I’m So Sorry

August 16, 2012 by 2 Comments

Do you ever wonder what it would have been like to have been a Native when the ‘white man’ came? Imagine being a young Native girl washing laundry in the creek when the ‘white man’ comes through the forest with a gun to shoot you while calling you ‘savages’. Can you imagine being an African boy who came over on a boat without his family to be a slave to a ‘white man’ only to grow up being beaten and called n*gger? The ‘white man’ sure has created themselves an awful path of destruction, even the destruction of their own congregation. It has been a long held tradition in Christianity that women are seen as a lower class and they have no authority (unless it’s in the church nursery). There were days when the pastors would burn women of their congregation if they were suspected to be witches, which they weren’t.

There’s absolutely no excuse for it.

coast by sisterlisa, on Pix-O-Sphere

Oh but you say that Christian men have come a long way and no longer kill Natives, enslave Africans, or burn women, but they do still lord over them as if they have ultimate authority. This is in America and it is being reported that women are being burned as witches in other countries. I suspect it has a lot to do with the literal teachings of the Old Testament by American missionaries. I’m not accusing those missionaries of killing women, but they do preach to naive people who lack the ability to study the bible for themselves and know how much humanity has evolved and matured over here in the West. Although Christians don’t kill..oh wait…yes they do..and cover it up…anyway, racism and patriarchy are very much alive in this nation. As is abuse in many Christian homes. I can’t help but to wonder if the abuse rate is down in Charismatic Christian homes, because they value the women as equal. I don’t know, I haven’t conducted the research. But this isn’t the point of this article.

What I want to get at is the history of groups of people who, through their growth, increased education, and spiritual maturity have made public apologies for the actions of their ancestors.

So to all those who have been beaten, lost loved ones, been shunned and shoved aside, and denied equality in this global community.. I, a Christian, do hereby give full apology for the actions of my ancestors. As for the current Christians who keep up this atrocity, let me say this; they are immature, uneducated, and spiritually handicapped. Just little babies who haven’t cut their teeth yet. I am still sorry that so many are suffering from the abuse that comes from their hands and their unruly tongues. They don’t represent Christ.

The GLBT community should not have to live in fear of having a commitment ceremony and celebration at a public location, because some immature Christians might come along and scream, spit, and picket their marital event.

The Pagan community should not have to live in fear of building a public spiritual community center for those cold or hot days when the park is inaccessible, because some rude and unruly Christians might come along and throw rocks at them or follow them home to vandalize their homes.

Women should not have to be afraid to speak the prophetic words from the Lord, because some Christian men (and some women) would rebuke them and call them witches. And even if they are witches, if their words are prophetic you had better listen. Don’t forget the witch at Endor was able to conjure up a Samuel the prophet who ended up rebuking King Saul.

They shouldn’t have to be afraid these things would happen, but the fact of the matter is these things DO still happen in America. Can I let you in on a little secret they don’t want you to know?

You are free! Christ does NOT hold you to the letter of the law. Jesus said the fulfillment of the law is to love. Yes, that’s it. No religious hoops to jump through at all. Want to know another secret they will hate for you to know?

His power is within you and you have every right to rebuke a self righteous abusive Christian, in Jesus’ name even.

So while I wanted to express my sorrow for what my ancestors have done, I wanted to be sure to encourage you and equip you with truth to empower you to no longer be afraid. They’re the ones who are deeply afraid. Much love to you all. Enjoy walking free.

Sisterlisa

Biblical argument for Gays

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The Church Built on Sand

August 14, 2012 by 1 Comment

When we left legalism and relearned Christ, funny thing happened. Christians didn’t understand us anymore. If we didn’t speak Christianize they automatically thought we were ‘new age’. Anytime we clarified something in the bible referred to Jesus, they would first get angry, then frustrated. They thought we were confused, but I think it’s them who had been on confusion all along. An example would be how Christians will say the Bible is the Word of God, but John 1:1 says Jesus is the Word of God. Long story short we had a difficult time finding authentic spiritual community where we could grow and not get verbally chopped to pieces if we spoke the language of this new birth.

I read a book titled, ‘Pagan Christianity’ in which author Frank Viola reveals some historical facts about buildings, rituals, and traditions which at first understanding might make some Christians run out of their buildings as fast as they can. Then after we had some time to readjust to an absolute faith walk away from tradition, my daughter and I got to experience a pagan spiritual ceremony. If you haven’t read that article, please do so! It was through that day that I had come to find value in Christian traditions once again. I realized that it’s fine to have traditions and in my spirit I knew that traditions did not reconcile me to God. I knew that reconciliation had already taken place and some traditions are symbolic ways of celebrating the finished work. Many of us already knew that Christmas Trees had pagan origin, but most Christians use it in December to celebrate what they represent to them, Christ.

sacred writings by sisterlisa, on Pix-O-Sphere

Different religions all over the world have similar or exactly the same spiritual symbols. The tree is life, the egg is fertility, the virgin is purity, and the rising sun is resurrection.  Symbols on their own are not bad, they can be quite beautiful and serve as reminders of the connection we all have with God. Even the pagan symbol of the star is a beautiful representation of the seasons God created. They celebrate Samhain and we celebrate Harvest. They celebrate Yule and we celebrate Christmas. They celebrate Ostara and we celebrate Easter..oh wait it’s the same thing…. ok so we celebrate the Resurrection. It’s what these holidays, traditions, and rituals represent that matters. It’s about spiritual growth and about walking in this life with joy. Harvest is a season of change and death to old ways. Christmas is a celebration of rest and family fellowship. Easter is the time we celebrate new birth and joyful life. Christ has already fulfilled all of these things, yet we still find great satisfaction in celebrating rituals (traditions) in honor of what he did.

I have wondered if it’s possible that God had unique ways of teaching his message to people in other countries. Why else would each spiritual community have such amazing similarities in their beliefs? I know it’s a popular belief that God was in dire need of a printing press so the bible could be printed and translated for every language in order for people to understand the version of Christianity we came to learn of (even thought it wasn’t English to begin with). Do you ever wonder why it wasn’t important to have it printed in Hebrew and Greek for every country before it was translated to English? God is much more magnificent than that! He doesn’t need an English bible in order to speak to people. Abraham didn’t have a bible, neither did Jesus. Oh yes, Jesus had the Torah, but Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob didn’t. They heard God through the spirit! Even Caleb followed God by faith when he saw the land of plenty and disregarded the giants. No big deal, it was the land of milk and honey!

Christians can be such silly people sometimes as they cower in fear if they see a pentacle, a PG-13 movie, or the next popular vampire novel on the shelves at Barnes and Noble. The Kingdom is here and by faith we get to live abundantly in it!! Why do they fear so much when the scriptures contain MANY passages about ‘fear not’ and the New Testament is filled with victory! By the power of God, we get to walk through this life as Kingdom minded citizens in full power of grace to go out and love people without fear. Caleb knew he didn’t need to fear the giants. He reached out and took hold on the promise God gave them. Will you walk in the promised Kingdom or be afraid of ‘the world’ and it’s ‘giants’?

