Pharisees: rules without relationship

I have been thinking about this for a long time, and I am trying to put my thoughts together into something coherent. I ask for your patience to see where this takes us. Please understand that this is a work in progress, and is pointed first at myself.

Matthew 23:27 (ESV) - Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.

Why did Jesus speak so harshly to the pharisees? I often think of Jesus' tenderness with vulnerable, sick individuals, and his mercy toward the "sinners" who are brought before him. Then I contrast that to when he is furious, and who he is furious with. He really can't say anything more harsh than what he says to the pharisees, but why?

We need some context. Here we are seeing the introduction of the New Covenant from Christ, and the pharisees didn't know about it yet. They were living in a society that was trying to live the Old Covenant successfully. The Old Covenant was the Law, laid down in the ten commandments but then greatly expounded upon, mostly in the book of Leviticus. The Law has many requirements and is often harsh, demanding death for many infractions. In order to live under The Law, the pharisees wanted to protect their followers from going anywhere near breaking any commandments, so they created a "hedge" around the Law. For instance, to prevent people from breaking the Sabbath, the pharisees spelled out in excruciating detail what you could not do, laying out even more restrictions than the Law required in order to keep their followers from getting close to breaking the Law. Good idea, right?

The problem here, is that they missed the entire point of the Law. The Law was not written to express how to successfully live righteously. Following it to the most minute detail means you are focusing on the wrong thing.

Matthew 23:23 (ESV) - Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

And no matter how hard you strive to follow the Law outwardly, you will miss the mark somewhere. In some part of your thoughts, in some corner of your mind, you will fail.

Matthew 5:21 (ESV) - You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Here we see that, in reality, "thou shalt not murder" really means that you can't hate; you really can't even call someone a fool. Later in the paragraph, we see that "thou shalt not commit adultery" means you can't have a single lustful thought, ever. The point is that no matter how hard you try to follow the Law, you are already fallen and you aren't going to become righteous through your own effort.

So what was the point of the Law if you were destined to break it? What was it the Pharisees missed by trying so very hard to fulfill the Law with all their rules? The point of the Law was to prove that everyone misses the mark. The point of the Law was that everyone needed atonement through a blood sacrifice of an innocent. With all the rules of the Pharisees, they told everyone that the way to a healthy relationship with God was to try hard and try harder and never fail (and be really good at hiding your failures). They missed the very first commandment:

Matthew 22:36-37 (ESV) - Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

Even so, is it really so bad to try to follow the rules of the Law, of trying to avoid breaking the Law? If the Law spells out unrighteousness, wouldn't the righteous want to follow the Law? Perhaps. I posit that the real problem with the Pharisees' approach is their focus on the Law, not their love for God. They preached the rules to the point where their rules were the law of the land, imposed on the community. Eventually, the rules became their focus, completely outside the context of a love for God and God's love for us. The fear of breaking the Law was the underlying message, not looking in eager hope for the coming Savior who would become the Lamb of God who would fulfill the atonement that the poor sacrificial sheep stood in for. The laws of the Pharisees became a great weight that was even harder to fulfill than the impossible Law, and led to a community that felt separated from God by their own failures. In all their teaching of rules, there was no focus on mercy or grace of the Father, provided in infinite love through his promised atonement.

OK, well, why have I been so concerned about this? In what way does it affect my life today? There are no Pharisees putting a hedge around the Law today, are there? No, but let's look to the heart of what the Pharisees did, the real problem that Jesus so harshly rebuked: Religious people, focused on the right and wrong laid out by the Law, trying to apply rules to a community without the context of a loving Father, without the concept of forgiveness, with only the Law's view of right and wrong as the ultimate message. When we, as Christians, "vote our conscious", applying the morality of the Law (that we cannot even follow perfectly with the Holy Spirit's help) to the laws that govern our land, are we not being Pharisees? We are focusing on the rules and demanding that a non-believing society abide by them, completely outside the context of a loving God or the Holy Spirit's help.

