Lessor of Two Evils

Phillipians 3:12 , “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”

James 3:2, “For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.”

I am writing this 4 days before the 2016 United States Presidential Election featuring Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton. And clearly this is the most divisive election certainly in my lifetime, but perhaps in the history of this great nation. I too, like most of American’s have been torn in whom to vote for. Hillary clearly has gotten away with criminal activity any other citizen would serve serious time for, and Trump clearly has many personality traits that could be dangerous, and a proclivity for immoral sexual behavior. So with this confusion I prayed, and prayed, and prayed. I weighed not voting, voting for a third party candidate, and voting for both Hillary and Trump.

My anger was that the Media for the third election cycle in a row selected the republican candidate most likely to be defeated. My candidate was Ted Cruz because I perceive him to be the most genuine and righteous. I was angry with the supposedly conservative party, the Republicans… and I wanted to send a message to them to get their act together.

And after weeks of praying. Weeks of complaining to the Father, I decided to listen instead of speaking. And it was then the Holy Spirit stirred in me this… “You are not focused on the true enemy.” I was looking at men, at organizations, at political parties and elite people of immense power. None of which are the problem. The problem… the enemy… is Satan. Peter teaches us in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

And so changing my focus, I ask the Father, “what about these men (and women)?” And without hesitation the Holy Spirit replied, “They are all men, none are perfect accept Christ.”

In this revelation I know what I have to do. I have to vote for a human being, and pray for God’s will to be done. I have to choose the lessor of 2 evils in that they are all sinners, and I have to vote against Satan and his agenda. Jesus taught us in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Who is the biggest liar? Who is forcing Satan’s agenda of acceptable sin? Who is pushing for the one world order, which is Satan? Who is the criminal? Who is the murderer?

Christ hung on the cross as a criminal, but was in fact blameless. Satan is a criminal in fact and deed.

For me the choice is clear. I don’t understand it, but I have peace about my vote. I have peace that I have made the decision that Christ wants me to. 

Creation & Science (Genesis 1:26-31) Part IV The Creation of Man

Genesis 1:26-31 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

At this point in the creation story God has prepared time and space, along with the heavens and the earth. He has created the earth’s ecosystem, and is now going to plant mankind onto the earth. For those unfamiliar with the creation account of Genesis, there are actually two versions of the creation. Genesis 1 through Genesis 2:3 being the first. The second account of creation begins in Genesis 2:4. Why God chose to allow two separate accounts to be immortalized in the Bible is up to speculation. For me, I have always viewed the first account as an overview, and the second version more of an in-depth look.

So without the Garden of Eden, without the creation of Adam first and then Eve, without the detail to be explored later, let us look at the importance of this passage.

First and foremost is the fact that God created mankind “in Our image,” and “according to Our likeness.” And even though these phrases contain multiple English words, they are in fact only two distinct Hebrew words in the original text. As single words they do allow us to dissect “Our” or “image” or “likeness.” Theologians argue “Our” is the trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Image and likeness are often equated with our bipedal human form, and our intelligence. I would argue this… “Our” is irrelevant in terms of whether the Father was describing Himself as a triune God, or whether He was referring to heavens inhabitants before the creation of what we know as our universe. But “image” and “likeness” infer some traits that make us uniquely created by the Divine. When God created us in His “image” he created us with both a soul and spirit. Jesus told us “God is Spirit.” He also said our spirit must be born again. The totality of our being shares within it this “image.” With regards to the “likeness” of God we were created with a free will. Our soul was enabled to make choices. Yes later sin enters the world through a bad choice, but from the beginning God made us with the potential to have a soul that can last beyond time and into infinity, and He gave us a free will for a single purpose. That purpose though not defined in the passage is to love Him. God loves us, and our creation in His “likeness” allows us to, of our own free will, love Him back.

The rest of the passage is our command to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” Strangely enough God gave us the ability to reproduce other souls. Not coincidentally, sex drives much of the adult population. Sure Satan and sin corrupt this command. But the driving force was placed inside of us by God Himself.

I won’t spend a lot of time on the rest of the passage, but it should suffice that God could have just as well said, now go and survive, and create.  God’s work is finished, now it is time for His creation to create.

