tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36378289620749556052024-03-05T11:09:47.251-08:00Good News Grace Notes"...and the poor have good news proclaimed to them." Matthew 11:5Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-60318114472184066862013-02-03T10:19:00.002-08:002013-02-03T10:19:17.116-08:00TO BLAME or NOT TO BLAME?Before answering that question, ask<br />
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<b><span style="color: #990000;">Would I rather be right or happy?</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">Would I rather solve a problem or avoid taking responsibility for that problem?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #444444;">When something goes wrong in a country, an organization, or a marriage the first move we often make is to blame someone for what went wrong. This makes no one happy and the problem remains.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #444444;">An example is the U.S. economy, which is currently not good. Who's to blame? Each political party knows the answer. It's the other party. No one is happy and the problem worsens. Instead of spending vast amounts of energy and ink blaming and defending against blame, imagine both parties taking 100% responsibility for the problem and setting to work.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #444444;">Blaming and defending against blame is not only exhausting, it also hardens positions. Ceasing that activity releases huge amounts of energy and creativity to address the problem.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #444444;">I, for one, cannot see that happening at the Federal level, but I have seen it happen in marriages and companies.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #444444;">For the past 40 years I have counseled hundreds of troubled marriages. Without exception, each partner blamed the other for their troubles. My first step is always to ask couples to suspend judgment and blaming for now. I asked them to think of their marriage sitting in a boat that is sinking. For now, I say, it doesn't matter who put the holes in your boat. I invite each of you to take 100% responsibility for the marriage and do everything in your power to plug the leaks. When I get agreement things improve immediately. Then and only then can the attitudes and decisions that caused the leaks be addressed. When each knows that the other is for the marriage and has the other's back, so to speak, can systemic problems be worked on.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #444444;">I have seen the same happen in troubled companies I have consulted. When the stake holders decided together that the success of their business is more important than finding someone to blame, things immediately improve.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #444444;">Blaming and shaming is useless for solving problems. Rather, it's for self-justification and defending one's ego. Protecting one's view of one's self is not a strategy for long term happiness and a better future.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: #444444;">After all involved take 100% responsibility and do everything in his or her power to solve the problems, the stage is set for a calm, rational examination of what went wrong and who did what. This is when bad decisions and attitudes of the past can be identified and corrected. When everyone knows that everyone else is committed to everyone's mutual interest, the atmosphere is created for long term systematic problem solving. A small price to pay for having to be right all the time.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">Look at the evidence. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b>Being right is often costly and in any event is overrated. </b></span></div>
Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-65751358894255633402012-08-27T11:22:00.001-07:002012-08-27T11:22:12.336-07:00UNIVERSAL SALVATION?<span style="color: #444444;">Most of us have been taught that there is a heaven and a hell and that both are populated.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Rob Bell, in his book, <u>Love Wins</u>, and others have recently challenged the notion that hell is eternally populated with those who in life did not recieve Christ as Savior. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Those on the conservative end of the church spectrum are objecting to Bell and the others in the strongest terms.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">I never cared about getting my theology settled on heaven and hell and almost never think about either. The same is true for me about the End Times and other issues that are not clear that the church has not agreed on and that I can do nothing about anyway.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">What does interest me about the hell issue is what the early church Fathers taught on it. The teachers of the first four hundred years of the church believed in <b>UNIVERSAL RESTORATION</b>. They taught that God's love was so perfect and the resurrection of Christ so powerful and inclusive that in time or eternity, God's love and power would win out in every person's life.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">The early church Fathers got a lot right that we have lost over time. Maybe <b>UNIVERSAL SALVATION</b> is one of them. That said, we don't have to believe as they did, but we can.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">The following may make their view of the cosmic significance of Christ easier to consider. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">First of all, they didn't simply make up their optimistic view. They based it on their reading of Scripture. For instance:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">In <span style="color: #999999;">John 23:34</span>, Jesus says he will draw all people to himself.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">In <span style="color: #999999;">John 12:47</span>, Jesus says he did not come to judge the world but to save it.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">In <span style="color: #999999;">Romans 11</span>, Paul says God will have mercy on all.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">In <span style="color: #999999;">Romans 14:11</span>, Paul says in the end every knee will bow before God and every tongue confess God.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">There are dozens of verses like these.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">The Fathers and the Bible give us permission to hope for <b>UNIVERSAL RESTORATION</b>, so why not? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Think about the vineyard workers who were all paid the same. Then think about those who were offended because this isn't fair (<span style="color: #999999;">Matt. 2</span>).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Or think about the prodigal's welcome hom (<span style="color: #999999;">Luke 15</span>). Who today is the elder brother who becomes upset because the big sinner gets a banquet instead of a beating?</span><br />
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If we are fortunate enough to know Jesus and therefore, know we are forgiven and included, why not desire the same for everyone else? Most of the people who ever lived have never heard his Name. What about them?<br />
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We can and may believe that since God brought good out of the worst evil ever (the execution of his Son), he might bring good out of lesser evils.<br />
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<div style="color: #990000; text-align: center;">
<b>It may be that love wins. </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #990000;">We can hope.</span></b></div>
Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-64415969699571197342012-07-30T18:05:00.001-07:002012-07-30T18:07:14.407-07:00BLESSING ONE ANOTHER<span style="color: #444444;">Most Friday evenings we have a family dinner. My children and grandchildren who are in the area gather for a meal and a blessing. There are as many as 10-15 of us, along with friends who sometimes drop in.</span><br />
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<div style="color: #444444;">
After Patti lights the candles and before we sing and eat, I bless my wife and kids and they bless me. It's a bonding event and a nice ritual. But I think it's even more. I believe something actually happens as we bless each other.</div>
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I believe this for two reasons.</div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">The first is what the Bible teaches about the act of blessing. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">In the Old Testament especially, we see fathers blessing their children and according to what we read, that blessing has weight and substance. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Something happens. Something is changed for the child that can't be reversed - see</span> <span style="color: #999999;">Genesis 27 <span style="color: #444444;">and</span> Genesis 48<span style="color: #444444;">.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">The second reason I believe something happens when we bless each other is what I have experienced with the poorest of the poor children in slums and squatter camps around the world. When I go to these sad places in Africa, Latin America, India, Southeast Asia, etc., I find that most of the children are not sad. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">They live in a dump but their eyes are not dumpy. They shine with expectation because the pastor, father, or daddy (as the African kids call me) has come to bless them. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">They don't ask me to bless them. They just grab my hands and put them on their heads.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">They don't wait for me to give a blessing. They take it. They demand it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">It always makes me cry.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">These are the little children Jesus spoke of who are first in the kingdom. They don't wonder about being worthy of blessing. They just take what they want, somehow knowing it's there for them and knowing it's real.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">Here is my blessing for you: </span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc0000; text-align: center;">
<b>May the God of all forgiveness and love bless you. </b></div>
<div style="color: #cc0000; text-align: center;">
<b>May the light of His countenance shine upon you and give you peace. </b></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-74323220374760459242012-07-09T19:06:00.003-07:002012-07-09T19:06:49.500-07:00ARE YOU A MARGINAL OUTCAST?<div style="color: #444444;">
In <span style="color: #999999;">John 4</span> we find a story that shows us what happens when God interacts with someone who is a marginal outcast. The Samaritan woman at the well has been rejected by five husbands and is now "living in sin," as some say it.</div>
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She is a loser by all counts. She is a low class member of a despised minority.</div>
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What happens when God meets someone like that? </div>
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He doesn't begin by judging or imposing his agenda. He starts off by patiently hearing her story on her terms, then he asks her for something practical that he needs. This is to say, there is social give and take.</div>
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Only then, when the woman is ready, does he dig into her life and reveal to her that he already knows all about her complicated and troubled life. Still no judgment. Only implied forgiveness and acceptance. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Then comes his agenda.</div>
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And what is it? </div>
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He gives her the work and honor of being the first non-Jewish, non-male Apostle to the non-Jewish world.</div>
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What he doesn't do is take her through a moralistic type repentance. He doesn't tick off the commandments she has broken. He moves from healing her story, knowing the rest of her story straight to honoring her and giving her honorable work to do.</div>
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If we think that God is in any way a moralizing accountant who is in the very least disappointed with us, we have it precisely and exactly wrong.</div>
