Saturday, December 31, 2011

Are You in the Resolution Line?

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10

Sometimes at the start of a new year you reflect on your emptiness, failures, worries, life, being..., it’s natural—you so want to find yourself.  What do you do?  You get in the Resolution Line, where humanity fills all emptiness of life by the magical power of a calendar—you make your New Year Resolution.

Resolution Line Forms Here …

Many cultures through history have made calendars and several are recognized today.  Ask yourself, did one day on any calendar give you the ability to find yourself?  The honest answer is, “No.”  If it were yes, then you wouldn’t be back in the Resolution Line where your faith clings to what you can do.  It is time to get out of the line and follow Jesus, he said:

If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself.
But if you forget about yourself and look to me,
you'll find both yourself and me.” 
Matthew 10:39 (The Message)

To find yourself is to be humble enough to turn your life over to God.  Then you’ll find yourself, you will have a life to the full.  As Jesus said:  “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (John 10:10, The Message).  Your life choice is to do things on your own in the resolution line, or get out of line and follow Jesus.   When you’re in line with everyone who depends on themselves, and when you’re doing what you want, being self-seeking, then be ready for unmet resolutions.  If you’re a Christ follower you don’t need resolutions, you have God who gives you life to the full—a life giving more and lived better than you could have ever imagined. 

Stepping out of the line,

Owen <><

Friday, December 23, 2011

Lighten Up

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
John 1:5


In the first chapters of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, God reveals the story surrounding Jesus’ birth.  We are enlightened by a story of humility—of Christ’s taking human form in humility (Philippians 2:5-8) and of the story about Mary and Joseph, how they lived in obedience to God.  Mary and Joseph would have been overwhelmed with bewilderment and dread, they faced the heartache of embarrassing their families, the ridicule within their community, and cruel comments from judgmental, self-righteous synagogue members.  Yet, their humility before God was reflected by a direct response of obedience.  Joseph responded to the angel’s instructions, “he did what the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary to be his wife” (Matthew 1:18-25).  In Matthew 1 we read how Mary was confused and disturbed by the angel visiting her with news that she was the Lord’s favored, that she would bear the Son of God, and he would reign over his kingdom forever (Luke 1:26-38).  Mary’s response was “I am the Lord's servant” (v 38).  Their desire was for God’s will to be done; only in humility can one become a servant, putting self aside.  Then, in humble circumstances and surroundings the Christmas story unfolded—bringing light into the world.

It would have been easier to succumb to their community’s culture – beliefs that were like ours today, biases imbedded in ridicule.  Joseph and Mary didn’t say no to God, the shock of being spoken to by angels and the presence of God’s Spirit was overwhelming and, yes, brought questions, but that presence did not bring fear, nor did they display self-focused desires—through humility they gave up their lives for Christ, living for Jesus.

Seeing Christmas lights is intended to bring into our hearts thoughts of Christ, the Light of truth in the darkness, the gift salvation in the hearts all who receive him, Life.  Christmas lights also represent the humility of two young servants, who in obedience were humble and in submission, denying self to live and do God’s will.  Mary and Joseph had discovered not to be self absorbed, seeing themselves so serious, the learned to Lighten Up—to be humble and look up into the Light of salvation.  Their answer to God was, “Yes, we give our life for the Son, may his Light penetrate us and everyone in the surrounding darkness.  Your will be done Father.”

Owen <><

Monday, December 12, 2011

Seeing Is Believing?

Thomas, apostles inspect the wounds of Jesus.

Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said,
"Peace to you."  Then he focused his attention on Thomas.
"Take your finger and examine my hands. 
Take your hand and stick it in my side.
Don't be unbelieving. Believe."

