enough??

It occurs to me that even great writers, even perfect books, like the Bible, have been misquoted, misunderstood, and taken out of context, therefore it should not surprise me to find that my own writing is being misunderstood. It occurs to me that people may be reading only one or two entries of mine, and drawing conclusions that they likely wouldn’t draw if they had read every entry from the start of my blog. I am painfully aware of the limitations of the written word, which lacks tone of voice, expressions on the face, verbal interaction from the hearer, dialog. What I write with the utmost sincerity, with compassion, with love, can be read completely differently.

I recently read a book that I thought was wonderful, so informative, so hands-on, so exactly what I was trying to learn. Someone asked me what I’d been learning, what was getting me excited. Of course, I told him all the stuff I had learned from this book, which was basically just confirming, clarifying, and practical-izing (is that a word??), something I’d already been learning from the Spirit and the Word. He said he’d like to read it, so I leant it to him. What he read was completely different, somehow. It wasn’t at all encouraging to him.

People often say “Jesus is the answer!” to which other people reply…”What was the question??” I think that this applies here. If you, deep down in your heart are not asking the same questions as I am, then the answers will seem irrelevant. The reason the book was so exciting for me is because I’d been asking exactly those questions that the author was responding to. The reason my friend wanted the book (I think) is cause I was so jacked up about it, but when he actually started reading it he went “you know what…right now, I just don’t care about this, ….this is not the question I’m asking right now.” This is perfectly OK. Everyone is asking different questions at different times. It’s cool when people are asking the same questions as me, cause then we can dialog. We can learn from each other. The fact that you are not asking this particular question right now, and that you don’t care about the answer, though, does not make the answer wrong. Jesus IS the answer, no matter what the question, even if you don’t care. Do you get what I’m saying?? I’m not sure I get what I’m saying…

I’ve been getting a certain amount of response to my writing saying that I am writing about having ENOUGH faith. If this is what I’ve been writing about, then I have been misrepresenting my own beliefs. I think if you went back through my archives and read every post, you would not find the words ENOUGH faith, or MORE faith anywhere in it. If it’s there, I should recant it. What I HAVE said, over and over again, is that we need to have faith in what is TRUE. I like the saying that “Jesus is the TRUTH and everything else is not the TRUTH.” All I know is that there is an awful lot of ‘not the TRUTH’ that I have bought into in my life time. There are ‘not the TRUTH’ things that nearly every person I knew believed at one time, such as….”you can lose your salvation at the drop of a hat” type beliefs. TRUE?? No. Widely believed?? Yes. Did I feel like I was going against the flow when I started to believe differently? Absolutely! Was it worth it?? Definitely.

If I was a student in a school, studying psychology (which I may end up doing some day….) I would almost certainly take a few classes on ‘post-modernism’, the study of widely held patterns of thinking. At least I think that’s what it is…? Not that every individual in a large populous believes exactly the same thing…but that, on the whole, most people believe or feel ‘this way’ about ‘this thing’. For example…centuries ago they used to hold ‘witch hunts’ and execute anyone even suspected of being a witch. Today (or at least a few years ago) the popular sentiment is that a witch is a cute little girl dressed up in a pointy black hat and pasting fake warts on her nose…, or a funny little cartoon character who rides around on broom sticks. A radical shift in popular belief. Another example: divorcee’s. It used to be widely acceptable to completely shun, look down the nose at, gossip about, and regard as filthy, a woman who was divorced. Now, at least in our culture, most (not all, unfortunately) people see divorcee’s as deeply wounded individuals in need of our love and our compassion, or at the very least, as the woman next door, and next, next door, not all that different from me.

These widely held beliefs (or patterns of thought) are constantly shifting. What I thought once, I don’t think any longer. I have changed my thinking. The Bible word for changing my thinking is called repentance. Repentance may bring with it a certain sense of remorse for what I thought and did in the past, or what I missed out on, but what Biblical repentance always brings about is Freedom. Bringing my thoughts into line with the TRUTH brings freedom. Paul tells me not to conform to the pattern (of thought?) of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. He tells me to take captive every thought and make it obedient to the KNOWLEDGE of CHRIST. CHRIST is the TRUTH, and the TRUTH sets me free. Faith does not set me free…TRUTH does, by faith.

I believe that our (widely accepted) beliefs about healing are heavily influenced by the ‘pattern (of thought) of this world’. I believe that we do not make every thought - with regard to healing - obedient to the KNOWLEDGE of CHRIST. I believe that our experience would be vastly different if we did.

Again…lot’s more to say….. Remember what I said about giving me the floor??

I'm a little afraid...

