Renovating?

I have often been frustrated with the sense that one "arrives" . . . be that when baptized, saved, etc.

I recently got a new Bible and switched versions to the NASB. I had a list of preferences, which included "non-reference". I saw something the other day which made me grateful I had the references.

Colossians 3:10 . . . and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him--

The reference indicated a better English word for renewed was "renovated". For some reason, that really provided a great mental picture. It is a makeover, a changing, a journey. My goal is to be constantly allowing God to renovate me with the goal of that true knowledge - in his image.

Acheivable goal here on earth? I used to think no. A recent read of The Shack gave me pause when thinking of Jesus as fully human. He was fully human and allowed the renovation to bring him to that true knowledge.

I am in need of much renovation. There is a blueprint to follow!!

Restoration Movement

Anyone who knows me knows I am quick to share my opinion, as unlearned as it is. I may be totally off base with my thoughts. . .

I am convinced the restoration movement, as I know it, has and continues to miss the point. I often hear about us wanting to "be like the first century church".

Why do we have that as a goal?

Why were the letters written to the early church which are a large part of the New Testament? Because the first century church was a MESS!!! Guess what, we are just like the first century church. We are a mess too!!

The goal of the restoration movement should be to restore ourselves to Jesus. We need to do that EVERYDAY, individually and collectively as Jesus' flawed body.

We need a better goal. We NEED Jesus!

Religious Discrimination

I am confident that Jesus is not a proponent of discrimination. I don't think it fits well in the "love God, love your neighbor" realm.

I also believe that religion creates people who discriminate (encourages them to discriminate). Sometimes against those of other faith; sometimes against those of similar faith but with a different label; sometimes against those with the same faith label but different viewpoints. Sometimes against those considered "sinners".

Arrogance and discrimination seem to go together. Arrogance and religion seem to go together also.

Faith and Growth

Do you grow out of the faith you have or do you grow into your faith?

Theory versus Practice

I can talk a good game. I can talk about my opinions on Bible verses and contexts. I can talk about "Love God" and "Love Your Neighbor".

I stink at practice.

Thoughts?

Since Jesus did not call us to religion, how do we continue to meet together without becoming a religious body that Jesus would not like or would call Pharisaical?

Things That Make You Go - Hmmmmm???

License plate frame - *blank* Christian University Alumni

Window sticker -

YES
This is my truck.
NO
I won't help you move!

I also read an article in today's paper from which I took the following words. Pope Benedict XVI approved a document which says that "other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation." "The commentary repeated church teaching that says the Catholic Church 'has the fullness of the means of salvation. Christ established here on earth only one church, the other communities cannot be called churches in the proper sense because they do not have apostolic succession - the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles - and therefore their priestly ordinations are not valid, it said."

I refer to my second question from last Saturday. Why do we feel the need to focus on rules - even if we believe we can point to them in scripture as a proof of their existence? Why do we think we can follow a rule perfectly anyway? Why do we think God is interested in us following the rules just so we can say we follow the rules?

By virtue of my heart rate getting elevated when I think of the article, I show I have missed God's point in changing my heart from the inside. It is easier to focus on the rules I prefer and love those who love my viewpoint.

Maybe that is one of the problems. I think we too often, consciously and unconsciously, gravitate toward the easy.

Two questions:

1) Why do coaches and managers in baseball wear team uniforms and they don't in other sports?

2) Do you think that God believes there are any non-"Pharisaical" religious organizations in existence?

I'm It

In deference to my wife, I keep asking what the rules are to this cybertag game.

I am different from Danna in that she asks what the rules are so she can follow them and I ask so that I can break them or find a flaw in them that would render it ridiculous to follow the rules. That is number 1.

I can sing the Wyoming Cowboy (the real Cowboys!!) fight song and will do it for you if you ask and sometimes even when you don't.

I was born on the same day, in the same year as Michael Jordan.

I am very particular about my lawn. So much so that after repeated requests to try to do it close to my expectations, I fired my own son as lawn man.

I always wished I was 7 feet tall.

I had a small plaster cast on my nose after reconstructive surgery and I had people sign my cast.

I often save my meat to eat last at mealtimes.

I have volunteered to preach on many occasions but have never been asked - see number 1.

Now, here are the rules since I am supposed to put them here but it never said to put them first.

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

I am tagging, Clint; Terry; Tim;

Worse Than A Plank In My Eye??

Is there anything worse than the planks in my own eye?