The Message— John 20:27-28

Jesus was talking to his disciples a few hours before he was seized and taken to be crucified.   Jesus told them, “Trust in God; trust also in me” (John 14:1b).  Then, Phillip asked Jesus an indirect question, in a request, maybe a challenge.  Phillip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us” (John 14:8).  In other words Phillip was quoting the doubter’s motto, “Seeing, is believing.”  Jesus had had a lot of experience with people not believing he was from heaven, indeed, God in the flesh.  The words he said and the miracles he did were not believed, nor received as truth when the signs revealed who he was (cf. 3:12-15, 10:25-37, 16:9).  One can only speculate, but did Jesus think, “Here we go again!”  Their doubt prompted a response from Jesus, “Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.  Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves” (John 1:10-11)—a novelist would surly add that he spoke in an anguished voice.  The request that Phillip made for “us,” reveals they doubted, or were at least in ignorance of the truth that the Son came into the world to reveal the Father, and had been doing that throughout his ministry—they had lived with Jesus and watched him for three years, they were the eleven faithful apostles, yet, here they are, saying, “show me.”

Jesus is always speaking to the heart of a doubter, Phillip, Thomas, and many others—to include you and me.  Our reliance is on the “seeing, is believing” rule.  The apostles saw miracles and signs during their day, and they saw Jesus in daily life; then, after the resurrection the apostles saw and touched his wounds; and listened as Jesus stood before them, talking. What the apostles saw, heard, and touched made no difference.  Jesus’ answer to their doubt was, “Don't be unbelieving. Believe."   

That is what Jesus requires:  Don't be unbelieving. Believe.” 
Can you do that?

Touching his face by believing faith,
Owen <>< 


Tuesday, November 29, 2011

How Do You Cook Crow?

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.  Ephesians 4:2-3 NLT

What are the expectations of Christ?  How does the Lord expect of you and the body of believers to treat one another?  One word sums up his expectation of us; that one word determines if our witness as a Christ follower is true or not—we will either gather or scatter believers, and we will bring in or ward off unbelievers.  Being one in Christ is readily recognizable by a spirit that displays a gentle, humble effort to live by and within the essence of God’s nature—love (1 John 4:16).

You might say, “Owen, that’s hard, you haven’t met the Christians I have to deal with.”  That may be, but you need ask, “Am I ignoring God’s will, am I living differently than what Jesus expects of me?”  If you are within Christ’s expectations, then you’re in God’s will.  What does Jesus expect?  Jesus expects nothing less than our obeying what he has commanded us to do.  Jesus didn’t ask, he said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34, emphasis mine).  Simply, “Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another,” (2 John 6). 

You might say, “Oh, I’ll have to eat a lot of crow to do that.”  If that’s the case, then it’s time you changed your diet, and what you serve your guests.

Woefully Not Meeting Expectations,

Owen <><

A pot of crow cooks as well as pheasant under glass.  The words of a recipe are meaningless without a presentation that transforms slop into a delicacy.

   

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Surpassing All Knowledge

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  Mark 12:30

Kenneth Boa writes, “The great prayers of Ephesians 1, Philippians 1, and Colossians 1 reveal that Paul’s deepest desire for his readers was that they grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.”  Paul’s desire was for Jesus’ disciples to have a deep knowledge of Christ, that they experience God personally, beyond a mere belief Jesus was savior, for discipleship is more than belief, it is living within the fullness of Christ (John 15:1-17).  To this very moment a follower of Christ is to be experiencing the Lord’s presence, so that, as you pray God fills you with wisdom and revelation of the completeness of His will through the love of Christ—beyond anything that could be imagined, indeed, surpassing all knowledge (see Eph 1:17-19; 3:17b-19).  The same desire Paul had for early believers, is the same desire to hold for yourself and for whom you share Christian community with.    

Your place in God has a meaning you or I may never be able to explain, for it is surrounded and kept by the love of Christ, who fills us with the Holy presence of Himself, His Spirit.  From out of tradition we have passed down to us a story about Thomas Aquinas.  As Aquinas worked on writing his great work, the Summa Theologica, he, one day, simply stopped working on it.  When asked why he had stopped, he said, “All that I have written seems like straw compared to what has now been revealed to me.”  This was birthed from a vision he had had, in which the Lord asked, “Thomas, you have written well of me; what shall be your reward?”  With that Thomas could only pour from his heart an answer that was the fruit of the Spirit, the reflection of experiencing Christ’s humble love, by saying, “No reward but yourself, Lord.”  Likewise Thomas Aquinas understood and embraced the same heart as Paul, who wrote, “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7). 