We have heard for so long that everyone who isn’t a Christian is dirty, evil, infectious with sin and as a result they have excluded people and isolated themselves in their little bubbles. They are like the others who refused to go into the promised land because they were afraid. Peter told a story of the vision God gave him about the people and said do NOT call them unclean. God had cleansed them!

According to the bible, God created all of mankind. Through Christ we finally see that we are all children of God. Equally loved no matter what the differences. When you begin relationships with love you have the foundation of Christ. There’s no way to build on a foundation of fear. In fact the word ‘fear’ is an oxymoron to the words ‘build and foundation’. Trying to do so will only fall down in a storm.

My husband and I served in rescue ministry for many years among addicts, tattoo laden, facial piercings, court appearances, prison visits, and more. While many would pat us on the back for doing so, they cowered in fear and refused to come join us in loving those people. They missed out on a HUGE blessing. Those folks taught me so much about love, grace, and mercy. It was a missionary experience I’ll never forget. Imagine going to a foreign field, would you hide in your little huts in fear of them killing you? Would you throw stones at them out your window and condemn them to hell when they walked by? I guess if you treat people like CRAP, then it would be understandable why you fear them so much.

Therein is found the truth of the matter. A god and his followers who condemns, hates, throws stones, and mistreats people would certainly be afraid of the people they attack. Isn’t that how it always is with a bully? They’re really just fearful people who try to defend themselves by attacking others. This is a faulty way to live your life. In fact it’s not living, it’s dying. They go through this time and space …dying.

Now that I have laid down the foundation for this topic I will get to the nitty gritty.

This is America. The land of the free! We have the blessing of freedom of religion. The state (Constitution) is not allowed to sanction or reject a religion as a government body. The people get to decide what they will believe or not believe. This is an amazing gift since so many other countries don’t offer us this choice. There was a time when the Catholic Church would persecute anyone who left, questioned, or rebuked the church and it’s teachings. Then came a time when the Protestants (who protested that tyranny) began doing the same thing. Some Protestant leaders actually burned women and falsely accused them as witches. If there were real witches in their towns they never would have been able to burn them, because they would not have submitted themselves to arrogant tyrannical men.

Christians who are familiar with the persecution of their spiritual ancestors under the authority of Nero will tell you how great they suffered. But today’s Christians in American don’t really understand persecution. Oh yes, they get upset when people boycott Chick-fil-A, or when public schools deny religious activity in the school day, but this isn’t real persecution. Those Christians do no live in fear of saying they are Christians. They don’t have to fear for their lives.

In today’s nation of America, gays and pagans live in fear of their lives. Among those who participate in their pride days, there are many more who don’t out of fear. They have this fear because of how many ‘Christians’ have attacked them, bullied them, cussed at them, spat on them, harassed them, and even killed them. There are more documented cases of bullying to death of gays, than there are of pagans in today’s world, but nonetheless it’s wrong!

Christians are supposed to be the example of God’s LOVE to the world. Since Jesus forgave the whole world while they were yet sinners, why can’t we? I’ll tell you why, because so many Christians think they are teacher’s pets and everyone else is out. This is contrary to scripture and contrary to love.

This article about pagans discussing getting their own church caused me to cry. I sat at my desk today and felt the pain and grief in my chest as I read about their fears.

“Several months ago, my coven talked about trying to establish a community center for Pagans in our area. Many public sites suitable for celebrations close at dusk, our homes and backyards are often too small for activities, and all-too-frequently public facilities are just not available. We were still bouncing ideas around when we provoked very hostile reactions from some of our Pagan friends. For them, the issue was visibility. They opposed the community center project because its creation would reveal our presence to the larger community. All of these folks were still hiding in broom closets afraid the world will discover they are Pagans and kill them. The mere “possibility” of our opening a Pagan community center threatened them. Undoubtedly, visibility is a factor in some Pagans’ problem with publicly-known and dedicated gathering sites.”

Friends, love never threatens people (See 1 Corinthians 13). If a community of pagans live in fear of the reaction of their Christian neighbors for building a religious center then something is very wrong with your Christianity. No one should EVER have to live in fear in a Christian neighborhood! If you had an authentic love inspired Christian community people would be FLOCKING to come live near you. I know many will say that the scriptures say that followers of Christ will be hated, but you have to understand why…it was the religious leaders who hated them. They were hated for their love for others. Religion despised equality and some fundamentalist churches prove that by how they mistreat women and children. Religion favors power and control, this is why victims of sexual abuse are silenced in their churches and the criminals go unreported. Women and children are not valued.

Woe to those who claim the name of Christ and do the work of the adversary. Churchianity is a way of existing in this world and it’s members have their Christianeze lingo and brainwashed philosophies. It’s a worldy institution, all boxed in and bound up in legalistic rules and man made dogma with a counterfeit god-label loosely glued to the church sign.

There’s nothing wrong with a community having a building or family activities, nothing wrong with rock and soul music or weekly pot lucks. What’s wrong is when those places become idols that favor power over truth. It’s wrong when the leaders favor each other’s image rather than the image of Christ which is love with his Bride.

It boggles my mind how so many church leaders will turn a blind eye when the Bride of Christ is being attacked, raped, abused, bullied and forced into communistic kingdoms of their own. Do they have no reverence for the resurrected Lord and his beautiful Bride? She doesn’t belong in a casket!

When you see kingdoms like that where women are less than, questions are rejected, and child abuse goes unreported, then run as fast as your feet can carry you. It’s not a Christian community.

Jesus dined with gluttons, lounged with tax collectors, welcomed pagans and offered living water. A Christian is one who practices loving hospitality and respects their guests! No pagan should be afraid of the ‘christian’ response if they build a community center for themselves! They are free to be themselves and enjoy the love of God and enjoy loving others without fear of rejection, bullying, or spiritual tyranny!

So while not many other Christians will speak so boldly and openly to defend the freedom of pagans, I AM! So if you don’t like having pagan neighbors then YOU move to another community and leave MY friends alone. You see, my Jesus LOVES them as they are and opens his arms wide for them!

Indeed! Woe to those who claim to follow Christ and deny HIS power therein. Their faulty kingdom is built on sand.

Sisterlisa

Minister of Organic Faith

 


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Which Light Are You Shining?

September 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Carrying the light of Jesus should not look like a mob with torches and pitchforks.

lighthouse by sisterlisa, on Pix-O-Sphere

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Seventh Century Faith

August 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I am an American who follows Christ organically by faith. Some call me a Christian, some call me a heretic. Some denominations just can’t seem to believe that a Christian might possibly get a different interpretation out of parables and thus they must ‘not really be saved’. I write this article as a Christ follower who has studied the ancient history of my lineage that goes back to the ancient days of Germany, called Germania. This is a fictional ‘what if’ story to prayerfully bring light to the false ‘missionary’ work that was forced upon my ancestors and hopefully help educate us as to the mysterious global work of our Creator.