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No matter how your history has gone so far, no matter how many bad choices you have made or sins committed, your life will be honored.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">When you meet the true God, </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">you receive forgiveness, love, and honor. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">When you meet forgiveness, love, and honor, </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">anywhere, any time, </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">you meet God.</span></b></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-57636536225431327282012-06-23T19:24:00.000-07:002012-06-23T19:24:25.777-07:00THINK BEFORE YOU JUDGE SOMEONE<span style="color: #444444;">One of the greatest, if not THE greatest cause of suffering in the world is the pervasive tendency for one person to judge and condemn another or for a group to judge and condemn another group. One of the most ironic and instructive themes in the New Testament is how judgement and condemnation plays out.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Tax collectors, prostitutes, and various other "sinners" are judged and condemned by the religious elite in the New Testament. So Jesus makes friends with these losers and is judged and condemned as well. One such loser was the Samaritan woman at the well in <span style="color: #999999;">John 4<span style="color: #444444;">. Jesus honors this woman of questionable character by making her the first missionary to the non-Jewish world. Remember that she was an outcast within a despised minority. She was the portrait of the absolute loser.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">Surprise! The Samaritans whom Jesus so honors judge and reject him in <span style="color: #999999;">Luke 9:52-53<span style="color: black;">. <span style="color: #444444;">The disciples accepted Jesus as their Messiah and they are offended by the Samaritan's rejection of their Messiah. So they ask to call fire down from heaven to destroy them in </span><span style="color: #999999;">John 9:54<span style="color: #444444;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">Despite all Jesus has said about forever, unconditional forgiveness and watching him befriend the worst people in the society, the disciple's tendency to judge was so powerful that they jump at the chance to do it. They are right and righteous in their own eyes because they believe in the true Messiah, therefore, they are in a position to judge and condemn those who don't.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">Imagine their shock when Jesus pulls the rug out from under them by becoming the most rejected, despised, low class loser of all time by dying a criminal's death. He was rejected by all, judged by all, and executed in the way reserved for the worst of the worst criminals.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">The irony is that after Jesus is vindicated by the Father when he rises from the dead, the disciples follow Jesus into the world where they are rejected as he was. The judgment they wanted for the Samaritans falls on them. They are judged by others, condemned, and destroyed. They suffer the same fate that they at one time wished on others.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">When Jesus, the only person worthy to judge, let himself be judged by us, he put an end to the legitimacy of all judgment. The disciples got that and followed him, knowing that, like him, they too would be resurrected.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">As I have said before, judging others is bad for us in so many ways. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<b>Jesus and his true followers show us that we don't have to do that anymore. </b></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Truth and health come with forgiveness and love. </span> </span></b> </span></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-28424363025882662752012-05-29T09:34:00.000-07:002012-05-29T09:37:23.054-07:00THE CROSS<span style="color: #444444;">The crucifixion of Jesus is finally a mystery. We are told that when Jesus died, all died. That when he was raised from the dead, so were we. We are to believe that in the death and resurrection of Christ, something historical and objective happened which saved us and the world.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">But how exactly does that work? Ho do we make sense of that? Lots of theories, but no one really knows.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">While the cross of Christ is historical and did something to us objective and concrete, it also offers us healing for our minds, emotions, and relationships. In other words, the cross did something to us and for us whether we feel it or not and can also change the way we think and feel about ourselves and others. Contemplating the Son of God dying a criminal's death for us because he loves us, frees us from a lot of guilt, judgment, and self-hatred.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;">We spend much of our time thinking about what we and others should be and are not. This leads to sadness and anger. But, contemplating the death of Jesus frees us from much of it. The cross gives us a radical reorientation regarding what we and others should be.</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="color: #444444;">On the cross God became limited and confined. Now I can more easily accept my own limitations and the limitations of others.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #444444;">On the cross God became inferior so I don't have to pretend I am superior.</span></li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li><span style="color: #444444;">On the cross God became weak so I don't have to be strong or judge the weakness of others. </span></li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li><span style="color: #444444;">On the cross God became disapproved so now I don't need the approval of others.</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="color: #444444;">In the religious and civil courts God was <i>proved</i> wrong so I don't have to always demand justice for myself.</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="color: #444444;">In the world's eyes and in the minds of his friends God was a failure so now I don't be a success or demand it from others.</span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="color: #444444;">On the cross God became poor in every way and he got over it. Now I don't have to be rich in any way.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">We suffer far too much and too often because we don't measure up to what we think we ought to be. We judge others in the same way. Once we see that God became one of us and took on himself everything we don't like about ourselves, and got over it, so can we.</span><br />
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="color: #990000; text-align: center;">
<b>We are just human and Jesus showed us that that's good enough. </b></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-66490400566553646442012-05-10T07:38:00.000-07:002012-05-10T07:38:13.175-07:00THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS A GLAD CELEBRATION<span style="color: #444444;">On June 29, 2004, twelve U.S. soldiers coming home from Iraq were flying American Airlines Flight 866 from Atlanta to their home in Chicago. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">While passengers were waiting to board, a business man approached one of the soldiers and asked, "What is your seat number, soldier?" </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">The soldier replied, "23B, sir."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">The business man said, "No, son. That's my seat. Here is yours in first class." He handed the soldier his first class ticket and pointed him to the first class boarding entrance.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Word quickly spread throughout the plane and other first class passengers exchanged their boarding passes with the other eleven soldiers. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;">That flight turned into a celebration. </span>Jaded business people, exhausted soldiers, and everyone else on the plane experienced the Kingdom of God.<br />
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The best thing we can do for God, is to love and bless his children. In doing so, we make him happy and have a party in the process.<br />
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<div style="color: #990000; text-align: center;">
<b>The Kingdom of God is a glad celebration.</b></div>
<br />
We can throw one anytime we want.Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-19124427584593372562012-05-06T16:02:00.000-07:002012-05-06T16:02:58.684-07:00CONTRACT vs GRACE<div style="color: #444444;">
Religion is all about contract. The Holy Trinity is all about grace.</div>
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Biblical Christianity is not one of the great religions. It is utterly unique. One way to see this truth is to reflect on the difference between contract and grace.</div>
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We live in a contractual world. Study hard, earn A's, take out the trash, get your allowance. Be nice to me and I will be nice to you. Contract always has an <i>If - Then</i> clause.<i> If</i> the tree trimmers I contract with, do their job, <i>then</i> I will pay them.</div>
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Contract religion (which is redundant) is about you. It's about you saying your prayers, taking a pilgrimage to Mecca, paying your tithes, witnessing, or whatever. <i>If</i> you do those things, <i>then</i> God will like you. </div>
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Trinitarian grace is the very opposite. You can't do anything to earn God's favor. It's already yours. It's not <i>if </i>you repent, <i>then</i> you get forgiven - you already are.</div>
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<div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">
"He chose you before he created the world to be holy and blameless. In love he predestined you to be adopted as his very own son or daughter."</div>
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Ephesians 1:4-5</div>
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<div style="color: #444444;">
Your status was decided by the God of grace before you could do anything. No <i>If - Then</i> contract was ever imagined by God. Because of our guilty feelings, we imagined it. This is where religion comes from. We have invented ways to assuage our guilt and balance the books.</div>
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But, </div>
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"Love keeps no record of wrong." </div>
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I Corinthians 13:5 </div>
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There are no books to balance.</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">By nature God can keep no good thing to himself. All he knows how to do is give freely. The true </span><i style="color: #444444;">If - Then</i><span style="color: #444444;"> clause goes like this. </span><i> </i><br />
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<div style="color: #990000; text-align: center;">
<b><i>If</i> we believe the good news that Jesus has included us inside his own fellowship with the Father and Spirit, <i>then</i> we can live free. </b></div>
<div style="color: #990000; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
And only then will we see what we are made of and made for.</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
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<div style="color: #444444;">
Only then are we free to respond to God's love with our own love.</div>
<div style="color: #444444;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #444444;">Only then will our obedience and devotion to him be what he is waiting for.</span>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-47125605107581515792012-02-22T11:04:00.000-08:002012-02-22T11:04:33.662-08:00WHAT DO YOU WANT?<span style="color: #444444;"> At the end of Luke 18 and the beginning of Luke 19 we see Jesus walking through Jericho. On his way into the city, he heals a poor blind beggar. On his way out of the city he heals and transforms the big time rich sinner, Zacchaeus.</span> One man was at the bottom of the socio-economic scale; the other was at the top. One was a victim of blindness; the other was a political and economic victimizer. Jesus cared the same for both of them and healed each according to their need.<br />
