Inadequate by design

2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a group we call Iwo Jima. I say wonderful because for the past 6 weeks something has always stood in the way of me getting together with the group.

For those that don’t know, Iwo Jima is a group of predominately men who universally are seeking God with all they can. Most are involved in ministry in some capacity. And so yesterday as the group opened up it became very clear that the theme, if there is such a thing, was centered on failure, and feeling inadequate. And why should men of God, ministers of the gospel not feel inadequate? After all, we know the truth… or at least think we do… but we also know ourselves, and if we are honest with ourselves then we also know we fail daily and are grossly inadequate in all our rolls.

One pastor shared his humbling struggles with his 11 year old daughter. Here is a man that like all good father’s wants to the best for his daughter and to be the best father. Forget the added pressure of having an audience in the form of a church congregation watching in what is often judgment. Another young man was faced with the reality that as a husband he is inadequate, and that his wife suffers a similar fate. The truth that we cannot be Christ for anyone, including our children, spouses, friends, etc was swirling through the room. We are inadequate.

You are inadequate.

We are going to fail over and over again and it’s ok. It is all part of God’s plan. He causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him. (Romans 8:28) And this includes our failures.  

And so the sign post that you are entering the 2^nd half of spiritual life, as Richard Rohr would call it. The sign that you are operating from within the kingdom of God as I call it is that failure is necessary. It is a necessary part of the cross and the death of ego, and the resurrection of Christ in it’s place. But failure is necessary so that we can recognize our weakness and allow Christ’s strength to come through. This is what Paul was describing in 2 Corinthians 12.

So in the context of Christ’s power being perfected failures and inadequacies are natural and necessary. It is possible to stop fighting these things. It is possible to acknowledge that I am not a perfect father because I am not a perfect reflection of Christ… all the while allowing the power of Christ to be perfected in me and be at work in all I do.

This in no way means to quit trying to be a perfect reflection of Christ. But this is to say that any of those efforts in our own ability, in our on understanding will always be inadequate. And it’s ok because God knows we are going to fail long before it ever actually happens. It’s by His design so that Christ can be lifted up.

I will close with this… if God left it up to us none of us would make it. We will always be found inadequate failures. Christ and Christ alone is adequate, and the closer you get to Him; the more you seek that relationship, the deeper into the kingdom you go and the clearer this understanding becomes. Not because you have studied a doctrine, read a book, sat under a master teacher, but because you have encountered him time and time again and found yourself lacking compared to His wisdom and beauty. He is the standard that we will never reach, and that is EXACTLY how God intended it to be. 

1st Half, 2nd Half, Whole

John 17:14-16, “I have given the Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

Richard Rohr breaks Christian life into the 1^st half and the 2^nd half. The first half being an objective pursuit of sorts that sees defeat, failure, and tribulation causing the very necessary questioning of our Christianity. This 1^st half is succeeded by the 2^nd half where the spirit of man connects subjectively with Christ. Things that were once were objectively important to support a doctrine or dogma in the second half of (spiritual) life have lost their rigidity in working relationship to Christ.

For me I describe this sensation as entering the kingdom of God where we practice the presence of God. The 2^nd half of life is “Thy Kingdom come.” It is “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It is not a conquering of will, a perfecting of the art of holiness, or any other concoction of man but rather is spontaneous combustion of being in the presence of God continuously. Or at least as continuously as your spirit desires.

And so we have the 1^st half of spiritual life that begins somewhere immediate to salvation. It is an intellectual exercise. It is a practical exercise. In the 1st half of spiritual life we try to “learn” what God is and is doing so that we can somehow avoid the pain of a world full of tribulation. In the first half we try to remove ourselves from the world and transcend it effects even if only in ego. Learning leads to failure, which leads to realizing you haven’t learned enough, which leads to learning more. On and on this cycle repeats itself in the first half of spiritual life. In the first half, a life un-cognoscente of the very real kingdom of God present and at work inside. Practical exercises of spirituality are also key in the 1^st half. Go and do for God is a very appropriate and godly response as we grow in the 1^st half.

But for a few the 2^nd half of spiritual life comes into full bloom. The failures, the fallings, the challenges and trials of life are recognized as the cross of Christ coming to bear on the ego and its container the soul. Life no longer has moments to flee and others to embrace, but it all is seen as working in the constant death of self so that Christ may rise in the void.

This transition from 1^st half to 2^nd half can be seen in many people around. It is often accompanied with a distain for the 1^st half. There is a sensation that perhaps all that time spent in the first half was a waste. 1^st half institutions and 1^st half ministers are viewed with mistrust. Some go deep, deep into the 2^nd half isolating themselves from everything not spiritual. They try desperately to create an environment for themselves that is similar to the kingdom of God they experience inside. They, in essence, try to change the world. And if they cannot change the whole world, they certainly change their world. Equally 1st half'ers are guilty of the same biases in their state. To perpetual 1st half'ers the 2nd half does not exists, and the world can change if their doctrine is simply imposed on it. 