***

What if I were born in the 7th century? The ancient lineage of my family comes from the Germanic tribes, of which were pagan. Country dwellers that lived off the land.  I imagine waking up to prepare for the upcoming solstice with my family. It’s been a yearly tradition for my ancestors for as long as I can remember…8 high days (sabbats) a year..we honor our ancestors and celebrate the changing of seasons, to give thanks for the blessings we have been given by the Divine. Our family had learned about the rituals that brought our minds into rest with these celebrations, the reflection of giving remembrance for those things we express gratitude for. We have our choice of who to give honor to, the nature spirits for keeping us shaded in the hot summer, the shining ones who look upon us and shine light as we need them to guide us, and we keep the memories of our ancestors alive in our minds and hearts as we pass on this beautiful culture to the next generation. Don’t forget gratitude. Don’t forget your family. Keep them written on the pages of your heart. Surely our ancestors live on forever, we have always been taught that they do. Eternal life is an age old belief.

These beautiful traditions were all we knew of, the only way we understood how to relate to the Divine within us. We knew there was something, some energy, a force of some kind, that kept us desiring to wake up each day. That stirring within our bosoms that kept us thirsting for more, that awakening that reverberated within our hearts. We couldn’t deny this inner voice that guided us along the paths of life, that led us to wellsprings of water for our weary souls. We were raised to make ready for more difficult days. We knew a time would come when our harmony would be disrupted, our traditions would be forbidden, and our land raped for it’s natural resources. We respected the land and only took what was necessary. We took in reverence, making each withdrawal from the land as a sacred moment, and giving back with new seeds planted. But we knew the land would be forsaken some day.

We embraced the land as the beauty that she was, feeling the connection we had with her as we felt the breeze through our hair and while she carried the fragrance of the incense into the heavens. We knew that life was a gift and to be embraced and lived abundantly. But we felt her groaning more each day. Something was coming. We knew it deep down and we prayed for the shining ones to guide us as those days grew darker.

The day came as we felt the earth rumbling beneath our bare feet. We were troubled within. I didn’t have the desire to make flower wreaths for the upcoming celebration, something wasn’t right. The rumbling grew louder and the small movements of the earth jolted harder and then we knew a herd of animals was on it’s way, but it wasn’t the sound of joyful prancing, it was the noise of war with death coming on the wind.

Large men on rugged beasts shrouded in silver armor came into our village with shouting and swords. I heard screams and crackling fire. The smell of death was thick and I didn’t understand this war that raged.

We didn’t understand their tongue and they didn’t understand ours.

Tears streaming.

Barely breathing.

Gulping for breath.

Knots in our throats.

What had we done wrong?

They held their symbol as high as they could and pointed in anger.

My mother, the medicine woman, who provided herbal remedies for the village, was forced to her knees.

She was made to be the example, I think. It was difficult to understand.

Why were they making her bow so low before this large red cross?

She shook her head in defiance, my sweet mother dear. She stood to her feet, against their command, and pointed to our altar. The altar in which we had paid homage to since the ancient of days. The place in which we gathered in remembrance of the Divine who looked after us for so many years. It was our family heritage. A heritage of gratitude, of love, in which we learned to be forgiving and to forgive. It was a ritual of remembrance and honor of what we had been awakened to within. Our spiritual practice that bound our community together in love.

The forest blazed red with flames, though not of the flames of our fire sacrifices of lavender and oil. This was the flames of death that seemed to rage from their nostrils.

My mother tried to run toward my sister to aid her with her bleeding wounds, but she was stopped by a burly man with the iron mask. His arms were wrapped in steel vines, tightly woven together as clothing. I had never seen anything like this before.

He pulled my mother by her hands and bound her wrists together, tightly he wound that cord around her. Then her feet.

His army lifted my mother to an altar.

And there they lit the altar on fire with their torches.

My mother screams in pain.

She looks me in the eye and says “Don’t forget gratitude. Don’t forget your spiritual journey. These dark days will end, but do not forget the ancestors and all they did for us.”

Her last breath was a deep silent sigh and then she left us that day.

I was next.

They forced me to my knees and pointed again to the red cross on their flag.

Deep breath.

Eyes wide open, trying to stay fully awake. Trying to understand their gestures as I look into their angry eyes.

They wanted us to pay homage to their altar, to their deity.

My head was forced to the ground.

In the fear of the moment, my father stepped forward and bowed his knee reverently. Calmly.

He motioned to our tribe to do the same.

They all bowed and we were spared… but over 4,000 had not been spared throughout our land.

I felt betrayal on my heart. We had forsaken the shining ones, the nature spirits, and the traditions of our ancestors…to save our lives.

We were made to cut down the trees and with each tree that fell, I pleaded for forgiveness. I am forced to take more than what was needed. In my heart, I gave thanks, I held each tree as sacred. I asked forgiveness.

Each pine and cypress that came down was a sacrifice for our lives.

My mother was sacrificed to this red cross god to make us join their customs.

We were forced into slavery and made to build their temples.

Where we once worshiped in nature, we were made to be encompassed by man made rocks built high above our heads.

Each seven days we were awakened at dawn to walk into the man made temple.

We listened to the words, but did not understand.

We then were made to kneel and bow our heads…. or suffer as mother did.

They called us witches and forbade us from collecting  leaves for ailments.

I wasn’t sure who this god was, the one in which they slaughtered innocent people..does such a god exist? Could they have been wrong? Perhaps they misunderstood the Divine.

For hundreds of years our people were made to pay homage to this other god. We had to learn their language so we could communicate. Those years were so dark. Each passing generation, the ancestors were becoming a distant memory. Our ancient writings were taken from us and any kind of writing we made was done in secret.

I could not deny this inner voice that spoke sweet grace to me. It was them who condemned my mother to death, not the Divine. It was burdensome to hear them shout that we were rejected by their god. We were hated and in turn they hated us too. But the tender grace that soothed my soul like honey kept me hoping for better days.

Was my mother’s life not enough for them? For their god?

They said their god gave his sacrifice too and that his blood appeased the anger, but the anger boiled hotter as each day passed.

I began to wonder who their god really was. Was his sacrifice enough or not? Their religion confused me, but their religious practices seemed all too familiar.

Their rituals seemed to mimic that of our own.

The circles, the chants, the burning incense.

They spoke words known as Latin, those words were spoken over flat bread and wine then shared among the people.

Could it be that they followed a different spirit, a chaotic being that didn’t value life?

In the ancient days we gave the outer regions to the chaos beings. I began to pray that chaos would be bound.

The ages passed on.

In my old age, shoulders hunched, my great granddaughter comes to me in a vision and proclaims good news.

The chaotic ones were misguiding the armies of the red cross.

The shining ones had given insight to the people… a tool of lights that sat upon their tables. The words of the ancestors were studied for many years and she called them translations. The translating words were seen through the lights upon their tables. Word after word. Ancient documents passed down, somehow..through the ages. The words had been preserved.

She learned that the words of the red cross army were misunderstood..by those steel men on beasts.

They had war and power on their minds and their fists raged for control.

But those days were coming to a close and the ancestors were being remembered again.

My mother was remembered. The sacrifice in fire to their red cross god had not gone unnoticed by the Divine.