<br />
When Jesus and his entourage entered Jericho, crowds were on hand to greet him. His wonder-working fame had preceeded him. Above the crowd noise, a man could be heard yelling,<br />
<br />
<div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b> "Son of David, have mercy on me!"</b></div><div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><br />
</div> The crowd told him to shut up, but he yelled all the louder. Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. He then asked the blind beggar,<br />
<div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b>"What do you want me to do for you?"</b></div><br />
It might seem obvious what the man wanted since he was blind and Jesus was famous for healing. But Jesus' question, like all his questions, was serious and he wanted the man to respond with specifics. After all, he was a beggar too. Maybe he wanted a charitable gift. Jesus said, in effect, I am asking a serious question and I want you to give me a straight answer. So the blind beggar answers,<br />
<div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b>"Lord, I want to see."</b></div><div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><br />
</div> Then and only then Jesus restores his sight.<br />
<br />
The lesson?<br />
<br />
When we pray, we are often too general and vague. Bless me and bless so and so, etc. This story encourages us to ask Jesus specifically for what we want, then believe and expect a specific response according to what we asked for. See: Luke 11:24.<br />
<br />
Jesus and his crew continue to walking through and out of Jericho. He spots Zacchaeus, the despised tax collector, up in a tree looking down at him. Jesus yells,<br />
<br />
<div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b> "Zacchaeus! Come down right now. I must stay at your house today."</b></div><br />
When the people saw this, they began to mutter about Jesus going to be the guest of a sinner. Zach was a loathed collaborator with the Roman occupiers. He not only collected Roman taxes, but by his own admission, he also extorted and defrauded and grew rich on the backs of his religious community.<br />
<br />
At some point during dinner, Zach is healed and transformed. He blurts out,<br />
<br />
<div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b>"Lord! I give half of what I have to the poor and will give back four times what I have extorted."</b></div><br />
Coming into Jericho, Jesus heals a poor victim. Going out of Jericho, he heals a rich victimizer. Here is the sweep of the grace of God that comes to us in Jesus. Zach is the worst man in town. Everyone who heard Jesus say,<br />
<div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b>"I MUST stay with you today," </b></div><br />
knows that our relative morality or religious performance is irrelevant to him.<br />
<div style="color: #cc0000; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #cc0000; text-align: center;"><b>He loves all and wants to be gracious to all.</b></div><br />
Knowing this we can, with confidence, do what the blind beggar did.<br />
Ask Jesus for what you want and expect something good to result.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">So WHAT DO YOU WANT?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">~ <i>I am off to Thailand for a few weeks. Will post again when I return.</i></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-11421156966135697932012-02-08T14:44:00.000-08:002012-02-08T14:44:28.746-08:00FEAR vs FAITH<div style="color: #444444;"> Fear is always unpleasant, but not always a bad thing. Fear may prevent us from strolling onto a busy freeway or making a bad investment or walking down the darkened street in a dangerous neighborhood. All to the good.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> But roughly 90% of our fear is totally unreal, pointless, and a waste of emotional energy. I didn't make up that 90% statistic. Numerous research studies have shown that somewhere between 85% - 95% of what people fear never happens or they fear something they can do nothing about ... like death or taxes.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> Since God is always looking out for us, always nudging towards abundant life, he tells us hundreds of times in the Bible to </div><div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"be not afraid" </div><div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"fear not"</div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: right;">and </div><div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"be of good cheer."</div><br />
From even a cursory reading of the gospels, we see that our salvation, our connection to the goodness and power of God eliminates fear.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b>Good News!</b></div><br />
When our faith in the goodness and power of God fills our imaginations, fear disappears. When we fear, it simply means our focus has shifted away from faith.<br />
<br />
When our imagination becomes undisciplined and we fall into fear, we are focused on something that is unreal. Unreal, yes, but powerful, none-the-less. Fear has the power to kill and often does.<br />
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A number of soldiers in WWI who thought they had been mortally wounded in a battle died. When their dead bodies were examined, no wound was found. I have spoken to people in Africa who saw people drop dead when they heard a witch doctor had cursed them. In South East Asia, people have died when they heard that an epidemic was coming their way. Long before the contagion reached them, they died of the symptoms associated with the disease.<br />
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Fear of some unreal danger can kill quickly, but more often it kills slowly. Fear is the anticipation of something bad happening. Or as John put it,<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"Fear has to do with punishment." </div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: right;">1 John 4:18</div><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> Fear kills creativity, risk taking, and intimate connection with others. It gradually kills everything that gives life its texture, joy, and meaning. Fear is the root of most of the evil in the world.</span><br />
<div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> The mythical but effective power of fear is not lost on religion. The priesthood in the Middle Ages used the fear of hell to whip gullible multitudes into churches and was the means of extorting money from them. Ignorance of the goodness and power of God tempts some religious leaders to take advantage of it even today.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> Since fear is so prevelant, some conclude that it must be natural. But nothing natural destroys faith in God. Nothing natural kills creativity, strangles self-confidence, destroys happiness, and makes abundant life impossible.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"> <b><span style="color: orange;"> Fear is based upon the illusion that we are separated from the </span></b></div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: orange;">provision, goodness, and power </span></b></div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: orange;">of our loving Father.</span></b></div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> Here is fear killing truth from Jesus himself:</div><br />
<div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"I am in my Father, you are in me and I am in you."</div><div style="text-align: right;"> <span style="color: #999999;">John 14:20</span></div><div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you." </div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: right;">John 15:9</div><div style="text-align: right;">therefore,</div><div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you ... Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."</div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #666666;"> </span><span style="color: #999999;">John 14:27</span></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-91869703619006620112012-02-02T14:51:00.000-08:002012-02-02T14:51:20.723-08:00SECURE IDENTITY<span style="color: #444444;"> Last time I pointed to several instances where Jesus says the Father judges no one and neither does the Son. I then said since the only one capable of judging rightly does not judge us, we are now free to forego judging ourselves or others.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> This is very good news. Think about it. When we renounce judging, life becomes so much easier and lighter. Jesus says, </span><br />
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<div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"My yoke is easy and my burden is light."</div><div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;"> <span style="color: #999999;">Matthew 11:30</span></div><span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> We are not happy when we are judging. Judging is heavy, tiresome, and painful. It is pure drudgery. The abundant life Jesus promises becomes more abundant in our experience when we renounce our judgments.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> We cannot, however, stop others from judging us. They will. But we do not have to be significantly affected by their judgments. Paul knew this. This is how he responded to his critics in Corinth. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"I care very little if I am judged by you or any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself." </div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: right;">1 Corinthians 4:5</div><span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> In the past, I have been judged negatively for what some call my "over emphasis on God's grace." One of my critics is a very senior Christian theologian. Most of you have his books in your library. He wrote in a magazine article, "Dr. Blue is an able expositor but his over emphasis on grace is dangerous to your spiritual health." Paraphrasing Paul, in 1 Corithians 4:5, I responded with, </span><br />
<br />
<div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b>I have a low opinion of your opinion of me. </b></div><div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b> I have a low opinion of my opinion of me. </b></div><div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b>God alone will assess you and me in the end.</b></div><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> If we are secure in our identity as the much loved children of the non judgmental Father, we can learn from our critics, yet not be disheartened by them. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> Unfortunately for my team, Tom Brady is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game of football. If someone told him he sucked as a quarterback, it would be water off a duck's back. He is secure in his football identity and for good reason. However, if someone told a 14 year old Q.B. that he sucked, that judgment could be devestating. The point is obvious. When we are secure in our identity, the criticism and judgment of others is of little effect.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"> <b><span style="color: orange;"> Our identity is, in fact, secure. </span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="color: orange;">We are OK because Jesus made us OK. </span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="color: orange;">We cannot be more secure. </span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="color: orange;">We can only awaken to that truth and speak and act as if it is true. </span></b></span></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-28831179161290483302012-01-25T19:17:00.000-08:002012-01-25T19:17:15.909-08:00HERE COMES THE JUDGE<span style="color: #444444;"> We cannot imagine a world without judgment or judges. In our fallen state, we find the necessity to judge between right and wrong. We see the need to reward the right and punish the wrong.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"> We must judge, reward, and punish to hold our society and world together.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> We find it natural then to project all of this onto God, making him the ultimate judge. But this is an illusion. We made it up. What do you make of Jesus saying, </span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;">"The Father judges no one."</span> </span></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: right;">John 5:22a</div><div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>?</b></span></div><span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> No one has seen the Father but the Son (<span style="color: #999999;">John 6:46</span>). He is the expert witness on who the Father is. The only one who has seen the Father says he </span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444;">"<span style="color: #666666;">judges no one.</span>"</span></div><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> Following this, Jesus says, </span><br />
