Songs and Fruits

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head for more than a day?  It can be a blessing or a disturbance, depending on the song.  The type of songs we listen too often tell the mood we are in.  If we are in a joyful mood, it is often an upbeat song, or if we are angry, the song is often heart pounding and talks about revenge.  Here is the other cool thing about songs and especially catchy tunes, they can help us remember things.  For me it was a song from kids camp many moons ago that helps me remember the Fruits of The Spirit.  They put the Fruit of the Spirit to the song  “Na Na Na, Hey, Hey, Hey, Kiss Them Good Bye.”  To this day, they only way I can remember the fruits of the Spirit is by singing the Fruits to that tune

In Galatians 5, Paul talks about how we are to have Fruits of the Spirit and we should cloth ourselves in them.  These things are love, joy, peace, patience, self control, forebearance, kindness, gentleness and self control.  We have to make a commitment on a daily basis to cloth ourselves in these things.  When we make a commitment to cloth ourselves in these things, God comes down and meets us there and He provides the grace and endurance for us to be clothed with these things.  These characteristics our not in our natural instincts if we are left to ourselves.  We tend to be impatient, not that loving, self centered, and losing our cool at the most inopportune times.  Clothing ourselves with these things doesn’t mean so much that we give up something, but it is what are we gaining.  If Christianity was truly about giving something up, I don’t think it would be worth it.  Could true Christianity be what we are gaining?  Instead of giving up vindication, retaliation, bitterness, which are all things that lead down a spiral and eventually to death, because we can not just stop and throwing one person under the bus, but its an addictive habit.   When we cloth ourselves with the fruit of the Spirit we are clothing ourselves with very nature of God.  The Fruits of the Spirit doesn’t save us, but they not only show who we belong too, but is also a sign of maturity.  Not only do these things bring us into right relationship with God, but it helps bring us into right relationship with others.  It helps us not only ask for forgiveness, but forgiving others when they have wronged us.  The goal of growing is not to still struggle with the same issues, but when we cloth ourselves with the character of God, we actually but away childish behaviors and move forward.  We are called to grow and to mature and not to be that slob that is so easy to be. 

There are two big theological terms here that we should discuss and they are imputing and imparting.  Imputing is what God does to us and He does to us what we can not do ourselves.  Imputing brings us back into right relationship with God through Christ work.  God imputes the Fruit of the Spirit to us, because it is something we can not do ourselves.  The other term is imparting, which is what God does through us.  In essence, it is the Fruits of the Spirit lived out in our daily lives.  It could be showing and having joy while balancing the checkbook, or having patience when a child is having a tempertantrum.  In essence, God is not only giving us grace, but we are being clothed in His righteousness and His character is becoming our own.  So in closing, are we letting God’s character become our character, and how are we letting it play out in our daily lives.  What is the point if we have God’s character and we do not let affect every part of our daily lives.  To finish up from last months newsletter, God did become one of us, not to be like us, but so we can be like Him and have our character changed. 

What if God was one of Us

            For those of you who are fans of 90’s grundge rock, you would probably recognize the name Alanis Morrissette and her song What if God Was One of Us.  The song ponders just as the title proclaims, what if God really was one of us, what would that be like and would He really be a slob like one of us.  In essence I really think Alanis was down playing the Deity of Christ and is essentially saying that He is not the Son of God.  There is a whole sermon or two of God becoming one of us in the form of Jesus, but as I wanted to share with Alanis and everyone who has ever listened and liked the song, God did not become one of us so that He could be a slob.  God became like us so that we could be like Him.  Its so that we don’t have to continue in our mess that we are in.  What really plays into this God changing us is due to His very nature of righteousness and holiness.

            There is something that we need to remember about God’s righteousness and holiness.  Even though God came and became one of us, He is still the Creator of the Universe and we are the created.  One of the essence of being a Christian and the Christian community is believing and embracing the idea that Jesus is fully God and fully man all at the same time.  One of these heresies is that Christ didn’t become God’s son until He was baptized by John the Baptist.  It is a complete lie because we can read throughout Scripture that Jesus was, is, and will be apart of the Trinity and apart of God’s plan.  Jesus is neither created, but He is of the same substance and is on equal relationship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. 