Today, in our society, Christians have for so long stood opposed to gay rights that we have forced the LGBTQ+ individuals in our society to band together into a cohesive and accepting community whose banner is to have "pride" in who they are. The church is so busy applying the morality of the Law to our country's laws that we failed to communicate the love of our Father to individuals. Now, given a choice between a strong community who tells them to be proud of who they are, or a judgmental community that tells them that they are immoral, which do you think is more inviting? Also, notice all the use of "they" and "them", we have turned it into "us against them".

Now, inside your church, you may have loving members who accept any who walk through the doors of the church. Wonderful! My worry is, how would a LGBTQ+ person know that your church is a loving, accepting community? Right now, the message being blasted from the rooftops from the political right is anti-gay, anti-trans, anti-lesbian; and who voted for those "right wing" politicians? Who supports them? Many are voted for by conservative Christians. So, connecting the dots, conservative Christians are anti-LGBTQ+. How will you ever get to show the Father's love to a member of the LGBTQ+ community if the only message they are hearing about Christians is that we are anti-YOU?

We, as a church, must change the way we are communicating to the world. Should we disengage from politics all together? I'm not sure. I do feel that at this point, we have done much damage to the "Good News" of the Gospel. We have alienated a community, pitted ourselves against them, and drowned out the love of our Father with a message of judgment. I think that we must first stop trying to assume the USA is a "Christian" country in which we must apply laws that enforce the Judaeo-Christian ethic. Trying to enforce Law-based morality without help from the Holy Spirit on a people who do not know the Lord is just going to be off-putting to the very people we are trying to share the love of the Father with. We must stop looking at issues and instead always focus on the individual.

How far can we take this? I do want to be honest here. Not every bit of scripture is filled with love and acceptance for all.

1 Cor 5:9-13 (ESV) - I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church[b] whom you are to judge? 13 God judges[c] those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

What??? So, we can't be Pharisees, trying to enforce morality in society with rules that leave out all the love of the Father, but then inside the church we need to judge each other? Well, yes and no. The church does need to use some amount of judgment inside its community. This is not to say that we expect newcomers to be immediately sanctified. We must allow time for the Holy Spirit to move in a person's life, to identify areas that need to be addressed. This passage is more about whether the church is content to applaud itself on acceptance without expecting growth. The church must reach out into the world, but the mature church should not be a reflection of the world.

A final word. The church is full of sinners, that's the point. We all need grace and we all need to be continually sanctified by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. As a community of sinners, there is a plethora of immorality occurring in the church today. If we were to take all brothers and sisters who are "guilty of sexual immorality or greed, ... idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler", and remove them from the church, I'm not sure how many would be left. We are all in the process of sanctification, living in a fallen world. We, as a church, should encourage each other to live with integrity. Each member needs some safe brothers/sisters who can hold them accountable, and each member must be open to gentle, loving correction given by someone they trust when prompted by the Holy Spirit. The often misquoted verse "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." (Matthew 18:20) is actually about members of the church restoring each other out of sin in love, and God's promise to be with us as we do this.

Matthew 7:1-5 - Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

As we, in the church, have plenty of plank-eye, let's focus on growing in our walk with the Lord, following the Holy Spirit, and allow our hearts and minds to be purified by Him. Let's not let our communication to the world be of judgment, of an expected Law-based morality without the context of the love of our Father. Let's not let our loving actions, community outreach, our generosity with the less fortunate, all be over-shouted by a demand for non-believers to follow the Law that we in the church struggle with.

An open letter to my fellow men. 

My entire life, I was raised Christian. I went to church Sunday morning and Sunday night, and my family did devotions daily. I went to Sunday School and VBS. Let it be known, I was indoctrinated. My parents did well in following the command of God in Deuteronomy 6:6:

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Unfortunately, I also discovered sin at a young age. Trying to reconcile the teachings of the Bible with my actions, I quickly discovered shame. I always felt that I was letting God down, over and over. I felt that I was beating Jesus with that horrible Roman whip each time I failed. I could just imagine the disappointment in Jesus' eyes. In my personal life, I despised myself, I was deeply ashamed, and I hid. 