<div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"The Father has entrusted all judgment to the Son."</div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444;"> <span style="color: #999999;">John 5:22b </span></span></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: right;">John 5:27</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: right;"><br />
</div><span style="color: #444444;"> So, if the Father judges no one and has entrusted all judgment to the Son, then does Jesus judge us? Jesus answers this question, </span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;">"Do not think I accuse you to the Father."</span> </span></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: right;">John 5:45</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"> and, </span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;">"I do not judge anyone."</span> </span></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: right;">John 12:47</div><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> The Father gave the Son authority and capacity to judge and Jesus refrained from doing it. So if the Father judges no one and Jesus, who could judge but doesn't, then who judges?</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> In <span style="color: #999999;">John 8:15</span>, Jesus explains, </span><br />
<div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one."</div><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> There it is. We live in a world held together by judgment based more or less on arbitrary human standards. We are the ones who judge others and ourselves. We can't imagine our world working in any other way.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> We judge ourselves because we feel guilty and we often judge others for the same reason. The biggest criticism of the church that I have heard over the past forty years of ministry is that it is so judgmental. I have always thought this very odd, since we claim to represent the God who judges no one.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> You may judge that you are not spiritual enough, don't pray enough, etc., or that you are too fat, too stupid, or too wrong in some other way. That judgment is yours and yours alone. You either made it up or you accepted someone else's opinion of you. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b>Enough pain.</b></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"> Don't compound it by thinking God shares your opinion of you. He doesn't. When the Father looks at you, he sees his Son in whom he is well pleased. He has the same affection for you as he has for his Son. That Son says, </span></div><div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"I do not judge, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save it." </div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: right;">John 12:47</div><span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"> <b><span style="color: orange;"> So let's let him save us. </span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="color: orange;">Save us from judging ourselves and everyone else.</span></b></span></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-11439669774494501092012-01-20T11:10:00.000-08:002012-01-20T11:10:17.401-08:00FINDING GOD'S WILL & GUIDANCE<span style="color: #444444;"> Some people are anxious to discover God's perfect will for their lives, especially when making big decisions, like who to marry, where to live, what job to take, etc. Behind this anxiety is the notion that if they miss God's leading and make the wrong choice, they will have to settle for less than his best. A softer version of this is a preoccupation with finding God's guidance in daily life. Such people often get stuck, wondering if they have really heard from God. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"> In early Israel, the adolescent days of the people of God, he led them by visible, audible signs: voices, fire, cloud, fleeces, talking animals, and prophets. That was the old way of knowing God's will. Now there is a new way. </span><br />
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<div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"In the old days God spoke to the fathers by prophets. These days he speaks to us by his Son."</div><div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;"> <span style="color: #999999;">Hebrews 1:1-2</span></div><span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> That is to say, God now leads us by the Spirit according to our knowledge of Jesus. We gain that knowledge by reading the New Testament, particularly the Gospels. At least 90%</span><span style="color: #444444;"> of all daily decisions are guided by what Jesus said and did. If we truly want God's will for our lives, we will believe what we find in Jesus.</span><br />
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<div style="color: #cc0000;">What about the remaining 10%? </div><span style="color: #444444;">The Bible doesn't tell us what car to buy or what job to take.</span><br />
<div style="color: #990000; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">What now?</span> </div><div style="color: #444444;">The answer is do what you want to do.</div><span style="color: #cc0000;">Isn't this dangerous? </span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Don't we all know people who have made a mess of things by following their own desires?</span><br />
<div style="color: #444444;">The caveat to this dilemma should be obvious. </div><br />
<div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b>If we love Jesus and have his words and deeds in our thinking, we have his mind.</b></div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> If we have a teachable heart, we will not go too far wrong. And if we make a bad choice, it can be redeemed. After all, the biggest mistake we ever made was rejecting God when he came to us in the flesh of Jesus and that was spectacularly redeemed. So don't worry too much about making a mistake and don't get stuck.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> As Yogi Berra said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Guidance comes when we are in motion. Trying to turn the steering wheel of a parked car is difficult and pointless.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> If God wanted us to know his perfect will for our lives he would have told us to find it. He also would have told us <i>how</i> to find it. Nowhere in the Bible does he do so. Therefore, </div><br />
<div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b>we are in no way responsible for getting everything right.</b></div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: left;"> When the Bible talks about God's will for our lives, it's always in terms of our character. For instance, </div><div style="color: #666666; text-align: right;">"It is God's will that you be sanctified." </div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #999999;">I Thessalonians 4:3</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #999999;"> </span> </div> Marry who you want to marry. Take the job you like. Book the vacation you desire. Attend the church you enjoy. God's will for your life is not about these things. His will is that whatever you do and wherever you go, be the best you possible.<br />
<br />
As we get older and log some experience, guidance becomes easy - provided we have been paying attention. If we love God and trust him, he trusts us. After all, we are told to have the same mind in us that was in Christ <span style="color: #999999;">(Philippians 2:5)</span> and the Spirit is in us to will and do his good pleasure <span style="color: #999999;">(Philippians 2:13). </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: orange;">So do what you want.</span></b></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-33390052554498470012012-01-12T14:10:00.000-08:002012-01-12T14:10:52.787-08:00CHOOSE LIFE<div style="color: #444444;"> The greatest power humans possess is the power and freedom to make choices. By the time we reach our mid 20's our life looks mostly like the choices we have been making. If we want better lives we are free to make different choices and in time, our lives will reflect those choices. Some bad things that happen to us, of course, are not of our choosing. But we are free to choose how we respond to those bad things. </div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> Victor Frankel, the famous Jewish psychologist, made this point in his classic book, <i>"Man's Search For Meaning." </i>One of the core insights he gained from his years in Nazi concentration camps is that when we are utterly victimized, suffering helplessly at the hands of others, one final power we have that cannot be taken away is our power to choose how to respond. He says that those in the camps who chose hope and a future tended to survive. Those who gave up died.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> In <span style="color: #999999;">Deuteronomy 30:19-20</span>, God tells Israel to "<span style="color: #666666;">choose life.</span>" </div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: orange; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Life equals prosperity, health, and long life for us and our children. </b></span></div><div style="color: orange; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> In the context of these verses, choosing life is:</div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"> <b style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">loving God and listening to his voice. </span></b></div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> That voice we most clearly hear is in the Gospels, the voice of God's visible image, Jesus Christ.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> Jesus is constantly calling us to make choices for life that result in life more abundant. His list of choices that lead to life is long. </div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;">The list, while longer than this, looks something like this:</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><ul style="color: #444444;"><li>Repeatedly Jesus tells us to choose trust and faith over worry. Some of us find it hard to believe that worry is a choice, but it is. We can't choose not to worry directly. We just worry unless we choose to focus on and fill our imaginations with the Father Jesus knows. Jesus, who knows the Father personally, says he is a good, caring, providing, loving Father who is very fond of you. We are totally free to believe him and since what he says is true, we can believe with confidence.</li>
<li>We can choose repentance over guilt. Shame is feeling bad for who you are. It is always wrong, wrong, wrong. What can we say except - just stop it. Guilt is the result of what we do. Feeling bad for doing bad is the evidence of mental health, but it shouldn't last long. You were forgiven every sin, past, present, and future in the death and resurrection of Jesus 2000 years ago. We access and feel that provision by owning our sin, making no excuses, confessing it and saying thank you for forgiveness.</li>
<li>We can choose forgiveness over bitterness. Forgiveness is a choice. We can do it. We can state it. While we don't have to feel forgiveness to forgive, in time, we are likely to feel what we choose to do. Our forgiving may do nothing for the person forgiven, but in so doing, we set ourselves free. We open ourselves up to more life. We literally choose life.</li>
<li>We can choose contentment over envy, community over isolation, love for the poor over indifference, prayer over T.V., etc.</li>
