This week my family buried our Mom. She was a rich 94 years old. Our Dad passed away almost 8 years ago and Mom kept going and going, more energy than the Everyready Bunny. She was always there. She had always been there. And I guess we assumed she always would be.
We were wrong and now she is gone.
However, we don't sorrow as others who have no hope. We will meet again!
God did amazing things in my Mom & Dad's life, especially during their last 20 years together. I would like to take this opportunity to honour both them and the Lord through sharing some of these with you. I was privileged to be able to read both their eulogies at their respective funerals, so essentially what follows are those transcripts with a few relevant changes.
The following exerpts are primarily taken from my Mom's (Agnes/Neta/Aganetha Schmidt nee Enns) personal Journal written in the Menno Home, Abbotsford, B.C. during summer 2009, compiled by her granddaughter, Jackie Miller. I felt to keep it as much as possible in her own words; it is much more personally effective. However, at times we switch from the 1st to 3rd person. You'll be able to make the transition.
I was born in Furstenwerder, a village in the Molotschna Colony of South Russia on July 17, 1915. I was the 4th of 7 children born to Jacob & Helena Enns: Helen the eldest, then Peter, Jake, Nick & Tina. Another sister, Katerina, died when she was only a baby. Our village was very small so we would walk to Rukenau, a nearby town. It had stores. I had pneumonia when I was about 6 or 7 and they wrapped me in a heavy blanket and took me to a doctor there by horse and buggy. We farmed very fertile land: grew watermelons & grain; raised horses, cows, pigs and sheep. Our house and barn were all in one building and one night we came home and the sheep were gone. I think we got them back!
WWI was happening then. I remember my Uncle Peter had a pocket watch and gave it to my brother, named Peter after him, when he went off to war. He didn’t come back. He knew he wasn’t coming back. In those days it meant so much to name a child after the uncle – that is why so many had the same name. I was named after my dad's mother, Aganetha (Dueck). Cannons on top of the hills surrounding our village shot down on us below – I remember sitting in the cellar/basement of our house and being scared.
The German army traveled through our village: the war was finally over, they were going home with their cannons and all the kids went out to watch them. One time they shot our neighbor dead right there on the street and everyone ran over to see what happened. (Grandma saw him lying there; she was probably only 3 or 4 years old and this must have greatly affected her. She didn't talk very much about her years in Russia, but when she did, she mentioned this incident.)
My Grandparents on mother’s side were wealthy – nice house and fruit orchard – turkeys walking around. I would go into their garden and fill my apron with fruit until I could hardly carry it back to the house. They stayed in Russia when we moved to Canada. Never saw them again.
My Mother did a lot of knitting and sewing. She was always busy. She got old clothes from the army and made new clothes for us kids out of them. I was very proud of the dress she made for me. My father sheared sheep and Mother cleaned the wool and got it ready for spinning – her spinning wheel was always going early. She knitted a dress for herself, brought it to Canada and wore it while working in the sugar beets. But it rained, her dress got wet and then it weighed her down so much she could not walk – it got all stretched out. She made shirts for the men and pants too. She was a hard worker.
My family came to Canada 1925. We took a big cedar chest, really heavy, filled mostly with clothes, but with a secret compartment in the bottom where we hid some money. We traveled by a small ship from Holland and then a bigger one from England to St. John. I liked it best on the deck of the ship. Everyone else was sick on the deck. We ate roasted buns (roeschte zweiback) on the ship – ones Mother had made.
We were then told to go to Alberta by the Canadian government & CPR(Canadian Pacific Railway). We bought a farm without a down payment: 100 acres of sugar beets – but we sold it after a year. Then the government gave each family 80 acres. My family built a house in Stirling on the barren land and planted sugar beets there too.
I turned 10 years old shortly after we arrived here in Canada. My uncle came and gave me peppermint candies for my birthday. (That's the only birthday she remembers celebrating.)
Leaving all my friends in Russia was hard – then to make new friends: that was harder. We didn’t know English when we arrived – we had special lessons in school. We couldn’t talk proper English even when I was 16 or 17 – we didn’t stay in school long enough to learn anything. I don’t remember making plans for the future or dreaming of what I wanted to be when I grew up!
I remember going to a Christmas concert and I wanted to take all the decorations home. I had never seen something like that before. We didn’t go shopping, we ordered from the Eaton's catalogue – all our shoes and everything. They would send it to us in the mail; we could do it all from home.
I went to school in nearby Readymade. All the different ages were together – up to 8 grades in a room. I only went to school for 3 years because our family needed us to work. We all worked hard in the sugar beets, raised grain, chickens, gardens of vegetables and fruit: a busy life.
(She doesn’t remember getting any money for this– she thinks that all the money she would have made working went into the family fund.)
I was a champion beet-thinner – they even took pictures of me.
(She was told they made these into films and showed them on the boats that were bringing people over to Canada to tell them about working in the sugar beets.)
We moved too many times: from Stirling to Coaldale. We didn’t have electricity, or hot water or even running water.
My sister Tina died in February 1931. Her horse fell over backwards on her when she was 11. She had all her Valentines ready for school, but wasn't able to give them to her friends. (Grandma remembers she had a swing on a tree and it had to be taken down to put tents up for Tina's funeral.)
As a teenager she related best with her Mom. They were close, but.. Mom wasn’t well. She worked really hard. Mother used to raise cucumbers: she picked and pickled dills in wooden barrels. Then we put them on a wagon pulled by 4 horses and took them to the train station. (here's the source of our family favourite dill pickles recipe we've all eaten and loved! Store-boughts don't even come close!) We worked in the fields and Mom was at home working in the cucumbers. It was too hard work for Mother; she had an enlarged heart. It was hard for her to breathe; her lips and cheeks were so dark blue. Hard to believe how hard she worked for being so sick. I loved our mother. She died in 1938 at the young age of 49. She was too young to die; we missed her very much.
I had no other boyfriends before Grandpa: too busy working. On one of our first dates, he took me out to a Chinese place for dinner and the pie was mouldy. We went to the fair once: he had a friend who was showing cattle in Lethbridge – but I didn’t like that because he asked me to go there and then he worked with the cows.
I went on a train to BC by myself at about 17 to visit cousins. This was a special time; maybe I was gone for about a week.
Jake and I were married in Coaldale on June 27, 1935. My parents got married young too – so they were OK with me getting married at 19. It was hard starting up. I was not well. We lived up on the dry land north of Readymade.
In June 1936, Eric was born. But there was no crop; it was a hard start. We had to do some changing; my health was not very good and Jake had trouble with his back.
Ernie was born in June 1937; very hard wind, dirt blowing, could not see very far.
Lucy was born in 1942. Jake went and checked things out in BC and wanted to move there – I had a little baby and I was busy. I was OK with moving to BC. You always have to look ahead, not back at the past, and try to do better. In late October/early November, we moved to Abbotsford by train.
They bought a chicken farm on King Road; had cows also. At first no electricity – just gas lanterns; the house was on stilts. They had quite a strong earthquake while there – shook the whole house. Grandma ran the farm: they collected eggs and then the boys packed them in boxes and nailed them shut when full. This was a prosperous business for them and they were able to pay the farm off. Tragedy there also though– the barn burnt down and they had to turn the cows loose and give some away. Then Dad began bulldozing in 1946 while Mom still worked on the chicken farm.
The family then moved to Aldergrove in 1946 or '47. Grandpa’s idea, Grandma not impressed. Traded chicken farm for 60 acres on North Jackman, north of Aldergrove. Had 3 floors of chickens, raspberries and cows also. They also raised baby chickens. Grandma had to learn to do things she had never done before. It was hard to keep the chicks warm in the winter when the NE wind blew for 1 week straight! Lived here also during the 1948 flood. Then Henry was born.
They traded the 60 acres for a house + 11 acres on Peardonville Rd in Abbotsford in 1949. In the early '50s they rented their farm out for a year and moved up to 100 Mile House because Dad had a contract for bulldozing – stayed at the Golden West Lodge near 93 Mile House. It snowed so much that year that the cow barn collapsed. They had about 1000 chicken (layers) in another 3-storey barn. That chicken barn later collapsed as well!
Eric, Lucy, and Ernie all got married within 11 months so the house was suddenly empty. Grandma worked at Lilydale (again with chickens) for 7 months. Grandpa was away a lot bulldozing because there was no work locally for him.
We were at this farm the longest of any – well into the '60s. Grandma's Dad built a house next door and Mom & Dad moved there when he went into the Menno Home. The day after they moved in, the basement flooded with all their stuff in it – the drains didn’t work. They later built and moved into a new house - their first - on Lilac Street in 1970. During this time, they traveled quite often: across Canada, to the southern States & Mexico in their trailer; even flew off to Hawaii and Europe. In 1989 they moved into a new condominium on Gladwin by Mill Lake.
In 1998 Dad's health wasn't good; Mom tried her best to take care of him herself, but finally couldn't do it anymore and Dad moved into the Tabor Home and then Menno Hospital. They sold their condo and Mom moved into the Menno Home. During the next 4 years, Mom never missed a visit with Dad; sometimes even 2 or 3 times a day she would drive her 'electric chair' across the parking lot to make sure Dad had company and got his meals right. Dad passed away on Oct 17, 2002. They had been married 67 years together.
