; it’s good for God and it’s good for us! That is ultimate peacemaking.
i’m Social Porter…thanks for joining me this evening here at Outposts, an engaging and cheerful cafe at the end of Old Field Road, which overlooks the late evening cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River.
All music was by The Hadouk, Frank, Chick, and Lyle. All music use is licensed by BMI.
This evenings topic has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, The Whistle Stop Cafe on McCrackin St., Ruth Orginals out Chimney Rock Highway, and Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.
As you go your way this week, ask God for wisdom to go forward, be honest, get low, be transparent and authentic, opening doors not shutting them. Until we meet again, be strong and courageous, amen!

Character Led of Accomplishment Driven

Posted on by
Reply
Go out Hwy 25, turn off the main highway at Old Field Road and go all the way to the Stone Bridge, there make a left on a well tended driveway and go to the end. Past the gently sloping fields on the right and the big trees on the left, you’ll come to a cafe with a bright door of sorts … an entrance to other places. i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late night, cascading banks of the Okluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the river’s edge, and every evening is pleasant.
So glad you are here this evening, we always enjoy spending some time with you in contemplative conversation. Speaking of contemplating, i’m still learning to sip life, taking time to taste, rather than gulp and swill. One time my son and i stopped at a burger place to eat. As we unfolded our lunch i watched as my darling boy, before my very eyes, turned into a total animal and consumed that large double cheeseburger in about 4 bites. i’m not even sure he chewed it. As i was incredulously watching him i asked the Lord, where did my son learn to eat like that? His reply: From you. “Oh,” and then i remembered my mother nearly threatening my life if i didn’t slow down eating. The Lord continued on speaking to me saying He wanted me to learn to sip life and enjoy what He gave me instead of being such a predatory consumer. i’ll admit, it’s been a real struggle to be so controlled, but i’m beginning to realize how much i miss when i don’t take my time to enjoy the details of people and life.
All week, it seems, almost everyone i’ve met was in a hurry to do something, or go somewhere. A line by the White Rabbit from the book “Alice In Wonderland” comes to mind, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late,” as if they’re about to be late for something, somewhere. There are days when it seems faster isn’t fast enough, like everyday life is driving us and we are just along for the ride. The world around us has a need for hustle and hasty commotion it seems. No time to pause, no time to pray, we must produce and accomplish in order to feel like good people who have value in our society. In order to keep up with production. Our life theme has become, “I’m late, I’m late, I’m oh so very late! No time to say hello, goodbye, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.”
Our topic is are we Accomplishment Driven or Character Led? That’s a real can of worms. Everyone has a drive of some sort, in one fashion or another, for better or worse. What is it which motivates you, what or who drives you?
i think most would agree God is always working to increase our “C.P.F.”, our character, disposition and frame. Personal holiness is another way of saying “character”, and in light of that i’ve wondered how many of us take seriously our practice of personal holiness. Is personal holiness our ability to get it right and effectively constantly toe the line of the grid of some moral code? i say, no, that’s not it. At … all. i don’t know about anyone else, but it is important to me. Now i’m not speaking of an obsessive view where we are so focused on ourselves and getting life right, we lose sight of the Lord, being all focused on getting life right which only ends wrecked in a ditch someplace. You know, rule keepers never win, not really. So, again as to “getting life right”, well, that’s not it. Toeing the line of a moral code only gets us being rule keepers, and, sadly, this is something i know, again, rule keepers never win. If Jesus doesn’t care our sins then there is nothing.
As we were talking during the music moment, one of the patrons was saying that in the western church we all seem to be in production mode, and, in general we have a built-in bias against anything that’s not full-blast production. We are taught do good, get good. If we do a good job, we keep getting paid, and if we do a poor job, our employer quits paying us. When we were in school if we made good grades, people seemed more inclined to like us, if we made poor grades we are subtly shunned to only have similar friends who also made poor grades. In Christianity it’s called “retributive theology”, again, do good get good, do bad get bad.  We think we’re “good people” because we’re being productive. We feel good about life when we have days in which we appear to ourselves as movers and shakers … you know, really “making it happen” so to speak. Corporate world seems to always stage everything for measuring efficiency and productivity and then at the performance review your value is based on your production numbers. Teddy Roosevelt said that “comparison is the thief of joy.” It seems we’re always measuring and being measured. Is being employed by a church any different many times? How many got saved? How many re-dedications were there? How many healings and deliverances? What were the numbers? Were there any membership applications? It’s a way of measuring our effectiveness. i can not begin to count the number of pastors who were specifically hired to get the church numbers up, and were let go when it didn’t happen.