</ul><div style="color: #444444;"> I know people, even have family members, who don't want life. They have chosen to see themselves as victims. Self pity is their dominant emotion. They say they are OK with that. Hopefully, you are not one of these.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><span style="color: #444444;"> To make choosing life run more efficiently say out loud, many times a day:</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"> <b style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;">Thank you Father for providing all I need in life. I'm so happy that you are fond of me.</span></b></span></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-17189313639442878692011-12-29T14:07:00.000-08:002011-12-29T14:07:06.692-08:00WORRY THOUGHTS<span style="color: #444444;"> I have renewed my commitment to finding a quiet time during the day to sit and listen for God's voice. This morning I prayed, "Say anything you want."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> I sat in quiet and nothing came, so I opened my Bible to where I had left off reading. <span style="color: #999999;">Matthew 6:34</span>.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444;">"<span style="color: #666666;">Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself</span>." </span></div><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> I thought good luck with that. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">As with most of you, I do worry about tomorrow.</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="color: #444444;"> I have 9 children, 4 of whom are overseas doing mission work in dangerous places. Two of these have recently faced real danger.</span><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;">I worry about whether or not I have what it takes to do the work I think I have to do</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"> and keep the promises I have made. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;">And, of course, the perennial worry common to many, money. Will there be enough? Where will it come from? </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;">Etc.</span></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"> <b style="color: orange;"> I worry.</b></span></div><span style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Then it hits me. I just asked God to speak to me and then Jesus says, "don't worry." That means, any worry thoughts about tomorrow are not from him. So if I want to think his thoughts, which I do, they will never be worry thoughts.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> Fretting about tomorrow is reflexive and it seemed to me like a responsibility. But, if Jesus' words are anything to go on, worry thoughts are not his voice and I don't have to entertain them. Jesus says in effect, "You're fired from your responsibility to worry." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> Planning is ok. Fretful planning isn't.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> In Matthew 14:13-21, Jesus and his disciples are confronted with five thousand hungry people needing to be fed. Jesus tells his boys to feed them. They worry, "We only have five loaves and two fishes. Jesus tells them to bring what they have to him and he makes that more than enough.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> I think I am called to do more than I have resources for. Jesus says, "Bring what you have to me. My leading is my feeding."</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> Most of us spend way too much time regretting the past and fretting the future. Jesus says that none of those thoughts are from him, so stop it.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b style="color: orange;">And the freedom just keeps coming!</b></span></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-29695089251015133292011-12-24T13:27:00.000-08:002011-12-24T13:27:08.285-08:00Long Blog - Apologies<span style="color: #444444;"> Last time I asked you to reflect on <span style="color: #999999;">Mark 11:24</span> in light of God's promises and our response. I recently committed myself to believe what Jesus said in that verse, and its parallels in Matthew and John, and my life has changed as a result.</span><br />
<div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> On November 16, 2011, a friend I hadn't seen in years phoned to ask if I would go to Haiti to teach and train Christan leaders. Because of Haiti's recent troubles he thought they would be more open to my emphasis on grace, healing, and non abusive styles of leadership. Normally I would have said yes, but because of deepening depression and fatigue over the past 10 years, I told him I was limiting travel to keeping only the promises I had already made.</div><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> Then he told me his healing story. Earlier in his life he spent years suffering from severe intestinal problems. He was in constant pain, could only eat chicken and water and doctors offered no help. Not even a good diagnosis. In despair, he decided to take his life. While in the final stages of planning suicide, he read about a man who was healed from a terminal illness by believing Jesus' words in</span><span style="color: #999999;"> Mark 11:24</span><span style="color: #444444;">. My friend said to himself, "If believing Jesus' words worked for this guy, maybe there is hope for me." After months of proclaiming Jesus' words in </span><span style="color: #999999;">Mark 11:24</span> <span style="color: #444444;">and believing as best he could, he was finally healed. He has been mostly symptom free ever since.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> I responded to my friend's testimony by saying, I'm happy for you and all, but it sounds like the name-it-and-claim-it prosperity foolishness that I have so roundly criticized over the years.</span><br />
<div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> He said, "That word-faith stuff is about manipulating God, this is different. Read it again."</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><span style="color: #444444;"> So we hung up and I opened my N.T. to <span style="color: #999999;">Mk.11:24</span><span style="color: #444444;">. Jesus says,</span> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #666666;">"Ask for whatever you will and believe you already have it and it will be yours."</span></div><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> Although I have preached through the N.T. countless times I never preached on this verse or its parallels in Matthew and John. I didn't because I wasn't sure what to make of them or, more likely, I simply didn't believe them. My next thought was where do I get off choosing from Jesus' words what to believe and not to believe?</span><br />
<div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"> At this point, I said to myself, OK, I have to think this through. Is Jesus really telling us to play make believe or live in denial, pretending we have something we don't? Then I saw it. </div><br />
<div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b> Wait a minute....</b></div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: left;"> I already believe what this verse is really saying. I have been preaching and writing for decades that we received all we will ever need for our life in and through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus 2000 years ago. Along with Peter, I have been saying that all we need is provided for us already because of our participation in Christ (<span style="color: #999999;">II Peter 1:34</span>). I had simply never connected the "everything we need" with my own need for healing. This is ironic and embarrassing since I wrote the best selling book on Christian healing 20 years ago. Over those 20 years, I have prayed for many thousands and seen hundreds healed, and sometimes dramatically so. But if they were not healed, I never told them to believe regardless. I said instead, let's pray some more.</div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: left;"> At any rate, on the evening of Nov. 16, 2011, I said to God, this is the last time I ask for my own healing. I am now going to believe I have it and say thank you. That ends my responsibility in the matter. The "and it will be yours" is your responsibility. I look forward to seeing what you do.</div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: left;"> I thought, as with my friend, it would take time for anything to happen and was prepared to take a stand regardless. But I awoke the next day - and it was as if someone switched on a light. Depression lifted and I had more energy. There have been ups and downs during the past 40 days, but the trend is decidedly up. I have not felt this well in 10 years.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="color: orange;"> COULD THE SOLVING OF SOME OF OUR PROBLEMS BE AS EASY AS ASKING FOR HELP, BELIEVING WE HAVE IT, AND SAYING THANK YOU? </b></div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"> It seems too simple, too childlike. And of course, it is...</span><span style="color: #666666;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #666666;">"unless you change and become like little children..."</span> <span style="color: #999999;">Matthew 18:3.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"> Oh, and I'm going to Haiti.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-67632306283878230352011-12-11T18:13:00.000-08:002011-12-11T18:13:00.193-08:00CHESS, ANYONE?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq40mArBGM58ln63MATPNpvU_ej9D0M-VnEUcc0um19_ATxWF4RCHc13uuUS3Ncx91YrlEYWHmrNmCf8_TOXZMiQcawQ7HHkL2SInxqzbi9_WxTiH2c7QoAzvqMeIJgBXz0gincsa4-ha8/s1600/photo-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq40mArBGM58ln63MATPNpvU_ej9D0M-VnEUcc0um19_ATxWF4RCHc13uuUS3Ncx91YrlEYWHmrNmCf8_TOXZMiQcawQ7HHkL2SInxqzbi9_WxTiH2c7QoAzvqMeIJgBXz0gincsa4-ha8/s200/photo-1.JPG" width="150" /></a><span style="color: #444444;"> I often think of my life as a chess game played with the Holy Spirit. He makes the first move. Then he waits for me to move. Then he makes another move, and so on. When he moves a piece, I have to respond to that specific move. He is not playing against me, rather for me and with me, helping me win. I have learned that he usually doesn't move out of turn and he doesn't make my move for me as a rule.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> God makes promises to us. We read those in the Bible. Those are his moves. Our move is to respond in faith and act as if we believe. Then, in time, he moves.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> Thinking of our lives as a call and response to the lover of our souls makes sense of so many Bible stroies:</span><br />
<ul style="text-align: right;"><li><span style="color: #444444;"> He promised Abraham a son, making him the father of many. God's move. Then Abraham and Sarah, the old couple, had to couple. Their move. Then, Sarah, whose womb had long died, gave life. God's move. </span><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: right;"><li><span style="color: #444444;"> God tells Israel that Jericho will be delivered into their hands. His move. They had to march around Jericho seven times. On the sixth trip around there there was no evidence that God's promise would be kept. One more time around. Their move. The walls came down. God's move.</span><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: right;"><li><span style="color: #444444;"> Jesus told the man with the withered hand to stretch it out. God's move. The man does as he was told. His move. Jesus healed his hand. God's move.</span></li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: right;"><li><span style="color: #444444;"> To the man born blind, Jesus said, "<span style="color: #666666;">Go wash in the pool of Siloam.</span>" Jesus' move. The man does it. His move. He receives his sight. God's move. </span></li>
</ul><ul style="text-align: right;"><li><span style="color: #444444;"> Etc. etc.</span></li>