Mom made Menno Home her home for the last 10 years. She always loved flowers and gardening. She could nurse any dead plant back to life, so she made it her job to keep the planters and hanging baskets around the Home well-watered.
Then Mom took up knitting....she made blankets, touques, and dishcloths....and more dishcloths!
She didn't believe in doing nothing. Her mind remained clear for all her 94 years. She could remember details about friends and their families from years ago: names, dates, places, even the colour of one of her nurses' grad dress who had graduated with me in 1966!
Grandma responsed to a questionnaire as follows:
3 things I was good at: looking after children, cooking & sewing
The most important bit of information you want to pass on to your children: Have children
What is your secret to happiness and living a good life?
It wasn’t about what we had – health is most important; I like to be around lots of people.
What are the most important life lessons you have learned?
Losing a husband is a hard lesson – when sickness comes in, you don’t know what to do.
What would you like to see future generations accomplish? Health is most important
What would you like to be remembered for?
I had to have a lot of responsibility for grandchildren and great grandchildren.
What are the best ways to handle crisis times in life? What have you done?
Keep busy – it keeps your mind on what you are doing.
Mom was a hard worker and as you can tell from her story, her life was not easy. 'It was hard,' is a phrase that turns up many times in her story. Our family was culturally Mennonite, but you don't get to heaven by eating borscht and speaking Plat Deutsch (Low German). Alcohol had brought a lot of hurt and pain into our broken life-picture and Mom had held our family together and kept us going as best she could. She was a giver and gave her life for our family. Finally, when Dad was born again in 1980, things began to turn around. But Mom found it hard to trust what Dad said had really happened. She needed to see this change with her own eyes, so she determined to watch him closely and find out if he was truly on the level. He was not going to get off so easily by just saying he was now a Christian and everything was fine: he'd been forgiven by God. Mom was going to make sure this was real before she trusted God enough to make any kind of similar commitment. True enough, Dad became the spiritual leader in our family: he would pray at family gatherings, buy Mom flowers and cards; things he'd never done before he now did, with gentleness and without any coaxing!
She watched him for 5 years until it finally came to a head. Mom came to the place where she recognized that all her hard work could not accomplish what she spirtually needed and God wanted: it could only be received as God's gift. Salvation was one work she could not attain by hard work; she was now ready to receive God's work: to believe on the One whom He had sent, His Son Jesus. She was able to forgive Dad when she realized God had forgiven her through Jesus and the gospel's Good News. It was by God's gift; not Mom's work. She was finally convinced, phoned their church pastor to come for a visit: Mom made things right with God and received Jesus as her Saviour. John 3:16 became real to her. During those 5 years, I had asked Dad if he wanted to be water baptized, but he said he would wait until Mom was ready. After the pastor's visit, it was only a short while and they inivited our entire family to see them publicly baptized, bearing witness to their faith and new life in Jesus together. What an awesome testimony that was!
A few weeks ago, Mom finished a blanket and touque for some of her great-grandkids. She told a friend she was now finished; she had completed what she was supposed to do here. The weather had warmed, so Mom went out in the courtyard to enjoy the sun. She caught a chill, developed a chest infection and died within the week. Other than not being able to walk and other ailments with age, she was very healthy. She never really grew old in her spirit. Sometimes she even commented about all the 'old people' that lived here like she wasn't one of them. When she went to be with Jesus, it happened very suddenly: she died within a few hours after the hospital called us to come and say goodbye. We are so very thankful she did not suffer very long.
We want to thank the staff of Menno Home West 2 for their care and kindness throughout her 10-year stay here. She was happy and content here. She always spoke highly of the staff; she especially appreciated Marty's organizing those many activities. From her stash of potato chip bags, we figure she was the big winner at Bingo. Even in her little room, she always had a supply of food on hand (Smarties for the grandkids); she was prepared for the worst possible famine and made sure none of her family would ever be hungry. I think that carried over from living through the Great Depression of the '30s.
Mom was 94 when she died on February 16.
Unlike her sister Tina, she got to deliver her Valentines to so many of us for so many years.
She outlived all of her brothers and sisters.
The day after she died, our family was cleaning out her room, going through her things. From previous moves from house to condo to one room at Menno Home, Mom had winnowed out the chaff of things pretty well to a bare minimum. We didn't have to dig through much to find wheat.
One thing was totally unexpected: a birthday card I had given her 34 years ago, shortly after I had become a Christian. I had written her a poem inside and used the theme of the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics to describe how she had out-medalled the athletes. Just that day after her death I'd even been thinking along this same theme, but now in light of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. I was pleasantly shocked by how its words bore even prophetic relevance now! Here it is:
Today they begin the Olympics
Back east in Montreal,
But run or jump, they'll never beat
The World's Greatest Mom of all!
'Cause you've outrun, outjumped 'em,
And brought us into this race too.
May you rest in your blessings – so great in abundance:
More than gold God has given in you!
Agnes, Neta, Aganetha, Grandma, Great-Grandma... Mom
will be lovingly remembered by her 4 children & their spouses:
Eric & Sandra, Ernie & Carol, Lucy & Dave, Henry & Erica;
also 9 grandchildren + 11 great-grandchildren.
As she said, her priority was to look after her children and she did that with all her heart. She has left her family and many friends a rich inheritance.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, December 24, 2009
More than a Holiday
The miracle of Christmas is much more than celebrating another calendar holiday or searching for a reasonable hope that indeed something brighter exists during these shortest, darkest days of the year. When we learn to 'read the white between the lines', often a wealth of light and revelation in colour appears in what had been otherwise merely a murky mystery in black.
I recently watched The Nativity Story, one of the latest movies about the birth of Jesus, and came away impressed, not only by how the movie stayed true to Scripture in its message, but actually discovered new territory for me.
I definitely appreciated Joseph in a whole new light. Largely unheralded in the Bible narrative, here the storytellers bring his dilemma into believable reality. His purity of heart and character stand out all the more when he discovers his fiancee, Mary, not only very pregnant, but affirming that somehow God is to blame. Translate that into our contemporary setting and I'm certain few of us would find that scenario very easy to believe. No wonder God intervened with angels and dreams to reveal to Joseph the truth of what was really happening. God had to not only supernaturally communicate that He was doing something outside of Joseph's 'box', but also that he, Joseph, was somehow crucially and intimately involved in this project's ultimate success.
Joseph's faith accepts the dreams he sees to be truer than the offenses he feels.
He would have been legally right to have Mary stoned or 'put away' at best, but God worked this potentially destructive situation for His righteousness and justice. He found His willing vessel in Joseph. The Bible story speaks volumes to our hearts if we will take time to meditate and drink in more than our minds can grasp in surface readings. A man's depth lies not only in what is written about him, but often in what isn't. Joseph was such a man.
I was also impressed by how the nativity story presents more than a dramatic birth and survival. Heaven and earth are filled with drama, throngs of angels trumpet fulfilled prophecies, the magi follow a miraculous star, a wicked Herod destroys Bethlehem's infants. And all of these are mere backdrops to the 'main event', a birth to transcend all births.
I was stirred to review familiar events in new light and struck by how the story integrates two 'impossibles' to yield truly 'conceivables'.
Both Elizabeth and Mary were naturally unable to conceive children.
Elizabeth was too old. The Bible doesn't say she was barren, but childbearing was not in her picture.
Mary, on the other hand, was young, but not married and had never known a man.
Childbearing was physically impossible for both of them. John the Baptist and Jesus were not naturally born.
Their births had to be supernatural. For Elizabeth, a child seemed too late in life; for Mary, too soon.
For one, hope was lost; for the other, premature.
But just when everything seemed completely impossible, the God of the impossible supernaturally intervened in the hopeless history of mankind to bring His solution, His Saviour, His Son.
God is painting so many pictures together here on one canvas! The human mind boggles and must bow in awe to His artistry, wisdom and beauty. Man alone could never have woven so many intricate 'hopes and fears of all the years' together into such a simple, yet magnificent tapestry of 'peace on earth, goodwill to men'.
The Christmas story speaks to our hearts across the centuries: empty wombs of unfilled dreams and premature longing are fulfilled in this Christ of Christmas. Jesus was born 'in the fullness of time'. Just the right time then, and again to present-day Bethlehems, the Prince of Peace comes. When The Eternal God of the Now speaks, faith rises, life comes forth and nations bend their knees. Death, fear and unbelief can only fall back into their shadows and graves, agog at what God has done and is presently doing in hearts that open to His King.
Merry Christmas! and may the life of Jesus be birthed afresh through each of you throughout this New Year!
I recently watched The Nativity Story, one of the latest movies about the birth of Jesus, and came away impressed, not only by how the movie stayed true to Scripture in its message, but actually discovered new territory for me.
I definitely appreciated Joseph in a whole new light. Largely unheralded in the Bible narrative, here the storytellers bring his dilemma into believable reality. His purity of heart and character stand out all the more when he discovers his fiancee, Mary, not only very pregnant, but affirming that somehow God is to blame. Translate that into our contemporary setting and I'm certain few of us would find that scenario very easy to believe. No wonder God intervened with angels and dreams to reveal to Joseph the truth of what was really happening. God had to not only supernaturally communicate that He was doing something outside of Joseph's 'box', but also that he, Joseph, was somehow crucially and intimately involved in this project's ultimate success.