It took quite a while for the Grace of God to crack my shame. At some point, in my self-righteousness I felt that Jesus expected me to be ashamed, that the only right thing to do as someone who accepted the gift of the death of Jesus was to hate the part of me that put Jesus to death. So when I became aware of the truth and depth of the amazing grace that Christ bought for us, I pushed it away. I was a pharisee before I was a teenager. I bound up a burden that I could not bear, and I felt oh so righteous for my own self-flagellation.

Yet, God is patient and he kept chipping away at my pride, at the stone wall of my hiding place, and at the terror I had that my shame would be known. One day, I just couldn't carry the burden for another minute, and I opened my heart. I let certain people see into my shame, and they showed me grace. In that horrible bright light of truth, of transparency, I discovered that shame is a lie. 

Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Romans 5:8

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Yes, we are all sinners. I always knew that. God loved us anyways and Christ died for us, I knew that too. Yet, I figured that accepting grace was just for my sin-actions that I did before I accepted him. I felt like at that point, my life should have changed, I should no longer sin. I held myself to this high standard that I could not possibly live, and I despised my failures as I felt that God despised my failures. 

What a sad waste of my thoughts, of the wonderful moments of life I have been given! Here I have a God who has so much love for me that he moved heaven and earth to create a path of salvation for me. He chose to become a man, to live perfectly as a man, and to be executed in horrible fashion as the single sacrifice for all my sins, to face Hell and to prevail. He accomplished perfection because I cannot. He never expected me to pick myself up by my bootstraps and get my ass in gear, he instead expects me to love him, to humbly serve him, to pick up my cross and follow him. 

Shame is a lie! It is there to destroy your relationship with Jesus. Shame is pride, shame is assuming you could have been perfect and you failed. You may have sorrow for sin, but do not allow shame to destroy your heart. It is a waste of your life, and will separate you from the one who truly loves you.

This, my friends, is my story of grace. I have been exploring the depth, width, and breadth of grace for twenty something years. I am constantly amazed by it. Recently, God whispered something to me. He told me, "My grace for you is infinite, you cannot defeat it." Strange, huh? As if I would want to defeat grace... yet now I see myself anew.

I have been so blessed by grace, so blessed that God would keep me, so amazed that God's love extends despite my continued failures in sin; I have truly explored grace and it has defeated all shame (not sorrow, but shame). What did God mean? Well, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I might just be that child who keeps testing the love of his father over and over, just to make sure it is still there. God allowed me to test him for twenty years, and he said to me that he has proven himself. He will love me every moment, his love is not touched by my failures, his love cannot be moved. It is time to now trust that the love will always be there, and move on to the next step he has for me. 

It is time to live victoriously. It is time to move on from the milk of the Grace of God to the meat of victory. It is time to leave sorrow behind and move on in the process of sanctification. The point is not that I will now all of a sudden win every battle, no, the point is that I have tested my safety net of grace and found it will always save me. It is time to draw closer to Christ, to see how he battled temptation and how I can as well. It is time to run life as a marathon, not live life from my couch. I may stumble, sure, but I need to get off my lazy butt and start running. 

Jesus called us to a life of "picking up our cross daily and follow him". It is time for me to stop being comforted by the grace of Christ and start discovering that the path before me is hard. There is a safety net if I fall, I have tested this and proven it will always catch me. But I need to get on that path, with a big heavy cross on my shoulders, and follow my loving Savior.

But this is a letter, I am writing to you. So enough about me, what about you? I give you two thoughts. 

First, if you are in a cycle of shame, it is time to allow some light onto your heart. Be set free from the lies of shame, you are loved! You are so treasured that God allowed his son to die for you to save you. The grace he bought is beyond measure, your finite list of sins cannot defeat his infinite grace. Stop judging yourself in your own pride, and allow Jesus' forgiveness to set you free. Set aside your pride and get help from wise counselors who are on the path, following Jesus with a cross on their shoulders. If there are earthly consequences, face them. You must let go of shame before it destroys your relationship with your Savior, before it destroys you!