My dear girl told me that the Divine indeed had a son..and this Divine being loved us so much that the son was placed on the final altar, the sacrifice was made to bring those angry people to peace. Some listened, some did not. But their land established laws to protect our offspring and their faith would be held as sacred by their new law. Even if the leaders did not agree on our faith, they had to protect us so we could worship in peace.

I may not agree with how those angry men stole our ancestry, our heritage, and raped the land, but good came of it. After all the horrific years, our stories had not been forgotten after all.

The deaths of over 4,000 of our people’s was not forgotten, not forsaken, but added into their books of memory..she called it history.

And now here I sit, in my present day, with the lights upon my table. It’s called a computer.

Perhaps many centuries of religion has had people confused about the grace of God…maybe our ancestors, both Christian and Pagan, may have had some things wrong, some things right. But here we are today, seeking the Divine in the only language and vocabulary we know. May our actions not resemble the misguided chaotic ones who killed innocent people on behalf of ‘God’.

Surely that’s not the way Christ intended for his Gospel to be proclaimed.

Just as Americans have had to come to grips with the fact that our American ancestors killed Natives to take their land, may Christians come to grips with the fact that past misguided armies killed our ancestors unnecessarily.

Maybe we all have come to understand the Divine Creator in the only way we know how. Only He knows our hearts…and we get the easy part..love one another.

Filed Under: Grace, Persecution Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

False Christian Leaders in China

April 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Hundreds of Christians were apprehended by China Police for public worship. According to ‘Voice of America’ news,

“The detentions are the latest in a crackdown on individuals and groups deemed by the government to pose a threat to social stability.”

I think most Christians know that Christianity is not highly favored in China so this story really perplexes me.

Why would these Christians put themselves in danger like this?

This group was an ‘unregistered congregation’ who had been ‘evicted from their last place of worship last week’, so why would they go public? They clearly put themselves in the spotlight unnecessarily. Was this an attempt to root out the Chinese government’s persecution of their gatherings? Is this the way of Christ?

What would cause a group of Christians to defy their government, put themselves in harm’s way, and at the same time go completely against the warnings Jesus gave in matters like this?

From the article;

“Their church leaders asked them to gather at an open-air venue for Sunday services, after they were evicted from their usual place of worship last week.”

The “church leaders” told them to do this.

They believe they should be able to meet publicly and proclaim their faith and freedom.

In a communistic country.

They were swept away by buses to a school and some unknown locations.

Did the church leaders not teach these Christians that this was unnecessary?

Our freedom in Christ doesn’t mean we should put ourselves in harm’s way just to gather on a large scale to sing hymns together. There is nothing in scripture that says a group must sing hymns in a public place. There is nothing in scripture that says to put sheep in the way of being devoured by the government.

Was the Roman Coliseum not enough of a warning for Christians?

Jesus was clear that we should be wise in regards to the government. When God places you in a country where you can’t follow certain Christian customs, he doesn’t ask us to put ourselves and our families at risk for those customs.

The article goes on to say;

“The round up of Christian worshipers is the latest in a far-reaching crackdown on individuals and groups the government says may pose a threat to social stability.”

The Spirit of Christ would not cause instability to society. Jesus brings peace.

When we read in the Bible that Jesus brought an uprising it was among the religious leaders, not the government. Remember that Pilate said in John 19:6 that he (as the government) found NO FAULT in Jesus.

It was the religious Pharisees and Sanhedrin court (religious council) that found fault in him.

Our freedom in Christ is not something we have to shove in the government’s face in order to practice customs and traditions.

Jesus would not be pushing the buttons of the government, he pushed the buttons of the religious.

All powers are ordained by God.

God allows governments to play a specific role in their nations.

We need to be wise in our speech, our behavior, our faith.

He never said we needed to boldly proclaim religion traditions.

He said to be at peace, to love others, to be kind.

The apostle Paul wisely stated that we should not cause others to stumble and that we are no longer under the old covenant law. Anything that resembles the old covenant temple worship is not necessary. Therefore, to be told you can’t worship in a building, or publicly does not mean you are disobeying God when you don’t gather in a traditional way.

Jesus would not be preaching against the Chinese government for their desire to keep peace in their nation. He would be telling them that God loves them and to be at peace.

I’m not saying I agree with how the Chinese government runs their nation. What I am saying is that Christ is not at war with them and neither should we be. We should not be provoking them to anger, we should be peace makers. The people of Christ are to be people of grace, mercy, and peace. We are to love.

Be wise before you follow a ‘leader’ into a battle that doesn’t belong to you.

It appears to me that these “church leaders” led the sheep to a slaughter.

Filed Under: Inquisition, Organic Church, Persecution Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Elephant in the Room Has a Name

April 8, 2011 by 1 Comment

Do you know what it’s like to be burned by the same person over and over again? Or maybe by a company, to the point where you cease from doing business with them and even tell your friends about their lousy customer service or horrible policies? People generally don’t make a big deal about us speaking up about these kinds of things, but when the same things are done within the religious communities, everyone wants you to hush up!

No matter how bad it gets they shout, “Hush up, don’t you dare tell people about that!”

I’m not talking about when someone or a church makes one mistake in one area and then repents and fixes it so it never happens again.

What I am talking about are habitual problems that aren’t repented of and those things which continue to get worse.

We can turn on any news program and see the latest stories about secular places of business that went for too long without oversight, who have causes thousands to suffer, and who are in huge trouble with the government.

But write a blog post about an ongoing epidemic that is plaguing the religious communities and you’re cut off!

The constant cutting off, shunning, silencing, and threatenings to keep people quiet about the massive elephants in the room isn’t going to go away not matter how many people you try to silence.

The elephants keep growing and they’re multiplying like rabbits.

The religious community is getting awfully crowded with all these elephants hanging around.

It gets so crowded that people just can’t ignore them anymore and since people don’t want to talk about it, seek to silence them, or even worse they slander them so no one will believe them…so they leave the religious communities.

Then they talk.

They blog.

They speak on radio shows.

Those who have chosen to remain crowded by their elephants will counteract those and write new blog posts, speak on radio shows, and accuse these bold people by calling them bitter, rebellious, and liars.

This is part of the problem.

Let me repeat that.

This is part of the PROBLEM!

Not only do they refuse to talk about the elephant’s mating and multiplying in their communities, now they add insult to injury by denying it publicly.

And they wonder why people leave church and don’t want to come back.

Is there a way to fix this ever increasing problem?

Probably not.

So people keep leaving.

They’re free to go.

You can’t horde them in the pews, you can’t declare curses on them if they don’t send their tithes in, and you certainly can’t send them to hell just because you wish they would burn for opening that old can of worms for all to see.

As a matter of fact, I think the can of worms has burst all on it’s own.

Those worms just won’t die.

Mark 9:48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’

This blazing battle in religion just isn’t going to die easily.

The fires are consuming and the brave run for safety.

They run to the Master out in the wilderness and there they are fed.

The more the religious crowds screams their threats at those who have fled, the more those on the inside will realize their own need to escape.

The whole mentality of the religious that cry out, “Those on the outside are out to get us. They who are persecuting us, they will come for us and want to kill us.”

Give me a break.