Allow the below prayer to resonate within your heart, take it into your prayer and meditation, in hope that you open fully to Christ and gain for His love the filling that surpasses all knowledge.

            Prayer of St. Richard of Chichester (1197-1253):

Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ,
For all the benefits thou hast won for me,
For all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me.

O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother,
May I know thee more clearly,
Love thee more dearly,
And follow thee more nearly:
For ever and ever.


            Amen

Surpassing all knowledge, through God’s glory,

Owen <><

Friday, November 4, 2011

Bearing Burdens

Carry each other's burdens,
and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.    Galatians 6:2

Carrying the burdens of each other is to suffer in the problems of fellow disciples.  This taking burdens onto yourself is how you will fulfill the law of Christ—the law, command; not merely doing something nice when convenient.  What is the “law” of Christ?  It is, as Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34; see also, 13:25, 15:12, 17).

How do we bear another’s burdens?  It is tough, as “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me’” (Matt 16:24 NLT).  Selfish ways, all variations of pride, is an expectancy of Christ followers.  However, Christ followers are to “take up your cross.”  What does that mean in your life?  It is to have an attitude like Christ, who humbly went to the cross (Phil 2:4-8).  Jesus carried or “took up his cross” (John 19:14), and by doing so, Jesus was the atonement for our sin (Rom 3:25, Heb 2:17)—He carried our burdens, which are our sins, by the strength of His mercy and grace. 

Jesus took our burdens, took our sins, and fulfilled them by his command, the Law of Christ.  Only by grace that comes out of love can there be the atonement, and yes, the forgiving of sin.  When we bear the burden, carry the sin of each other as Christ—sincerely forgive—we fulfill Christ’s law.  All sin against us, perceived or inflicted, by someone toward us must be forgiven—only then can a burden be carried, carried away from the offender and the offended alike.  When we forgive offences, hate, abuses, harmful words, or many difficult burdens, it is not easy, but nonetheless the “law of Christ.”  Love forgives.

If you are selfish and cannot forgive, but only seek vengeance, or selfishly desire to an atonement, compensation, penance, by an offender, then you are not a follower who is obedient to the Law of Christ—a true disciple of Christ will obey His command.  What did Jesus command?  For you to, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). And, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15).

to God’s glory,

Owen <><

Friday, October 21, 2011

7 Billion and Counting

When I mention the mind-boggling number of 7 Billion, I’m not talking about the number of hamburgers sold by McDonalds; I’m talking about us, humankind.  

The earth’s human population has just past or is very near 7 billion souls at this very moment in October, 2011.  The “Dooms-Day” prophets of science and human ecology foretell of our lives being consumed in fear and hardship due to famine, global warming, environmental pollution, intensification of wars (“rumors of wars,” MK 13:7-8), revolutions, and genocide.  All these are real plagues upon earth, the evil of hate on all life.  All of these plagues began to eat away at our world, and human beings, at the moment of the first sin; a downward spiral of death has ensued, it is called entropy by a physicist.  The reality of the gloom-and-doom is accurate, secular science and humanism has realized and has forecasted what Scripture taught us a long time ago. 

God in his own timing, a moment unknown to us, will destroy all that plagues his creation, to include the earth as we know it.  Bur, He will resurrect a new earth (see 2 Peter 3:10-13).  All that isn’t good—the product of sin and evil, such as, war, prejudice, pollution, abuse, hate, cruelty, greed—will be burnt up.  God will end all that is bad.  The Lord will establish His kingdom on earth and in heaven.  There will be a new creation, a new earth (Isa 65:17, 44:22; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1).          

In Luke 21:9-11, 17-91 Jesus said:

When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.  … Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.    All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.”  

Verse 18 reminds us that in your hope, your faith in Christ, you have a promise, you will not perish!  You have salvation from eternal disaster and separation from God.  We find a little different wording in The Message paraphrase for verse 19, it says it this way:  Staying with it — that's what is required. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry; you'll be saved.  Being a disciple of Jesus, a Christ follower goes beyond the good times, discipleship requires and takes your life, one must commit to “Staying with it—that’s what is required,” then “you’ll be saved.”  Sadly, all 7 Billion won’t be “staying with it,” however, if you follow Christ, then you will hear him say, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43 NLT).