For the first time in...possibly forever...I am in agreement with the American public!! Congratulations Taylor, the newest American Idol!

"Jesus, you're all this heart is living for...." I sang those words this morning in church. I so want them to be true. But, truth be told...the approval of my peers, well, not necessarily my peers, but the people I love, respect, care about deeply, means a lot to me. Too much, probably, to say that Jesus is ALL I'm living for. I wonder if Jesus was ever tempted just to maintain "status quo," to fly under the radar, to keep his mouth shut. I'm certainly tempted by that. What was it that constantly propelled him to stir the pot, to be contravertial, even confrontational? I think it's 'cause he knew without a doubt that the TRUTH would set us FREE.

In the interest of FREEDOM, I'm gonna take another kick at the can. What I write may not be the TRUTH (as in the whole truth and nothing but the truth), but I hope there are at least elements of truth in what I've been learning. I'm asking the Spirit of Truth to teach me the TRUTH...and if I ask for bread will he give me a stone??

So, here goes.....

There’s a statement going around in my current circle of influence about the sovereignty of God that starts out “God allows things he could prevent in order to…” I forget how it ends…something like; in order to bring us to him, or bring us to the end of ourselves, or to make us fit for heaven, or some such thing. Forgive me for misquoting. I’m not here to say whether I embrace that statement or not. I can’t even quote it.

Whether or not God “allows things he could prevent in order to…”, a question rumbling around in my brain is this. Do we (Christians) allow things WE could prevent, by remaining unaware of our rights of citizenship in the kingdom of God.

Kerry was recently rear ended in a multi-vehicle accident in Calgary. He remains unharmed…however the rear bumper of the car is in pretty bad shape. Enter, the insurance company. An adjuster called and recommended an approved repair shop to have it fixed. The repair shop recommended an approved rental car company to rent a car (on the insurance company) to commute while our car is repaired. So far so good. The rental company asks if we have collision coverage on our car, we say no we don’t, he says you can’t rent our car unless you put collision coverage on it, for a meager fee of $15 per day. Kerry goes “fair enough, I understand the need for coverage, I need the car”. Several days go by before Kerry mentions it to dear wifey. Dear wifey works in an insurance brokerage office. Alarm bells go off. Wifey goes to boss and asks why we have to pay $15 for collision coverage… do we not have a ‘loss of use clause’ to cover expenses such as these. Boss says “yes you have coverage. Call the rental company and tell them you are covered…you shouldn’t have to pay.” Wifey calls Kerry, Kerry calls rental company, …rental company drops the fee.

The point is, Kerry allowed himself to be billed $15/day because he was unaware of his rights, of his coverage, as an insured client of Wawanesa.

We are citizens of the Kingdom of God, we are children of God, we are heirs, we are priests, we are ambassadors. We have rights. We do not demand these rights of God, or of people, we demand them of the patterns of this world. We have authority, not over people, not over God, but over spiritual forces, rulers, powers of this dark world. We have been equipped to “stand our ground.” I believe WE allow things, bad things, into our lives and the lives of our loved ones, because WE are not aware of our rights, of our authority, of our power.

If all that is true of Christ is true of us (and we say we agree with this statement), and Christ has authority, then I have authority – in Christ. If he is powerful, then I am powerful – in Christ. “When Jesus had called the Twelve (disciples) together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” Later he sent the 72 “who returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”” Later he said “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And THESE SIGNS WILL accompany those who believe; In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Did you ever notice that Jesus rebuked a fever. Did you know that a fever (at least this fever) is an “entity” of some sort that responds to the rebuke of Jesus? Weird, huh? Did you ever think to rebuke a fever?? It sounds crazy…but… Whatif I’m ALLOWING a fever (or whatever else) I could prevent, by simply rebuking it in the authority vested in me by Jesus Christ??

Notice the phrase “vested in me”. I hear that phrase at weddings. If I were to walk up to a young couple who were madly in love and “pronounce them man and wife”, would that make them married?? No. If my pastor, operating through the proper channels said those same words, would that make them married? Yes, it would. Why?? Because he has the authority to “pronounce them man and wife”. And there is quite a lot of legal procedure to go through to “un-pronounce” them.

A police man has authority, a life guard has authority, a parent has authority, each in their own jurisdiction. They know what they have authority over and what they do not.