That’s exactly what Jim Jones said to his cult followers as he convinced them to drink the Kool Aid.

Oh I’m not knocking all churches, but I am speaking up about the ongoing abusive tactics of the religious mindset that keeps spreading fear and panic about people who leave their systems.

People will get hit by cars, get cancer, miscarry babies, and suffer from divorce both inside and outside of religion.

There’s nothing magical about raising your kids in the church, in fact, many times families are so busy with church activities that they don’t have time to be a real family at home.

We are not promised a life that will never suffer. In fact, Jesus said those who are his disciples would suffer quite a bit, because of the Gospel.

But which Gospel is the one that makes the religious crowd the most angry?

It’s the same one Jesus spoke of, the same one that sent the religious crowd to crucify him over. Yes, it was the same Gospel that caused many disciples and apostles to be martyred over.

Love

If the Gospel that caused Jesus to die, was the one taught in many churches today, the Pharisees would not have killed him. They would have embraced it, because they embraced the Law.

Jesus didn’t preach the Law and exclusion of sinners. He preached grace and the inclusion of sinners. One need not be a Jew to have a relationship with God. Everyone was now welcome to the Royal Family.

Many of the Jews didn’t like this.

Some of them did and they embraced the Gospel.

Now their friends and neighbors were included!

Religion is about exclusion.

Relationship is about inclusion.

Religion binds and controls.

Relationship sets people free.

It’s not easy to have intimate relationships inside of religion.

The constant pointing out of sin and fear of punishment keeps people divided and suspicious of one another.

Trust dies.

Love waxes cold.

There’s an elephant in the room alright.

It’s called religion.

The rules of living the rigid lifestyle to think you need to to get grace, to keep you from falling from grace, to make you think you can lose your salvation, that makes you fear that God will strike you down with lightning if you don’t perform religious rituals… yes ..religion. The very same thing John told in his revelation of Christ. The mindset of religion that ‘kills’ those in the name of their god, who murders the name of a brother for believing love wins, the same thing that put our Savior on the cross. Religion.

The letter of the Law kills, but the Spirit gives Life!

If you aren’t finding this freedom to love, to wander free by faith and explore this wonderful life Christ gave us, then flee to the mountains my friends. Jesus will feed you, because you are His and he will never leave you nor forsake you.

It may seem as though you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, but there is no need to fear evil there.

He comforts us.

He loves us.

Be free.

graveyard by lady_jess, on Pix-O-Sphere
{photo credit by Lady Jess}

Filed Under: Legalism, Persecution Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Drama I’d Rather Not Know About

April 5, 2011 by 1 Comment

If there’s anyone who gets angry at a pastor teaching false doctrine, it’s certainly the church members who have been deeply wounded by it. People I used to attend church with have no idea what I have gone through…and others like me who also left…they haven’t had their eyes open to it yet. I have no ill feelings toward those who are unknowing of those things and I have no desire at all to try and convince them. They wouldn’t believe me anyway. There are those who do know, who have confessed at seeing the abuse as well, and yet they stay, side with the man and reject me for crying out for help. This I don’t understand. I have sought the Lord on this so many times, trying to find peace within myself over it. It hurts. It feels like a stab in the back and they would probably deny that the dagger has their fingerprints on it.

I have studied the scriptures on how to handle situations like this and what I keep finding is that false teaching is rampant in the world today…and yet God has allowed it. Even john spoke about this when he said,

“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” 1 John 2:18

John spoke of it being the last hour during his time and that there were many antichrists in the world.  With each new generation and increased population we see more of these false pastors rising up. They’re like drug pushers, take one down and another takes his place. Why does God keep allowing this?

How can we live this Christian life with all these varying beliefs in the world? Is there any way to stop them?

I have come to my own conclusion and you are free to disagree with me, but I think the answer is, no. God is allowing these people to remain here on earth and he is allowing them to teach what they’re teaching.

Paul called out Peter on his false teaching and I would imagine that cause quite a stir. Here was Paul, a former persecutor of the church correcting Peter, a man who was discipled by Christ directly(Galatians 2). Paul was clear in his disagreement with Peter about circumcision, yet some time later Paul directed Timothy to get circumcised even though it wasn’t necessary.(Acts 16).

We see this scenario played out a lot in today’s world. Then we see Paul, who was contacted about the trouble at the church in Corinth. They obviously had some serious drama going on, as Paul felt the need to send two letters to them.

Lets take a look at what Paul opens his first letter to them with:

1 Corinthians 1: 2To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:  3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (italics are mine for emphasis)

Paul begins his letter with the acknowledgment that they are believers, that they are believers WITH ‘all’ those ‘in every place’ who call upon the name of the Lord. He didn’t use any -isms to describe their doctrine. He simply acknowledged them as believers. He even says in verse 8 that they will be,  ”guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So here we have the apostle Paul writing a letter of correction to the church at Corinth and while they are being corrected he says they will be guiltless. We know that we are guitless because of Christ alone, not because we have the “right” doctrine.

His compelling words that begin in verse 10 really make me think of the ongoing saga between The Gospel Coalition and Rob Bell. Paul says very clearly to us today “You are not of Tim Challies, you are not of Rob Bell, you are of Christ”

Paul wanted the church at Corinth to be of one mind and of the same judgment, which is Christ the Lord. Certainly there are some false teachings and they are rampant in the world today, but Jesus didn’t say we would be known as Christians by our doctrine, but instead we would be known by our love for one another.

I think Paul’s words in this first chapter of this first letter to Corinth is speaking loud and clear to us today.

1 Corinthians 1: 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

So much of what we think is correct doctrine will certainly pass away one day and be burned in the fire. Maybe this happens for each of us individually as Christ sifts through our hearts to sort out all those things that lift themselves up against the knowledge of God. Jesus is mighty to the pulling down of strongholds and there certainly is a fire in that process. He did the same for me when he delivered me from legalism and he continually heats me up to remove the dross.

Proverbs 25:4 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. (KJV)

1 Corinthians 1:17 shows us that Paul had a specific calling and it was not to baptize, but to preach the Good News, Jesus is risen. Jesus opened the flood gates of grace and we can now come boldly to the throne of grace because of Christ.

His admonishment beginning in verse 26 take a whole new meaning for me in this day of the rising population of false teachers,

26For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29so that no human being  might boast in the presence of God. 30And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

There certainly are many in the world today who exalt their doctrines above Christ our Lord, thinking they have the only “right way” to “get grace” through Christ. Yet we can certainly see how God will take down all those things that puff themselves up against the Lord, pull those strongholds down, so that we really truly rest on our only foundation, Christ our Lord. Let our only boasting be that of Christ.

We have no part in our salvation, it is Christ alone.

There is no step by step, point by point process in which we can “get Christ”. He willingly gave himself to us. It’s a done deal.

When you come to believe this is true, praise God! You can then begin to walk in the reality of who He is, the Savior of the world.

But other than that, we will continue to study the ancient writings to try and figure out who God is. Each person will receive some different perspective, but one thing remains true, Christ our Lord.