            Ok, I am done with my rant, and lets get back to Jesus becoming human.  He didn’t become human so that He could be a slob like one of us, it was so that we can take on the very nature and character of God.  This does not mean we will become God, but God will bestow His image of purity, righteousness and maturity on us as long as we reach out in faith.  In essence, Jesus death and resurrection is a calling for all of us to grow up and to be who God intended for us to be.  So what does this look like?  There are several places throughout Scripture where we are challenged to grow up and to put on the likeness of Christ.  Back when Tiger Woods was at the top of the golf world and winning majors, he would always wear a red polo on Sundays to finish up a golf tournament.  That polo was more than just a polo, when Tiger put on that polo, he was not putting on just another polo, but that polo signified confidence and a killer instinct that he was going to win that day.  When everyone saw Tiger on the golf course with that red polo, they new he was going to win the golf tournament.  Just as Tiger puts that polo on, we need to cloth ourselves with God’s righteousness.

            In Colossians 3, Paul talks about how we are not to be clothed, in which some of these things are; lustful thoughts and actions, rage, anger, impatience, bitterness and gossip.  These things lead us down a road of self destruction and separation from God.  These things often make us bitter and hateful people, and in Alanis song, I really think that she was claiming that God became one of us so that He could embody these things.  If He really did embrace these ideals, it wouldn’t make Him God’s Son and why would He come to save us to slobness when we had already perfected it.  So if we are to put away these things, what are we to cloth ourselves with then? Keep tuned in for the answer.

Actions and Consequences

  Here is a random thought and its something that I have been thinking about this week and these thoughts were engrained into my head by president of the college I attended.  One of his major platforms is that ideas do matter and that actions and words have consequences.  We often learn of these truths early, but need reminding of them on a daily basis. I read an article today from a recent Sports Illustrated about a college student who was a walk on football player for the University of Virginia. (even to be a walk on at a Division 1 program means you are a very talented athlete).  But Joseph Williams has a bigger cause on his plate, not only does he volunteer at several places and mentors a number of people there is one thing that is near and dear to his heart.  He and several students at the University of Virginia went on an eight day hunger strike to bring up awareness about the pay of the service employees at the university were receiving.  A lot of the service employees were receiving minimum or just above minimum wages which resulted in them just scrapping by.  Williams saw it as an injustice because the university was spending millions on athletics and yet they could not afford to give their employees a pay raise.   This news story not only caught the attention of the administration, but also garnished national media attention.  Williams was forced to make a decision to fall in line and give up the protest and remain on the team, or keep on with the protest and not be a member of the football team.  He chose that the latter and thought it was to big of a cause to give up.

  This gives light to issues of social justice and what is worth fighting for and what is important.  It is often standing in the gap for someone else and giving them a voice.  I also know that a lot of us are not willing to go on an eight day hunger strike, but two things still remain.  Who or what are we willing to stand up for and are we wiling to face the consequences of them.  Everything that we do/say or not do/say has consequences either for good or bad.  Our actions, thoughts and words often shows us where we are at with God and the condition of our heart.  Whether it is not getting up and going for that walk in the morning, makes it that much easier not to do it tomorrow morning (not that missing a morning walk will make us lose our salvation).  Or failing to communicate with family members or the tone of communication can have bad consequences and shows how selfish and self centered.  So often we just focus in on the bad consequences and trying our hardest not to do them, that we often forget that there are good consequences.  We teach ourselves and others (especially children) don't do stuff because something bad will happen.  Whether it is drugs, alcohol, or premarital intercourse, we often preach on the evilness of these things and they will lead to bad things.  Instead of always preaching don't do(there is a time and place for this), maybe its preaching on doing good things and reap the good benefits.  Whether it is some more time in the Bible,leaving the cell phone at home, or saying no to that late night ice cream, they do have positive consequences.
  
