Tag Archives: religion

Attempting to Appease God

23 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by in Luke, Our Spiritual Process

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You search the Scriptures

 

 

A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  Luke 18:18

 

This young ruler didn’t ask Jesus what “bad thing” or “bad sin” he needed to stop doing in order to get into heaven. He asked Jesus about what he needed to do next to ensure he inherited eternal life.  But Jesus met this young man on the grounds of the Ten Commandments. In fact, Jesus only mentioned five. Jesus alluded to all the horizontal commandments (commandments directed toward men)… but He didn’t mention the vertical commandments (commandments directed toward God).

Isn’t this what most people think about God, the Bible, and salvation. They believe it is mostly composed of a list of “do’s and don’ts“. Most are somewhat familiar with these lists and know which ones they have broken and which ones they have kept, even from a young age.

“Ah ha,” the young man replied, “I have already stopped doing all those wrong things. What else have You got good teacher?” He must have thought Jesus was letting him off the hook by only mentioning 5 of the 10 commandments. Lucky day!

Jesus said, “Well, if you are really serious about this whole business, if you really want to be perfect, why don’t you go out and sell what you have and fully serve your neighbor.” This response shocked the rich young ruler. He was expecting more negatives from the Lord… maybe even some new commandment… something exotic which no one else was performing.  He wasn’t let off the hook, he was pierced through the heart!

Jesus had directed the young man to search beyond the negative law to the positive law of love. This was, of course, more than the young ruler was ready to commit. Jesus knew by releasing his possessions (which had a grip on his heart) that this would cover all the commands and assure the young man a relationship with God.

This young ruler is like most people. He felt relatively comfortable with the negative law. We expect a certain negativity from “religion.” Religion is constantly watching and on-guard.  Religion has laws which keep everybody in-line.  Knowing where the line of black and white flows is a comfort. We can walk right up to it and continue to feel relatively safe.

The young man was good at not doing this and not doing that, but he was not ready for the unlimited reach of God’s love into every area of his life. By simply releasing his possessions… he would have been giving God everything and the Lord would have been able to give him everything in return.

I am personally uncomfortable with this whole concept of being a Christian as Jesus explained it. I am a Pharisee by nature. Most people are as well, whether they admit it or not.  We are more comfortable and content with the negative approaches to keeping the law and following religion…  because we like to know where the limits are. The scales are either tipped our way or they are not.

  • The negative boundaries remind us of when we are coloring outside the lines.
  • They remind us of when we go beyond the speed limit.
  • They remind us of where the dangers lie.
  • We all feel more comfortable when we can see the extent of our obligations and also understand where others are in their walk… because we love to compare!

Unfortunately, the young man walked away. He is the only person who ever came to Jesus seeking help and walked away in worse condition than when he first arrived. Thankfully our story doesn’t have to end like the young ruler. Jesus didn’t offer His life so that we might further follow a religion. He gave Himself so that we might have a relationship with Him. The choice is always ours.

Blessings – From God’s Incubator, 

Pastor

Things My Mother Taught Me!

10 Friday May 2013

Posted by in Holidays and Special Events

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Things My Mother Taught Me

 

Maybe your mother told you things like this… and maybe you miss hearing such excellent advice.  Whatever the case, make sure and tell your mother how much you love her.  If your mother has gone on to be with the Lord, thank the Lord for her this Mother’s Day.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

Burdens Too Difficult to Carry

04 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by in Luke

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The Christian Ideal

 

Hypocrite! Hypocrite! We are quick to judge who we think may be a hypocrite, but most of us never consider we might be one. Jesus reserved His harshest words not for thieves, prostitutes, or drunkards, but for a segment of religious people He identified as hypocrites. One of Jesus’ missions was to expose people who claimed to represent God and His ways, while not living out what they professed.

Just what bothered Jesus about the Pharisees? It was their focus upon external behavior, all the while ignoring internal change. They were more concerned with form over substance and more concerned about appearance than reality. The Pharisees were only concerned with what a man did. Jesus was concerned with what and who a man was.

