After the Cross

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:1-2

To continue with the theme of the recent articles, I wanted to discuss what’s next. We have walked the journey to the Cross and accepted Christ and have been baptized for our rebirth. Now what?

To start I want to reflect for a moment over Galatians 6 for a moment. Each of us have been caught up in a sin that we cannot seem to break free from. Paul talks about his affliction of the flesh and Peter tells us about the things that he wishes he would do he does not, but the things he desires not to do is what he ends up doing instead.

Galatians gives us some instruction on how to help our family with this cycle, but I think of a bigger thing with this verse. I mean this verse can go down to someone that has a habit of telling white lies to allowing his thoughts dwell on sinful desires a bit too much. Many times we are able to forgive the person that is having this issue and able to take up the advice in Galatians 6 and gently restore the person.

What if the sin they were caught up in was something “more” than lust driven thoughts? What if it were as extreme as Rape? What if it was Murder? What about Armed Robbery? Can you or I gently restore that person? Well Jesus calls to us to do the same thing in these cases as well. Sin is sin, it’s black and white. There are no varied degrees of sin, you have sinned or you have not sinned.

But we have a hard time not putting these sins on a scale. Cannibalism certainly seems a lot worse to the human mind and to me than telling your friend that you were at the mall instead of at your house when they called and you didn’t feel like talking. But lying is sin. Cannibalism would certainly be a sin, and well sin is sin.

This mindset that there are sins larger than others is a hard thing to get beyond. There are so many emotions that weigh into the process. As human beings the more fear that something puts into our hearts makes whatever it is worse than something that we don’t really fear. Stealing a bottle of water is a lot less scary than a home invasion.

It’s only human, but for us to start looking at what is next for us, we have to start realizing that sin is sin, and grace is grace. If we are saved by grace for the totality of our sin, why cannot someone else be reconciled by the same God that gave you forgiveness? If he sees all sin as sin, and has informed us of this fact, how can we not accept that?

If you have committed the least of these then you have committed the greater as well. All of us have committed rape, murder, and idolatry in God’s eyes based on this one passage. Is that taking the passage out of context a bit? Perhaps, but I don’t think I am taking it too far out of context there.

Jesus was proving a point with similar things. He was proving that we cannot be saved by the Law that only Grace could save us. We all fell short of the Law, and that’s why he came and died for us. We have already accepted that forgiveness and grace from him. We met him at the cross and were baptized in his blood that washed us clean.

What’s next? Allowing ourselves to forgive ourselves and begin our walk with Christ. Before we can love others as we love ourselves, we have to actually love ourselves. For some people that will be harder than others. Some of us love ourselves a little too much and that just means we have to love others a lot more in the process.

This was something that was particularly hard for me to do. Forgive myself for all the people that I had hurt and all that I had done against Christ and his people. All the lives that I had touched in a harmful way and being a tempter, making people question everything that they thought they knew to draw them into darkness.

As a Satanist it was my goal to build up a base of followers that was able to tear down the grip that God has on the souls of the world. Christianity is the number one religion in the world, and I wanted to tear it all down. During my time as a Satanist, many people that I had worked with had committed suicide or spent time in mental hospitals.

The fact that I blasphemed God’s name daily and God said it is forgotten, I love you anyway. That kind of love is amazing. God loves us to the point that no matter how far you have drifted from Christ he will open his arms and welcome you home. That love is what drove me back into his arms and drove me to make life changes to ensure that I did not find myself back in that dark place again.

But how can someone that now has morals forgive himself for that kind of harm. I cannot help but feel that I am responsible for the suicides of people that I was teaching. How do you get past that? How do you forgive yourself for that? One day at a time, embracing God’s love and his mercy. It is through his grace and his love that I have been resurrected.

The man that I once was is long dead, but the memories are still there. My body and soul is marred with scars, scars are wounds that have healed but have left a mark. Khalil Gibran says this about scars, “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” Thomas would only believe that Christ had returned from the dead after he saw the scars on the wrists of Christ.

Remember that it is not the scars that are important; it is the fact that those wounds are healed. God is a God that heals our wounds. But not every wound heals to the point that there is no scar. Through these scars you have your story and testimony. An abusive relationship leaves scars on both people. We walk around with perfect masks hiding the numerous scars that we have on our hearts and souls.