Second, if you, like me, have known the amazing depth and width and height of God's grace for some time, if you have been set free from shame, it is time to live in freedom. "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." (Galations 5:1) I am not calling you to perfection, we will always stand only because there is a firm foundation of grace beneath our feet. I am, however, calling you to join me on this path. Pick up your cross, let's go follow Jesus! Let's discover victory in our lives. Let's go to battle against the power of sin in our lives, and the destruction it brings to our world.

For those of you who are ahead of me on this journey, feel free to lead and guide those of us who have just dared to get off the comfy couch of grace. We want more than the forgiveness of Christ, we want to grow and find victory.

What is the Kingdom of God worth in my life?

This morning we did devotions with our kids, and we came to a passage in their children's Bible that I have probably read hundreds of times. I never found this passage very meaningful, it never seemed to make much sense. In order to try to get my kids to think about what they just heard, I started to ask my kids some questions. And then it hit me, this deep and profound truth, and I am still coming to grips with it.

Matthew 13:44

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”


OK, so I am sure, like me, you have read this a hundred times, and you are saying, "Yeah, I know, so what?". Well, maybe you always got it, but I didn't. I just thought about treasure, thought about a big box of gold doubloons, or whatever, that you see in pirate movies. And I thought how you might sell all your stuff to buy the field, ripping off the original owner since you plan to take a treasure that belonged to him. I figured you'd sell all you owned, but end up wealthy from the treasure, which you would live off of for the rest of your fabulously wealthy days.

But, then, the pearl guy. This guy sold everything he had to buy the pearl. He bought it at retail, for its Blue Book value. He's not making a profit here, he won't be selling it, he won't be living off of it. This guy sold his house, his car, his business, all his pearls and jewelry, his wedding ring, his iPod, iPhone, Mac, his music collection, his John Deere tractor mower, his motorcycle, boat, RV, his clothes, his bicycle, his gym membership, his home brew setup and his wet bar, his 42" TV and his 55" plasma TV, Play Station 3, Xbox 360 and all the games, his World of Warcraft characters, he gave up his hot tub and swimming pool, his perfectly manicured yard and his wife's flower bed, and his garage full of tools. He cashed in his 401k and his pension, he emptied his savings account and checking account and his savings for his kids' college expenses. You name it, whatever this guy had, whatever this guy cared about, whatever he was working towards, whatever he valued, whatever he managed to put away for his family's future, he sold it all.

In the end of the story you see a man with empty pockets, no way to make a living, no health insurance or life insurance, no savings or retirement plan, no home and no way to take care of his family. He has only one thing in the world, he has this pearl. He will not sell it, he will never let it out of his sight. It is his greatest joy in all the world, to have this pearl. I think the other guy, who found the treasure in the field, is the same way. It is not a box of doubloons, that can be lived off of, but something that this guy treasures with great joy, he will never part with it, though it cost him all that he is.

I could never relate to these stories, because I couldn't imagine caring about a pearl or, as I originally saw it, a box of treasure. But the point is that we should care about the Kingdom of God like this. Why do I look around and see so much stuff that I own (or that a bank owns and I hope to one day pay for)? What is it that I truly treasure in my life? These guys sold anything worth anything in their lives to gain their treasure. How will they eat? Doesn't matter. How will they take care of their children? Doesn't matter. What if they get sick and you can't pay for them to get medical care? Doesn't matter. Are we all going to starve to death? Doesn't matter, I have my treasure, the one thing that matters.