But Christ did not come to “change” the world. He did not pray, ‘God leave them here to change the world.’ Jesus did not come to create a utopia, but rather a battleground. (Matt 10:34) Christ came so that we, who are not of the world (2^nd half) could remain and live in the world. (1^st half)

I hope I have made this clear. You cannot have the 1^st half without the 2^nd half. And though our individual awareness changes in intensity as to what is more important, globally both halves are at work simultaneously.

I will describe it this way. In my Chemistry class we learned that each temperature gives off a different color of light within the ultraviolet, to infrared spectrum. White light is the combination of all the light. In other words it is all temperatures at the same time. Life with Christ is white light. It is the 1^st half, and the 2^nd half combined.

Even in the deepest recesses of the kingdom of God inside us, the body is still in the world, still benefiting from the practicality, the doctrine, and the dogma of the 1^st half. The whole is at work if you will.

And with the whole at work there is no need do anything other than to be a reflection of Christ and obedient to His light load for our individual life. I am not here to change the world, but I am here to change. 

Sabbath Rest

Van Gogh's
 "Noon rest from work after millet." 

Hebrews 4:1, “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.”

So for the past few days I have been struggling with breaking through spiritually on 2 very significant items that are causing me a lot of stress and could materially turn my world upside down for the worse. One has been since Oct, the other since Oct 2010. Yesterday I wrote on fasting in the context of breaking through. And low and behold a few hours after posting it one breakthrough came. I was finally issued my mortgage license albeit conditionally. So with at least a 6 month break before another intensive evaluation I have my last remaining major issue to see God resolve.

And as much as fasting has been on my heart, “rest” has been there as well. In the lesson of “rest” the last time I was learning to see what God does and to do that. In fact, rest was an exercise of obedience in the midst of an unemployment crisis. This time the lesson is taking a different twist.

There is a promise of “entering His rest.” This “rest” is the rest of eternal life, having been fully removed from the world and its dying affect. The rest of Hebrews 4 is not physical rest here and now, but rather a time after “They shall not enter My rest” is fulfilled. So the lesson of rest before was as physical as it was spiritual.

This time the lesson of rest is a lesson for my soul. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” This is the rest… rest for the soul… that Jesus is telling me to enjoy. In the midst of busily working to meet physical needs, in the midst of a world full of tribulation, in the midst of a personal crisis, He is telling me “rest.” Rest your soul… do not worry… do not fret… relax.

Of this same passage in Matthew T Austin-Sparks says, “"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest"… What has happened? Jesus has appropriated the Sabbath to Himself. It is no longer a day of the week – it is a divine Person… No, Jesus is God's Sabbath. He is the end of God's works, and in Him God has entered into His rest. This is the "rest which remaineth for the children of God" – not a day of the week or on the calendar, but a divine Person, the Son of God. In Him we come to rest, and that which was our bondage is now our servant. In Him, that against which we were always struggling is now our victory. Oh yes, Jesus is the Sabbath, and if we live in Him we shall not spoil the Sabbath. Every day should be a day of rest to our souls. Oh, this is a mighty thing that the Lord Jesus has done!”

How powerful… “what was our bondage is now our servant.” Looming problems no longer loom in the rest, but instead serve our needs. In the rest the struggle is turned to victory.

And so having written this, and in the process of proof reading, it hits me… “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.” Short of it is not just missing heaven. Short of it is not experiencing the victory and our bondage becoming our servant in Christ as the Sabbath Rest.

That I would live this rest in my life. That I would not only understand Christ as rest, but that I would know Him as such. 

Fasting

Isaiah 56, 5-6, “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed and for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day of the Lord? Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke.”

For the past several days fasting continues to come into my conversations with God. The reason being that I have two nagging, unresolved, material issues in my life that have drug on for too long without God’s intervention. I keep wondering if perhaps a fast will break the devils death grip in the areas. Or perhaps the thoughts are the Holy Spirit calling me to a fast for that very purpose.

Biblically, particularly in the Old Testament the fast served a couple of purposes. It was often used to court God’s favor, to achieve a favorable outcome like in a war or to remove unpleasant circumstances like captivity. It was also there as a part of repentance and reparations for sin.

In Isaiah there was a fast that was not affective, and it was not because the people perhaps gave up food, but nothing else changed. They continued to quench all other desires and showed no mercy to their workers during it rather than allow the fast to humble them. And so Isaiah speaks on behalf of God to define an acceptable fast. Only here it is not giving up food. The fast calls for giving up what amounts to sin, or as he calls it, “bonds of wickedness.” It sounds too like giving up addictions, or perhaps distractions when he says, “bands of the yoke… and break every yoke.”

And so my thoughts turn to times in the past where I have fasted television, video games, and other distractions for a time of prayer and being in relationship with God. After all in the American culture we have 24/7 distractions. We can wake up to TV or Radio, surf the internet from anywhere via computer, smart phone, or tablet. We wake up, we go, go go… to come home to go some more to finish the evening watching TV or surfing the internet some more. All distractions from relationship with God. All background noise so that we do not have to explore the recesses of our thoughts and soul in silence. For many, myself included, the distractions become an addiction. There are women who spend hours in romance novels and no time in the Bible. There are men who surf porn equally as long. Those things, and many others, become addictions. And it is the fast that breaks those yokes.