  In closing are actions and words, both that are said/done and the ones that are not said/done have consequences and they are usually either positive or negative consequences.  The Christian faith is not one of works that will get us into heaven but our works are a response to who we belong to and the grace that has been given.  I think there are very few decisions that are amoral (neither good or bad) because these things often lead to another decision.  So be mindful of what is said and done and that as a Christian, we do have the power of the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to make those decisions that will have a positive impact. But here is the kicker, we have to be open and listening for Him.  The Holy Spirit usually that still small voice in our ear or that deep gut feeling telling us what to do or say, or from time to time hits us on the back of the head to get our attention.

obedience

   As I have been wrestling with Romans 6 the last couple of weeks and as I have posted earlier about the issues of kingship and authority.  Obedience or disobedience is how one responds or doesn't respond to the authority figure  Whether it is God's authority, or human authority, it is still authority.  (The idea of whether to and when to obey and when to disobey human authority is a different posting)  Whether it is being obedient to ourselves or to God.  As I have wrestled with this issue of obedience, it is more than just doing something or not doing something for someone.  When one obeys, there is some level of respect for either the person or the authority that the person has giving the directions.  I often do or don't do things because its the right thing to do and there are times that I do the right things for the right reason, or the right thing for the wrong reason and vice versa.  There are times where I throw a tantrum while doing it or and that usually leads to nothing getting done.  When we are being obedient, especially to God and His authority or even earthly authority the intentions of the heart do matter.  I often thing of when I was made to apologize to my siblings for doing something wrong.  I may have apologized, but on the inside I was still kicking and screaming and calling them poopy heads.  So my question to us all is how do we match up this idea of obedience as action, and obedience of the heart.  It is a daily struggle for doing or not doing things for the right reason.  In the end, true obedience is knowing where one stands with others and living out of that which I hope is a position not of ruling but of serving. 

  One of the verses that has kept coming up for me is Malachi 6:8 of loving justice, mercy and walking humbly with God.  With this in mind, when one is walking humbly with God, it is a realization what are place is and living in it.  Its not taking a number and just being a member of the masses.  It is this idea that we are living as a child of God and we are coming under Gods authority.  God does not rule with an iron fist and a septor and kills off anyone who does wrong.  God is a God of mercy and not only does He come along side us and helps us put things back in order but He also bestows His holiness upon us.  To use a Dr Mulholland quote (professor at Asbury Seminary and thanks David Pritchard for sharing me of this quote):

               Unholiness is its own torment ... God enters into the torment to offer redemption and restoration                   To holiness.

   If we are truly walking in obedience, its more than doing the right thing because that gets us no where with God.  It is holy living, is allowing God to Impute His holiness and righteousness on us.  Imputing is God doing for us, what we can not do for ourselves.  Imputing is the act of being made righteous and holy before God through what Christ on the cross.  The other part of holy obedience is this idea of impartation, or what God does through us.  It is being obedient to the work of the Holy Spirit and following that leading.  It is taking part in what God is doing and doing it.  It is being conformed to God's character and holiness.  In closing, I think it is a movement from just bringing the sacrifices and gifts to the alter to moving into a right relationship with God and each other.  What I mean by this is that we are called to bring our gifts and sacrifices to the altar, but if we are not living in right relationship with God or our fellow man or woman, we are instructed to leave the gift and go make that relationship right.  I think the key component to loving justice and mercy is how are we at keeping up our relationship with God, but with others.  One definition of justice is being in right relationship with someone, whether it is with God or people.  Being in right relationship with God and others takes a lot of work, grace, mercy and God.  So maybe being obedient has to deal with being in right relationship and living out that right relationship.  Just some food for thought

Kingship and Authority

            In the American culture, when one dubs themselves as king, or someone else does for them, it often means that they are the best at what they do.  In the past fifty years, we have had the king of rock n roll (Elvis), the king of pop (Michael Jackson), or King James (basketball player).  These people are either considered the best at what they do, or have the most potential to be the best at what they do.  Being king often comes with the expectation of that they are not only the best at what they do, and they have authority, whether self ascribed or ascribed by others.  This type of kingship and authority often leads down a very destructive and painful road.  Having this type of authority, makes us want to be like Eric Cartman and yell respect my authority and when we say this, things never end well.  Looking back on the lives of Michael Jackson and Elvis, the end of their lives were nothing to be followed or desired and lead to their untimely and unfortunate deaths.  We all have someone(s) or something(s) that rule over us and act as authority in our lives, it is just a matter of is it constructive or destructive to our current lifestyle and our eternal one.