</ul><span style="color: #444444;"> You see what I mean.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> For whatever reason, God wants to partner with us in everything. His call is his promise. Our response is faith in a person we can trust. Then he moves again. And as I have learned, he usually doesn't move out of turn.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> Even though we only need faith the size of a mustard seed and we get to pray, "I believe, help my unbelief," we still need to believe and act as if we do.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> In light of that, what do you make of Mark 11:22, 24?</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: #666666;">Jesus said to them, "Have faith in God..."</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: orange;">"For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."</span></b></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-13598395639449008912011-11-17T12:55:00.000-08:002011-11-17T12:55:48.630-08:00REPENTANCEWhen I say with Paul that <span style="color: #666666;">"God chose us to be in Christ before the creation of the world" <span style="color: #999999;">(Ephesians 1:4) <span style="color: #444444;">and that conversion is working up to that fact, I am often asked where then does<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">REPENTANCE</span></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">fit in?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After all, if we were found in Christ before we were lost in Adam, does our <span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">REPENTANCE</span> count for anything? Since the New Testament and Jesus especially, talk about<span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;"> REPENTANCE</span>, I should have an answer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Most evangelical Christians have heard that our <span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">REPENTANCE</span> is something we must do as a step in connecting with God's salvation. When I ask people what they think <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: blue;">REPENTANCE</span></span> means, the conversation goes something like this:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> PEOPLE: "<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: blue;">REPENTANCE </span></span>is realizing we have sinned, saying I'm sorry and asking for forgiveness."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">ME: "When you say sorry, do you have to be sincere or just say the words?"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">PEOPLE: "You have to be sincere."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">ME: "How sincere do you have to be? I mean, when do you know for sure that you have been sincere enough?"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You can see where this logic leads. We can never be sorry enough, sincere enough or believing enough ... and we know it. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #990000; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">If there is a single human performance link in the chain that unites to God - we are doomed.</span></b></div><div style="color: #990000; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whatever needs to be done to unite us to God must be done by HIM.</span></b></div><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So now we can talk about how Jesus sees <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: blue;">REPENTANCE</span></span>. His most extensive teaching on this subject is found in his parables of the lost sheep, the coin, and the son in Luke 15.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A shepherd finds a lost sheep who will die without rescue and Jesus says, <span style="color: #666666;">"In the same way, I tell you there is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: blue;">REPENTS</span></span>..."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">QUESTION: What was the lost sheep's <span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">REPENTANCE</span>?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A coin gets lost and a woman searches high and low to find it. Jesus says, <span style="color: #666666;">"In the same way I tell you, there is rejoicing in heaven in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who <span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">REPENTS</span>."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">QUESTION: What did the lost coin do that in any way resembles our popular view of <span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">REPENTANCE</span>?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Jesus teaches that <span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">REPENTANCE</span> is like being found by a good shepherd or a determined housekeeper when we are helpless to do or say anything. The sheep and coin did nothing and contributed nothing to being saved. <span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">REPENTANCE</span></b><span style="color: #990000;"><b><span style="color: blue;">,</span></b><b><span style="color: blue;"> according to Jesus, is letting ourselves be found. </span></b></span></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">REPENTANCE</span> is like being welcomed home, which brings us to the lost son. The prodigal comes home because he is hungry and looking for food. The Father goes out and saves him. The coin, the sheep, and the son do nothing like our common view of <span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">REPENTANCE</span>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">REPENTANCE</span> is waking up to the truth that we are already accepted and then accepting our acceptance. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">REPENTANCE</span> is the experience of being found.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Admitting our sin and saying sorry to God is entirely appropriate, but this is not <span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">REPENTANCE</span> and doesn't save us.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: orange; font-family: inherit;">The Father of Jesus, who is also our Father, does it all.</span></b></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-61574610118821466792011-11-12T11:41:00.000-08:002011-11-12T12:52:55.212-08:00RECEIVING CHRIST?<span style="color: #444444;">People often use this term to recount their conversion.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Receiving Christ or inviting him into our hearts, however, is not New Testament language and gives a distorted impression of what actually happens in so called conversion.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Ps3SqegM2UeMw_QDhv9r0hfZ9HkM2_3RbcAq88n1aKwNDKJWB2dVTR0XHdrT3piit0OBdhHzfW15AED5ofybm4_8wvbkfw35NL3kLLfxH5h_ZYwlVhgdYTnExwXSKXI-lbY7gZnjVGt7/s1600/IMG_1142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Ps3SqegM2UeMw_QDhv9r0hfZ9HkM2_3RbcAq88n1aKwNDKJWB2dVTR0XHdrT3piit0OBdhHzfW15AED5ofybm4_8wvbkfw35NL3kLLfxH5h_ZYwlVhgdYTnExwXSKXI-lbY7gZnjVGt7/s200/IMG_1142.jpg" width="168" /></a><span style="color: #444444;">If Paul's view of reality is anything to go on, then Jesus, from eternity, has already included us in his life. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Conversion to Christ is then us coming out of darkness and awaking to this truth.</b></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;">Here is Paul: <span style="color: #666666;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;">"<u>Long before he laid down earth's foundations</u>, God had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. <u>Long, long ago</u> he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ." <span style="color: #999999;">Ephesians 1:4-5</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">And...</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;">"God who saved us and called us, not according to our works, but according to his own purposes and grace, which was given to us <u>in Jesus Christ before time began</u>."</span></span> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;">So, receiving Christ amounts to awaking to the truth that you are already home free. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;">When Paul said, </span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444;">"<span style="color: #666666;">It is for Freedom that Christ set us free<span style="color: #444444;">"</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"> and </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">"<span style="color: #666666;">Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom<span style="color: #444444;">" </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">his words were based on this insight.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">If we worry about our own performance regarding connecting with God, we are not free.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"> Bondage follows fretting over the quality of our repentance and the rightness of our believing.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">We may feel closer to God when we are good and alienated when we are bad, but it's all illusion.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">The Father did not leave it to us whether or not he accepted us. </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">His purposes are in no way dependent on our opinions or our decisions. </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">We don't get a vote. </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">"<span style="color: #666666;">Long before God laid the earth's foundations, he decided to adopt us into his family.<span style="color: #444444;">"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">In a real sense, coming alive to this truth is a kind of conversion. Everything changes. Realizing that we are included in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, that we are home free forever does or at least should transform us.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><ul><li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">Our guilty conscience loses its grip on our imagination. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">Other people's opinions of us exercise less power. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
</ul><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">Seeing how well loved and eternally secure we are and always have been, enables us to take risks:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<ol><li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"> love others, <i>all</i> others</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">and freely forgive</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">take risks </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
</ol><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">We begin to see the world as a safe place for us.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">The greatest and most life changing benefit of all is what pops into our imaginations when we think of God. We now see him loving us with no shadow of turning. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="color: orange;">There was never a time, nor will there ever be a time when he looks upon us with anything other than loving acceptance.</span></b> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-8233663823117385152011-11-02T09:48:00.000-07:002011-11-02T12:53:32.772-07:00CALL JESUS<span style="color: #444444;">Last week I performed the wedding of my third son.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhhaTfyyAG46ezfXlZQ9__oqDPvXHsbFg9qeLqYLdLTJ_pgoiBl1aFxicO2btO0gNAPZauUoqnx-rdvUWxAG7fCAzlHzbIMHlQ53KzS-6unybGyk0_PcFQKSoTjDfpQkd69_a3bNQXyNjj/s1600/DSC_0332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhhaTfyyAG46ezfXlZQ9__oqDPvXHsbFg9qeLqYLdLTJ_pgoiBl1aFxicO2btO0gNAPZauUoqnx-rdvUWxAG7fCAzlHzbIMHlQ53KzS-6unybGyk0_PcFQKSoTjDfpQkd69_a3bNQXyNjj/s320/DSC_0332.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444;">It seemed appropriate to speak of Jesus' first miracle - turning water into wine in order to rescue a wedding ceremony after the wine had run out. This was a shame based culture and saving face was paramount. Therefore, failing to provide hospitality for guests equaled deep humiliation for the host families and the couple would have to begin their life together in shame.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Mary, the mother of Jesus, assumed leadership in this situation and determined to solve the problem. She asked Jesus to "<span style="color: #666666;">do something.</span>"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">At first he put her off by saying, "<span style="color: #666666;">It is not yet my time.</span>"</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">But she refused to take no for an answer and told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them to.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>Lesson</i>?</span></span></b><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc0000;"> Got a problem?</div><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;">Call Jesus and don't take no for an answer. If he communicates to you in some way, in Scripture or more directly, do whatever he tells you to do.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;">This is what the servants did. After they filled six water jars with water, Jesus turned that water into wine.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="color: #cc0000;">Problem solved.</div><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;">This often happens when Jesus gets involved and gains our cooperation. Not only is a problem solved, in this case, a humiliating deficit is turned into a joyful abundance. This happy ending would never have happened if, when the wine ran out, everyone had focused on who was to blame. After all, it was someone's fault that there wasn't enough wine. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;">Faultfinding and blame shifting not only kills problem solving, it's something Jesus repeatedly refused to get involved in. So Mary didn't go there. She focused on the need for more and Jesus as provider.