Here’s a sticky statement we all need to hear: Being in leadership in the Body of Christ is stewardship, not ownership. Did you get that? Stewardship not ownership.i have wondered if maybe the reason David got himself in hot water with God in 2 Samuel 24 was because he sent Joab throughout the land to count the people, after all, political arithmetic comes along with other policies when you’re the king. Maybe it was pride in that it was David measuring how well he was doing and how powerful he was. i’m sure someone more astute than myself would have better answers probably. Don’t get me wrong, it can be profitable to know how effective our efforts are … but unfortunately we also use those numbers to judge if God is in the house or not. We think “lots of people = God is here”, “not many people” = God is not here, and that is just not true. i would far, far more be involved with a spiritually effective church than a socially successful church. Every day, all day. Is being productive and having accomplishments really what constitutes character and being a “good person”? Being productive and accomplishment driven caters to a society which is always measuring our personal value based on what we have accomplished, and if we are judged as being productive, others call us “a good person”, and in God’s economy that holds about as much water as a colander. Some of the world’s most intelligent people with great accomplishments under their belt have also been among the most horrible. And on the other side of that nor is ignorance and being unschooled a prerequisite for poor character and being a criminal. Do you believe you’re a good person? By what standard did you decide that? How good is good enough and how bad is too bad? How much sin are we willing to live with? Again, how wrong is too wrong, and how right is right enough? We can not live on the grid of a moral code, always toeing the line of how well we are keeping “the rules”. Piercing questions for sure.
When trouble comes, and Jesus did promise that in this world we would have trouble in John 16:33, how often have we heard someone say, “What did i do to deserve this?”, or, “He was a good person. He didn’t deserve to be so sick.” As if there are others we judge as definitely deserving some horrible illness? “She was so pretty! She didn’t deserve that!” What? If she was not pretty and was quite the opposite, then, yes THEN would she have been worthy of unkind circumstances? The victim in our heart blames God and cries out, “Why would these terrible things happen to me?”, and “Why would God let this happen to me? I’m a good person!” Whether or not we are “a good person” seems to be a very troubling question in our hearts. So i am compelled to ask again, by what standard do we decide if we are good people or not? How did you come to that conclusion? What’s your evidence?
Are we always measuring ourselves and others, fretting over where we rank on the average “goodness” scale as to whether we are “good people” or not? Godly character supports the generation of righteous people, and declaring ourselves a “good person” only qualifies us in the eyes of the world. You were qualified to receive every blessing of the Lord by being made right with God because you accepted Christ as your Savior. The Father declares those who beieve “righteous” because of the death and resurrection of the Son. Did you get that? It’s because of the Son, Jesus, not because we keep rules, observances, holidays, or traditions. You don’t have to do anything other than to “believe in your heart and confess with your mouth (Romans 10:9) in order to qualify for being righteous. This is not retributive theology, do good – get good, do bad – get bad. It’s a gift! God’s love isn’t based on a merit/demerit system, and neither is character gotten on a similar system of measurement and production. 1Thessalonians 1:3 says hope inspires endurance, love prompts us to labor, and faith produces accomplishment, faith, hope and love are FIRST. If i turn that around it means, production never creates faith, labor never prompts love, and endurance does not come before hope. Listed by importance, our Godly character should always precede work and production.
Religious people seem to have a propensity to play in the merit/demerit system, but that isn’t love, hope, or faith. We, who hold Jesus as Lord and Savior can’t remain the same in our religious struggle between grace and doing the law, and i’ve wondered in my own life where i draw the line when it is too painful to remain the same. It would seem many today want to play both sides of the line on law and grace. When it suits us we quote the O.T., but when it more makes our agenda work, we abandon the old and quote the new. We can’t be in both camps. i’ll say this about that, if it doesn’t change in the new testament, then it still stands from the old, and i think that’s a good rule.