            Romans 6 talks about this idea of kingship and authority in our lives and who or what has this authority.  It is more than who serves as our elected leaders on a local, state, and a national level, which is an important discussion for a later time, but it is who rules our heart, action and lives.  In this chapter Paul is sharing with the Roman church the two authorities that are not only trying to grab our attention, but are trying to grab our hearts and our allegiances and these authorities are in contrast with each other.  One authority is sin and sin is anything that takes us out of a right relationship with God.  Sin often manifest itself in being self centered, hedonistic, or self destructive patterns.  I think that Frank Sinatra has a pretty good definition of sin and that’s doing things my way.  Doing things my way often leads us down a self destructive path that if we are responsible for getting ourselves out of, we can’t.  It’s because we have let sin rule over us and we are under its authority and we become servants of this destructive lifestyle.  But here is the good news, we do not have to be under the authority of sin and live this self destructive lifestyle.   

            Paul touches on this idea of should I keep on sinning so that grace may expound.  Essentially Paul is asking the question of, should I keep dishonoring Him to gain His mercy and favor.  Paul emphatically says no way.  To sum it up, we are turning God’s gift into a cheap perfume that doesn’t smell good.  God’s gift to us, which is Jesus death and resurrection, gives us the ability to have power over sin and not to continue in it.  Paul contrast of sinning all the time to get Gods grace with being an instrument of God’s grace to the world we live in.  Being an instrument for God, takes on many forms, but the main constant is this; it is sharing and doing for others what God has done for us.  The question is, are we going to be obedient to Gods grace and work within us and through us, to be instruments of peace and reconciliation to a hurting and broken world.  Or are we going to go and be obedient to our hedonistic selves and be destructive.  We are kind of like bulldozers, they can be useful in building roads and buildings, but also can be very destructive in ripping things apart and causing mayhem.  So what kind of instruments are we going to be today and how are we going to let God use us for His glory.  In the end, it is not about respecting my authority or kingship that I might have, but it is point to the One who has authority over all and is the Creator of the Universe.

The Vindicated Prodical

The story of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15 is one of the most popular Bible stories out there and we would probably lose count on how many times it has been preached from different perspectives. To sum up the story, the younger of the two sons gets sick of living at home, so he demands his inheritance and leaves the family. After a time of living it up and reckless abandonment, he is out of money in a far far away place. To he decided to get a job feeding pigs (which for a good Jewish person, that is blasphemy) and after awhile of feeding and eating what the pigs ate, he game to his senses. He would go home and be one of his fathers hired hands, because they had it better than he did. When he almost got home, his father came out runningnot only greeted him, but had a long embrace. The son was restored to full sonship and he was a part of the family. The older brother had a tantrum because the dysfunctional brother not only came home, but was restored member of the family and there was a party.

I just wonder how many of us carry the attitude of the older son. It is the attitude of making sure everyone stays happy and we do not do anything wrong and we stay on the straight and narrow. The problem with the older brother, like a lot of us is that we are not children but slaves. Being a slave has several destructive tendencies that will keep us a slave if we do not over come them. The first one and I think the most important one to over come is vindication. A person who has a slave mentality is that they always have to be proven right and are always justifying what they do. This attitude is that there is always an explanation for what they did or didn't do, or place the blame on someone else. They are willing to do or say anything or nothing as long as they can justify it and it helps them sleep at night. Whether its justifying crappy eating habits because they claim that they don't have time or the money to eat healthy. This type of justification is based on our own standards or our interpretations of certain standards. Other people can do what they want, just as long as people fit things into your standards and justifications.

When we start using our own justifications to live life, we are going down a winding path that often leads to no good. When our own standards and heart are corrupt, it is really hard to come up with healthy ways of living when its coming from a broken person. It is like trying to turn out an award winning apple pie with rotten apples, it just doesn't happen.

Another problem with having the slave mentality is the concept of trying to play catch up or hooking yourself to the latest whim or bright idea. I am not saying that all the latest fades or whims are bad, but trying to play catch up can be exhausting. If and when the idea fails, we often sit in shambles because we don't know how we got there. One of the problems with this mentality, is that we are prone to not having a backbone. Going from whim to whim often shows a lack of planing and a lack of integrity/backbone because we either don't plan things out, or we are to stubborn to change our ways .