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Another thought....</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;">Running out of celebration wine is a significant social embarrassment, but not a life and death issue. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<i><b><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Why would Jesus perform his first miracle simply to prolong a party and protect people from shame?</span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span></span></span></span></b></i><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<div style="color: #444444;">We might ask such a question if we see Jesus as primarily concerned with the big spiritual issues of life... </div><div style="color: #444444;">sin</div><div style="color: #444444;">forgiveness </div><div style="color: #444444;">obedience</div><div style="color: #444444;">redemption</div><div style="color: #444444;">the last judgment</div><div style="color: #444444;">etc. </div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;">But this story shows that Jesus cares about what we care about. </div><div style="color: #444444;">He is in every corner of our lives, seeking to repair and add value to all of it. </div><div style="color: #444444;">He is within our love of babies, baseball, barbeque, and all the rest.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="color: orange;">This story tells us we can look for Jesus everywhere and call on him for any need and share with him every joy. </span></b> </span>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-6415578059631057132011-10-14T10:28:00.000-07:002011-10-14T12:01:31.900-07:00THE GOD WHO STOOPS<span style="color: #444444;">Religion, including what often passes for Christianity, is all about how we reach UP to <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">GOD</span>. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Religion is predicated on the false notion that there is a <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">GAP</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #d9ead3;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"> </span></span>between us <span style="color: #6aa84f;"></span>and<span style="color: #6aa84f;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">GOD</span>.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">us</span> </span></b> </span> <b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> GOD</span></b></span></div><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">And that doing religion right is how we bridge that <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">GAP.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">us ------------></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: small;">GOD</span></span></b></span></span></span></div><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">The Gospel, by contrast, is radical, different, unique, one-of-a-kind. Only the Gospel tells of the <b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">GOD </span>Who </span>Stoops</b> to unite with us - <b><span style="font-size: x-small;">not</span></b> where we <i>ought </i>to be, but where we <i>are</i>.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">us</span> <span style="color: #cc0000;"><------------ </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: small;">GOD</span></span></span></b> </span></div><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">THIS IS THE GREAT REVERSAL...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Both the Old and New Testaments show <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">GOD</span> as being keen to reverse the positions of those who are above with those who are below. Old Testament prophets often proclaimed that their <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">GOD</span> brings down the ruling powerful from their thrones, to lift up the poor and vulnerable.</span><span style="color: #444444;"> He did just this in the Exodus and numerous other places. In the New Testament, <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Jesus</span> spoke of the prideful being cast down and the humble being raised up in echo of what his <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Father</span> is like.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">No one could have guessed or would have ever imagined how far <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">GOD</span> would go in his greatest reversal. Two thousand years ago, the <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">GOD</span> of all power stepped down from his cosmic throne. In <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Jesus</span>, he humbled himself, became one of us, united himself to us in our poverty and vulnerability, in order to lift us UP.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Religion says we are to lift ourselves UP by doing more and trying harder. </span><br />
<ul><li><span style="color: #444444;">If you are a Buddhist, you must be nice and successfully complete the Eight-Fold Path of Enlightenment. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;">If you are a Muslim, you have to pray five times a day, pilgrimage to Mecca, etc. etc.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;">If you are a Jew, you must keep over 600 laws. Good luck with that. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;">If you are New Age, you have to save the whales and go green. </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #444444;">If you are a Christian, some churches say your doing more and trying harder comes in the form of giving time, energy, money, and not embarrassing the church leadership with bad behavior.</span></li>
</ul><span style="color: #444444;">In other words, religion sees a <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">GAP</span></span> between us and the Divine and knows nothing of the <b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">GOD </span>Who </span>Stoops</b> to lift us UP to where he is, free of charge or effort.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">The next time you hear someone wonder if all religions are the same, say YES.</span><br />
<div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><b>Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of GOD<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></span>, Son of Man, is different. </b></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-74876848351142018422011-10-07T14:40:00.000-07:002011-10-07T15:05:08.053-07:00FORGIVEN<span style="color: #444444;">Love keeps no record of wrong. That's what it says in <span style="color: #999999;">I Corinthians 13:5<span style="color: #444444;">.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">On the day Jesus died, God fired all the bookkeepers in heaven and assigned them happier jobs. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">John says in <span style="color: #999999;">I John 2:2<span style="color: #444444;">, </span></span>that <span style="color: #666666;">Jesus died for our sins and the sins of the whole world.<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">And Paul says, "<span style="color: #666666;">God made you alive with Christ. He FORGAVE <i>ALL</i> our sins</span></span><span style="color: #666666;">, having canceled the written code...He took it away, nailing it to the cross</span><span style="color: #444444;">.</span><span style="color: #444444;">"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span> <span style="color: #999999;">Colossians 2:13-14<span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;">This means there is now -</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">NO RECORD OF WRONG</span></span></span> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHdum0yFs1K-aiTejt4GV9OiCM7LxFYmNMsHIkZKbUrTTTIC-pGmH3MMYUb8fVVu26zLkZglJF1kBhu-NkRVqyOGkJBrKVHiPwN1rtshXmmRdPkq745QGQoNPhdBrI7GJDJabLHbCiVFwq/s1600/DSC_0012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHdum0yFs1K-aiTejt4GV9OiCM7LxFYmNMsHIkZKbUrTTTIC-pGmH3MMYUb8fVVu26zLkZglJF1kBhu-NkRVqyOGkJBrKVHiPwN1rtshXmmRdPkq745QGQoNPhdBrI7GJDJabLHbCiVFwq/s200/DSC_0012.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b> Eternally FORGIVEN</b></div><br />
If there be any doubt about this, Jesus himself said, "<span style="color: #666666;">Father FORGIVE them<span style="color: #444444;">," as he died.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span> <br />
Now when we think about the judgment of God at the end of the age, <br />
when God destroys all sin and evil,<br />
He can do so without destroying us.<br />
<br />
Should we choose to believe this Good News, we can walk through life free of guilt and shame.<br />
<br />
And because we are fully and eternally FORGIVEN, we can now FORGIVE others.<br />
<br />
This is also Good News.<br />
<br />
We have all been hurt by others - sometimes grievously.<br />
<br />
I know from personal experience that FORGIVING our enemy, especially a beloved enemy is not easily done.<br />
<br />
To FORGIVE something serious is to experience a kind of death.<br />
<br />
God bore in His flesh the pain and death of FORGIVING a world.<br />
<br />
We experience our own little deaths by following him in this work.<br />
<br />
And it is work - and may take time.<br />
<br />
But it is work that has to be done and is well worth the doing.<br />
<br />
If my wife and I didn't regularly FORGIVE each other, our marriage would be unbearable.<br />
<br />
If I don't FORGIVE others, my life becomes unbearable.<br />
<br />
When we are able to FORGIVE, we set others free and find that we too, are set free.<br />
<br />
After all, withholding FORGIVENESS is like eating rat poison and waiting for the rat to die. <br />
<br />
When God, in Christ, FORGAVE the world, He did it not only for us, but also for Himself.<br />
<br />
He lives with a free and generous Spirit toward us.<br />
<br />
Following Him empowers us to live with a free and generous spirit toward others too.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Jesus tells us to FORGIVE as we have been FORGIVEN.</b></div><div style="color: orange; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Again, he's looking out for us.</b></span></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-19798649530436901322011-10-01T00:26:00.000-07:002011-10-01T00:37:47.444-07:00TREASURE!<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">In <span style="color: #999999;">Matthew 13<span style="color: #444444;">, Jesus tells this story...</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;">"The kingdom of heaven is like a man who found a TREASURE in a field and with joy, sold all he owned to buy that field."</span></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">Imagine walking into a field and finding something so beautiful, so valuable ...</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjayL_vZ2Cph2yNsfuCkzfNgLUyRB5x4d-cz0KWUgYg-L2s0XPrdnM9c38bqjmPsPI8qjlWezXKNQp9PTYUmyIXBPUnpA84mZAOktEajziRHtnCk6-C01j9aHw8HeX0T5k3ydYTwNYS8teu/s1600/life-in-the-land.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjayL_vZ2Cph2yNsfuCkzfNgLUyRB5x4d-cz0KWUgYg-L2s0XPrdnM9c38bqjmPsPI8qjlWezXKNQp9PTYUmyIXBPUnpA84mZAOktEajziRHtnCk6-C01j9aHw8HeX0T5k3ydYTwNYS8teu/s320/life-in-the-land.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">that all you possess or could ever gain in this life pales in comparison.</span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;">So you make a sign...</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">EVERYTHING <i>MUST</i> GO!!!!! </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">...and have a garage sale.</span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;"> <span style="color: #444444;">Everyone thinks you've lost your mind. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><i><span style="color: #e69138;"> <span style="color: #444444;"> "Why are you doing this?"</span></span></i> they demand.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;">You point to the field and smile.<i style="color: #e06666;"> </i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #444444;"><i style="color: #e06666;"> <span style="color: #444444;">"I'm buying that!"</span></i> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #e69138;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"You're crazy,"</span></i><span style="color: #444444;"> </span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">they protest</span><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">.</span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Don't you see? You're losing everything."