Joseph's faith accepts the dreams he sees to be truer than the offenses he feels.
He would have been legally right to have Mary stoned or 'put away' at best, but God worked this potentially destructive situation for His righteousness and justice. He found His willing vessel in Joseph. The Bible story speaks volumes to our hearts if we will take time to meditate and drink in more than our minds can grasp in surface readings. A man's depth lies not only in what is written about him, but often in what isn't. Joseph was such a man.
I was also impressed by how the nativity story presents more than a dramatic birth and survival. Heaven and earth are filled with drama, throngs of angels trumpet fulfilled prophecies, the magi follow a miraculous star, a wicked Herod destroys Bethlehem's infants. And all of these are mere backdrops to the 'main event', a birth to transcend all births.
I was stirred to review familiar events in new light and struck by how the story integrates two 'impossibles' to yield truly 'conceivables'.
Both Elizabeth and Mary were naturally unable to conceive children.
Elizabeth was too old. The Bible doesn't say she was barren, but childbearing was not in her picture.
Mary, on the other hand, was young, but not married and had never known a man.
Childbearing was physically impossible for both of them. John the Baptist and Jesus were not naturally born.
Their births had to be supernatural. For Elizabeth, a child seemed too late in life; for Mary, too soon.
For one, hope was lost; for the other, premature.
But just when everything seemed completely impossible, the God of the impossible supernaturally intervened in the hopeless history of mankind to bring His solution, His Saviour, His Son.
God is painting so many pictures together here on one canvas! The human mind boggles and must bow in awe to His artistry, wisdom and beauty. Man alone could never have woven so many intricate 'hopes and fears of all the years' together into such a simple, yet magnificent tapestry of 'peace on earth, goodwill to men'.
The Christmas story speaks to our hearts across the centuries: empty wombs of unfilled dreams and premature longing are fulfilled in this Christ of Christmas. Jesus was born 'in the fullness of time'. Just the right time then, and again to present-day Bethlehems, the Prince of Peace comes. When The Eternal God of the Now speaks, faith rises, life comes forth and nations bend their knees. Death, fear and unbelief can only fall back into their shadows and graves, agog at what God has done and is presently doing in hearts that open to His King.
Merry Christmas! and may the life of Jesus be birthed afresh through each of you throughout this New Year!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
A HOLY NATION
A friend asked: "Does God still judge nations?" I thought, "That's a good question!" so here are some thoughts.
I do not believe God judges nations now in the same manner as before The Cross.
The Cross revealed The Great Commandment and released The Great Commission!
The Lord of the Harvest is raising up and sending forth sons and daughters to labour in the harvest field, to make disciples of all nations, not judge them.
Furthermore, He's not making just individual disciples, but discipling whole nations, transforming entire people groups (ethnos). The gospel calls whole nations to know Him as Saviour!
Unfortunately there is still a tendency for some 'believers' to hold on to Old Testament types while not realizing New Testament fulfillment in Christ. Some continue viewing the kingdom of God through political, nationalistic glasses, whereas God has given us new gospel-glasses, or...SONglasses!!! to view things as He sees them through Christ!
'For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.' (2Cor 1:20)
The old natural mindset diminishes the full work of His Cross and obscures the present authority of His Throne in ruling and reigning NOW! But SONglasses magnify Christ and His Work! Put them on and you will see Jesus revealed everywhere... in the Scriptures: Old and New, in your circumstances, in your friends, even in your enemies! With His perspective on life, your enemies can even become your friends!
Look at Matt 25:31-46 where the Son of Man separates the nations one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: sheep on the right + goats on the left. I have heard some preach this means there are 'goat nations' + 'sheep nations'
ie. unbelieving/evil/damned/condemned-to-hell people groups vs. so-called 'Christian nations'. However, I believe the divisions are really within the nations themselves, ie. individual sheep + goats from every nation are separated either to or from Christ. This does not refer to the entire population of a natural nation: ie. Canada is a 'sheep-Christian nation' so its citizens are saved/blessed, while Russia is a doomed 'goat nation'. In other words, some are not idolized while others are demonized! Such vision is far from the truth! It smacks of the remnants of Medieval 'Christendom' thinking. Such interpretations are gross misinterpretations and misrepresentations of God's heart, nothing more than continuations of a 'nationalistic, legalistic Old Covenant' stereotype/mindset that misses the 'kingdom New Covenant' heart of what Christ's work on the Cross accomplished.
Isa 2:2 prophesied 'all nations shall flow to the mountain of the Lord's house'
and Rev 21:24 shows its fulfillment in 'the nations (of those whose who are saved --some translations omit this phrase?) shall walk in its light'....
v26 'they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.'
Typically, natural Israel was called to showcase God's kingdom to the Gentiles and all the world.
Ex 19:5-6 describes how God brought them out of Egypt to be
'a special treasure to Me above all people
And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'
But that 'nation' never fulfilled its call, never realized its true identity or destiny. The Court of the Gentiles in the 2nd Temple had become a money-changers' den of thieves when Jesus turned its tables upside/down-right side up. He made this abundantly clear when He admonished the Pharisees, the Jewish religious national leaders: 'the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.' (Matt 21:43)
They had been chosen to bring forth God's glory, His Messiah, into the earth, but they rejected what they'd been chosen for.
'He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God,
to those who believe in His name:
who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God.' (John 1:11-13)
This is no so-called Replacement Theology. There has only ever been 1 true spiritual nation: 'the Israel of God'. (Gal 6:16)
Seed of Abraham was both natural and spiritual: sand and stars. (Gen 22:17)and The Seed is Christ. (Gal 3:16) Jacob (supplanter/manipulator) only became Israel (prince who prevailed with God) when he surrendered to God and was virtually 'born again' at Penuel. (Gen 33:22-32) His walk changed forever. The true people of God have never been merely a natural race, ie. Israel after the flesh (1Cor 10:18), but those who, like David, have looked to the Messiah and His Salvation! (Ps 118:22-24) Jesus exposed legalistic Pharisees and their ilk as 'of your father the devil' (Jn 8:44), not Father Abraham nor Father God.
Peter reveals God's purpose fulfilled even more clearly when he writes of the church, the Bride of Christ:
'But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special
people that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light;
who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained
mercy, but now have obtained mercy.' (1Pet 2:9-10)
Rev 1:6 & 5:10 proclaim: Jesus 'has made us (= the Church) a kingdom of priests to God.'
The original calling of Ex 19:5-6 is clearly fulfilled today in the Church, the body + temple of the risen Christ!
True Israel has ever only been a spiritual people who worship and look for their Messiah in spirit and truth, not according to their own self-centred righteousness by keeping God's laws.
Romans clarifies this even more:
'He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in
the flesh;
but he is a Jew who is one inwardly: and circumcision is that of the heart, in the
Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.' (Rom 2:28-29)
'They are not all Israel who are of Israel....but the children of the promise are
counted as the seed.' (Rom 9:6-8)
The law was never given to make a nation, let alone make it 'righteous', for no individual or nation has ever been able to keep it. But the law was given to convict of sin (individual and national), convince us of our need for salvation and bring us to The Messiah, Jesus! (Gal 3:19-24)
Now that Christ has paid the full price for our redemption, we must not go back to that former old mindset in any form. He has made it obsolete and in Christ, it has vanished away. Hebrews exhorts us,
'You have not come to ...Sinai, but to Mount Zion ...the city of the living God,
heavenly Jerusalem, to the Judge of all.... to Jesus the Mediator of the new
covenant.' (Heb 12:18-24)
God has moved on from judging natural nations to His kingdom, manifesting His glory through His spiritual nation, His own special people bought by the Blood of Jesus. Our citizenship is now in heaven (Phil 3:20) and as His ambassadors, we represent a kingdom which is neither mixed nor tainted with the religious politics of that old former worldview. His is a kingdom that cannot be moved or shaken and will ultimately fill the earth 'as it is in heaven'.
Nationhood is no longer defined by race, but by grace.
God has moved on.... in Christ... let's move with Him!
Amen?!
I do not believe God judges nations now in the same manner as before The Cross.
The Cross revealed The Great Commandment and released The Great Commission!
The Lord of the Harvest is raising up and sending forth sons and daughters to labour in the harvest field, to make disciples of all nations, not judge them.
Furthermore, He's not making just individual disciples, but discipling whole nations, transforming entire people groups (ethnos). The gospel calls whole nations to know Him as Saviour!
Unfortunately there is still a tendency for some 'believers' to hold on to Old Testament types while not realizing New Testament fulfillment in Christ. Some continue viewing the kingdom of God through political, nationalistic glasses, whereas God has given us new gospel-glasses, or...SONglasses!!! to view things as He sees them through Christ!
'For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.' (2Cor 1:20)
The old natural mindset diminishes the full work of His Cross and obscures the present authority of His Throne in ruling and reigning NOW! But SONglasses magnify Christ and His Work! Put them on and you will see Jesus revealed everywhere... in the Scriptures: Old and New, in your circumstances, in your friends, even in your enemies! With His perspective on life, your enemies can even become your friends!