Are you a good person? Can we be productive enough to qualify for “being good”? How did we come to that conclusion? Knowing we can’t be 100% good, how good is good enough? 85%? 92%? You know, the closer we get to 100% the steeper the curve gets and the more unobtainable the standard of “Good person” becomes. Like C.S. Lewis said, “i would not have known what a crooked line was if i didn’t have some idea of what a straight line was.” In order for us to “fall short” in our own eyes, we must have, somewhere within ourselves, some idea of what perfection is.  The “self-goodness” measurement seems to be very subjective. Genesis 3:11 “And God asked of Adam, “How do you know that?”” In other words, where’d you get your information? What does God say? Oh and you KNOW He’s got something to say about this. Sure, we all know our righteousness is as filthy rags, gosh haven’t we had that pounded into us, but there’s more to it than just the negative, there’s a positive also. Being Defined by the Divine is where our real answers are about being a good person and having Godly character. Character inspires us to be productive, but being productive is not the measure of our character. Even people with terrible character can be productive. i really believe God has our answers on this. It would seem in our society we have been seduced into thinking if we do our job well, perform what is asked of us accurately and on-time, pay our bills, take care of ourselves and families, be measurably productive, that if we do all that we believe we are people of good character. i think we live in a culture that’s obsessed with wringing an external result from everything we do, and we measure our character accordingly. But that … sense of accomplishment … is that real character?
God’s idea of accomplishment and man’s idea of accomplishment are greatly different. Afterall, James 5:16 says, “The prayer of a righteous person accomplishes a great deal”. Let us remember that the measure of our accomplishment is according to God and His purposes, not according to men. God sees us through the Blood of Jesus. IN Christ, “i am a good person”, and “in” is “in” and we can’t be anymore “in” than “in”. But the scales of men for weighing and measuring accomplishment and the value of people … is almost certainly subjective, fluid, and often undefined. If the scales of men are fluid and mobile, then your value, in the eyes of other men, is also fluid and mobile, meaning today you are seen as a “good person”, but tomorrow, ahhh, tomorrow could be an entirely different story. Today you’re given all sorts of kudos, tomorrow you may be back in the dog house.
Listen: You are qualified to be completely forgiven. You are qualified to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. You are qualified to receive healing. You are qualified to get prayers heard and answered all by the benefit of being washed in the blood of the Lamb and believing He is who He says He is.
   According to God, accomplishment, or being measureably productive, does not constitute high character or being a good person. It is not in how many houses we build, people we feed, ministries we start, or how well we do the one we’ve got. Character is not created by the mighty empire we’ve built, are building, or didn’t build. Character should drive our works, not our works driving our character. And i’ll tell ya’, either we drive or we are driven, but one way or another somebody is going to drive. Even a serial killer can accomplish good things, consistently, so having good, measurable accomplishments is not a sign of “being a good person”. Jeffrey Damer was well thought of by some of his neighbors. They all said he was a nice fellow, at first. Yea, sure, he ate a few people but he was productive and pleasant.
What was Jeff qualified for then? Ok, so let’s practice some good boundaries. That was him, and for you who are in Christ, this is you: You are qualified to prosper. You are qualified to speak the gospel. You are qualified to live with God in Heaven. You are qualified to do what-so-ever God has asked you to do with all power and authority. If He has called you, then you are qualified to go forward in His Name, and you don’t need any man’s endorsement in order to do God’s bidding. You may say, “But mister, you don’t know me. You don’t know what I have done.” You’re right, i don’t know you and i don’t know what you’ve done, but i know me and i know what i’ve done and i am here to testify, Jesus changed my life and destiny. What did that well known preacher say? “You can either be a man of your history or a man of your destiny, what’s it gonna be?”  In Ex3:11, Moses was admitting to feeling like a nobody. He said, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”. He was saying that any fame or social credibility he may have once had was gone. But God said, “Your objection is overruled! I will be with you.” The calling upon Moses was not based on his credibility but on God’s. The Lord didn’t want Egypt or Israel impressed with Moses, He wanted them impressed with Himself, the Lord.