There is another thing He invites us to do, now that we have believed, He says “follow me and be my disciples”. But I’ll save that topic for another time. My purpose in writing this is to remind myself and any who are willing to hear, that we love one another even when we disagree. Paul made it clear that the one thing he wanted to know was if people believed. Everything else that we learn is part of the journey of discovery.

1 Corinthians 2: 1And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Lets not be so worried about the drama going on in other camps of Christianity, lets be focused on the fact that they believe Christ and then live with love for one another.

Colossians 3:14 “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony”

light house (1) by tshack, on Pix-O-Sphere

All scripture quotations are from the ESV, unless otherwise noted.

This article in no way implies that any of the above mentioned pastors are false.

Filed Under: Faith, Grace, Inquisition, Persecution Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Equally Loved Leads to Humility

March 28, 2011 by 9 Comments

I’ve been hurt before. Deeply hurt. Deeply hurt by people I deeply love. Have you experienced this? The indescribable feeling of being betrayed by people you deeply love, by people you trusted. Trust. We trusted because there was a relationship there and now the betrayal makes it so incredibly difficult to love. When a person has just discovered that they were betrayed is not the best time to explain to them that Jesus commands that we love our enemies. That teaching goes right over the head of most victims of betrayal. Most times they can’t even fathom what that means. Discernment is such an important factor when ministering to people. Not all things in the Bible are good for all occasions, all the time. When Lazarus died, Jesus didn’t come right away. He waited a few days. Upon his arrival in town Martha runs to him saying that had Jesus been there he would not have died. Look what Jesus said to her.

John 11:23 “Your brother will rise again.”

He didn’t condemn her for how she felt about her brother’s death. He didn’t use it as an opportunity to preach condemnation to her. He used the opportunity to show them life, to reveal the power of God.

When the soldier approached Jesus because he had a servant who was ill, Jesus simply said, “I will come and heal him.” {Matthew 8:7} He didn’t require anything in return, he didn’t give any theological ‘only ifs’, He simply said, “yes”.

Jesus didn’t require any theological circus tricks of the ill servant either. As a matter of fact, his reply to this humble soldier was the very opposite of what many theologians preach today.

Matthew 8:10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Jesus said very clearly that MANY will come from east and west to recline at the table, but the SONS of the KINGDOM will be in outer darkness and they will weep and gnash their teeth. He says this after seeing a soldier (not a Jew or modern day Christian) seeking healing for a servant (also not a modern day Christian) and Jesus heals the servant, applauds the soldier’s faith, but says his very own ‘sons of the kingdom’ will be in outer darkness weeping and gnashing their teeth.

The religious crowd wasn’t much into hearing about Jesus healing non Jews or dining with them. Why is it so hard for religious people to accept that Christ loves us equally? Why would sons of the kingdom be in outer darkness when a soldier’s request for healing a non Jew be granted him? What is this outer darkness that sons of the kingdom will be in and weep and gnash their teeth?

In Luke 5 a paralyzed man was lowered into a crowded home, through the roof, and Jesus saw the faith of the men lowering him in and Jesus said to the paralyzed man “Your sins are forgiven you” {Luke 5:20}. The story doesn’t say that the paralyzed man asked for healing or forgiveness, it was simply granted after Jesus saw the faith of the men lowering him. Then we see the Pharisees question this act of love and mercy and called it blasphemy. What is this pattern of religious people who reject the love and mercy of Christ in the lives of people they don’t deem as worthy?

Jesus is teaching us a valuable lesson, if we will just listen.

In Luke 7 a woman enters the scene and lavishes Jesus with love. The Pharisee who invited him to feast with his friends began to question the validity of Jesus as a prophet. He says that if Jesus was a prophet he would have known this woman was a sinner. What did these Pharisees expect that Jesus would have done about that? Stone her to death right there in his dining room? Jesus responds to the criticism with a parable.

Luke 7: 41“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

He is teaching a highly valuable lesson with a parable of a debt. Two men owe a debt, one owes a larger debt than another. The thing that sparks in me the hope of Christ is that neither of these two men asked for their debt to be canceled, the moneylender himself noticed the debt was unable to be paid so he canceled the debts for both of them.

Did you notice that Jesus did not say “which one will enter heaven”? He said “which one will love the moneylender more?”

He goes on to tell the Pharisee that his answer is correct when he says the one with the greatest debt paid would love the moneylender more. The moneylender story is not just about the debt being paid, it’s about love. The love that is the natural response to knowing your debt is paid by the moneylender when he knew you couldn’t pay it. The moneylender didn’t condemn the debtors, nor did he punish them.

He goes on to explain how this woman who, we have no doubt, knew she was a sinner, dared to enter the home of a Pharisee to lavish the feet of Christ with her tears. Perhaps she was trembling with fear, considering that she may be punished for entering the home of a Pharisee. Jesus didn’t push her back and demand anything out of her. She was allowed to come. Had the Pharisees had it their way she would have been prohibited from entering. I believe that because they did esteem Jesus as a Rabbi, that since he didn’t push her away, they ceased from being bold about their religious desires. Of course I am speculating, but given the history of the self righteous Pharisees I do feel safe speculating about this.

Jesus goes on to explain the lovely pampering she gave him, then made a bold statement to them in verse 47 “But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” This goes back to the story of the debtors and moneylender. Those who feel they have very little to be forgiven for will love Him less.

I think most of us want to be forgiven for the things we have done in our lives, but how many of us really forgive others when they sin against us? Isn’t this life in Christ more about forgiving others than it is about seeking it for ourselves?

Do we fail to love others much, because we don’t think we have much to be forgiven for? Is this why we love less?

The only avenue to understanding this is to understand that we’re all equal in sin and all equally loved. To state that we are not equally loved would be a confession that we don’t think we are equal in sin. There is no humility in that, only self righteousness.

Do you recall the story of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples? Those dirty feet of human men who were not equal with Christ? That very act of humility by Christ was to teach a lesson to the disciples. The lesson of humility. These disciples did not always believe what Jesus was telling them. They had their doubts about some things just like we all do. Yet, Jesus stooped down and washed their feet. His act of humility was intended to humble them. He didn’t need to preach condemnation to them to humble them, he simply served them and washed their feet.

Could you wash the feet of someone who doubts you?

As Jesus was beaten and nailed to the cross, bleeding and suffering he asked Father to forgive the very people who put him there.

Could you forgive your abusers? The ones who would murder you?

Why are we so afraid to forgive? Why is this thing of forgiveness so hard for us? Have we not realized how much we have been forgiven? Is this why we love so little? Will a hard fall into a deep pit be what we need to experience in order to understand how to love much?

We have heard this many times, this key phrase that is so popular, “Jesus loved you so much that he opened his arms wide and died for you” We tell people, “Jesus died for you while you were a sinner, He died for you before you were even born, knowing full well what you would do with your life.” We say, “Your debt has been paid”.

Some don’t understand that concept, especially if they don’t believe they have done wrong. So religious people try to force them into believing by condemning them with threats of eternal torture. Scare the poor people to death so they’ll believe? Are we the Holy Spirit? Is this Christ-like? Shall we usurp Christ’s authority over their lives and preach condemnation, torture, and scare tactics? Really? Is this how we fell in love with our own spouses? Is this how our husbands wooed us to the marriage altar? This isn’t love. This is abuse.