Look at Matt 25:31-46 where the Son of Man separates the nations one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: sheep on the right + goats on the left. I have heard some preach this means there are 'goat nations' + 'sheep nations'
ie. unbelieving/evil/damned/condemned-to-hell people groups vs. so-called 'Christian nations'. However, I believe the divisions are really within the nations themselves, ie. individual sheep + goats from every nation are separated either to or from Christ. This does not refer to the entire population of a natural nation: ie. Canada is a 'sheep-Christian nation' so its citizens are saved/blessed, while Russia is a doomed 'goat nation'. In other words, some are not idolized while others are demonized! Such vision is far from the truth! It smacks of the remnants of Medieval 'Christendom' thinking. Such interpretations are gross misinterpretations and misrepresentations of God's heart, nothing more than continuations of a 'nationalistic, legalistic Old Covenant' stereotype/mindset that misses the 'kingdom New Covenant' heart of what Christ's work on the Cross accomplished.
Isa 2:2 prophesied 'all nations shall flow to the mountain of the Lord's house'
and Rev 21:24 shows its fulfillment in 'the nations (of those whose who are saved --some translations omit this phrase?) shall walk in its light'....
v26 'they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.'
Typically, natural Israel was called to showcase God's kingdom to the Gentiles and all the world.
Ex 19:5-6 describes how God brought them out of Egypt to be
'a special treasure to Me above all people
And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'
But that 'nation' never fulfilled its call, never realized its true identity or destiny. The Court of the Gentiles in the 2nd Temple had become a money-changers' den of thieves when Jesus turned its tables upside/down-right side up. He made this abundantly clear when He admonished the Pharisees, the Jewish religious national leaders: 'the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.' (Matt 21:43)
They had been chosen to bring forth God's glory, His Messiah, into the earth, but they rejected what they'd been chosen for.
'He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God,
to those who believe in His name:
who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God.' (John 1:11-13)
This is no so-called Replacement Theology. There has only ever been 1 true spiritual nation: 'the Israel of God'. (Gal 6:16)
Seed of Abraham was both natural and spiritual: sand and stars. (Gen 22:17)and The Seed is Christ. (Gal 3:16) Jacob (supplanter/manipulator) only became Israel (prince who prevailed with God) when he surrendered to God and was virtually 'born again' at Penuel. (Gen 33:22-32) His walk changed forever. The true people of God have never been merely a natural race, ie. Israel after the flesh (1Cor 10:18), but those who, like David, have looked to the Messiah and His Salvation! (Ps 118:22-24) Jesus exposed legalistic Pharisees and their ilk as 'of your father the devil' (Jn 8:44), not Father Abraham nor Father God.
Peter reveals God's purpose fulfilled even more clearly when he writes of the church, the Bride of Christ:
'But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special
people that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into
His marvelous light;
who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained
mercy, but now have obtained mercy.' (1Pet 2:9-10)
Rev 1:6 & 5:10 proclaim: Jesus 'has made us (= the Church) a kingdom of priests to God.'
The original calling of Ex 19:5-6 is clearly fulfilled today in the Church, the body + temple of the risen Christ!
True Israel has ever only been a spiritual people who worship and look for their Messiah in spirit and truth, not according to their own self-centred righteousness by keeping God's laws.
Romans clarifies this even more:
'He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in
the flesh;
but he is a Jew who is one inwardly: and circumcision is that of the heart, in the
Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.' (Rom 2:28-29)
'They are not all Israel who are of Israel....but the children of the promise are
counted as the seed.' (Rom 9:6-8)
The law was never given to make a nation, let alone make it 'righteous', for no individual or nation has ever been able to keep it. But the law was given to convict of sin (individual and national), convince us of our need for salvation and bring us to The Messiah, Jesus! (Gal 3:19-24)
Now that Christ has paid the full price for our redemption, we must not go back to that former old mindset in any form. He has made it obsolete and in Christ, it has vanished away. Hebrews exhorts us,
'You have not come to ...Sinai, but to Mount Zion ...the city of the living God,
heavenly Jerusalem, to the Judge of all.... to Jesus the Mediator of the new
covenant.' (Heb 12:18-24)
God has moved on from judging natural nations to His kingdom, manifesting His glory through His spiritual nation, His own special people bought by the Blood of Jesus. Our citizenship is now in heaven (Phil 3:20) and as His ambassadors, we represent a kingdom which is neither mixed nor tainted with the religious politics of that old former worldview. His is a kingdom that cannot be moved or shaken and will ultimately fill the earth 'as it is in heaven'.
Nationhood is no longer defined by race, but by grace.
God has moved on.... in Christ... let's move with Him!
Amen?!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Time to Resolve the Identity Crisis
Who am I? Who are you?
Personal identity has attracted much public attention lately. Thieves have found it very lucrative to actually steal peoples' personal identities through credit card frauds and computer scams. Identity theft has become big business.
However, I believe an even greater problem exists in that many people don't even realize their identity has been stolen, because they don't even really know their true identity in the first place. Many fall through the cracks of life, merely passing through, but never coming to a knowledge of who they are.
Unfortunately, we have become human doings rather than human beings.
The medium has become the message. True, we can send a message around the world in a micro-second, but what value is it if it merely communicates a burp, a grunt or even worse?
We have become mesmerized with our own hype.
We have lost touch with the truly vital intrinsic realities of this life. Our identity has become lost in a sea of information and misinformation of questionable value.
I spent years searching for my identity. I also attempted running away from who I was, or at least, who I thought I was. Lack of identity can be a very frustrating experience.
One day some friends told me I needed to meet someone who could help me find this elusive identity; someone who knew everything about 'heart' issues. My friends said that if I met their mutual friend, it would bring an end to my search. After all, had I not spent years trying to solve the eternal questions and was still none the wiser?
How could this be? I did not think such a person really existed. Who could possess such knowledge and then be able to give it to someone else?
They set up opportunities for our introduction, but I missed many appointments.
I was too busy and couldn't make them. However, they didn't give up on me.
They persisted and persevered and finally, one day I met Him.
I gave up the pursuit of knowledge and found the love of the Lord Jesus Christ!
I discovered that my true identity had been stolen in a garden by a serpent many centuries ago, but Jesus had since paid the price on the Cross and won it back for me.
He also showed me that if I truly wanted to find my identity and real life, then I needed to in turn lose it. Paradoxical?!
Through faith in Christ I am now a child of God. That was 35 years ago.
Not once have I found Him to be a liar. Jesus is always true to His word. That is a very precious commodity in today's world: someone who will agree from his heart to do something and not forget or go back on his word. Such a one is secure in his identity.
Our 'Who am I?' questions find their answer in 'Who do you say that Jesus is?'
Some say He is a man, others a wise teacher, others still a prophet or guru. Some believe the stories about Him are merely fabricated myths or lies.
But the Bible reveals that the mystery is resolved in a Revelation of Jesus who is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!
None of us are complete in ourselves. Our identity is fully involved with Our Creator and Redeemer. Satan stole our identities and has lied to every generation. We have swallowed these lies and wandered this world without meaning or identity. Until we renounce the counterfeit, idolatrous images we have substituted for God, we are condemned to continue this frustrating journey. Only in Christ is the Father's pure love revealed and we are restored to His image, secure in the knowledge that we are His.
Do you know you also have an arranged appointment with this Jesus?
This year it became required for all Canadians to have passports in order to cross the border into the United States. Even moreso, we need our new real identity in Christ revealed that we might cross over spiritual barriers to enter and enjoy new life in His kingdom. Please don't miss your appointment because you're too busy on this other side.
Besides, this is only the beginning. Introduction leads into Relationship.
God-forgiven Identity releases into God-given Destiny.
**Let the Lord fulfill your new Identity in Jesus Christ below
Check each in the Word; then let the Holy Spirit verify + release His life in you!
Take at least 1 of these to heart each day like spiritual vitamins + grow!
Remember: the devil comes seeking whom he may devour;
let Jesus' answer be yours: 'he has nothing in me' (Jn 14:30)
.... I am in Christ!'
WHO AM I ???