So Jesus’ toughest words came at the Pharisees’ expense. He accused them of majoring on minors, being preoccupied with being noticed, and being a burden upon people rather than a blessing. Ouch! Listen to Jesus’ words…

“And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” Luke 11:46

 

Jesus accused these religious leaders of taking all the joy out of living for God. Do these guys sound like anyone you know? Bottom line – they made serving God a joyless burden. This is what lifeless religion will do… it will suck the life right out of you and anyone else around you. Lifeless religion causes us to focus upon meaningless activities. It keeps the flesh busy while the soul starves.

It’s like pedestrians in New York who still press the button to get the lights to change… despite the fact their activity produces no results. Since the late 80’s all the traffic signals have been controlled by computer, but the city won’t pay to have the buttons removed. It’s probably just as well. The repetitive motion helps boost people’s illusion of control. We feel better when we can do something… right?

The Pharisees had all of Israel pushing buttons which really didn’t matter. Why? Because someone in the past told them to do it… they just kept passing along burdens to the next generation. Each generation’s burden became larger than the previous.

This is why Jesus always pointed people back to discovering a relationship with God. It is not about activity, but all about who we are in the Lord. Religion focuses upon activity. Relationship focuses upon love. If you want to remain free today, focus upon your love relationship with the Father.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

DiscipleTips – No Spectators

09 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by in Discipletips

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Life is not a spectator sport

 

It has been said that much of Christianity can be compared to a football game. The twenty-two players on the field are in dire need of rest and 100,000 spectators in the stands in dire need of exercise.

Jesus wants all of His disciples to be engaged in His ministry of bringing the Kingdom of God to earth. That’s why He sent out the 12 in Luke 9:1 and why he will send out 72 in Luke 10. They were supposed to combine good deeds with the good news.

This is why most of the problems in Christianity are not from those on the field, but from the spectators. The ones advancing God’s work receive coaching and correction… and occasionally disqualify themselves. The onlookers make a lot of claims, make a lot of noise and create a lot of confusion. Since they are not officially on the team, coaching and correction doesn’t help.

Once we come to believe in Christ as Savior, we can’t stay in that place. We are called to grow in the Lord. Most, if not all of the disciple’s growth came because Jesus challenged their spiritual status-quo. Their faith was never allowed to stagnate. It would be like being born and staying an infant our entire life.

It is when we stop growing in the Lord that problems begin to develop.

  • We stop viewing the world from God’s perspective.
  • We begin to falsely assume we have arrived spiritually.
  • We neglect to discern the will of the Lord.
  • And we falsely believe we have done enough.

Below is a story about John Wimber attempting to witness to a New York taxi driver and the frustration which follows. I believe there is an important lesson for all believers at the end. I purposefully removed the denominational names.

“Years ago in New York City, I got into a taxi cab with an Iranian taxi driver, who could hardly speak English. I tried to explain to him where I wanted to go, and as he was pulling his car out of the parking place, he almost got hit by a van that on its side had a sign reading The __________ Church. He got real upset and said, “That guy’s drunk.” I said, “No, he’s a ___________. Drunk in the spirit, maybe, but not with wine.” He asked, “Do you know about church?” I said, “Well, I know a little bit about it; what do you know?”

It was a long trip from one end of Manhattan to the other, and all the way down he told me one horror story after another that he’d heard about the church. He knew about the pastor that ran off with the choir master’s wife, the couple that had burned the church down and collected the insurance—every horrible thing you could imagine. We finally get to where we were going, I paid him, and as we’re standing there on the landing I gave him an extra-large tip. He got a suspicious look in his eyes—he’d been around, you know.