One of the biggest areas that I see where a person with a slave mentality comes from is seeking people's approval and wondering if they are making a difference. This often comes from two different sources. The first one is that we are to blind to see the big picture and we have tunnel vision. We just see what is in front of us. The second issue is that we are not willing to grow up and deal with our own issues. We either minimize our problems and say that they are not that bad and that everyone has problems. At least with me, I do enough reflection, but putting into practice to make those changes is hard. A slave does not want to admit that there is a problem or the severity of the problem. Therefore the problem doesn't change, because one does not want to put in the hard work to make it change. We are comfortable in our own little bubble and in all honesty, we enjoy sitting and our own crap where we don't want to change. With this mentality, we often wonder if we are ever making an impact and doing any good and I am comming to realize that the impact one is making is not as big as it could be if at all.

Or its not my problem its everyone else. The blame game often goes back to self justification and it is a terrible circle to get on and one that is very hard to get out of. Hopefully in the near future I can write about what it means to be a child

The Spirit of Adoption

The last two weeks in sports there have been some events that made me want to bang my head against the wall. The first was when the Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen made the horrific comments that he actually admired the dictator Fidel Castro. He later apologized and tried to explain himself. Secondly, if you go and have a motorcycle accident, make sure you tell your boss who was involved, especially if it was a female subordinate who just happened to be your mistress. Don't let him find out when the police report becomes public, and it makes you look like a liar and having something to hide. So now Bobby Pitreno is looking for a new job while trying to mend his broken family and the University of Arkansas is looking for a new head football coach

Bubba Watson happens to be the coolest person in sports right now (his name might have something to do with it :)). Not only has he won one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the world (The Masters) without having a golf coach or never taking a golf lesson, he owns the original General Lee. For those of you who watched 1980's tv, The General Lee was the car used on the TV show The Dukes of Hazard. He happens to owns the original car that has the doors welded shut. I was a fan of the show and if it were on today I would still watch it. But the coolest thing about Bubba Watson is that not only he is a Christian, but him and his wife just adopted an infant boy. I heard an interview with him this week and he basically said that winning the Masters was cool and a great accomplishment, but there is more to life than winning a golf tournament. He got home late after winning the Masters and yet he was up two hours later to change a diaper. He has shared a little bit of the struggles that him and his wife went through in adopting and it didn't sound fun.

For those of you who know my family story, my sister and her husband adopted two children, and they are the greatest in the world. It is so fun watching them grow up in pictures and learning new things and doing some of the weirdest and most bizarre things. but they sure do make me smile. Here is an older picture of them When become apart of God's family we become adopted. I am reminded of the old Gospel song that this world is not our home and we are just passin through. When we are adopted into Gods family, this world is not our final destination. We have something better waiting for us and we are apart of something bigger than just ourselves or even our families, but it is global.

Throughout the New Testament, especially in the book of Romans and John's Epistles there is language that states that if we have accepted Christ as our Savior and turn from our ways, God gives us His Spirit and we are called sons (and daughters) of God and co-heirs with Christ. What this means, is that we belong to the Creator of the Universe. Romans 8 gives us several helpful and hopeful meanings to what it means to be adopted.

The first one is the greatest one of all. Since we have God's Spirit, our bodies may die, yet we live. Essentially the grave and separation from God for all eternity is no longer something we have to worry about. Through God's Spirit, we can put to death all of our destructive and bad habits and replace them with Godly ones. It is God's Spirit doing the work in us so that we no longer have to struggle with our earthly nature, but become a child of God and do things that are of God and move away from things that are not of God.

The second one and I think the coolest one is the idea that we no longer have to be slaves again to fear and timidity, but we can call God Daddy. Having a slave mentality often means a person is on the outside looking in and often live in fear. A slave often works to please God and so that He doesn't come down in anger on them. The more the slave can do right and the less they can do wrong, that means the master will like them more and the slave will be in better favor. Adoption moves that slave barrier, and it is not so much what we do, but who we are. (what we do is important, but it flows out of who we are and what we do does not necessarily define us)

Adoption means intimacy with God and that there are no barriers. This means that we know God and God knows us. We do not have to go to God out of shame or hanging our heads, but we not only run to Him with open arms, but we often sit on His lap. When one is adopted and their is that intimacy, their is no weird awkwardness. If you have ever been in same room or in a conversation with someone, and something is not right, or there are unresolved issues that need to be taken care of and they haven't been, that is awkward and I know it makes me cringe inside. Being adopted means that we can go to God with open harms and we also go to God when we have done something wrong and we take care of it and make it right. Being adopted means we get a new lease on life and that we can be called children of the most High God and we can lay claim and participate in the promises that He has given us