Conversations with The Devil

John 7: 37-38, “…Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’’"

Lately I have allowed external pressure to bear down on me. My sleep is restless, my mind is in a constant grind, and my body is weak from the mental struggles. My spirit is calm and peaceful, but the world presses in on my flesh testing my soul.

This struggle lead to a conversation with myself this morning, that might has well have been a conversation with the devil. The internal dialog said, “you have never succeeded… look at all your failures… they doubt you for good reason… look at the money you have lost in your lifetime, ten people could have retired if you had not taken the risk.” The conversation was as real to me as Eve’s conversation with Satan at the Tree of Knowledge. But GOD…

Resisting my thoughts I turned to God. It was there the Holy Spirit recited to me Ecclesiastes 3, “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven – A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to morn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; a time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.” There is a time, and today is that time for my innermost being to flow rivers of living water. Today is a day for birth, it is a day of healing, it is a day of laughter and dancing, it is a time to embrace (what really is nothing more than a pruning), it is a day to search and keep, to sew together, to speak, to love, and to labor.

It is a day to stand firm against fear and paranoia. It is a day to continue because God has said, “keep going my son, this is just a season.”

Today is a Jeremiah 29:11 day where the Lord says, “For I know the plans I have for you… plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

Today is a Romans 8 day, “And we know that God causes ALL things to work together for good to those who love God, to those called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son…” Today my soul grows stronger, to be conformed to the image Christ whether by choice or by force.

It is here where I breathe deep… letting the air release from my lungs I am bathed in the peace of God. I am embraced in the arms of the Father. I am energized, determined… fear is gone… I am alive in Christ. To linger here is my sole (and soul’s) desire. Tears of joy interrupted with the image of a father setting his son on the ground, patting him on the butt, and saying “go get them boy.”

Imagination? Believe what you want. I know the truth.

Self-Reflection

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?”

There is so much about walking with Christ in salvation that is important.  Perhaps this message from the Apostle Paul is one of those critical things that we must do as Christians on a daily basis.

We too often fall into judging and blaming others without looking at ourselves. Christ was constantly addressing this human flaw whether it was in Matthew 7:1 where He said, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” Or in John 8:7 when our Lord said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” How often can a person be honest with themselves? Who among us can look within our own heart and be honest about our own flaws, which are sin in so much as our character does not perfectly align with the character of Christ.

Trust me, just as we see the flaws in another, they see our flaws as well. Therefore it is critical to be in state of constant HONEST reflection of our character so that we will not fulfill Jesus’ admonishment in Matthew 7 & Luke 6:41 where He said, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” We must do as Paul says and not only recognize the Christ that is in us, but we must also recognize the character flaws that are not Christ.

Are we quick to anger? This is not Christ. Are we judgmental? This is not Christ. Are we constantly blaming someone else for who we are, or how we act? This is not Christ. Jesus from His very birth was persecuted. If anyone deserved to have a bad attitude about life, or an excuse for bad behavior it was Him.

Do we lack peace, and find ourselves in a constant state of stress and worry over finances, children, spouses, work, etc. This is not Christ in us. This is the testing of our character, and to see if through self-reflection and self-examination we will allow the Holy Spirit to perfect Christ’s character within us.

Mind you that I do not believe a single Christian goes through life trying to harm anyone. Many with good intent offer “constructive” criticism or “godly” advice when, if they would honestly examine their own heart in comparison to Jesus, they would find the evil they are confronting is their own ignorance and lack of understanding. This good intent is rejected because the hypocrite in us all outshines the good intentions.

Or do we suppose that our ability to pretend in public has become the sinless, perfect character we project? We can pretend all we want, but Jesus reminds us in Mark 4:22, “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.” Truth, included the absolute truth of our character and the magnitude of Christ within us will be revealed. We must examine ourselves! When we truthfully examine ourselves, when we confess to the Father in prayer we will experience the forgiving power of God’s grace. We will become like the woman in Luke 7:47 where Jesus describes this affect, “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

If we will test and examine ourselves our contributions to humanity will be love, not constructive criticism. Our contributions will be empathy and forgiveness, not judgment and advice. If we will get truthful with ourselves then we will with are very life not only be a disciple, but disciple others into the love of the Father, and into relationship with Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And I write to myself for I am a sinner with many flaws. I also know that I will always be a sinner, that I will NEVER arrive. But through self-reflection, through honest prayer to my Father I am decreasing so that Christ may increase. This is my path. Will you join me?