I said, “Answer me this one question.” Now keep in mind, I’m planning on witnessing to him. “If there was a God and he had a church, what would it be like?” He sat there for awhile making up his mind to play or not. Finally he sighed and said, “Well, if there was a God and he had a church—they would care for the poor, heal the sick, and they wouldn’t charge you money to teach you the Book.” I turned around and it was like an explosion in my chest. “Oh, God.” I just cried, I couldn’t help it. I thought, “Oh Lord, they know. The world knows what it’s supposed to be like. The only ones that don’t know are the Church.”

Blessings,

Pastor

 

Youcef Still Alive Despite False Execution Rumors

29 Thursday Mar 2012

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The ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice) has received confirmation that Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is alive in Iran as of today, March 26, 2012.   New false reports about Pastor Youcef’s execution continue to surface – whether these reports originate from a misinformation campaign initiated by the Iranian regime or just uninformed sources is unknown.   Many of these false reports stem from an inaccurate image being circulated on various blogs and social media sites of an Iranian man of Pastor Youcef’s age standing bound in front of a gallows surrounded by two armed, masked Iranian guards. The image is not of Pastor Youcef and has been circulating since at least July 2011.   The ACLJ believes these demonstratively false rumors about Pastor Youcef’s death are detrimental to his freedom and potential release. It also causes unnecessary anxiety for the family members awaiting his release and the millions of people who are praying for him around the world.   Diplomatic efforts in Brazil and other nations around the world continue to proceed as international pressure on Iran increases. The ACLJ is reaching more than 1.3 million Twitter accounts every day with news and updates about Pastor Youcef through the Tweet for Youcef campaign. A companion Tweet for Youcef campaign in Portuguese is also reaching over 20,000 Twitter accounts each day. The Tweet for Youcef campaign is now reaching more than 90 percent of the world’s nations.

Reblogged from http://aclj.org/iran/youcef-still-alive-despite-false-execution-rumors

 

Blessings,

Pastor

 

Quotes About God and Character – Albert Einstein

15 Saturday Oct 2011

Posted by in Quotes

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“God is subtle but He is not malicious.”                                                                                                                     – Albert Einstein 

 

“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.” – Albert Einstein

 

“I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.” – Albert Einstein

 

“Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.” – Albert Einstein

 

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein

 

“Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds.” – Albert Einstein

 

“Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.” – Albert Einstein

 

“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” – Albert Einstein

 

“God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically.” – Albert Einstein

 

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein

 

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.” – Albert Einstein

 

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” – Albert Einstein

 

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” – Albert Einstein

 

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” – Albert Einstein

 

“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the Illimitable Superior Spirit who reveals Himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.” – Albert Einstein

 

The Compulsion to Act Religious

19 Tuesday Jul 2011

Posted by in Kingdom of God

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“It is good for us to be here, let us build three tabernacles”  Luke 9:33

      Do you ever feel compelled to seek  the Lord?  The Father is constantly drawing all men to Himself, through Jesus.  This process never ends, even after we have come to know Him.  We are forever being drawn to our Lord.  It is a good thing!  What we do when we arrive in His presence though, reveals much about our inward spiritual status.  Peter, James, and John started acting religious when they awoke and realized the glory of the Lord was near. 

       Because we are made in the image of God, men by nature are religious beings.  We are created for worship.  But, performing religious rituals and offering religious activities is not what the Lord seeks from us. 

      Notice, the first utterance from Peter’s mouth when the glory appears, “Let’s build sacred tents (tabernacles).”  The flesh is constantly calling us to ‘get busy’ for God.  These feeble attempts to somehow please God only serves to make us feel better about our spiritual shortcomings.  The Father doesn’t require or desire our religious activities.  From His mouth He told us exactly what He expected on that mountaintop.  “This is My Son, My chosen One; listen to Him.” 

      I believe the Lord affords us many opportunities to come into His presence.  How we approach Him and what we offer Him is of extreme importance.  We can be like some and have our offerings rejected.  Or, we can be like others and be accepted into His presence.  Listening to the Lord outweighs any religious activity or ritual you might perform.  Busy yourself today with listening and obeying the words of Jesus.