Seriously???? Can they seriously treat their families like that? That doesn't sound like love, that doesn't sound responsible or honorable or good. This reminds me of something else that Jesus said:


Luke 14:26
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”


Once again, that doesn't sound like the right thing to do, to hate your mom and dad and wife and children. In fact, what about this:


Exodus 20:12
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”


? I think it all ties together. Jesus is telling us that the Kingdom of God is so valuable, so precious, that to not have it is to not have anything. We should pursue it with all that we are. I think that Jesus is saying that a man who does not seek to have the Kingdom of God at any cost has nothing. That a man who does not put the Kingdom of God first in his life is a man that hates his mother, his father, his wife and his kids. A man who has not laid down his love for the things of this earth, a man who has not put to death his earthly desires, this man has nothing of value to give to his wife, his children, and does not bring honor to his parents.

It is so easy for me to say that I have to live in a nice enough house in a good enough school district so my kids can get the best education. I have to have a large, safe car to take my kids to their school and everywhere else we go. I have to make sure that we have health insurance and life insurance and car insurance. My kids need new shoes when their old shoes are smelly or old looking. We have to have tons of food and snacks in the house so no one is ever hungry for more than 30 seconds. All of this seems so reasonable, so responsible, so safe and smart and right. But am I spending my life building the Kingdom of Me, or am I seeking the Kingdom of God?

What do I treasure? I can say that I love Jesus with all my heart, but it is so easy to deceive ourselves that I have to look past my words to find the truth. If I look at what I spend my time on, what do I treasure? If I look at what I spend my money on, what do I treasure? If I look at the fruit of my life, of my words, of my actions, what grows from my toil? Is it the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Me?

I will tell you right now, I have not sold everything in my life to gain the Kingdom of God. I have not picked up a cross to follow Jesus. My heart is tied up in the stuff of my life, and the people in my life. So, do I hide behind the people I love, the people I care about so much, as an excuse to not live all out for Jesus? And if I do, am I just short-changing the very people I claim to be serving? Could I truly leave them a greater and more valuable legacy by having less stuff, less security, less insurance, less comfort, less entertainment; if I replaced that with more Kingdom of God? More faith, more truth, more miracles, more love, more victory, more joy?

Does anyone else find this scary?

Jesus the Conqueror

So often, when I think of Jesus, I think of his love. A love so incredible that for our sake he chose to become a man, to speak to us in our own words, to show us that he understands our plight, and then to purchase salvation and freedom for us at so terrible a cost to him. I took so long in understanding that Jesus was fully man, not just God with skin, that this revelation has really held my attention for quite some time. It comforts me to know that Jesus had family, and the weird complications that family bring to our lives. He had friends, friends who were true, friends who were weak, even a friend who turned out to be a backstabbing jerk. And Jesus even told these guys that they were his friends, not just his servants or followers. He called those who follow him his family. All of this appeals to me, it helps me know that I have a God who doesn't just put up with me, but he truly loves me and can understand my life, my difficulties, my struggles. This is what makes me love him so much, not just as some servant to his lord, some citizen to his king, but as a man to his father.

However, sometimes I need to remind myself that Jesus was more than a man. I need more than understanding, I need more than his infinite patience. I need a conqueror who will lead me to victory in my struggles. I get so caught up with the wonder and joy of his infinite love and never failing grace that I feel comfortable. But do I really need to test that infinite grace over and over to make sure it really is there? I feel like in my life I really do seem to think that Romans 6:1 is the way: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?" There is some emotional roller coaster I am stuck on, where in some perverse way I can find closeness to God by sinning, then coming to his presence all weepy and experiencing the comfort of how deep and wide his grace is. Am I truly that child, who thinks the only way he can know his daddy still loves him is to test that love through disobedience over and over?

Clearly, I need more than a God who understands. I need more than infinite grace and infinite love. I need to expand my view of Jesus to beyond who he was as a man.  One time, during his ministry on earth, he showed himself in a form that was beyond his flesh:


Matthew 17:1-8
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and khis clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.