“ in CHRIST JESUS ... ”
I am the salt of the earth. Matt 5:13
I am the light of the world. (1Thess 5:5) Matt 5:14
I am of priceless value. Matt 6:26
I am a child of God; I have a Father who loves me. Rom 8:16; Gal 3:26,28
Jn 1:12; 1Jn 3:1-2
I am set free. Jn 8:31-32
I am the Good Shepherd’s sheep; I can hear His voice and follow Him. Jn 10:4,10
I am a branch of the true vine, a channel of His life. Jn 15:1, 5
I am Christ’s friend. Jn 15:15
I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit Jn 15:16
I am filled with joy! Jn 16:33
I am One with the Father and Son and all believers. (1Cor 6:17) Jn 17:22-23
I am Christ’s witness. Acts 1:8
I am a slave of righteousness to God. Rom 6:18, 22
I am free from all condemnation. Rom 8:1-2
I am a son of God, spiritually adopted by my Father God.(Gal 3:26,4:6) Rom 8:14-15
I am a joint-heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance. (Gal 4:6-7) Rom 8:17
I am inseparable from His love. Rom 8:35
I am more than a conqueror, an overcomer. (1Jn 5:4-5) Rom 8:37
I am a temple/home of God; His Holy Spirit dwells in me. 1Cor 3:16; 6:19
I am washed, sanctified and justified. 1Cor 6:11
I am not my own; I have been bought with an incalculable price. 1Cor 6:19
I am a member/part of Christ’s body. 1Cor 12:27
I am transformed into Christ’s image by faith from glory to glory. 2Cor 3:18
I am a new creation; a totally new person. 2Cor 5:17
I am reconciled to God and an ambassador of reconciliation to others. 2Cor 5:18-19
I am the righteousness of God. (Eph 4:24) 2Cor 5:21
I am crucified with Him: dead to sin and alive to God. Gal 2:20
I am redeemed from the curse. Gal 3:13
I am a saint, blessed with all spiritual blessings. (Phil 1:1) Eph 1:1-3
I am totally accepted/chosen in The Beloved. (Col 3:12) Eph 1:6
I am completely forgiven by His Grace. Eph 1:7
I am sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Eph 1:13
I am alive, saved, raised up and seated in the heavenlies. Eph 2:5-8
I am God’s workmanship, created to walk in good works. Eph 2:10
I am a member of God’s family, secure in His foundation. Eph 2:19-21
I am a prisoner of Christ. Eph 3:1,4:1
I am confident He will complete what He has begun in me. Phil 1:6
I am a citizen of heaven and seated in His throne right now. Phil 3:20
I am delivered from darkness and translated into Christ’s kingdom. Col 1:13
I am absolutely complete. Col 2:10
I am hidden with Christ in God, my life is kept of God. Col 3:3-4
I am not afraid, but filled with power, love and a sound mind. 2Tim 1:7
I am never alone. Jesus never leaves me nor forsakes me. Heb 13:5
I am of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a unique people 1Pet2:9-10
I am an alien, stranger and pilgrim in this world I temporarily live in. 1Pet 2:11
I am an enemy of the devil,; the devil cannot touch me. 1Jn 5:18
I am His Bride. Rev 19:7
I am not the great “ I am” (Ex 3:14; Jn 8:24,28,58)
but “by the grace of God I am what I am” (1Cor 15:10)
Personal identity has attracted much public attention lately. Thieves have found it very lucrative to actually steal peoples' personal identities through credit card frauds and computer scams. Identity theft has become big business.
However, I believe an even greater problem exists in that many people don't even realize their identity has been stolen, because they don't even really know their true identity in the first place. Many fall through the cracks of life, merely passing through, but never coming to a knowledge of who they are.
Unfortunately, we have become human doings rather than human beings.
The medium has become the message. True, we can send a message around the world in a micro-second, but what value is it if it merely communicates a burp, a grunt or even worse?
We have become mesmerized with our own hype.
We have lost touch with the truly vital intrinsic realities of this life. Our identity has become lost in a sea of information and misinformation of questionable value.
I spent years searching for my identity. I also attempted running away from who I was, or at least, who I thought I was. Lack of identity can be a very frustrating experience.
One day some friends told me I needed to meet someone who could help me find this elusive identity; someone who knew everything about 'heart' issues. My friends said that if I met their mutual friend, it would bring an end to my search. After all, had I not spent years trying to solve the eternal questions and was still none the wiser?
How could this be? I did not think such a person really existed. Who could possess such knowledge and then be able to give it to someone else?
They set up opportunities for our introduction, but I missed many appointments.
I was too busy and couldn't make them. However, they didn't give up on me.
They persisted and persevered and finally, one day I met Him.
I gave up the pursuit of knowledge and found the love of the Lord Jesus Christ!
I discovered that my true identity had been stolen in a garden by a serpent many centuries ago, but Jesus had since paid the price on the Cross and won it back for me.
He also showed me that if I truly wanted to find my identity and real life, then I needed to in turn lose it. Paradoxical?!
Through faith in Christ I am now a child of God. That was 35 years ago.
Not once have I found Him to be a liar. Jesus is always true to His word. That is a very precious commodity in today's world: someone who will agree from his heart to do something and not forget or go back on his word. Such a one is secure in his identity.
Our 'Who am I?' questions find their answer in 'Who do you say that Jesus is?'
Some say He is a man, others a wise teacher, others still a prophet or guru. Some believe the stories about Him are merely fabricated myths or lies.
But the Bible reveals that the mystery is resolved in a Revelation of Jesus who is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!
None of us are complete in ourselves. Our identity is fully involved with Our Creator and Redeemer. Satan stole our identities and has lied to every generation. We have swallowed these lies and wandered this world without meaning or identity. Until we renounce the counterfeit, idolatrous images we have substituted for God, we are condemned to continue this frustrating journey. Only in Christ is the Father's pure love revealed and we are restored to His image, secure in the knowledge that we are His.
Do you know you also have an arranged appointment with this Jesus?
This year it became required for all Canadians to have passports in order to cross the border into the United States. Even moreso, we need our new real identity in Christ revealed that we might cross over spiritual barriers to enter and enjoy new life in His kingdom. Please don't miss your appointment because you're too busy on this other side.
Besides, this is only the beginning. Introduction leads into Relationship.
God-forgiven Identity releases into God-given Destiny.
**Let the Lord fulfill your new Identity in Jesus Christ below
Check each in the Word; then let the Holy Spirit verify + release His life in you!
Take at least 1 of these to heart each day like spiritual vitamins + grow!
Remember: the devil comes seeking whom he may devour;
let Jesus' answer be yours: 'he has nothing in me' (Jn 14:30)
.... I am in Christ!'
WHO AM I ???
“ in CHRIST JESUS ... ”
I am the salt of the earth. Matt 5:13
I am the light of the world. (1Thess 5:5) Matt 5:14
I am of priceless value. Matt 6:26
I am a child of God; I have a Father who loves me. Rom 8:16; Gal 3:26,28
Jn 1:12; 1Jn 3:1-2
I am set free. Jn 8:31-32
I am the Good Shepherd’s sheep; I can hear His voice and follow Him. Jn 10:4,10
I am a branch of the true vine, a channel of His life. Jn 15:1, 5
I am Christ’s friend. Jn 15:15
I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit Jn 15:16
I am filled with joy! Jn 16:33
I am One with the Father and Son and all believers. (1Cor 6:17) Jn 17:22-23
I am Christ’s witness. Acts 1:8
I am a slave of righteousness to God. Rom 6:18, 22
I am free from all condemnation. Rom 8:1-2
I am a son of God, spiritually adopted by my Father God.(Gal 3:26,4:6) Rom 8:14-15
I am a joint-heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance. (Gal 4:6-7) Rom 8:17
I am inseparable from His love. Rom 8:35
I am more than a conqueror, an overcomer. (1Jn 5:4-5) Rom 8:37
I am a temple/home of God; His Holy Spirit dwells in me. 1Cor 3:16; 6:19
I am washed, sanctified and justified. 1Cor 6:11
I am not my own; I have been bought with an incalculable price. 1Cor 6:19
I am a member/part of Christ’s body. 1Cor 12:27
I am transformed into Christ’s image by faith from glory to glory. 2Cor 3:18
I am a new creation; a totally new person. 2Cor 5:17
I am reconciled to God and an ambassador of reconciliation to others. 2Cor 5:18-19
I am the righteousness of God. (Eph 4:24) 2Cor 5:21
I am crucified with Him: dead to sin and alive to God. Gal 2:20
I am redeemed from the curse. Gal 3:13
I am a saint, blessed with all spiritual blessings. (Phil 1:1) Eph 1:1-3
I am totally accepted/chosen in The Beloved. (Col 3:12) Eph 1:6
I am completely forgiven by His Grace. Eph 1:7
I am sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Eph 1:13
I am alive, saved, raised up and seated in the heavenlies. Eph 2:5-8
I am God’s workmanship, created to walk in good works. Eph 2:10
I am a member of God’s family, secure in His foundation. Eph 2:19-21
I am a prisoner of Christ. Eph 3:1,4:1
I am confident He will complete what He has begun in me. Phil 1:6
I am a citizen of heaven and seated in His throne right now. Phil 3:20
I am delivered from darkness and translated into Christ’s kingdom. Col 1:13
I am absolutely complete. Col 2:10
I am hidden with Christ in God, my life is kept of God. Col 3:3-4
I am not afraid, but filled with power, love and a sound mind. 2Tim 1:7
I am never alone. Jesus never leaves me nor forsakes me. Heb 13:5
I am of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a unique people 1Pet2:9-10
I am an alien, stranger and pilgrim in this world I temporarily live in. 1Pet 2:11
I am an enemy of the devil,; the devil cannot touch me. 1Jn 5:18
I am His Bride. Rev 19:7
I am not the great “ I am” (Ex 3:14; Jn 8:24,28,58)
but “by the grace of God I am what I am” (1Cor 15:10)
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
There Must be a Better Way
A short word before this next article:
I first wrote this just before US forces moved into Iraq in 2003; however, I find it addresses a perspective still out there in the contemporary 'Christian mindset' that needs to be challenged.
What are your thoughts?
Preparations for war have filled our minds and newscasts.
Soldiers pack up their gear, embrace their children, kiss their wives. “We just want to get the job done, get it over with and get back home!”
Thousands fill the streets of New York, London, Rome, Istanbul; 35,000 protest in Vancouver and even Abbotsford hears the cries, “No blood for oil!” The images contrast as sharply as the opposing battle lines in the desert.
Days and nights of constant bombardment have now left much of Baghdad in ruins.
Our TV screens explode with “Shock and Awe!”
but do we realize men, women and children are dying while we watch the fireworks?