I think Christians have loved little, because they forgot how much they were forgiven.

A simple test for ourselves, shall we entertain some scenarios to test our love?

Can we allow ourselves to think of what humility really is? Dying for people who whip you, spit on you, and kill you.

Can we love our enemies and wash the feet of those who doubt us? Asking Father to forgive people who curse us, seek to stone us, and belittle us?

Can we ask Father to forgive our enemies? This is a humbling thought. I have been abused, belittled, rejected, betrayed, certainly nothing like what Christ went through, but I do have enemies. Do I really love them? Could I stoop down to wash their feet?

Someone said recently that perhaps Hitler will be required to wash the feet of those he killed. I imagined that and thought, “Now that would be a nice thought, surely there’s some justice in that.” Then Jesus asked me to imagine Hitler again…could Jews wash Hitler’s feet? Would a Jew wash Hitler’s feet?

Love your enemies.

Powerful thought.

If Jews could humble themselves to wash the feet of Hitler, would Hitler be humbled and realize what love is?

“But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” ~Jesus Christ

Could you wash Hitler’s feet?

“But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” ~Jesus Christ

Or would you demand that he wash yours?

“I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ~Jesus Christ

Perhaps those that preachers call ‘false converts’ only ‘converted’ because of the scare tactic. Perhaps if they had been loved by humble people of grace, then they would have seen what real love is and been able to respond to love..instead they responded to threats.

Will we be little Christs? Bowing the knee to wash the feet of those who doubt us? Will we love our enemies? Can we forgive the enemies of the cross? Jesus did. He forgave them while they were nailing him to the cross.

Maybe we fear forgiving people, because it would mean we’re no better than they are. Then we would have nothing left to threaten them with. We’ll be free to love. Isn’t that what being a Christian is all about anyway?

{Love}

When I began this article I mentioned how some things are not good to say at the wrong time. So, just go with love. Jesus did.

‘Equally loved’ leads to humility and humility leads to love. Now that’s a revolving door I could jump into. Could you? Or will you be a son of the kingdom in outer darkness?

friends playing by sisterlisa, on Pix-O-Sphere

Adding this post to Elizabeth Esther’s Saturday Evening Blog Post.

SisterLisa

Filed Under: Agape, Faith, Grace, Persecution

I Believe Love Wins

March 17, 2011 by 10 Comments

 

My thoughts on the book ‘Love Wins’ by Rob Bell comes from a different perspective than many of his critics and I feel I need to explain my position in my faith first so you know where I’m coming from. My husband and I minister to very broken people in our community and online, from all walks of life and most flavors of Christianity. Our ministry is independent of any denomination, because of the sensitive nature of our ministry. We knew God wanted us to remain open to providing the kind of ministering He put in our care so we could minister to people ‘where they are’. It’s difficult to minister to a deeply broken person from one denomination when you come at them from the perspective of your own. The apostle Paul said “I became all things to all people that he might save some.” This is precisely how God directed us in our ministry. We serve people broken by addiction, divorce, spiritual abuse, and much more. Some churches don’t tolerate any divorce and end up pushing the broken individuals out with no support to help them. Some churches aren’t equipped in handling the severe disruption of a drug addict’s choices and call upon us for help. We know that each church has different perspectives on the Bible and we do not want those perspectives to hinder us from ministering to the broken people. So we find Christ within their belief system and begin with Jesus.

There aren’t many books or conferences that teach how to minister to people in the way that we do and perhaps it’s time I write more about that. For now, we do the best we can to find books that encourage us to see a person’s heart right where they’re at and I believe ‘Love Wins’ does exactly that. First and foremost I will say, for my more fundamental readers, that Rob’s book is very different from what you are accustomed to reading. After reading the several critical reviews, then reading it for myself I can say with absolute certainty that I believe those critics missed the point. I think his critics have honed in on only those things they disagree with and camped right there instead of actually seeing the beauty within its pages for ministering to broken people. Their reviews remind me of the self righteous son who refuses to enter the party when the broken son comes home. Please do yourself a favor and read the Preface so you know the angle Rob takes as you read the book.

For those who think Rob has forsaken the Apostles Creed or the Nicene Creed in this book, he has not. Those creeds are blanket statements about some main factors of the Christian religion and he has not violated those creeds. He definitely has a different perspective on how to describe heaven and hell, but his views are still very much in line with scripture. It’s all in how you look at it. Jesus said people will know you by how you love one another. Rob’s words in ‘Love Wins’ provide love and grace, mercy and justice. His views in ‘Love Wins’ remain consistent with judgment and how he believes that plays out in the afterlife.

Putting all that aside, I want to share the most positive things I see in this very controversial book. Rob focuses on bringing heaven to earth. The kingdom life Christ told us we can have here and now, that life in Christ is here for us and has been since he brought the Father’s will to earth. The Father’s will is to love us and for us to love him back, but certainly not under threats, intimidation, or manipulation. The Father is most certainly a great and “terrible” God. I think people see that word “terrible” and become afraid, but even the angels said many times, “Fear not”. God’s presence and love is so amazing that our first initial reaction in our human flesh is to be afraid. Father doesn’t want us to be afraid of him. He also doesn’t want us to introduce him to people in a way that would cause them to be afraid either. He is continually wooing us to him in love. It’s the kindness of God that leads us to repentance.

This is a very different perspective for many churches and due to the very human nature in us, for many years we have introduced God as a tyrant that stomps his feet if he doesn’t get things his way. Most churches would deny that they present God this way, but for those on the outside, this is what they perceive. There is something incredibly wrong with us if we are trying to punish people into the kingdom. We can’t and shouldn’t bully people into making decisions about Christ with threats of torment. ‘Love Wins’ presents, what I believe, is a fuller view of God’s love to mankind through the lens of the blood. If we view the blood as a tragedy, we will breed hate and anger toward those who don’t drink of it. If we view the blood as the ultimate act of love, we will see it as a life giving thirst quenching fountain to a world that is dying inside.

Rob’s book, in my opinion, takes grace to the radical side of life to reach everyone with the Good News. Over the last year we have seen a substantial amount of teachers bringing grace into view in ways that are opening the hearts of Christians to have some breathing room for themselves and I believe Rob’s book extends that grace to give non-Christians breathing room to come to know this grace for them. For many years, Christianity has only extended grace to those who believe as they do, say a little prayer, or get baptized. Christianity has created an “Us vs. Them” mentality.. you’re in and you’re out. You can get in if you do this, that, and this other thing. Otherwise you stay out of the kingdom. This is not the way of the Christ I read about in the bible. Rob brings out each individual story from the pages of the bible to reveal the depth of evangelism that Christ teaches us. No two people come to Christ the same way.