</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #444444;"></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;">But you just keep smiling because you know that with the field comes the TREASURE. You are gaining - not losing. With joy you sell ALL, because you've seen a beauty worth losing EVERYTHING for.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;">I like this story. I've preached it many times as though we were the ones who find the great TREASURE - the kingdom of God - worth losing everything for.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: #444444;">But recently,</span> <span style="color: #444444;">my son, Aaron, wondered, <i><span style="color: #3d85c6;">"What if GOD is the man who sold everything and </span></i><b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6;">WE </span></i></b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6;">are the TREASURE?"</span></i></span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;">Yes. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;">Yes.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"> Even better. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;">It is a little story that points to the big story.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;"><i>We </i>are the TREASURE God emptied himself to buy. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;">When Jesus came from heaven to find us, he found his TREASURE.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #444444;">Heaven was bankrupt as Jesus gave ALL and died for us.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #666666;">"But for the JOY set before him he endured the cross..."</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #666666;">the pain and the loss...</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #999999;">Hebrews 12:2</span> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #666666;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i style="color: #444444;">JOY? </i> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;">Yes. The JOY of finding and gaining the TREASURE.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;">Think what it cost God to own you and now what JOY He has in having you.</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="color: orange; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>You are the TREASURE!</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-57059046843201343622011-09-23T23:48:00.000-07:002011-09-23T23:48:45.534-07:00GIVE THANKS<span style="color: #444444;">Being GRATEFUL is a fear buster. I can't be GRATEFUL <i>and</i> fearful at the same time. </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Try it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;">So, while we are commanded over 200 times <span style="font-size: x-small;">NOT</span> to fear, we are also commanded hundreds of times to be </span><span style="color: #444444;">GRATEFUL and give thanks.</span><br />
<div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><ul><li>God is looking out for us. </li>
<li>He wants us to be happy. </li>
<li>He designed us to thrive.</li>
</ul><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;">Those who know me know that my conversation and prayers are filled with GRATITUDE. Being GRATEFUL, however, does not come naturally. I come from a long line of self-pitying, critical complainers. Ingratitude is my first nature.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;">For forty years, I have worked diligently to cultivate an attitude of GRATITUDE. Now it is habitual. My second nature. I have practiced gratitude, not because God commands me to, but rather, as a defense against bi-polar brain problems.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;">For much of my adult life, I have suffered from major clinical depression. Among all the other bad things related to serious depression, is the way it so thoroughly undermines an attitude of GRATITUDE.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;">I have an additional problem. I wrote the best selling Christian book on healing. I have prayed for thousands of people over the past 30 years, and many were healed. My first nature wants to rhuminate on that disconnect. </div><ul><li>I know God heals. </li>
<li>I've seen it. </li>
<li>Why then, are prayers for healing ineffective for me?</li>
</ul><div style="color: #444444;">No one knows.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;">Since prayer doesn't work and doctors haven't helped, I focus like a laser on all the good in my life: </div><div style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: magenta;">a good marriage,</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d;"><span style="color: #990000;">nine powerful, interesting, loving children,</span> </span><span style="color: orange;">work I love,</span> <span style="color: cyan;"><span style="color: purple;">friends to support me,</span> </span><span style="color: blue;">even a friend who fixes my cars.</span> <span style="color: #351c75;">I'm on airplanes a lot and not one of them has crashed. </span></div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="color: #990000;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: large;">I live in San Diego...</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIH_V1es_dr-gR3p_tMcf91VBV5t450sVIVaeYpepzmhAHGf9H1t99odNM2x_FUhDtfHcCSNOMNuJFKrrAOFuAdixhd3GZOqBYQCR9G7hP-bQsp3U3wBom6oT6m8ynPFc6iD1f4y9CAT4/s1600/DSCN0328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIH_V1es_dr-gR3p_tMcf91VBV5t450sVIVaeYpepzmhAHGf9H1t99odNM2x_FUhDtfHcCSNOMNuJFKrrAOFuAdixhd3GZOqBYQCR9G7hP-bQsp3U3wBom6oT6m8ynPFc6iD1f4y9CAT4/s400/DSCN0328.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;">When I look closely, there is so much to be GRATEFUL for.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #990000;">I'm even GRATEFUL to pay bills. When I do it, S.D. Gas and Electric bring electricity to our house and trash collectors get rid of our trash.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">I'm GRATEFUL for the farmers, harvesters, and truckers who get our food to us and I thank God for the money to buy it.</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Because I've spent so much time in the underdeveloped world, I'm GRATEFUL we have food at all.</span></div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #073763;">And how about limitless, clean, running water? </div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: #444444;">Practicing GRATITUDE in a thoughtful way makes being mad at God for what He hasn't done more difficult. It also undermines the fear and sadness agenda.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: #444444;">No one's life is what it should be. We all have pain to live through.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: #444444;">Therefore, <span style="color: #666666;">"Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving."</span></span></span> </span></div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #999999;">Psalm 50:14</span></div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: orange;">He's looking out for us.</span></b></span> </span></div><div style="color: #444444; text-align: right;"><span style="color: #999999;"> </span></div>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3637828962074955605.post-14790357080991397772011-09-15T16:01:00.000-07:002011-09-15T16:01:06.704-07:00IF YOU WERE BRAVE, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?<div style="color: #444444;">I sometimes ask this question during motivational talks. </div><div style="color: #444444;">And then I get emails and calls from people who act on it. They do something big and it changes their lives. </div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;">Great stories are lived by those who act <b>BRAVELY</b>. </div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;">The enemy of <b>BRAVERY</b> is, of course, FEAR.</div><div style="color: #444444;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #444444;">FEAR wisely listened to sometimes keeps us safe and saves us from humiliation. </div><br />
<ul style="color: #444444;"><li>When I was 16, I drove my motorcycle 90 miles an hour on the wrong side of the freeway. I should have listened to my FEAR, rather than hope for the approval of friends.</li>
<li>In high school, I should have listened to my FEAR of asking the hottest girl in school to go to a dance. Sure, I was relieved and happy when she said yes, but humiliated when she danced with every guy but me.</li>
</ul><span style="color: #444444;">But more often than not, FEAR intimidates us into playing it <span style="font-size: large;"><i>too</i></span> safe. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">God tells us</span> <i><span style="color: #666666;">NOT TO FEAR</span></i> <span style="color: #444444;">over 200 times in the Bible.</span> <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;">Jesus says,</span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #666666;">"Don't fear anything. Risk all. Sell all and follow me."</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">Knowing Jesus as I do, I know he is simply looking out for us. He is not trying to make life difficult for us if we do radically follow him. Nor does he want us feeling guilty if we don't. He just doesn't want us to live <span style="font-size: x-small;">BORING</span> lives.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">Before asking </span></span></div><div style="color: #e69138; text-align: left;"><b> WHAT WOULD I DO IF I WERE </b><b>BRAVE?</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">you need to ask two other questions: </span></span></div><ol><li><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">IS GOD THE KIND OF PERSON I CAN TRUST?</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">IS GOD REALLY SMART?</span></span></li>
</ol><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">If the answer to both of these questions is <i>yes </i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><i> </i> <span style="font-size: x-small;">then</span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"> you can be <b>BRAVE</b>. </span></span></div><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">The <span style="font-size: large;">big</span> FEAR is death. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">If Paul is right, that <i><span style="color: #666666;">to die is gain</span></i>, then all the lesser <span style="font-size: xx-small;">FEARS</span> add up to chump change. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">Being BRAVE may be no more complicated than thinking things through.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><ul><li><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">I was afraid to work as a missionary in Communist East Europe, but I wanted the adventure. I feared prison and got it, but it was a transformational experience and looks good on my resume. <span style="color: #cc0000;">ALL GAIN</span>. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">I was afraid to get married because I thought I would lose my freedom. I lost it, but gained so much more. <span style="color: #cc0000;">ALL GAIN</span>. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">I was afraid to have children because I would be responsible to keep them from dying. We had 8 and they are nearly all adults, so, so far, so good. <span style="color: #cc0000;">ALL GAIN</span>.</span></span></li>
</ul><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">I've planted several churches from scratch and started two mission organizations. </span></span><br />
<div style="color: #cc0000; text-align: center;">All big risks. </div><div style="color: #cc0000; text-align: center;">All big payoffs. </div><div style="color: #cc0000; text-align: center;">All gain.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">I know for certain that on my deathbed, I'm not going to say <i>I wish I had taken fewer risks.</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">When God says <i style="color: #666666;">DON'T BE AFRAID</i> over 200 times, it is because he doesn't want us to miss the great, BRAVE adventure our lives can be.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;">Great stories are lived by those who act <b>BRAVELY</b>.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"> So ... </span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"> <b><span style="color: #e69138;">WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE BRAVE?</span><i style="color: #e69138;"> </i></b> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br />
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</span></span>Ken Bluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03659949209676507109noreply@blogger.com