Then the next photos: close-ups of the injured and maimed lying in blood-soaked bandages in ill-equipped hospitals; or even worse, the dead lying in the streets after the battles.
Even closer to home, a Maryland father thrusts his slain son's picture into the camera's eye. “Take a look, George Bush. This is my son, my only son, and you killed him!”
Sons, fathers, soldiers, civilians...all casualties of a world that has definitely lost its way...again.
Survivor Baghdad has become the ultimate Reality TV show.
A chorus of hearts cries out: “There must be a better way!”
The debate intensifies:
“Saddam's a monster, a foul dictator, a virtual anti-Christ. He slaughters his own people. Replace him and we'll make the world a safer place!”
“Bush is no better. Who does he think he is: the world's policeman? imposing his brand of 'Christian' democracy, bullying Moslems and the entire Arab world?”
“Terrorism, biological and chemical weapons must be countered with ten times more force. These are threats to world security and must be preemptively neutralized.”
“But by reacting this way, haven't we become what we say we oppose?”
Over 3000 died in the World Trade Center disaster.
How many will have to die in the retaliation?
United Nations diplomacy proved ineffective.
Canada teeters somewhat smugly on the fence, officially uninvolved, but cautiously cheering on the Americans, anxiously concerned about effects on our economy and comfortable way of life.
There must be a better way.
It's amazing how we can piously mouth Jesus' teachings, “Turn the other cheek, Walk the second mile, etc.” on a personal, individual and family level, but fail to relate them on the wider community, national and international stages. The words sound good on an ethereal, spiritual plane, but they don't really apply to the 'real world'.
How easily we sentimentalize 'Blessed are the peacemakers', but resort to waging war when our 'real' interests are threatened.
Indeed, a 'Christian brother' once tried to enlighten me by proving that The Beatitudes and Sermon on the Mount will only come into effect in some future Millenium!
What happened to The Cross?
Shows you how strongly your end-time beliefs can determine your present-day attitudes and actions.
The problem with Christ and His teaching is not that they have been tried and found wanting; it's that they have not been really tried!
We so-called 'Christian' nations have not truly sought to put them into practice when it comes to resolving problems.
“Be realistic,” some counter.
Jesus was and is.
He understood that what we sow we ultimately reap:
sow violence, reap violence;
sow love, reap love;
live by the sword, die by the sword.
Don't be overcome by evil (the forces of this world that are bent on destruction),
but overcome evil with good.
Gandhi was not a Christian, but he sought to follow Christ's non-violent approach, and he ultimately led India to independence.
Martin Luther King dreamed of his people's freedom from racism and inspired them by Jesus' faith.
South Africa has been spared a bloodbath because they chose to forgive past inhumanities by both whites and blacks rather than resort to vengeance.
The Berlin Wall did not fall to tanks and missiles, but to the prayers of believers who not only filled a Dresden church night after night, but then let their light shine in the streets until the communist darkness could stand no longer.
Jesus said, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink, and by so doing, you will heap coals of fire on his head.” (Romans 12:20)
I always interpreted this to mean that God would ultimately execute fiery retribution on my enemies. But my heart motive was all wrong. Rather than calling down judgment on your opposition, this verse alludes to the nomadic custom of transporting fire coals from camp to camp in baskets on their heads. If someone's fire went out between camps, others were to give them some of their own.
Rather than retaliate, rekindle.
Jesus tells us to bless and not curse; heal rather than wound; help, not destroy ...and not just when it's personally convenient. Thousands of Iraqi children have died over the last 10 years' embargo on goods, including proper medical and food supplies.
What if: rather than pound them with missiles, we bombarded them with mercy and the skies rained down relief packages rather than death?
“Traitor! Naive! Impractical?"
But the real gospel in action has worked miracles and fostered much more goodwill than self-centred evil. We really do have so much here in the West. God has blessed us with such abundance. Rather that retaliation, why not break the cycle of violence by faithfully following the One whose Death and Resurrection forever broke the power of sin and death … hatred and war?
I am convinced: The Gospel of Jesus Christ is A Better Way!
I first wrote this just before US forces moved into Iraq in 2003; however, I find it addresses a perspective still out there in the contemporary 'Christian mindset' that needs to be challenged.
What are your thoughts?
Preparations for war have filled our minds and newscasts.
Soldiers pack up their gear, embrace their children, kiss their wives. “We just want to get the job done, get it over with and get back home!”
Thousands fill the streets of New York, London, Rome, Istanbul; 35,000 protest in Vancouver and even Abbotsford hears the cries, “No blood for oil!” The images contrast as sharply as the opposing battle lines in the desert.
Days and nights of constant bombardment have now left much of Baghdad in ruins.
Our TV screens explode with “Shock and Awe!”
but do we realize men, women and children are dying while we watch the fireworks?
Then the next photos: close-ups of the injured and maimed lying in blood-soaked bandages in ill-equipped hospitals; or even worse, the dead lying in the streets after the battles.
Even closer to home, a Maryland father thrusts his slain son's picture into the camera's eye. “Take a look, George Bush. This is my son, my only son, and you killed him!”
Sons, fathers, soldiers, civilians...all casualties of a world that has definitely lost its way...again.
Survivor Baghdad has become the ultimate Reality TV show.
A chorus of hearts cries out: “There must be a better way!”
The debate intensifies:
“Saddam's a monster, a foul dictator, a virtual anti-Christ. He slaughters his own people. Replace him and we'll make the world a safer place!”
“Bush is no better. Who does he think he is: the world's policeman? imposing his brand of 'Christian' democracy, bullying Moslems and the entire Arab world?”
“Terrorism, biological and chemical weapons must be countered with ten times more force. These are threats to world security and must be preemptively neutralized.”
“But by reacting this way, haven't we become what we say we oppose?”
Over 3000 died in the World Trade Center disaster.
How many will have to die in the retaliation?
United Nations diplomacy proved ineffective.
Canada teeters somewhat smugly on the fence, officially uninvolved, but cautiously cheering on the Americans, anxiously concerned about effects on our economy and comfortable way of life.
There must be a better way.
It's amazing how we can piously mouth Jesus' teachings, “Turn the other cheek, Walk the second mile, etc.” on a personal, individual and family level, but fail to relate them on the wider community, national and international stages. The words sound good on an ethereal, spiritual plane, but they don't really apply to the 'real world'.
How easily we sentimentalize 'Blessed are the peacemakers', but resort to waging war when our 'real' interests are threatened.
Indeed, a 'Christian brother' once tried to enlighten me by proving that The Beatitudes and Sermon on the Mount will only come into effect in some future Millenium!
What happened to The Cross?
Shows you how strongly your end-time beliefs can determine your present-day attitudes and actions.
The problem with Christ and His teaching is not that they have been tried and found wanting; it's that they have not been really tried!
We so-called 'Christian' nations have not truly sought to put them into practice when it comes to resolving problems.
“Be realistic,” some counter.
Jesus was and is.
He understood that what we sow we ultimately reap:
sow violence, reap violence;
sow love, reap love;
live by the sword, die by the sword.
Don't be overcome by evil (the forces of this world that are bent on destruction),
but overcome evil with good.
Gandhi was not a Christian, but he sought to follow Christ's non-violent approach, and he ultimately led India to independence.
Martin Luther King dreamed of his people's freedom from racism and inspired them by Jesus' faith.
South Africa has been spared a bloodbath because they chose to forgive past inhumanities by both whites and blacks rather than resort to vengeance.
The Berlin Wall did not fall to tanks and missiles, but to the prayers of believers who not only filled a Dresden church night after night, but then let their light shine in the streets until the communist darkness could stand no longer.
Jesus said, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink, and by so doing, you will heap coals of fire on his head.” (Romans 12:20)
I always interpreted this to mean that God would ultimately execute fiery retribution on my enemies. But my heart motive was all wrong. Rather than calling down judgment on your opposition, this verse alludes to the nomadic custom of transporting fire coals from camp to camp in baskets on their heads. If someone's fire went out between camps, others were to give them some of their own.
Rather than retaliate, rekindle.
Jesus tells us to bless and not curse; heal rather than wound; help, not destroy ...and not just when it's personally convenient. Thousands of Iraqi children have died over the last 10 years' embargo on goods, including proper medical and food supplies.
What if: rather than pound them with missiles, we bombarded them with mercy and the skies rained down relief packages rather than death?
“Traitor! Naive! Impractical?"
But the real gospel in action has worked miracles and fostered much more goodwill than self-centred evil. We really do have so much here in the West. God has blessed us with such abundance. Rather that retaliation, why not break the cycle of violence by faithfully following the One whose Death and Resurrection forever broke the power of sin and death … hatred and war?
I am convinced: The Gospel of Jesus Christ is A Better Way!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Something Greater
Something greater than the Iraqi and Afghan war, terrorist acts or Canadian and American elections is now happening in our world. The kingdom of God, greater than any election platform, is presently sweeping the earth. The greatest movement in world history is now changing the face of the earth! Are you a part of it?
People are turning to Jesus and discovering His words are true.
“Search the Scriptures for in them you think you have life and these testify of me (Jn 5:39)
“All the Scriptures…things concerning Himself (Luke 24:27)
must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”(Luke 24:44)
Spiritually hungry people do not accept counterfeits; they turn to Jesus!