Owen <><

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Monday, October 17, 2011

Read the Signs

“In the last days,” God says, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. … And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below…” 
Acts 2:17, 19 NLT

God gets our attention.  When he seeks our attention, we don’t see freaks of nature or mere happenstance, nor is there such a thing as luck—but there is a God of mercy, grace, and compassion who desperately wants to get your attention.  He posts signs. … God’s attention getters are the signs and wonders one should not ignore.

Signs and wonders are the work of God pouring his “Spirit upon all people.” 
The signs and wonders are the Creator’s use of his creation.  He posts signs along the road of your life journey, to focus us on Christ.  They bring attention to the Lord, such as:  when Elijah used soaking wet wood on an altar to give a burnt offering to God, when Moses lifted a staff to divide the Red Sea and walk across on dry ground, when Jesus wept before he raised Lazarus from the dead, when Paul was unaffected by a viper’s poison fangs, when the Star of Bethlehem guided wise men—and likewise, signs and wonders, guide the wise to be attentive to the gospel this very moment.  God controls “wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below” and he delivers, saves, those willing to listen to His Word and pay attention to what is going on around them—in heaven and on earth.

Signs and wonders occur in heaven and all around us—in nature, in people, in awe inspiring acts.  What are they?  They are pointers to the message of Christ, they are the manifestation of God pouring out his “Spirit upon all people” and telling us, “Listen!  Listen, to the story of Christ Jesus.  He is the sign of my love; He is the wonder of my salvation.”         

Owen <><
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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

After Thoughts


"Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."   
                                                                                                                Matthew 8:22

Jesus may have sounded a little uncaring toward someone who needed to bury his father, especially when that man had just said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go" (v19).  Commitment to a Teacher (Rabbi), to become a disciple, a follower of Jesus is not merely done on a convenient Sunday morning with a latté, but in surrender as an obedient disciple—that’s discipleship.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer says it like this, Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost you your life.”  Discipleship is proactive, it is for now and for the future of everyone we come into contact with, lastly, even for ourselves.             

What is Jesus teaching?  In example, when do you pray, after your beautiful world turns in to a heaping mess?  When your child is in trouble as a young adult?  When do you find the need, time to witness the gospel that comes by hearing, not by your silence?  What does burying the dead have to do with all this?  Let’s see:

Prayer, like evangelism, is to be proactive—we witness to the living, not the dead—likewise, our prayer and intercession is effective as a discipline, preparing our steps. But, it seems that we pray as bad as we witness.  Prayer shouldn’t be reactive; it is to be disciplined and proactive to thwart reactionary pleading.  When Jesus taught us to pray (Luke 11:1-4), he said, “give us this day,” the day was not over, it was just starting, we are to pray before the need arises—not after one of life’s cave-ins.  To be a disciple requires the following of Christ and his Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), to bring “good news” (the gospel) to those not yet dead, but nonetheless dying eternally.  We need not worry about burying, but saving.

So, what was Jesus saying to the man having a father needing to be buried?  Being a Christ follower, embracing Christianity is not a moment of convenience, a mere afterthought.  Don’t pray because of a calamity, pray to prevent one.  People’s eternal souls are not to be an after thought; the gospel is of no use when shared in a cemetery.

Being Proactive, Thinking—praying, witnessing—Ahead, Always,

Owen <><

Monday, September 19, 2011

Knock–Knock…Who’s there?

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.   Revelation 3:20

Where is Jesus standing?  At the door, yep, that’s obvious. 
But what door?
Is this a door to open to unbelievers, to seek and meet Christ? 
Is this a magical “door to the heart of all mankind” or what?
Jesus is not standing at just any door.  He is at the front door of a church.  
Jesus is at his own front door; he should not have to knock.