If we focus too much on that and not the fact that they are forgiven, and work daily to allow ourselves to be transformed by the Holy Spirit and forgive ourselves, then what point do those scars have? They will just be a friendly reminder of the times that you have failed.  The greatest way we can use these reminders is going back to Galatians 6. Remember your scars and use them to help someone else with their restoration.

The deeper the scar the longer it hurts and the more tender it is. You remember the pain caused by that scar and you now have strength by coming through the other side of that wound. You survived and have power in your scars if you choose to use it. Allow these wounds to heal and become scars then use these scars to help others with similar wounds.

Helping others heal and showing love to others is fulfillment of Jesus’s new commandments to us. What’s next? Many of us have a lot of healing that we have to work through. Others of us have stories to tell of God’s grace and mercy. Others of us just need to love on people to make sure they know that Christ is not point at you with a hot poker to burn you for every wrong that you have done.

What you do with your scars is up to you. If you just want to use them as reminders of things not to do again if great. If you want to use them to help others, that is great. What Jack didn’t realize in Fight Club was that he already had scars. So what can you do with your scars?

“There is something beautiful about all scars of whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with.” Harry Crews

http://GodForgives.Us

Lord Cleanse Me, Again...

“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:11-12

Baptism is one of the acts that we go through in order to become a Christian. It is the recreation of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is the symbol of us being washed clean of all sins. We all agree on baptism being something of an important thing, and if you have gone through it, you have felt why it is so compelling.

Many times in life we wish for the slate to be washed clean, a fresh start. Sometimes we move across the country to start up again. Other times we change churches, spouses or hair color. Something that marks us as a different person than we were. We are trying to do something different to break a cycle that we feel we are stuck in. With the information age in full swing, this is becoming harder and harder to do.

There is one place we can always turn to get a fresh start and that is God. Bathed in his glory and his grace through the death of Jesus Christ, we are washed clean through him. We get a fresh start every time. We can screw up every day and ask for forgiveness and we get it every single time. That is fact, but this does not always carry over to the rest of the world.

The world says, “Hey I know you, how about another drink? No? Oh, come on for old time sake. That a boy, I knew you had it in you.“  The world knows the flesh, and all the weaknesses. That cute redhead that has your number; the buddy that has the hook up or that website that is just a click away, we all have our weakness or addiction. Sometimes it’s food. Sometimes it is something that happened years ago.

We have shown the world that we are not the same, but it doesn’t care. God does, and those that see you through the eyes of Christ will notice it. God forgives, the world forgets. The world even puts in little ways to help itself forget. Expunging your criminal record, if you can, is just like it never happened. That is why we were given Grace.

The Law holds record of all of our wrongs. Through grace our wrongs are forgotten. There are so many times when I was walking lost that a yard stick was put up to me and I was told how many ways I fell short from God’s Grace, which was a lie. No one falls short of God’s Grace, you simply have to allow yourself to receive the gift of forgiveness and Grace. The law condemns and grace redeems.

The sentiment of God Forgives and the World Forgets is this, God gives us grace and wishes us to be part of his family, but the world has built little boxes and containers for everyone to be in, and these boxes are exclusive. You have to be part of the club to be accepted. Look at country club membership. You have to pay a lot of money to just apply and even then most are invitation only. To be part of God’s Country Club you have to accept a gift given freely. Everyone can afford that, but not the country club.

“Oh I see here that in 1984 you had some domestic violence and a DUI in 1992. I think this might be a problem, we can’t let your kind in here.” Having a problem can get you put into boxes that the world easily puts people in. You are a criminal for getting caught for something that many people have done but not gotten caught. You had a girlfriend that was 2 years younger than you in high school. Daddy got mad when he caught you with his little girl, now you’re a sex offender.

Well now you and she are married, but you are still a sex offender and have to report it when you move to a new area. You can’t even pick your own kids up from school. But hey in 10 years you can petition to get it forgotten.  In the meantime you struggle to find work, face judgment around every turn, and even some churches ask you to find somewhere else to worship.  

You killed a couple when drinking and driving, and well that put you in a place that you had never thought you would be. You’ve got friends at the country club that can help you out, but still you killed two people. You are now a monster. You call your buddies at the country club and they have turned their back on you. Your perfect life just crumbled, but I’ve got good news. You want some help getting the vision of those two people lying dead while you were waiting for the police to arrive.