Once again, if you have read previous entries in my blog you may recall, I have a hard time remembering to be amazed by the Bible. I grew up with these stories, I accepted them as fact, as part of my world view as a child. Now, as an adult, I have to shake myself out of the "Yeah, I know" mindset when reading the Bible. If I come at this fresh, if I reset my brain to think of the world that I daily interact with, all of a sudden, this moment in Jesus' life seems way more awesome.

I am glad he didn't start his ministry as Glowing Man, straight out of a Marvel comic book, I would have found him as hard to relate to as Super Man. Instead, Jesus came as a 30 year old carpenter with sisters and brothers and a mom who think he's gone a little nuts. It takes quite a while before people start to believe him, put their  trust in him, and to recognize him as more than a rebel preacher. Only AFTER Peter has the guts to say “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) does this man reveal his glorified form. Thus, I still get to have my God who became a man, who understands me and my struggles, who loves me with infinite love and patience and grace, despite who I am and what I do. Yet, by displaying his glory, I get to see that he is more than a prophet, more than a rebel preacher, more than a man. And by displaying his glory, we can recognize him in the Old Testament, showing that he did pre-exist his earthly ministry.

Daniel 10:5
I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.

Amazing, just by one little camping trip to the top of a mountain, Jesus showed himself to be this man who spoke to Daniel 600 years previous. He also showed that Moses and Elijah respected him, which put him as an equal (at least) with the greatest men of the Jewish Bible. Also, we see that he is a warrior who is doing battle in the Old Testament. People question if this man in Daniel is Jesus because he said that he needed help from Michael to get past the prince of the kingdom of Persia. I disagree, I think that yes, Jesus could have come down to Adam and Eve in the garden, he could have had Adam nail him to a cross right there, and he could have died, beat death, come back to life, given Adam and Eve new and holy bodies, and let Adam and Eve back into the garden. However, no-one would have understood what happened, the significance, the cost, or the amazing love involved in so short a story. I think God chose to let man live in sin long enough to know just how bad it was, just how much we need him and his way of salvation, so that we could gain some insight into his love and the terrible cost of salvation.  Therefore, since God chose to allow some time to go by before sending Jesus, I think it is quite reasonable to assume that Jesus allowed limits to be placed on his victories so that time could go by. If he automatically went out and won every battle, once again there would be little point in waiting a few thousand years before coming as a man, and waiting more thousands of years before coming back to end the story of sin. So, I am perfectly comfortable in seeing this man as Jesus, especially when he looks a lot like the glorified Jesus during his transfiguration, and he looks even more like the returning Christ. In fact, these verses in Daniel really help us recognize the one who is coming back.


Revelation 1:13
...one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.


So what changes in our view of Jesus? I thought of him as a man, one who understands me. Now I can think of him as a man who has bright white hair, eyes of fire, feet of bronze, face like the sun, some sort of sword coming out of his mouth, and a face I shouldn't look at because we aren't supposed to look at the sun. Oh, and a voice that sounds like flowing water, or like a bunch of voices together. So... what? What does all this fancy appearance and bright light and all mean to me? Well, now that we know how to recognize him, we can now know where to look for him in action:


Revelation 19:11
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Daniel 7:13

I saw in the night visions,

and obehold, with the clouds of heaven

there came one like a son of man,

and he came to the Ancient of Days

and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion

and glory and a kingdom,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him;

his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom one

that shall not be destroyed.

Wow, so now we see Jesus as a warrior, who wins all and takes all titles, all authority, upon himself. He is the ultimate victor who will set up an everlasting kingdom. There is nothing that can stand in his way.

So how does this affect me, personally? I mean, my relationship with Jesus is personal, and if I am to change my view of Jesus, it needs to change in some personal way. Here we see that when Jesus comes back, nothing will stand in his way. We see that he conquers. But millions of Christians have lived and died since Jesus lived here on Earth, and they did not experience this victory of Christ in a personal way, at least not during their earthly lives. So, if I am to end up joining those, if I am not going to end up seeing Jesus win the battle with my flesh-eyes, how is this in any way personal?


James 4:1
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but dgives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.