Self-Reflection

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?”

There is so much about walking with Christ in salvation that is important.  Perhaps this message from the Apostle Paul is one of those critical things that we must do as Christians on a daily basis.

We too often fall into judging and blaming others without looking at ourselves. Christ was constantly addressing this human flaw whether it was in Matthew 7:1 where He said, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” Or in John 8:7 when our Lord said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” How often can a person be honest with themselves? Who among us can look within our own heart and be honest about our own flaws, which are sin in so much as our character does not perfectly align with the character of Christ.

Trust me, just as we see the flaws in another, they see our flaws as well. Therefore it is critical to be in state of constant HONEST reflection of our character so that we will not fulfill Jesus’ admonishment in Matthew 7 & Luke 6:41 where He said, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” We must do as Paul says and not only recognize the Christ that is in us, but we must also recognize the character flaws that are not Christ.

Are we quick to anger? This is not Christ. Are we judgmental? This is not Christ. Are we constantly blaming someone else for who we are, or how we act? This is not Christ. Jesus from His very birth was persecuted. If anyone deserved to have a bad attitude about life, or an excuse for bad behavior it was Him.

Do we lack peace, and find ourselves in a constant state of stress and worry over finances, children, spouses, work, etc. This is not Christ in us. This is the testing of our character, and to see if through self-reflection and self-examination we will allow the Holy Spirit to perfect Christ’s character within us.

Mind you that I do not believe a single Christian goes through life trying to harm anyone. Many with good intent offer “constructive” criticism or “godly” advice when, if they would honestly examine their own heart in comparison to Jesus, they would find the evil they are confronting is their own ignorance and lack of understanding. This good intent is rejected because the hypocrite in us all outshines the good intentions.

Or do we suppose that our ability to pretend in public has become the sinless, perfect character we project? We can pretend all we want, but Jesus reminds us in Mark 4:22, “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.” Truth, included the absolute truth of our character and the magnitude of Christ within us will be revealed. We must examine ourselves! When we truthfully examine ourselves, when we confess to the Father in prayer we will experience the forgiving power of God’s grace. We will become like the woman in Luke 7:47 where Jesus describes this affect, “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

If we will test and examine ourselves our contributions to humanity will be love, not constructive criticism. Our contributions will be empathy and forgiveness, not judgment and advice. If we will get truthful with ourselves then we will with are very life not only be a disciple, but disciple others into the love of the Father, and into relationship with Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And I write to myself for I am a sinner with many flaws. I also know that I will always be a sinner, that I will NEVER arrive. But through self-reflection, through honest prayer to my Father I am decreasing so that Christ may increase. This is my path. Will you join me?

Creation & Science (Genesis 1:14-25) Part III

Genesis 1:14-25 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;        and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so.    God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.         Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens."God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.             God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind"; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

As with Part II of this series I would refer you once again to Dr. Kent Hovind a.k.a. Dr. Dino. He has some very fascinating things to say you about the moon and the heavens. One thing worth noting is that science has so often argued that the universe is billions of years old. And yet the moon’s orbit around the earth linearly increases by fractions of an inch every year. The result being that if the earth is billions of years old then the moon would have originated from somewhere inside the earth’s crust, and would have had to launch from the earth’s surface. Same goes for the oceans. Oceans have a linear, measurable increase in salinity every year. In other words the oceans get a very tiny fraction saltier every year. If the earth was billions of years old, then the oceans would be as salty as the Dead Sea.

All of which is irrelevant to a man’s salvation, but important in the order of creation. So God creates time and space, He then creates the universe, earth, and commands the earth to bring forth vegetation. Now he is making an environment that is habitable to other life forms. Stars are formed, and our galaxy is interacting with time and space so as to fix the orbits of the planets and stars. Perhaps it is here where God causes the earth to wobble thus giving us the seasons, and the moon is placed in orbit creating tides. From these tides water is allowed to circulate, moving nutrients, and oxygen. From the seasons the earth is now regulating its temperature… all in preparation for life.