A few years ago, my wife and I visited many ancient sites of the early Christian church in the Mediterranean world. These cities had once known vibrant churches, but the ravages of apathy, war, and time have taken their toll and their once-strong congregations are no more.
In Spain, we found church buildings full of gold plundered from Aztec and Inca empires, but empty of people. In Assisi, we found St. Francis’ simple church, but now smothered beneath an overwhelming edifice. In Greece, St. Paul’s powerful words seemed silenced amid all the noisy Olympic preparations.
The seven churches of Revelation were merely empty ruins in Turkey, a 99% Muslim nation. Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia, once the largest church in the world, was now only a shell of a museum.
However, we found something even more remarkable. Although the outer vestiges of ‘Christian faith’ are no longer as prevalent as they had once been, an even more powerful movement is now sweeping these lands, especially in the hearts of the younger generation. Hearts are hungering for the real Jesus and will accept no substitutes.
Our young Italian friend was born and raised in the church, even served as an altar boy, but the church’s hypocritical practices had turned him away. Their large, cold marble buildings no longer impressed him and he now looked for heroes elsewhere. I challenged him and his counter-culture group of friends to look to the original Jesus, the only perfect man who has ever lived. “Why continue to look for ideals of perfection when He has already come?”
He acknowledged that Jesus’ life uniquely demonstrated truth in action, in spite of all man’s external religious embellishments. But it's hard to find the real Jesus through all the religious embellishments...the crap!
One afternoon in Ephesus, just outside the ruins of the church where St. John lay buried, we stopped to talk with a young carpet-seller. The topic turned to the emptiness of religious buildings and observances and we encouraged him to seek the head of the living church, Jesus Christ. Suddenly he remarked, “You’re just like those other people who were here this morning and shared this same message with me. And you’ve got that same joy in you! You are filled with joy and radiate life just like them! Is that Jesus?”
Then he told us how he had begun to read the New Testament (Injil) in his own language so he could find out these things for himself.
Later that evening in our hotel, Achmed, our 18-year-old night watchman, watched his new ‘Jesus’ video all they way through on the very first night he'd had it. In the morning, he was so very excited about what he had seen and had all sorts of questions about this Jesus.
In Cappadocia, our young Turkish tour guide led us through labyrinthine underground cities, nine or 10 stories deep, 150 feet below the surface, where Christians had fled to escape Roman persecutors and later Muslim invaders. We marveled how they had survived and prospered for centuries and gazed at their wonderful frescoes and mosaics. But there’s more to life than old paintings, murals and books –and as we drove to the next site, she wondered out loud about what we were seeing. Our topic of conversation turned to Jesus. Rather than argue concerning religious dogma, I asked her what Islam said about Jesus.
“He is a prophet,” she replied.
“But much more.” I added. “The Koran speaks of Jesus as the Judge at the last day. Surely, if even the Koran esteems Jesus so highly, don’t you think it’s most important for us to know Him as He truly is now, seeing we are all going to stand before Him as judge on the last day?”
That opened more questions.
Other nominal Muslim friends of hers had gone to the theatre to see Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ because they’d heard it was anti-Semitic, but the movie had now turned them and their thoughts to examine who this Jesus of the Passion really was.
In Istanbul, another young Turk stood in a nightclub doorway, his red and black T-shirt emblazoned with Che Guevara's picture on the front and “We want a revolution!” on the back. I couldn’t resist and stopped to ask what kind of revolution he wanted.
“Do you want to have a real revolution or just replace the present batch of scandalous politicians and ideas with others? What about revolting against the world’s greatest tyrant?”
“Who’s that?”
“Self! Do you want a real revolution of the heart? Have you considered the world’s greatest revolutionary?”
Who’s that?”
“Jesus! He turned the world right side up!”
He chuckled.
Che Guevera had good intentions, but he was a very imperfect political revolutionary and is now very dead.
Jesus alone dealt with the greatest threat to freedom: self.
And He is very much alive: He is risen! He alone offers a revolution of the spirit.
While the world’s philosophers and politicians argue – ‘esteem yourself, free yourself, empower yourself! Jesus invites us to “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.”
Charee (his name in Turkish means ‘called’) heard theJesus' call that day.
Not to ideas, but a Person.
Not to dead forms, but resurrected life.
Not to religion, but a faith relationship, personally and directly from Jesus Himself to be then shared together with others.
Jesus has given us life. Not dogmatic systems or learned responses. Not buildings or programs. God is looking for those who will simply respond out of their heartfelt need. He draws those who are honest in their reality.
It is only a matter of time: His kingdom is filling all the earth.
People are turning to Jesus and discovering His words are true.
“Search the Scriptures for in them you think you have life and these testify of me (Jn 5:39)
“All the Scriptures…things concerning Himself (Luke 24:27)
must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”(Luke 24:44)
Spiritually hungry people do not accept counterfeits; they turn to Jesus!
A few years ago, my wife and I visited many ancient sites of the early Christian church in the Mediterranean world. These cities had once known vibrant churches, but the ravages of apathy, war, and time have taken their toll and their once-strong congregations are no more.
In Spain, we found church buildings full of gold plundered from Aztec and Inca empires, but empty of people. In Assisi, we found St. Francis’ simple church, but now smothered beneath an overwhelming edifice. In Greece, St. Paul’s powerful words seemed silenced amid all the noisy Olympic preparations.
The seven churches of Revelation were merely empty ruins in Turkey, a 99% Muslim nation. Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia, once the largest church in the world, was now only a shell of a museum.
However, we found something even more remarkable. Although the outer vestiges of ‘Christian faith’ are no longer as prevalent as they had once been, an even more powerful movement is now sweeping these lands, especially in the hearts of the younger generation. Hearts are hungering for the real Jesus and will accept no substitutes.
Our young Italian friend was born and raised in the church, even served as an altar boy, but the church’s hypocritical practices had turned him away. Their large, cold marble buildings no longer impressed him and he now looked for heroes elsewhere. I challenged him and his counter-culture group of friends to look to the original Jesus, the only perfect man who has ever lived. “Why continue to look for ideals of perfection when He has already come?”
He acknowledged that Jesus’ life uniquely demonstrated truth in action, in spite of all man’s external religious embellishments. But it's hard to find the real Jesus through all the religious embellishments...the crap!
One afternoon in Ephesus, just outside the ruins of the church where St. John lay buried, we stopped to talk with a young carpet-seller. The topic turned to the emptiness of religious buildings and observances and we encouraged him to seek the head of the living church, Jesus Christ. Suddenly he remarked, “You’re just like those other people who were here this morning and shared this same message with me. And you’ve got that same joy in you! You are filled with joy and radiate life just like them! Is that Jesus?”
Then he told us how he had begun to read the New Testament (Injil) in his own language so he could find out these things for himself.
Later that evening in our hotel, Achmed, our 18-year-old night watchman, watched his new ‘Jesus’ video all they way through on the very first night he'd had it. In the morning, he was so very excited about what he had seen and had all sorts of questions about this Jesus.
In Cappadocia, our young Turkish tour guide led us through labyrinthine underground cities, nine or 10 stories deep, 150 feet below the surface, where Christians had fled to escape Roman persecutors and later Muslim invaders. We marveled how they had survived and prospered for centuries and gazed at their wonderful frescoes and mosaics. But there’s more to life than old paintings, murals and books –and as we drove to the next site, she wondered out loud about what we were seeing. Our topic of conversation turned to Jesus. Rather than argue concerning religious dogma, I asked her what Islam said about Jesus.
“He is a prophet,” she replied.
“But much more.” I added. “The Koran speaks of Jesus as the Judge at the last day. Surely, if even the Koran esteems Jesus so highly, don’t you think it’s most important for us to know Him as He truly is now, seeing we are all going to stand before Him as judge on the last day?”
That opened more questions.
Other nominal Muslim friends of hers had gone to the theatre to see Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ because they’d heard it was anti-Semitic, but the movie had now turned them and their thoughts to examine who this Jesus of the Passion really was.
In Istanbul, another young Turk stood in a nightclub doorway, his red and black T-shirt emblazoned with Che Guevara's picture on the front and “We want a revolution!” on the back. I couldn’t resist and stopped to ask what kind of revolution he wanted.
“Do you want to have a real revolution or just replace the present batch of scandalous politicians and ideas with others? What about revolting against the world’s greatest tyrant?”
“Who’s that?”
“Self! Do you want a real revolution of the heart? Have you considered the world’s greatest revolutionary?”
Who’s that?”
“Jesus! He turned the world right side up!”
He chuckled.
Che Guevera had good intentions, but he was a very imperfect political revolutionary and is now very dead.
Jesus alone dealt with the greatest threat to freedom: self.
And He is very much alive: He is risen! He alone offers a revolution of the spirit.
While the world’s philosophers and politicians argue – ‘esteem yourself, free yourself, empower yourself! Jesus invites us to “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.”
Charee (his name in Turkish means ‘called’) heard theJesus' call that day.
Not to ideas, but a Person.
Not to dead forms, but resurrected life.
Not to religion, but a faith relationship, personally and directly from Jesus Himself to be then shared together with others.
Jesus has given us life. Not dogmatic systems or learned responses. Not buildings or programs. God is looking for those who will simply respond out of their heartfelt need. He draws those who are honest in their reality.