(Humorous side bar - my wife was reading my draft and pointed out the "plank" in my writing since I had the word "than" two times in my first sentence!!)

I amaze myself because, even though my planks are HUGE, I am still able to see around them to point out the speck in others' eyes!!

I feel (yes I - so highly likely some error involved) it is important to be open with people whom I have a relationship. My perception of the level of the relationship determines what I say and how I say it. I feel it is important enough that if I don't say something, I am not doing the right thing.

As in most situations, delivery is everything. I must convey in a loving manner. It is possible to be clear, firm and loving. I don't often achieve that goal.

The easy part is to act on what I think I should say. Besides the hard part of delivering a clear, firm and loving message, the hardest part for me is my additional related responsibility.

I am responsible to listen to others when they need to point out the planks they see in my life.

I stink at my delivery. Worse yet, I am wrapped up in the stink of not even trying to accept clear, firm and loving messages about the planks in my life.

I quit listening immediately.

I begin to form my own thoughts of justification.

My eyesight becomes very clearly focused on what I see now as planks in others lives. No longer are they specks - NO WAY!!

I NEED YOUR HELP!!!

God created us with very powerful minds. Satan knows that and attacks us through our minds. I am not effective at taking "captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ". Those thoughts that I don't take captive are the seeds of "speck" which quickly grow to be planks.

My thoughts of justification are the worst.

I need help from you. I need your boldness in delivering to me clear, firm and loving messages of the planks I need to extricate from my life.

I need the training of people pointing out to me when I get defensive as they are delivering a very important message I need to hear about my planks. I need to be much more humble to allow myself to really listen to your messages.

I really need to want to get rid of the planks that are visible because there are so many more that need to be illuminated.

Gratitud - Dos Parte

During church this morning, it struck me that we, the individuals which make up the bride of Christ, can tell if we have love from ego or love from the heart.

Am I grateful for Jesus love? Am I overwhelmed that God chose to use Jesus so he could share life together with me?

I must admit, I often think about what God has done for me and what awaits. I too often think it is about me. I want to be overwhelmed with what God chose to do in order to share life with me. I want to be grateful from deep within my heart. I want to be so humbled, it brings tears of joy.

Gratitude

From Donald Miller's book To Own a Dragon

The chapter is about girls. Miller's friend asked him if he felt he deserved to be in a relationship with a female. Miller thought it a strange question and explained so in his hilariously quirky way!

His friend went on to say that he had concluded that he didn't deserve his wife. He found it incredible that she chose to spend the rest of her life with him. His friend said he was grateful.

Miller's friend went on to say that often we use other people and romantic stuff to validate ourselves. True love involves gratitude and being overwhelmed that another person chose to share life together.

Miller summed up the chapter by wondering if love from ego versus love from the heart signalled a transition to maturity.

I began to tell Danna about what I felt was this incredible insight from the book. I started to get choked up! As I explained the words I wrote above, I began to cry and I made her cry. It is incredibly humbling to realize she chose to share life with me. I don't deserve my Angel. I call her that because she is an Angel. Yes, we have our struggles but she loves me in spite of myself. I am in awe of our relationship.

I also told her that it is so much different than my previous marriage, thankfully!! Anybody that has heard me talk about that phase of my life has heard me readily admit I made many mistakes. One big one was being too immature to get married in the first place. I was mature from a worldly, having my goals which drove me, point of view. I didn't have the maturity or the humility to know I needed God. Life was about me. I wasn't grateful.

God saw me through my immaturity. I haven't arrived, by any means. However, he has blessed me tremendously with a wonderful woman who is truly my Angel!!

After we both cried for awhile, I said a line I have said a lot. "I have become my Mom!!" I was puzzled as a kid why she cried when she was happy. It made no sense to me at all!! Now, it DOES!!!!

Burned Up Stuff or Burned Up Self?

I Corinthians 3:10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Matthew 25:31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Are the works discussed in I Corinthians similar to the works in Matthew 25? Do you notice that in Matthew 25, the cursed call him Lord as well? Do you think they were baptized? Do you think they asked Jesus into their hearts? However or whenever you think someone is saved, does the cross and the grace of the cross cover over ignoring the people described in Matthew 25?

Are these passages talking about different people?

Is my stuff, my works going to get burned up or am I going to get burned up?

Somedays I do OK with having good works and occasionally I help a person like mentioned in Matthew 25. Will God's grace cover 5o times? 40 times? 30 times? 20 times? 10 times? 1 time? No times?