 You want to remember, but be forgiven. You remember to keep you from doing it again. But now that you know the cost of your problem, you want to be forgiven. God will forgive you, all you have to do is ask, he’s waiting on you. It is your choice. All you have to do is accept him and he will cover you. He will help carry your burden and help you make better choices.

Does that mean that those two counts of vehicular homicide go away? No the World wants to ensure that you are punished for that. What can you do with this now? How long will this follow you? Welcome to the bad box, criminal. But inside that box is where you go, murderer. But God tears those boxes apart with his forgiveness.

Those of you that are reading this that are not in those boxes. What can you do to help people that are? The world wants to keep these people in pain and suffering for as long as it can. The world has policies to protect the world through harming people that made a mistake in life, sometimes very large mistakes. Where is God’s grace in the earth? Through his people.

This is the message I have today. If you are in HR or a policy maker at a company, what can you do to give people a new chance? A bar fight can cost people for up to 8 years. Having sex before marriage at crucial ages can cost you 10 to 15 years. How did this world become like this? We must protect ourselves because everyone is trying to hurt us. We must save what is ours because the world is evil. If we give Bob another chance he’ll do the same thing, and we covered it up well this time, but twice… we can’t do that.

The world is an evil place, but that does not mean that grace is not there. That does not mean that Jesus is not here with us. No, it just means that we have to fight a little harder to get God’s light to shine through. Fear is a tool and a weapon that keeps us in darkness, but where God is darkness must flee. I want to call out to each and every Christian. Do what God has called us to do; let his light shine through in everything we do and everything we touch.

The world can change, but it takes people to fight for the change. And a fight does not have to be one of violence, in fact that way will assure that we will lose. Grace, mercy, peace, love, compassion, these are the tools that we must use to make the changes to make this world a world that knows the true voice of God.

How can you help? Before you hold up a ruler to the strange boy that decided to go to church today, try talking to him. Before you condemn the girl that you have seen walking down the roads and getting into cars with men she does not know, talk to her. How many weeks do you tithe time?

16 hours and 48 minutes is 10 percent of the time that we are given each week. That’s before sleep. That’s a lot of time right? How are you going to get that in? Well church probably takes care of 2 to 4 hours of it. So let’s put that down to 12 hours to get covered over 6 more days.

 So you mean that to tithe time you have to give 2 hours a day and almost 5 on Sunday? How long is your morning commute? Give it to God. Now you have one hour a day to give to God. 30 Minutes over lunch, hey you were going to McDonalds anyway, why not get that lady counting pennies some food and talk with her. You may be surprised at what kind of Good you can do for someone with just a couple dollar burgers and a little time.

You want to impact someone on a level that is massive? Write a few letters to people in jail offering them a chance to talk with someone that doesn’t know them. Some of these people are cut off from everyone as soon as they go behind bars; families turn on them, isolated. Be Christ for them. Offer them conversation and allow it to lead to more.  Instead of protesting an abortion clinic, how about spend time with a girl that is facing a hard decision. Find out why she would be willing to kill her unborn child. Why her life is so desperate that she feels that this is the only place she can turn.

We are not promised tomorrow. How can we not do something for God every day? God gave it to us, what can we do with it? Who can you take to the river and baptize? Who can you show the light of God? You know how good it felt to go under the water and become a new person. How can you not share that with someone who needs the Love of Jesus? What can you do? Write a letter. Take a homeless person out to dinner. Pray for an open heart and open eyes and God will give you a chance to serve.

John had no idea that Jesus would come to the river and bless him with the chance to take him under the water to be cleansed and freed from the sinful body that our perfect God was encased in. John was blessed that day, because John got to be the hands of God and baptize Jesus to set his feet upon the path to the cross for us. We all were blessed by the living water. So what’s next? You like it? Share it.

“If you learn from defeat, you haven’t really lost.” Zig Ziglar

Reflection: Looking at your chains.

“Let us tear off their chains and free ourselves from their restraints.” Psalm 2:3

Recently I returned home for a visit. The visit was planned to revitalize my heart and soul and sometimes all you have to do in order to get away from the woes troubling you is return to your roots and have some quiet time with the Lord. The trip was really good for me; just what the soul needed.