The church door he is knocking on, let’s call it “First Laodicea,” has a rich history.  It was a  result of Apostle Paul’s work, in fact, in the town of Laodicea he wrote the Epistle of Colossians, and Laodicea was an important Roman city in Asia Minor—all that does not matter.  What matters is how accessible, open, and prepared each person, your or me, and a whole church is for Christ to come in and have time with us, to fellowship.  If we won’t let him in for a pot luck dinner, what will we do when he returns as promised for His church?  Is our friendship obvious enough that there is an open door for our Lord to walk through? 

He is a friend who should never have to knock.  Not only should he not need to knock, his presence in people of the church should be recognizable to everyone by the way we act, love one another (John 13:34-35).  A church cannot have closed doors.  Take the doors off the church, and then not only will Jesus be unhindered to come in, but it will be easier for you to go out of the church to reach a community that needs the peace and healing refreshment of Christ.  If you lock Christ out, it is a fact, everyone is locked out!  Wide- open church doors will allow a church body to go out and bring in the spiritually empty, and when they are being brought in, Jesus comes along with them and fills them. 

If Jesus can’t get past the doors of your church, if he can’t get past the barriers on your heart, no one can get in.  

Someone is knocking; do you know who is there?

Owen <><


Saturday, September 10, 2011

Are You Hated?

“All men will hate you because of me, …” Matthew 10:22

That isn’t an encouraging word by Jesus. 
Can’t folks just like me?  So, do I have an option?  To be:
1) A noticeable follower of Christ, in return, be disliked, hated; or
2) Hide my faith, be politically correct, then, most everyone will like me. 
But, did Jesus give an option? 

Jesus gave some conditions, they require being obvious in our love to Him, and we are His friends only by doing what He commands (John 14:15 and 15:14).    
That being the case, I can’t put aside or be expected to be silent, I must be an obvious follower by doing what he said, such as, going to make disciples (Matt  28:19); loving other disciples, which allows others to know I’m His disciple (John 13:34, 15:12, 14, 17).
He commanded us to, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27-28)—this is hard to do, it hurts to be hated … but I have to do it.

I am not a metaphor, but a real follower.
I pray, live, love in Jesus Name!  A Name that is not offensive—merely hated.
Christ followers love, live as Jesus commands, many hate you for that—no matter:
I live by being like him, keeping in step with His Spirit (Gal 5:22-*25). 

Jesus did say, everyone “will hate you because of me,” but he also encouraged us, saying:
All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
(Matthew 10:22)

In Jesus Name,

Owen <><

Question:  Are you a follower of Jesus, are you hated for Jesus sake?

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Can You Define Remorse?


When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse.   Matthew 27:3

Remorse is a horrible thing.  It does not fill emptiness, it deepens it.  Judas was “filled with remorse.  Remorse is the result of a life connected to “wickedness, evil, greed and depravity” (Rom 1:29), and is in sharp contrast to living as a follower of, or one who mirrors Christ, such a person is “filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” 

Remorse fills emptiness with destruction, leaving more emptiness than was there before remorse entered.  But, the Holy Spirit fills emptiness with His fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23). 

Thomas `A Kempis aptly said, “I would far rather feel remorse than know how to define it.”  Judas went beyond feeling remorse, he defined it.  Judas knew remorse meant “that Jesus had been condemned to die” through his greed, pride and what ever ate at his soul to allow Satan’s hate to enter him.  Being a disciple was too much to bear, in contrast,   Kempis knew that when you “Bear the Cross cheerfully … it will bear you.” 

Remorse is something you never want to define.  You will only find an empty pit, and like Judas, when you recognize your error, you will desperately want out of the pit.  But, others respond to your remorse as they did to Judas, when they said, “What do we care? … That's your problem” (Matt 27:4). 

Be attentive to you life, don’t define remorse, be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God” (Phil 1:11).

Owen <><
Can You Define Remorse? I hope not! 


Monday, August 29, 2011

Catch Fish—Guaranteed!