Authority is often tested by those who wish to rebel against it. My junior high alumni has the proud distinction of being able to “crack” not one, but two junior high teachers. These teachers had authority over behavior in the class room. They say sit down…you’re meant to sit down. They say be quiet, you’re meant to be quiet. If you do not, then there are consequences. If there is not compliance to the discipline, then a higher authority is called in to apply further, more severe consequences. That’s how it’s meant to work. If, however, the teacher is not convinced of her authority, or properly trained in the use of her authority, or tries to exert authority outside of the boundaries of her authority, things start to fall apart. There are very few junior high students who will simply comply to authority without first testing the boundaries of it. It did not take long for any one of us to know who you could push around and who you could not. Those who would not be pushed, convinced us very early of their authority, and taught in relative peace and order their entire junior high career. Those whom we could push, we pushed until they fled the room in tears and eventually quit their jobs. No mercy. Both types of teachers had equal authority. One exercised it, on did not.

We have been seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, far above all power, rule and authority. We have been given fullness in Christ. What is true of Christ is true of us. Will we be tested in that authority?? You bet. Will our rights as citizens be undermined if we remain aware of them?? Absolutely.

I am only just beginning to understand what I have authority over. I am just beginning to exercise my authority over some things. Colds, for example seem to knock on the door, like a bad sales-man. I have only recently learned that I can say, no thank you, I’m not interested. Some sales-men/colds are very pushy, and I have to get quite insist that they are not welcome here. As with all sales-men, once they have entered the home, they are significantly harder to get rid of, so the key for me seems to be early detection and a firm no thank you. (not that you have to be polite to a cold…but hey, you get the drift…)


I have still more to say…but ….stay tuned.

what's the big deal??

Why do we go to such great lengths to teach people that they are FREE from sin? That they are no longer bound, tied up, or being controlled by sin? That they have the power to change, to take control, to be the person they wish they were? What’s the big deal??

Why do we care about sin?? I’ve been thinking about this. I keep hearing that we are saved by grace. That Jesus died for our sins, for my sins. He forgave my sin. Not just some, but all my sin; past, present, and future. It’s handled, it’s taken care of. No condemnation. Eternal security in heaven. Once I’ve accepted Christ as my Savior, even my future sins won’t keep me out of heaven. So what’s the big deal…? Why do we care? It’s irrelevant now, is it not?? Sin as much as you want, it doesn’t matter, …does it??

If I’d leave the question at that and post it, I’d have lots of people thinking lots of different things (provided “lots” of people are even reading this thing). Some would be appalled by the question. Some would go “Yeah, what IS the big deal??” Some would ask the question of themselves for the very first time.

Most likely, the people in the crowd I hang out with would say something along this line… “It’s not so much that we care about sin, as that we care about people. We care about sin because it hurts people. It hurts us, it hurts others. It’s not that it’s an eternal problem, ‘cause the eternal has been taken care of. It’s not a guilt thing, ‘cause the guilt has been taken care of. The penalty’s been paid. But the pain caused in the here and now is the thing that we care about.” At least that’s why I care if I really think about it. I, for one, am very seldom a hundred percent consistent on what I think about anything. Often, the issue gets confused by my lack of clear understanding. Sometimes I’m not sure that the penalty really has been paid (although lately, I’m pretty convinced that it has been). Sometimes I’m more worried about my reputation, than your pain. Sometimes I fall into a rut of legalistic thinking. Sometimes I deny that I’m really hurting anybody. Sometimes I think about representing Christ, about being an ambassador and other noble things, but sometimes, I care because I know that sin hurts us. It traps us, it starts to control us, it changes our life.

Sometimes I believe this, …so…, I want to learn about freedom, I want to learn about victory, about righteousness in Christ. I want to learn about the power to change. Once I learn it, I want to teach others, so that they can be free and live the life we were meant to live, the life of Christ. The amazing, powerful, loving, joyful, forgiving, generous, honest, peaceful, holy, life of Christ.

So here’s where it gets interesting. I’ve said before that much of my thinking of late relates to the whole concept of physical healing.

There are people who don’t think that physical healing is very important, at least not spiritually important. After all, when they get to heaven they will have a perfect body. The Bible says so. The thinking seems to be that the here and now is irrelevant, we’ll put up with it, so long as the eternal is taken care of, we can wait. Much like the statement in the second paragraph…as long as the eternal has been handled, who cares about the here and now?? God cares. I care. The here and now is extremely relevant to God…the freedom from sin, the freedom from guilt, the freedom to live well. If the here and now is irrelevant then lets “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” Jesus died for the “here and now” as well as the “sweet by and by” and part of what he “Finished” on the cross was physical healing.