On this trip, without realizing it when we planned it, I passed by the place I was first saved and baptized. It had been 19 years since those days. Now when you look back it’s always a dangerous thing if not done with care. We are warned all through the bible to not look back only look to the Lord and where your feet are being lead. Once you are bathed in the blood of God the person you once were is dead.

We humans have an odd habit of visiting with the dead. We visit people we miss and loved, how many times do we visit the person we once were like this? All the time you hear stories of “Glory Days” remembering fun things or events, but that’s not exactly what I’m talking about. I’m more talking about visiting with your old self like visiting the dead.

How many times have you visited a grave and talked to the grave in hopes that the person could hear you? On this trip I did a little of this. Many times have I mentioned that after I was baptized the first time I was tested and I failed those tests and ran.. Well there is a lot to that story. Looking to the church I was first saved at and then looking at the river that I was baptized in it done something to me. It made me sit quiet with the Lord and ask why I had to go through what I did.

Sitting with the Lord, I reflected on my growth. God has done a lot with the mess that was me. Growth is a hard thing. It costs a lot to grow. It takes time, dedication, challenges and struggles. But it also takes breakthroughs and victories. Man times we humans get caught up in the negative that has happened and do not focus on the good that comes from our past. Looking at what we learned from the Glory Days is just as important as the struggles and hardships in our lives.

We did not learn how to love in a day. We did not learn how to do anything in a day. But as we grow and learn, and you hear this a lot in sports, a lot of times you have to get back to the basics to move forward. That’s what this trip was for me. It helped me strip it down to the basics. They are basic foundations that you have in order to build upon.

Job 4:17-21 speaks about having a weak foundation; one without wisdom will cause the house to crumble.  Stronger still is 1 Corinthians 3:5-15:

What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Now the one planting and the one watering are one in purpose, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it. For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on that foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one’s work will become obvious for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work burned up it will be lost, but he will be saved; yet will be like an escape through fire.

Growth can only come through God. Each of us go through a lot of things to get to where we are.  This passage also speaks to something else. Our work will be tested by fire, and if our work is not strong enough it will burn up, we will survive but it will be like coming through the fire.  I have survived through Christ and only by God’s grace which I did not deserve.

Now the image with this story is a place in Kentucky, where I am from. The very town I was born in, well where the hospital was at anyway, has a tourist attraction above it called Chain Rock. The story goes that this rock, which is massive in size, had broken free from the mountain. They had feared the possibility of the last few things holding it there would break free and this boulder would roll down the mountain and destroy much if not all of the town.

The people built a huge chain, large enough that you can walk across it without much difficulty, and literally chained the boulder to the rest of the mountain. That must have been a scary time for these people, but what does that say to you about faith? To me it sounds a little like this, “Lord, I trust you, I do, but just in case I’m going to do a few things just to make sure. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I’m just being careful.”

Now the further irony to this, the rock never broke free from the mountain and moreover the mountain has now built back up around the boulder securing it in place. The city of Pineville, KY is safe once more. It brings to mind Peter walking on Water. It was all about his faith that allowed him to do as Jesus had done.

Too many times do we restrain our faith and trust in the lord with Chains. There comes a time in our lives that God calls us to cast off our chains and shackles to be free in his grace. Now as we grow with a slaves mind, this is scary. When a Slave does these things it leads to death if we’re lucky and if we are not then it leads to torture and torment, or at least embarrassment.  God calls for us to cast off the changes of slavery that this world has put us in. Only if we do this can we walk with purpose and be one with God.

When God calls to us in this way, he has something for us to do. It may be as small as buying someone some shoes, a meal or going out of your way on your way home to give you a chance to touch a life that you would not meet otherwise. Sometimes it is a Mission trip to another country or just to the local homeless shelter. It might be to allow a perfect stranger in your car or worse… Into your Life! What God can do through you and with you is ultimately up to you and your dedication to the Lord.

No one can serve two masters, so do you wish to keep on the chains of slavery that this world has you under or will you cast them aside to allow God to use you? Will you walk on Water or drown? Will you chain down your faith or let God take care of your problems? All of this is up to you, how much will you allow your chains to keep you from God’s Grace and keep you from sharing this Grace with others?

Share the Vine

But He would not let him; instead, He told him, “Go back home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you.” Mark 5:19 HCSB

In the Book of Mark chapter 5 we are told the story of Jesus driving out a legion of unclean spirits from a man tormented by them. This story is one that I find interesting in many different ways. One the story shows the power of God through Jesus Christ and then the biggest part of it to me is what Jesus tells the guy when he begs and pleads to come with him. Why would Jesus not let this man come with him?