It is only a matter of time: His kingdom is filling all the earth.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The 8th Letter of Revelation
“And to the angel of the Church in _______(fill in the name of your city) write…”
What if Jesus added an eighth letter to His 7 Letters to the Churches of Revelation and sent it to the Church of your city today?
What would He talk to us about? What would be its highlights? Affirmations? Corrections? Warnings?
To whom would it be addressed? Who would receive it? Would we receive it?
It’s recorded in history that the church of Laodicea did not receive its letter. They could not accept that its contents described their church’s actual situation. They instead insisted that things were just fine.
The letter was wrong; they weren’t. “It’s addressed to the wrong church. That’s not us!”
The letter asserted they were self-sufficient, in need of nothing, not even God. Their refusal to accept God’s view of themselves ironically affirmed that God’s judgment was indeed correct.
A few years ago my wife and I visited Turkey and some of what are left of the 7 Churches of Revelation. Nothing remains of Laodicea today: neither the city nor the church. Its waters were neither cold not hot, but lukewarm. True to Christ’s Word, it has been spewed out, vomited, left desolate and in ruins. It is an amazing testimony to how we need to hear and receive God’s prophetic messages to us in our day or suffer the consequences.
In fact, the only church still functioning is in Smyrna (now called Izmir), the Suffering, Persecuted Church. Of the 7, Smyrna (along with Philadelphia) received no rebuke and it is the only one which still has a present congregation of worshipers today.
“Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Rev 2:10)
I believe one of the things Jesus would highlight in His letter to the church in our city is
‘keep the unity of the Spirit.” (Eph 4:3) He does not say 'strive to attain', but 'keep', which reveals we already possess this unity through Christ. We are one body. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, slave nor free, Baptist nor Charismatic in Christ's eyes. You cannot 'keep' what you don't already have. Moves of the Spirit have impacted the body of Christ throughout history, but their full effect, value and legacy are ultimately realized in how they relate to building the kingdom of God and not their own little kingdoms. The church is one and we need to acknowledge this, value our unity and act in who we are in Christ already.
Jesus prayed, “That they may be one just as We are one.” (John 17:22)
After the fall of the Soviet Union, I was privileged to teach in the first Bible school opened in Ulyanovsk, birthplace of the father of Russian communism, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, aka Lenin. God has a sense of humour: our Bible school classes were held right in The Communist Hotel! Every morning I would pass one of Lenin’s few still-standing statues in Russia and sarcastically greet him,
“Good morning, Mr. Lenin. You don’t look very well today. You seem to be tilting a little more each day?!”
Towards the end of my two weeks there, I was invited to sit in on one of the first unity meetings of a group of pastors in Ulyanovsk. My interpreter kept me informed on what was happening, but the pastors’ body language and my limited Russian conveyed a clear enough message. They were enjoying their new freedoms, but old suspicions, rivalries and prejudices still surfaced as the different denominations struggled to find common ground together. They were trying to decide on holding their first public meeting together to celebrate Christmas, but….
they couldn’t even decide on a date…should it be on the Western December 25th or the Eastern Orthodox in January?
Who should speak? Some felt the Orthodox priest should, but the Lutheran pastor said that if the priest spoke, many of his parishioners would not attend and he wasn’t sure he even would.
The Pentecostal pastor objected; still another objected more because the Methodist pastor was a lady. It was starting to get uncomfortably hot in the room.
I watched and prayed and felt the Holy Spirit tug on my heart.
I asked my interpreter if I might share something with the group and they agreed.
I spoke: “I understand from the Bible that God views His church quite differently from how we see ourselves and one another. When He addresses His church, He writes to either His universal body, a specific ‘church in your house’ or the city church, that is, in Ephesus, Philippi, Corinth, etc. As long as you continue to see yourselves divided into different denominations, you will remain fragmented and ineffective.
You need to see yourself the way God sees you, as His one church in the city of Ulyanovsk.
You will not be able to do what He has called you to do until you see yourselves as you truly are, the way God sees you….as one body and one church in this city.”
There was silence in the room and I nervously wondered if the message had been clear, had they even understood what I was trying to say, let alone accepted it.
However, the silence ended, the contention broke, and they began sharing along more positive lines. They even started serving tea and enjoying one another’s company!
I heard a few months later that they had indeed held their unity service and God had blessed their coming together.
I could not help but think of our own city.
Our City of ___________needs the Church of ____________ (fill in the blanks) to see itself the way Our God sees us and respond accordingly.
We need to be, stand and walk together in a kingdom mindset, in His unity, freedom, love and purpose.
We need to take to heart and demonstrate our oneness in prayer, faith and action.
We need to put away our petty, divisive distinctions and embrace the fullness of who we are in Christ…together, for Christ’s sake.
The alternative is clear: just try to find Laodicea today.
What if Jesus added an eighth letter to His 7 Letters to the Churches of Revelation and sent it to the Church of your city today?
What would He talk to us about? What would be its highlights? Affirmations? Corrections? Warnings?
To whom would it be addressed? Who would receive it? Would we receive it?
It’s recorded in history that the church of Laodicea did not receive its letter. They could not accept that its contents described their church’s actual situation. They instead insisted that things were just fine.
The letter was wrong; they weren’t. “It’s addressed to the wrong church. That’s not us!”
The letter asserted they were self-sufficient, in need of nothing, not even God. Their refusal to accept God’s view of themselves ironically affirmed that God’s judgment was indeed correct.
A few years ago my wife and I visited Turkey and some of what are left of the 7 Churches of Revelation. Nothing remains of Laodicea today: neither the city nor the church. Its waters were neither cold not hot, but lukewarm. True to Christ’s Word, it has been spewed out, vomited, left desolate and in ruins. It is an amazing testimony to how we need to hear and receive God’s prophetic messages to us in our day or suffer the consequences.
In fact, the only church still functioning is in Smyrna (now called Izmir), the Suffering, Persecuted Church. Of the 7, Smyrna (along with Philadelphia) received no rebuke and it is the only one which still has a present congregation of worshipers today.
“Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Rev 2:10)
I believe one of the things Jesus would highlight in His letter to the church in our city is
‘keep the unity of the Spirit.” (Eph 4:3) He does not say 'strive to attain', but 'keep', which reveals we already possess this unity through Christ. We are one body. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, slave nor free, Baptist nor Charismatic in Christ's eyes. You cannot 'keep' what you don't already have. Moves of the Spirit have impacted the body of Christ throughout history, but their full effect, value and legacy are ultimately realized in how they relate to building the kingdom of God and not their own little kingdoms. The church is one and we need to acknowledge this, value our unity and act in who we are in Christ already.
Jesus prayed, “That they may be one just as We are one.” (John 17:22)
After the fall of the Soviet Union, I was privileged to teach in the first Bible school opened in Ulyanovsk, birthplace of the father of Russian communism, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, aka Lenin. God has a sense of humour: our Bible school classes were held right in The Communist Hotel! Every morning I would pass one of Lenin’s few still-standing statues in Russia and sarcastically greet him,
“Good morning, Mr. Lenin. You don’t look very well today. You seem to be tilting a little more each day?!”
Towards the end of my two weeks there, I was invited to sit in on one of the first unity meetings of a group of pastors in Ulyanovsk. My interpreter kept me informed on what was happening, but the pastors’ body language and my limited Russian conveyed a clear enough message. They were enjoying their new freedoms, but old suspicions, rivalries and prejudices still surfaced as the different denominations struggled to find common ground together. They were trying to decide on holding their first public meeting together to celebrate Christmas, but….
they couldn’t even decide on a date…should it be on the Western December 25th or the Eastern Orthodox in January?
Who should speak? Some felt the Orthodox priest should, but the Lutheran pastor said that if the priest spoke, many of his parishioners would not attend and he wasn’t sure he even would.
The Pentecostal pastor objected; still another objected more because the Methodist pastor was a lady. It was starting to get uncomfortably hot in the room.
I watched and prayed and felt the Holy Spirit tug on my heart.
I asked my interpreter if I might share something with the group and they agreed.
I spoke: “I understand from the Bible that God views His church quite differently from how we see ourselves and one another. When He addresses His church, He writes to either His universal body, a specific ‘church in your house’ or the city church, that is, in Ephesus, Philippi, Corinth, etc. As long as you continue to see yourselves divided into different denominations, you will remain fragmented and ineffective.
You need to see yourself the way God sees you, as His one church in the city of Ulyanovsk.
You will not be able to do what He has called you to do until you see yourselves as you truly are, the way God sees you….as one body and one church in this city.”
There was silence in the room and I nervously wondered if the message had been clear, had they even understood what I was trying to say, let alone accepted it.
However, the silence ended, the contention broke, and they began sharing along more positive lines. They even started serving tea and enjoying one another’s company!
I heard a few months later that they had indeed held their unity service and God had blessed their coming together.
I could not help but think of our own city.
Our City of ___________needs the Church of ____________ (fill in the blanks) to see itself the way Our God sees us and respond accordingly.
We need to be, stand and walk together in a kingdom mindset, in His unity, freedom, love and purpose.
We need to take to heart and demonstrate our oneness in prayer, faith and action.
We need to put away our petty, divisive distinctions and embrace the fullness of who we are in Christ…together, for Christ’s sake.
The alternative is clear: just try to find Laodicea today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