But so we don't upset them needlessly, go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the first fish that bites. Open its mouth and you'll find a coin. Take it and give it to the tax men. It will be enough for both of us.”  
The Message  Matt 17:27

A fisherman’s wisdom teaches that that angling is called fishin’ not catchin - ‘cause, there is no guarantee that you’ll catch anything while fishing.  Peter was a seasoned fisherman and by experience he knew that you could fish all night and catch nothing.  And, this trip to Capernaum wasn’t the first time Jesus, a carpenter, had told this able fisherman how to fish.  The first time, Peter’s replied to Jesus’ fishing instructions, saying, “Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything.”  Although he began his answer to Jesus in reluctant futility, he then added, “But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”  Peter’s obedience to Jesus resulted in not only catching enough fish for a meal, but they had “caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break” (Luke 5:5-6).  This time, when fishing in Capernaum, Peter said nothing, he just obeyed the Carpenter and went to “cast a hook.”    

Peter, as any fisherman, knows that you have to have your line in the water, that’s how you catch fish—wet a hook!  You can’t grip about the weather conditions and stand there with the hook in your hand hoping you catch something.  Peter had to react by wetting a line; so, he went to the lake and did as he was told: he cast a hook.  Peter’s obedience was rewarded with a fish—caught on the first cast—which produced the money to pay the tax.  By being obedient, Peter’s faith in paying the tax was simple, all he had to do was open the fish’s mouth.  Peter catching a fish had nothing to do with luck or his skill.  Peter was obedient and exercised faith in the Lord to provide—in the fish’s mouth was a coin of the needed value to pay the tax.   

Standing between ministering to the town’s people was a barrier, a tax.  A barrier is anything devised by evil to block the gospel.  Often, when doing the Lord’s work there are barriers.  You, like Peter, can be lacking means, or maybe an enablement.  Also, like Peter, in obedience to the Lord’s Word, there is nothing that can stand between you and doing something—anything—for the Kingdom of God.  Doing God’s will, His mission, is as simple as going fishing.  In obedience to the Lord, just “cast a hook.”  Then by faith, catch fish—guaranteed!

Opening the fish’s mouth,

Owen <><

P.S. There is a lot more to teach in this verse!

Monday, August 22, 2011

All Roads Lead to Heaven

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.
Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne,
     and books were opened.
Another book was opened, which is the book of life. …
If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life,
     he was thrown into the lake of fire.                                          
                                                                                       Revelation 20:11-12, 15

All roads lead to heaven. 
So, if your faith and obedience is in Christ Jesus or not you will be in heaven.
You will find yourself standing in the throne room of God.

More is revealed in verses 13b-15, The Message paraphrase relates it like this:  Each man and woman was judged by the way he or she had lived. Then Death and Hell were hurled into Lake Fire. This is the second death — Lake Fire.  Anyone whose name was not found inscribed in the Book of Life was hurled into Lake Fire.”

How long will you be in heaven?
§         Will it be a short time, just enough time for judgment? 
§         Will your time be eternal?

Is your name written with Christ’s blood in the Book of Life?
Or are you merely listed in one of the books to be forgotten, full of meaningless deeds.

All roads lead to heaven … how long will you be in heaven? 

Owen <><


Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well” (John 14:6-7). 

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Keeping things secret?

Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus' brothers said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world." For even his own brothers did not believe in him.”  John 7:1-5

With public eyes on us, you and I look at life around us, and decide who is important, what is important, where the important place to be is at, and why we live in a certain way.  All the whos, whats, wheres, whens, and whys affect who we are—more so, than who we should be.      

Christ Jesus was not, is not, nor will be interested in being popular as a public figure; nor by all the whos, whats, wheres, whens, and whys.  Jesus is interested in healing you, transforming you to be who you should be.  Jesus is most interested in a miracle healing needed in you, done in the secret place within you, done in your spirit—as you confess and then receive Him as Lord. 

Through Christ, God’s Spirit responds to your prayers and fasting when you’re unseen by the public eye.  When in secret, everyone is unaware of your prayers and fasting, that is, everyone except for “your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matt 6:18).

Owen <><

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Stinkin’ Thinkin’

Bill Hull writes, “Just as every human’s actions are based on what he or she thinks, one cannot conceive being like Christ without thinking like Christ.”  We all want to improve our life, and become a better person.  When your life is always amuck, and full of thought processes not producing good actions, then you’re not thinking like Christ; simply, your bitten by stinkin’ thinkin’.   