And then behold in fifth day God commands the waters to create life. “Let the waters teem with life,” He says. “Let birds fly above the earth…” Then He commands the creatures, “Be fruitful and multiply…” Yes it all is God’s creation as verse 21 indicates, but there is no mention of the mechanism. He commanded and the earth created. Neither support nor denial of evolution, and yet evolutionist acknowledge this order. The vegetation came first, and something crawled out of the ocean next. That’s the basic theory. And yet a book written thousands of years before Darwin has the exact order already laid out. This is not genius, this is divine knowledge place with mankind so that they would know God did it, when science later would learn the order, and seek to understand the mechanism.

It’s the Journey not the Destination

John 19:30, “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

Having not written in so long my heart is overflowing with so much of what has been my conversations with the Father. And today a series of events, starting with Mary Kemp’s facebook post of “Confessions of a Pastor’s Wife” led to the outflow of this post.

Why do we as human beings get so caught up in ourselves and our emotions? Why do we get so focused on a destination? Even more so I wonder why the Bible does so little to address our emotions that really are such a huge controlling factor in our lives? Have you ever stopped and taken a deep look into what controls and influences your emotions on a daily basis? How much of our anger, emotional exhaustion, sadness, impatience is present because we have encounter obstacles to our destination of peace, happiness, financial success, the perfect family, the perfect marriage… the perfect anything?

It ought not to be this way. If Christ coming to the earth was about dying on the cross, then why wasn’t He nailed to it as a baby? If Christ’s only destination was salvation to a corrupted world, why did He rise from the dead? Christ coming to earth was about His journey here. It was about the words He said. It was about the people He met. It was an example in the trials He faced. How must the Son of God have felt when He could not heal someone, as was the case in His hometown. Christ felt pain. He felt emotion otherwise we would not know of His compassion. We would not know of His fear in the Garden of Gethsemane. Without Christ’s journey we would not have seen His human emotional despair on the cross when He cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me.”

Mary Kemp, whom I love, has for a very long time been in her husband’s (whom I also love) battle with cancer. Today her post, like so many before lays bare her emotional struggle with the journey. She knows and acknowledges God’s grace and mercy, but like us all, there seems to be the loss of focus that we have to be IN the journey. In the storm is Christ. In the tragedy is the shaping of our soul. So very very difficult to embrace, and even more difficult to understand.

How many of us have felt like Mary when she writes, “"There is a lot riding on this, Lord. People are watching us and seeing how we handle the pressure and how we respond to well, basically everything.” How many people think the answer is the destination beyond the storm.

If our actions (sin), or inactions (disobedience) are the source of our journey, then let us repent quickly. But if our journey is out of a pure heart, if it is based on walking in righteousness, then may that journey preform every work it has to do on our soul. Let us SHARE in Christ suffering.

I will tell you that Dusty and Mary are not on this journey alone. There truly is “a lot riding on this.” But it is not riding on the destination. It is riding on the journey. We all have the same fate in life. But we all have different journeys. Dusty is a God fearing man, and pastor of a very large church. Perhaps the journey the congregation shares with them is that they must learn to keep their eyes on God and never a man. Perhaps they need to more deeply explore their own souls. Perhaps there is someone out there whom God has commanded to pray but has not. Who knows? But in the journey is Christ, and Christ alone. And it is Him in the journey for all of us. Most certainly their journey purposefully includes emotional breakdowns, so that they can know Him more. It certainly includes Mary bearing her soul, that we all may benefit and ourselves know Him more. But don’t let any of us think for one moment that another’s salvation or relationship with God relies in our hands or with our actions, or with our journey. That was paid once and for all, and that responsibility and reward lies only with Him because of His journey.

Christ on the cross was not the destination. But a beginning of a new journey where He can walk with all of us, not just the twelve. Now you and I are in the boat of life with Jesus. Sometimes it is in a storm. Where is Christ? Is He asleep? Is He walking on the water? Is He praying? I can’t answer any of these questions for you, but I MUST ask myself these questions about my journey.

I will close with something equally as important. We do not get to question other’s journeys. But we can reflect on how their journey applies to our very own soul. And we must question our journeys to find Christ either exposed or hidden in them.  

Just as Christ could have been crucified as a baby, God to could call us to heaven immediately upon salvation. But He does not. The life we walk, the journey we take is good for our soul. As I preach to myself… we must learn to embrace the journey. A concept I am only infrequently acquainted with.