I don’t believe anyone should take ‘Love Wins’ as a “bible”, it is simply to bring a perspective of God’s love in a way that invites people back to walk by faith. While reading ‘Love Wins’, this is what I see. I envision Rob walking the Orthodox line ..on the edge..but not an edge like hard liners view it..a line that extends by grace..in our faith..to lean over a bit to those walking on the other side of that…to reach out to those who have been brutally hurt by so called Christians… waving the “come back” hand.. “it’s ok… God understands…” and when the edge of that line is too scary for those outside to come back… he walks into the arena of those who are hurt and embraces them right where they are..and cries with them. It’s not about walking the hard lined orthodox ways.. it’s about walking in faith and love and embracing hurting people WHERE THEY ARE.. hard liners will only embrace them if they come ALL the way over to where they are. Rob seems to understand how to reach people that hard liners fail, time and time again, to reach.

I believe Rob’s perspectives on heaven and hell is still very much in line with scripture and the very nature of our Father. He presents accurate interpretations of the Hebrew and Greek words for ‘eternal’ and the ‘grave’. I think it’s very important to get an interlinear Bible so you can see for yourself. You can go to http://biblos.com to use theirs for free. When you understand what the original words are, then you can read the passages in context and get a more accurate description of what the Bible actually reveals to us.

For those critics who are angry and fearful about Rob’s book ‘Love Wins’ and his perspectives on heaven and hell and every person who ever lived, first ask yourself if fear and anger is a part of God’s kingdom life here and now. Is fear and anger a fruit of the Spirit? No, it’s a work of the flesh born out of a lack of faith in God. The bible gives us two very good admonishments on how to handle situations that we might deem as ‘heretical’.

Matthew 13: 24He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weedsc among the wheat and went away. 26So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27And the servantsd of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

Acts 5: 27And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 33When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice.

May I remind us all that Jesus commissions his disciples to go be fishers of men, not hunters seeking to have their revenge for blood appeased on those you think are wolves. In our ministry of embracing those who have been deeply wounded by manipulative preachers, I assure you I understand the agony of what wolves do to sheep. In my own healing I have come to understand God’s sovereignty in all things. To be truly thankful in the hard times as well as in the abundances he bestows upon us. The hard eucharisteo, that Ann Voskamp writes of. So I challenge you my dear friends to love as Christ commands you to love. We can love in disagreement and trust God to handle all those differences for us. I implore you to read Romans chapter 9 and the book of Job before you rush out to pull up what you think are weeds.

SisterLisa

Filed Under: Agape, Grace, Inquisition, Persecution

So What if Rob Bell is a Universalist

February 28, 2011 by 27 Comments

When a person has done research on a topic in any field of study, they are given the opportunity to have their research read, researched, and evaluated before making a public proclamation about it. It is rather foolish to assume something is heretical when you haven’t even read it yet. Rob Bell’s upcoming book has sparked much more than a simple theological debate. The announcement of his book has caused many pastors to insult Rob, belittle anyone who dares to question the idea of hell, and insinuate that Universalists are somehow something to be avoided.

“I am not going to comment on whether or not Bell is a universalist. To be honest, at this point I think it is a little bit too early to make that determination.” ~Tim Challies

And what if Rob Bell is a Universalist? Why is this being implied that it would be a bad thing? Who does John Piper think he is to reject Rob Bell so openly before reading the book? Did Rob Bell sin against John Piper directly? Has he committed some abusive crime that John would reject the command of Christ to love a brother? (By the way, John Piper deleted his original tweet.) Does a disagreement over a theological study oust you from being a Christian? If so, by what standard? **Correction, John’s tweet remains.

When a person prepares a dissertation on any topic it is to be looked at on it’s own. When you try to use your own theology as the measuring stick to judge whether theirs is true or not, you make your views an idol. Just because you think your religious forefather had it right 100% doesn’t mean they did. Here is how to know if a person’s presentation has merit.

1. Question the teaching. Anything of truth will come forth as gold no matter how much scrutiny you give it.

2. Don’t shy away from studying it. When you openly reject a study based on what you think you already have summed up as ‘God’s ultimate truth’, then you fail to grow and learn.

3. When you think you know all the answers, allow others to scrutinize your own work. Allow them to ask as many tough questions as possible.

4. Don’t rely on someone else’s research. Do your own homework! You are responsible for what YOU believe. If you simply adopt someone else’s belief without scrutinizing it, then you have copied someone else’s final exam. Imagine how foolish you will look if that person’s final exam gets an F.

Acts19 by sisterlisa, on Pix-O-Sphere

I have taken my children’s education quite seriously. I have found errors in textbooks and reported the errors to the publishers. I have taught my daughter how to study and she also has found errors during her exams in college and reported it to her professors. People make mistakes. Martin Luther made mistakes. John Calvin made mistakes. Why does Christianity think that these two men had it right? They were in disagreement with one another too! Even Billy Graham’s theology has evolved over his life time. When we think we have the right answers about God 100% of the time, we may have the wrong god. How can God be so searchable that we can sum Him all up in a textbook of theology and stamp a copyright on it?

Job 5:8-9  “8 As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, 9 who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number:”

Each person has the right and freedom to question the research of another theologian without fear of reprisal. We don’t live in the dark ages. We don’t have to fear that John Calvin will underhand us for disagreeing and set us up to be killed for disagreeing with his theology. Martin Luther and John Calvin made mistakes in their theology, but it was what they knew at th time. Their findings should not be taken as an absolute authority on God. They both stood in the face of danger when they openly rejected others in their generation. They stood brave in the face of their critics, but then denied others the opportunity to question them.

Talk about a double standard.

Now we live in America, the land of the free, the home of the brave, where we can study and question theology without fear of being killed or put in prison for our beliefs. Since theologians can’t imprison us or get away with killing us over disagreeing with their doctrine, they massacre our names. They commit treason against the brethren by publicly shaming them, accusing them, and labeling them as guilty all according to the finding of Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Piper, Tim Challies, and the Popes. They put people on trial as if they are the Supreme Court of God. I have news for you. Pastors Popular aren’t the stamp of approval on all things “God”. When people question a person’s relationship with God based on their current and evolving theological studies they make themselves into human idols. We are not God. We are not here to build up the next religious tower of Babel.

We are all on a journey that God created for each of us. As brethren, if we are going to call ourselves Christians, then we sure better be loving people as Christ loves them. He did not reject the Pharisees for believing in the Law, he rebuked them for strapping burdens on the people that even they couldn’t live up to. Jesus died for sinners, while they were sinners. He didn’t tell them to get their theology right before He would save them. Keep in mind that the self righteous Pharisees considered Jesus a heretic.

Let each person have the freedom to question theology and sit down with them in love and really look at what they are presenting to us. We are free believers with soul liberty to follow God as He guides us. Stop dividing with people, calling them names, and questioning their salvation based on your boxed in thoughts about God. Jesus commands us to love one another. If you choose to depart from someone let it be because they hinder you from the freedom Christ gave you to follow Him. If we are to lovingly walk away from people let it be because they are abusive toward us. People can study with the Mormons, Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Nazarenes, and Universalists if they want to. You can disagree with them, but name calling is a playground bully tactic that only makes you look foolish.

This is the kind of thing that makes people not want to have anything to do with Christianity.

Filed Under: Inquisition, Persecution
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