 Paul challenges our stinkin’ thinkin’ in Romans 12:1-2

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.” [Bold emphasis mine]

In order to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” is not by magic, nor does it come easily.  In faith, having run to God’s grace you found justification.  But, your life in Christ isn’t complete, following Christ requires that disciples “offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world.”  If your goal is to think differently—you must rid yourself of stinkin’ thinkin’—then, as God’s love, mercy, and grace pours out, there must be a mind willing, desiring, and pursuing to be filled with the Spirit of a transformed, new mind.  A mind that isn’t different or opposed to Christ Jesus’ way of thinking.  He is our Teacher, leading us how we are to live—how we are to obediently think.     

To simply be a better person does not meet the prerequisite of being completely filled by the Spirit of Christ.  How you act and how you treat others is the beginning of being transformed —you and I must be willing to be “living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God”—we can’t think like and then respond to people and life as it is dished out to us.  You and I must think like Christ, who opened his hand, to help the soldier drive a nail through it into the cross. 

Owen <><


Recommended Reading:  Bill Hull.  Choose the Life: Exploring a Faith That Embraces Discipleship. Grand Rapids, MI:  Baker Books, 2004

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Mountain Top Plans

Set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown you on the mountain.  Exodus  26:30

God has a plan.  A big plan for all people, a plan for a church, and a plan for you—important plans, as the plan given Moses, to, “Set up the tabernacle according to the plan.  The prophet Amos revealed that “the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).  To hear the plan, as Moses did, requires going to the “mountain top” with spiritual ears attentive.

Moses was born a Hebrew, he lived as a politically powerful Egyptian, he became a fugitive for murder, he was a simple man, a sheepherder; and Moses was God’s holy servant and leader of God’s people.  Moses represented many different kinds of people.  But, there is only one kind of person God will speak to about his plans.  So, what kind of person was Moses?  Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).  And, only a humble person is willing to overcome the fear to repeatedly go alone onto a mountain, into the gap, into the presence of their sovereign Master to seek God’s glory and to attentively listen to the Word and plans given. 

God has a plan.  As with Moses, humility is the threshold to the mountain top; Jesus said it like this, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat — I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how” (Luke 9:23 The Message).  So, is there a mountain to go to?  Yes, the journey to the summit is being like Jesus (Matthew 11:29, Philippians 2:8)—a humble servant—because, the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants.”

God uses those who are humble servants, living a life as God would expect.  The Lord gives plans with clarity, a servant hears with assurance, and when God’s plan is shared, it will be listened to by other servants.

Ears are attentive to one with His plan,

Owen <><

READ:  James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6, Matthew 11:29, Philippians 2:8
 

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Think Me Crazy

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Romans 15:13

To become filled with the Holy Spirit, is to receive the Lord’s joy.  In Acts 2, the immersion, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples in the upper room was reflected by an overflowing joy from them.  How do I know they had joy?  There are two reasons, 1) a fruit of the Holy Spirit is joy (Gal. 5:22) and 2) the wind of the Holy Spirit is an out pouring of who God is, all power, and yes, the source of joy.  God's joy brought on a loud noise as the disciples went into the street, as they let the Holy Spirit’s words of praise flow, without reservation, very loudly from their lips.

But, there were some on that crowded street who made fun of them.  Saying they were drunk on wine (Acts 2:14-17).  Anyone who is empty of God’s Spirit, His joy, can not fathom the blessing of God’s joy, of being literally filled with joy, filled with the Holy Spirit. 

The disciples had a choice, to allow the Holy Spirit’s fruit to be harvested, or remain depressed by Christ’s absence in body and hide what the Holy Spirit wanted to express through them.  They chose to pick fruit of the Spirit, not for self consumption, but to pour out as a love offering, as a expression of love and peace, and an expression of joy!  An expression of hope to the empty hearted. May you receive joy.