It is true of sickness and disease that in the end, in heaven, my body will be perfect. Just like my sins are all forgiven…my body will be perfectly healed, up in heaven. But what about the here and now? We say the “big deal” about sin is the pain it causes here and now…that’s the deal. My question is, does sickness, does disease cause pain in the here and now?? Of course it does. It causes pain to me, to those who love me, to those who depend on me…often to the community as a whole. Sickness doesn’t just hurt me, it hurts those around me. Even a “small” affliction can often affect a large number of people. Often it’s not just a “small” affliction, but a major, life changing, emotional roller-coaster bringing, night-mare type affliction that causes all kinds of pain. . Knowing, that in the end, in heaven, my body will be perfect is small comfort for the pain and suffering in the here and now.

But we don’t seem to care about this. We just accept it. “It’s part of life” we say. We don’t think it’s a “big deal” in our Christian life, not that it’s not a “big deal” emotionally or physically – it is, but spiritually it’s just one of those things we have to “deal with”. There’s nothing we can DO about it anyway. Just try to keep a positive attitude. It’s not something we try to learn about spiritually. In the matters of physical health, the vast majority of us (Christians) are no different than the rest of the world. Take the pills, go to the doctor, change the diet, read a self help book, try to get by. “Pie in the sky by and by” has to be good enough for us in matters of physical health because we don’t deeply believe there is “steak on my plate while I wait” in matters of physical healing. Oh sure, we’ll throw a prayer God’s way when something comes up, but it’s usually not a prayer of faith. It’s a “cover all the bases” kind of prayer. “Oh sure, God CAN heal me, but I doubt that he WILL.” (It’s always the WILL (the heart, the character, the name) of God, not the POWER of God, that we doubt, if we’re willing to admit it.) Really what we’re saying is “I doubt that he cares…after all, it’s just my BODY, it’s not my soul. Jesus only REALLY cares about my soul. It’s just the here and now, and it doesn’t really matter, ‘cause in the end, up in heaven, my body will be perfect.”

I hear comments like “we live in a fallen world.” It’s true. I live in a fallen world. But I’ve “been rescued out of the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of God’s son, whom he loves.” I do not have to live in the pattern of this world any longer, I can choose and learn to live in the Kingdom of Heaven. I can be transformed by the renewing of my mind, by thinking differently. Try using the fallen world phrase to explain why you “fell” into temptation. It doesn’t hold up. God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. We are without excuse. The thing is…the “everything we need” is “through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” It requires that we know him.

I hear “God is trying to teach me something. He’s using this illness, affliction, set-back, whatever to teach me something.” Does this statement imply that God GAVE you this illness? That it is God’s WILL that you are sick? If it is God’s WILL, why fight it? Why take pills, why go to the doctor? Are we working against God’s will by fighting it? Think about it. I find it interesting that in the only place in the Universe where God’s WILL is ALWAYS done, there is no illness. We are meant to ask that God’s will be done ON EARTH as it is in heaven. What all does that include?? He graciously works all things (even bad things) together for good to those that love him, but that does not mean he sends the bad things. His will is good and pleasing and perfect, and, according to heaven, it is without sin, and without sickness. It is not his will that I be tempted…, but through temptation I CAN learn about the power of God to overcome. Does that mean he sends temptation?? Ask James about that one. God tempts no one.

I believe that sickness is just like sin. It comes to destroy us. When Jesus died he died for our freedom; …..from sin….and from sickness. When he rose again, he conquered sin and death. When he saved me, he SOZOed me; saved, rescued, delivered, HEALED, made to do well, prospered, all those good things. This does not mean that he took me out of this world. It does not mean that I will never ever be faced with sin again, that I will never ever be tempted to sin, or that I will never ever “fall”. It means he has equipped me to live above it, to live victorious, to live free. It means I don’t HAVE to live in sin. We are “in the world”, but we are not “of it”. Same with sickness. He has not removed me from every encounter I’ll ever have with germs or infection, injury or disease, but he has equipped me…through my knowledge of him who called me…to not “fall into it”, to not just accept it as inevitable. He has given me authority over things that I don’t even believe exist. He has seated me with Christ in the heavenly realms FAR above all rule and authority, principalities and powers. He has given the church the gift of healers, of spiritual discerners, of workers of miracles, of teachers. He has given us instructions on what to do if anyone is sick, (read James.) Psalm 103 says he forgave all our sins AND healed all our diseases. Jesus healed all who came to him. Was he just showing off to prove his identity, or did he actually care about peoples pain, about their bondage, did he actually care about the here and now?

I have more to say…but I’ll stop here. Thanks for reading. Please remember that these are MY thoughts. They may or may not be true. Jesus is the TRUTH, the Spirit is the Spirit of TRUTH. Ask them. I’m in process…I change, my thoughts have holes in them. Jesus never changes. He is the same today as he was 2000 years ago. Would you have stood in line in a large pressing crowd for the healing touch of Jesus?? Or would you have gone the self-help route?