For me, I enjoy a glass or two of wine or an ice cold beer in the evening. But I also have to ask myself often is it too much, is it too often? Is it time for a fast of alcohol? Is it time for a fast of facebook, tv, the internet?

Sin of course should be fasted, but I have to ask myself what is the motive. Sin being anything that interferes with my relationship to Christ. Would I give up the distraction in obedience, or is my motive to court the favor of God like the men of the Old Testament? Am I only willing to loosen the band of wickedness so that God will cause me to win the lottery? And if I won the lottery, would I go back and put those bands on, or worse?

Fasting tobacco for God is a great way to start the breaking of that addiction. Fasting any addition for God is a great way to start, but when doing it for God is done, what do we become? Are we the dogs that return to their vomit?

And so I continue in my conversations with God concerning the fast, having already committed a couple of things to Him in this area. All the while guarding and questioning my heart as to its motives. Wondering if I am doing it purely to get a resolution to my material issues, or if I am doing it in an act of obedience without consideration of the outcome.

All of which I hopes causes you to consider a fast in your own life.

God Bless

God on Evolution

Genesis 1:24 & 27, “The God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures… Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image…”

I believe most accept evolution and never question how evolution and the Bible's version of creation work together. While on the extreme right evolution is dismissed in blind faith to the infallibility of the word of God. Does either side really look at what the Bible says?

Remember that God creates with words. Everything He says come to pass. When He says, “let there be light” there is light. And so as He continued in creation what is it God says? He says, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures…” God commands the earth to create living things. And the earth in response, by whatever mechanism… perhaps evolution brings about “everything that creeps.”

But where evolution fails is in the creation of man. Clearly there is a missing link in evolutions hypothesis about the origins of man. But God’s word is very clear. God created man Himself, and He did so using the base material of dust from the ground.

The point is that don’t let the hypothesis of evolution stand in the way of a true relationship with the Creator. For one, it is not a salvation issue to believe or not believe in evolution. Secondly, I image it will be in heaven that the exact mechanism of creation is revealed.

But if you’d like to explore the questions Science has not answered about creation and where the Bible’s version is supported by evidence then check out www.creationtoday.org as a resource.

Who is "Thou?"

Exodus 20: 4-26, “Thou shall not make for yourself an idol… Thou shall not take the Lord’s name in vain… Thou shall not murder… Thou shall not…”

Who is “Thou?” Here God gives the people of Israel what has been called the “10 Commandments.” But who is He talking to?

Consider this, everything God speaks is prophesy. In other words, everything God says comes to pass. When God says, “let there be light” there is light. If He were to say the sky is purple, then the sky would be purple. Therefore when God says, thou shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart… the thou in that sentence has no choice but to love God with all their heart. And yet we know that the people of Israel who heard these words from the mouth of God spoken out of a cloud did not love God with all their heart. They in fact, when left only a few days to their own demise created a golden calf to worship. Is God’s word not true? Is some things He speaks prophesy, and other things just wishful thinking and idle commands?

Like all of the Bible, Old & New Testament are all about Christ. Generations have missed this truth, but when God said, Thou shall not… the Thou He was talking to was Jesus. It is Christ and Christ alone who loved God with all His heart. It is Christ and Christ alone who did not murder or commit adultery in thought or deed. Christ alone is without lust and covetousness. And as a result these “Commandments” were not commandments at all. They were prophesy, the presentation of Christ even thousands of years before He came to earth in bodily form.

It is God saying… ‘Here is your standard found in My Son… Compare yourself to this.’ God says, ‘This person of Jesus Christ, in Whom He is welled pleased… this is your standard.’ And it’s a standard we will forever fail to meet while on earth in this body of death. But in relationship we are Christ like by proxy and adoption. And in relationship He comes into full view and those things in us that are not like Him begin to die and fall away.

Living Forever

2 Corinthians 5:8, “We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”

Driving into work the DJ’s on the radio got into a discussion about vampires. One said to the other that it wouldn’t be so bad to be a vampire, never aging and living forever. Immediately I thought to myself that would be terrible to live forever.

Think about it. Would you want live forever in the corruption and slow death this world is going through, only knowing God and His beauty in the spirit and in part? This is a world of tribulation and death. Sardines are born in the millions so that a few survive the ravishing of fish and fisherman alike. And though we exist on the very top of the food chain while sporting an earth suit called a body, we still suffer too by the millions. Whole continents have generations of occupants who primarily know famine and death. Billions are without freedom. This place called earth is no heaven. Quite to the contrary Jesus taught us heaven is inside us, never on the outside. And so I have to repeat what Dusty Kemp taught me years ago.

For those saved this is the only hell we will know. For those who are perishing, this is the only heaven they will know.

As for me, I don’t want to live forever. I would like to live long enough to know my children’s children, but beyond that… there is nothing special holding me to this celestial body as magnificent as it can be.

What a freedom this brings. To know, to live in a place, that at least for a moment I can say with the fullest of conviction that there is nothing on earth worth living forever for. Oh that this revelation might make me a better son, father, husband, employee… That it might make me more like Christ. That it might lead to a more abundant life as Jesus promised He would bring.