Great grace and joy to you,

Owen <><  

Read: Acts 1:4-5, 8; 2:1-14, 38-41 

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Joy Rebuilds Walls

Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall."
Nehemiah 4:10

Nehemiah encouraged those living in the ruins of Jerusalem by what God accomplished through them.  No matter the circumstance, God gives much more than an ability to merely endure a life falling in around you.  Nehemiah had a vision from God to rebuild Jerusalem, nonetheless, crumbling walls and broken down gates were not God’s mission; the mission, the work, included the walls, but the vision of God is to restore His people.  Although you may be in a ruined state, nowhere in God’s vision for you is there a motive to beat you down due to your shortcomings. 

You know your shortcomings, weaknesses, all the empty portions in your life, so does He, but, now is the time to rebuild.  God does not state the obvious, He didn’t tell those people in Judah the walls of Jerusalem had fallen; God’s vision was restoration.  God’s desire is not for you to collapse inward, as the walls of Jerusalem, that would only leave you weeping over a life falling in on you.  No, God’s desire is for you to have complete restoration by relying on Him, that you stop relying on your own might.  If your own strength was enough, then your heart wouldn’t be crushed nor your life falling in around you.  Accept that “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). 

You may feel like the people in Jerusalem, that your strength is giving out, you life is in rubble and you can’t rebuild your life.  Christ restores more than the walls you build up around you, in your salvation He will completely renovate you and strengthen you, beginning in you, and then working through and out your walls.  The Lord begins by placing His Spirit, the essence of true joy, peace—indeed, His very presence in you.  Invite the Lord to clear away your rubble.  He will pour joy in to you, His very Spirit—He is the One who reaffirms you.  Without a doubt, “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10).  

Receive strength, receive Joy.

Owen <><

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Getting More From God

The eleven followers went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
Matt 28:16 NCV

In order to get more from God, eleven Christ followers had to do one thing before receiving the Great Commission from Christ Jesus.  These eleven followers, disciples, of Christ were whom Jesus had appointed, from among all other disciples, to be apostles in Mark 3:13-16.  When appointed, designated as apostles we see a similar pattern to their being commissioned (Matt 28:16-20).  Mark wrote, “Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve—designating them apostles…” 

How did the eleven get more form God?  What is similar in how they are designated and commissioned?  Very simply, the eleven were obedient.  In both instances the eleven went up on the mountain as Jesus had told them—when designated them apostles (Mk 3) and when commissioned them to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19). 

In disobedience they would not have been on the mountain to receive the anointing of God upon them as apostles.  Obedience was crucial in getting more from God—receiving empowerment in the authority of an office or commission came only after doing as they were told.  In obedience the eleven had to first go up on the mountain.  In disobedience they would not have went up on the mountain; the result is uncertain, however, it is apparent that they wouldn’t have been in the right place to have received more from God.

The eleven disciples—before being appointed and commissioned—had to be on the mountain where “Jesus had told them to go!”  It is no different for you today.  You may not be told to go up on a mountain, but, to get more from God, you will have a mountain experience.  In obedience God will give you more—no, not for you, but for God’s glory.

Owen <>< 

Saturday, July 9, 2011

What’s Missing? Part 2

What is missing in the life of most Christians?  It is a particular, zeal — a passion for the mission that is in response to God’s will; a mission that will fill our life.   

As promised, the answer given by Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelburg is this:  “God wants us to become contagious Christians — his agents, who will first catch his love and then urgently and infectiously offer it to all who are willing to consider it.”  We are on a mission; a mission that is obedient to God’s desire and fulfils our life today. 

When trapped in a life that has something missing, a corner of emptiness, when we do not become contagious with the “message,” the good news of Christ.  A full life is living the mission of Jesus Christ—our Lord who came to seek the spiritually empty, the lost (Luke 19:10).  Then, Jesus commissioned, empowered, and appointed us to be his ambassadors; to share the hope in Christ to everyone we come into contact with (Matt 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, 4:31; 2 Cor 5:19b-20).

Jesus replaces all emptiness and fills us.  A mission that leaves nothing missing is summed up by John Piper, who says, “There is no escape: if we, by God’s grace, are successful in evangelism we will be happier.  Our joy in God will be increased.”

Pray this verse; and include yourself with God’s servants:
“…give your servants fearless confidence in preaching your Message…”
— Acts 4:29. The Message

Filled—in receiving, humbly giving,

Owen <>< 

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