How do you know if your faith is growing?

How do you know your faith is growing? How do you measure faith growth?

Work Out Your Own Salvation?

I don't think going it alone in trying to become transformed into the image of Christ is a good idea.

Following the crowd is not a great idea either.

So how and why is it important to work out your own salvation?

I guess the first reason is because the Bible says so (Philippians 2). I think the other reason is that ultimately, I am going to be judged as an individual. From what I understand, the judgement discussed in Matthew 25 is an individual judgement. What did I do in this life for other people? How did I show my love for God by taking care of my neighbor?

Have you ever thought about your neighbor as a very legalistic religious organization in which you might find yourself? Am I supposed to love them? Take a look at Matthew 23:1-3.

1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

I had never focused on the first sentence of verse 3 before. I must confess past sins of hammering organizations and doctrines. I must repent.

I also think the rest of verse 3 is key for individuals in any religious organization. Am I doing what the organization says I need to do or am I doing what I feel I need to be doing? Am I looking to what Jesus says he is going to judge me on as an individual?

It seems to me to be very dangerous if I was to think that my association with a religious organization who has convinced me they have the right answers guarantees my salvation and prohibits others. What if I don't take care of others? What if I don't love my neighbor?

I think I need to respect and love people in such organizations, associate myself with people who will help me and hold me accountable on my transformation journey and work out my own salvation by doing what Jesus said for my neighbor. That is a challenge!!!

Thank you Jesus for grace, but am I relying on that to cover over my selfishness in all too often ignoring my neighbor?

Satan's Most Effective Tool?

I wonder if Satan's most effective tool is getting us to believe we have to do something big?

I think he understands that if we obsess about doing something big, we are frozen. We downplay "little" things. We tell people "it was nothing" which is often a way of saying I wish it was bigger.

Satan is effective in getting us to focus on a goal and not the journey. Every step of the journey is exquisite. There are no little steps. Exquisite and little do not equate!

Getting Old is Interesting - I Think!?!?

It occurred to me that one of the things I wanted to discuss in my last post, I forgot to add before I published! Getting old, wow!!

What I was going to add about the parable of the shrewd manager:

Do you think that God had passages like this in the Bible to remind us that he is so much bigger than us, our doctrines, our thoughts about whether people are right or wrong, our interpretations of what scriptures mean? Do you think he threw us certain curveballs to remind us we are not to sit around and try to figure him out? We are not to try to develop a flawless theological doctrine? Perhaps we are to read, contemplate, study so that we can be, so that we can spread life?

Back to Questions

I was thinking today that I have been getting away from the main reason I started this blog stuff - asking questions because I don't have answers. The more questions I have, the more I figure out that often, there are no answers.

Interestingly, in Rob Bell's book Velvet Elvis that I recently read, he talked about how in the Jewish educational system, the way you demonstrated knowledge was by asking questions. I think I am on the right track in asking questions but I am afraid my questions don't demonstrate any knowledge.

Anyway, back to the question(s).

Luke 16 the parable of the shrewd manager. I am not sure what to think of this. What does it mean? We often quote verse 13 about not being able to serve two masters. That verse makes a very good point. But what is the point of verses 1-12? What are we supposed to learn here? What are we supposed to pass along to future generations about this passage? Did I miss what earlier generations passed along about these verses?

Wrong Message?

I saw on Cope's blog and on the news last night that the NFL cracked down on a church which was going to have a Super Bowl Bash. They were going to show the game on the projection screen. (Don't you wonder how they found out? My guess is they have "cops" searching on the net, media reports, etc. which is sad to me.)

The NFL has the legal authority to do this. I don't agree with it but it is the law.

On that news story, the reporter interviewed a local church for reaction. The pastor couldn't believe the NFL either and said they were going ahead and projecting the game on their screen.

What kind of message is that church, and others like it, sending? We know this is illegal but we are moving forward anyway?

Strange Sight

On the way to work on the slushy roads, the snow was slowly starting to fall some more. Drivers were actually being appropriately cautious today. As I was waiting to head up the on-ramp to 169, I saw a strange sight for February 1, especially with the snow.

A truck turned in front of us to go on that same on-ramp . . . with his boat in tow!!

Midday Update - Strange Sighting #2

Snow on the ground, more forecast, temperature freezing, at best. Man seen wearing tennis shoes, a cowboy hat, no coat, t-shirt and shorts!!!

Makes me wonder what I will see this evening!!