Jesus paid the price to qualify you. Right now, because of Jesus’ blood, you qualify for all of God’s blessings. Stand up church.
i am intentionally posing these ideas and questions in hopes we, as the people of God, will have these kinds of conversations and dialogues with our friends and neighbors, to meet them where they are, engaging them on their ground, in terms they will understand. Of course, we must continue to hold the standard of God’s values as our own, but also willing to engage people beyond the safety of our church walls. Let us open doors, don’t close doors. The Lord poses us questions, not because He’s ignorant, as if needing an answer, but to bring our issues to light to be resolved. i believe ALL of God’s questions are to draw us into a personal and relational conversation with Him.
i’ve thought to myself and said outloud to the Lord, “People will probably think i’m crazy if i tell what’s in my heart. Lord, I can believe in you myself because you’re revealing yourself to me. But i’m always hidden away in a safe place. Of myself i am unremarkable and alone in some back room where no one sees, entertaining no risk of reputational degradation. I’m a no-name nobody and nobody’s going to listen to the words of a nobody, especially if it’s a nobody like me, claiming to be speaking for God!” His reply to me is still, “I am with you. I want Egypt and Israel to be impressed with me, not you. Don’t be afraid, just tell it. I will be with you and your unremarkable mouth.” After many years of being encumbered with the constant downward spiral in my thinking, i finally said, “Ok, if You say so.” And out the door i went to whatever God would bring my way. You know, it all worked out just fine once i turned down the volume of my constant self-criticism.
The persistent measuring of whether we are “a good person” or if we are “qualified enough” inspires us to lower our eyes below the Lord to man’s weights and scales, influencing us to be someone we’re not. The world’s standards influence us to re-evaluate ourselves based on measurable production, according to corporate standards. A young man asked me this with a sarcastic tone in his voice, “Why do we want Godly character??”
   Godly character, personal holiness in balance with our God-given-gifting, re-enforces God’s work of expanding our persistence, competence, and confidence in Christ, empowering our inner fortitude, and develops our social skills, which we are so desperately in need of. Godly character brings us upgraded, upgraded, upgraded self-esteem and a sense of being anchored, taking us beyond our perceived sense of limitations. Don’t we know well the world and the devil love to constantly remind us of our perceived limitations.
When we worship the Lord in spirit and truth, there comes the lack of a quantifiable result. Did you get that? When we worship the Lord, we’re not in just a good place, but a God place which cannot be measured. Don’t worry if others don’t sing, raise their hands, or bow down. You do it because you do it and you didn’t ask anyone if it was ok. If we are just following along, standing when we’re instructed, singing, giving, and sitting when we’re told to, where are you in all that telling? Stand, sing, give, and sit because it’s the right thing to do at the feet of the Lord, not because someone told you to. We all need to know at the core of our person, it’s always the right time to do the right thing. Worship allows us to tap a more meaningful place which satisfies core needs and reveals the authentic person behind the masks of job and accomplishments. Here’s a sticky statement, remember: Godly conception gives birth to Godly perception, and righteous imagination gives birth to righteous understanding.
    Are you tired? Worn out? Are you weary of trying to produce enough good works that you might qualify for God’s blessings? Are you burned out on religion? i think there has been a mass exodus from organized-to-pieces Christianity, because the Jesus people met when they got saved, is not the Jesus they met when they got to church. The Lord says, Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Think about it.
i’m Social Porter and thank  you for joining us here at Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the late night cascading banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant.
If you get the opportunity, go to livinginhisname.org where there are other good things to hear.
You were qualified to receive every blessing of God by being made right with God by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. You don’t have to do anything else so you can qualify. By the blood of Jesus, you are qualified to be completely forgiven, qualified to be filled with the Holy Spirit, qualified to receive healing, and are qualified for your prayers to heard and answered. As we all go our way this week, present God’s character to others, His character in us is the fruit of rubbing shoulders with God, not the performance identity of a job, or the presentation identity that we display to others. Every day with Jesus is a day of defining, moments which bring us solid, consistent definition in a very fluid, mobile, and inconsistent world.
Have you been arguing with God over your qualifications because maybe, in your eyes, you’re not productive enough? If so, remember God’s call on you is not about you. It’s about Him. And the question is, are you willing for God to use you to show the world how impressive He is?
Drive carefully, and allow the Lord to birth in you the courage to dream, believe, and imagine…you were born for it. i’ll talk to you later. Peace my friends, peace, in the name of Jesus.