For this we must look at what we are given to do with our lives even today. God wants each of us as his Disciples to spread the good news. Does this Good News stop with the four books known as the Gospels? No, it begins there. The Good News must continue and our stories add to the testimony of Jesus and validating the fact that he is the Living God.

We are still fruit on the vine.  We partake of the fruit of the vine in remembrance of what Christ Jesus did for us. Only through this act do we provide the next generation of our brothers and sisters the fruit of the vine that they need to hear to bend the knee to the God we love so much. But that is only one part of this story.

Jesus came to this region and as soon as he landed the demons came and bowed a knee to Jesus. Now to quote a great preacher that spoke about this story, “This guy was so bad that they had tried to chain him down and he busted the chains. So they ran him off to the graveyard where he couldn’t hurt anyone but himself.” *

He would cry out day and night and beat himself with rocks. The demons had given him supernatural strength, at the cost of who he was. That’s something I can relate to in my walk. When these demons come into you, they change who you are. They change you down to your thoughts. So this man had been plagued by these demons for such a time that he was exiled from his friends and family. The demons finally had what they wanted, they had isolated him completely.

These demons would have probably caused this man to die and they would drag him to the pit with them had Jesus not shown up. As soon as he saw Jesus, he ran to him, but it was not him that did the running. It was not him who cried out to Jesus. In Verse 7 it says, “And he cried out with a loud voice, ‘What do You have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God, don’t torment me!’

Interesting, now this is not the first time a demon had acknowledged Jesus in such a way. In fact every time that we have a detailed account, they all know who Jesus is. Not only do they know but they are afraid of him. They begged to God for Jesus not to torment or torture them. Jesus had full authority over them. They begged and pleaded for Jesus to not send them away from this place.

Jesus had no reason to give these demons anything. These demons had done so much harm to this man that sending them beck to hell where they belonged would have been perfectly fine. What does Jesus do? He grants them their prayer. Think about that for a moment.

The Demons prayed to God and to Jesus and begged Jesus to not be sent away but allow them to go into a heard of swine. And Jesus answered their prayer and allowed them what they wanted. Jesus showed mercy on even the demons.

Now the demons in the swine ran the swine right into the sea where they drowned. This didn’t make Jesus too popular with the locals. The men who tended the swine ran into town to report what they had seen, and well the mob was gathered. As they came they saw the Frankenstein grade monster sitting at Jesus’s feet in clothes, which makes one wonder how he had been running around when possessed, and of a right mind.

So this Jesus guy fixed Frankie by sending the demons in swine, the swine had played lemmings by running into the sea, and now Frankie was clothed and not so crazy. That made them scared. I wonder which part of all that really made them afraid and why. There are so many reasons why these people would be afraid, but they had no reason to be afraid. Then again they didn’t know Jesus, not yet anyway.

Our God in the flesh showed mercy to demons and answered their prayer, but then moments later, the man that had been plagued by them he denied that prayer. Again the man wanted to go with Jesus, so thankful for what Jesus had done for him. Jesus knew that Frankie had a lot of work to do for him, but he could do more work for Jesus here.

The words that Frankie needed to speak would serve those around him best. The same people that probably tried to chain him up to keep him safe would need to see what Jesus had done for him. The family that had mourned him would have to see him live again. Only through that would these scared villagers come to know how silly it was to be afraid of Jesus.

But going back wasn’t enough, no, he had to tell his story. A living testimony, to provide these people with the fruit of the vine that was not yet harvested. The command issued to Frankie would be one of the flagstones for the foundation of what we are called to do with our own testimonies. We do not speak it to make ourselves feel better. No, we do it to help give God the grace in our shortcomings or pitfalls.

God will get the Grace in all things. Frankie provided people with the blood of Christ before we were called to remember Christ Jesus for his sacrifice. Frankie got to be the lifeblood and helping hand to allow others to know Jesus. And that is what we are each called to do. To be a disciple we must go out into the world and speak to what God has done for us and through us so others may know how good the fruit is. So others may know Jesus the way we do. So go be Frankie today, tomorrow and until the work is done.

*Quoted from Jeff Walling pastor at http://prcoc.org Check out his sermons on their website.