Yeah, that's a bit more personal. I am at war with my passions. You bet I am. In fact, if I keep returning to my sin over and over, just to taste that grace over and over, I have just rolled over like a dog in my war with my passions. Yet the man in me is stirred. I am called to war. I am called a warrior, and I am called to battle. I am called by the ultimate conqueror to do war with the passions of this world within me. I am called to resist the devil. I am called to war.

When Jesus resisted the Devil, he had fasted for 40 days. He had iron control over his body and its earthly passions. In what way have I trained, in what way have I prepared, for a war with my passions? It is time hear the bugle call, to stand up like a man and go to war, and win victory against the passions of my flesh with the Ultimate Victor at my side.

Poor Nicodemus

"Have you been born again?" Christians demand this from fellow Christians and non-Christians, seekers, newly converted, or long-time believers (but possibly from another denomination). Nothing like asking an incredibly meta-physical question and expecting a simple "Yes" or "No". I have been a Christ follower my whole life. I have been asked this, I have asked it of myself, and I always said, "Of course". After all, all this question really means is "Have you been saved, are you on your way to Heaven?", right? Well, if that is all it means, then I say "Of course".

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." John 5:24

Welp, that was easy, I heard the words of Jesus and every story as a child, and I have always believed. So, I am saved, on my way to Heaven. Great, next question!

Well, I was reading John's gospel the other day, and stumbled into Jesus talking to Nicodemus. Jesus actually introduced this concept of being "born again". However, he was not talking to the un-religious, or the un-educated. He did not go to the masses and demand that they be born again. He was speaking privately with a pharisee, (the Jewish rabbis who were fully educated in the Scriptures, the Law, and even had the Scriptures fully memorized). So, the first point here is that we should be careful in our speech. Don't assume that the masses understand our Christian-talk. It sounds like foolishness to them. Take care in what you say and who you say it to.

Ok, so here's Jesus, God as man, talking to one of the highest trained men of the Jewish religion. And this guy approaches him and acknowledges that Jesus is from God. So Jesus jumps right in, knowing Nic's heart, and answers the question that Nic wants to ask.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God".

Nic, of course, takes this literally, and asks Jesus how he could possibly get back into his mother's womb. Ok, dumb question, but I think he was a little taken aback by Jesus, who saw straight into his heart and answered the question Nic had hidden in there. This guy is the teacher of the nation of Israel (well, suburb of Rome, but let's not get all political). Of all people, he should know the path to Heaven, right? Yet Jesus sees his heart laid bare, immediately answers his innermost question, and I think Nic is taken off guard. Who wants their doubt, fear, and whatever else we try to hide inside to be laid bare in front of anyone? So he asks the dumb question, trying to sound smart, hide his fear, hide his seeking. Jesus ignores the dumb question and gives Nic a clearer picture.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

Wow, OK. So, I have been born of flesh, got that all taken care of, I am flesh. Couldn't possibly get re-born in the flesh, Nic's dumb question makes that pretty obvious. So, Jesus tells us to be born again, we need to be born in some other way. So we must be born of the water and the Spirit. O...K...? Hmm, how can I be born of water and the Spirit? Well, just thinking off the top of my head, Jesus received the Spirit like a dove when he came up from the water when he humbly allowed John the Baptist to baptize him. Well, piece of cake, I have been baptized, twice actually, I must be good to go!

Really? Jesus is telling Nic here that all he has to do is a religious ritual, get a bit wet, and he will be on his way to Heaven? Seems rather anti-climactic, and also just wrong. Would Jesus come to Earth and put himself on the cross for us just so that he could replace one set of religious rituals with another? Hmm, let me think some more. Well, I did go and get wet a few times in the name of Christ, but I don't remember the Spirit coming upon me in the form of a dove. Also, I don't remember the Heavens parting or a voice from Heaven bellowing out about how pleased God was in me. I do remember getting a towel and drying off. If this was all it took to be born of water and the Spirit, I am going to just start walking around with a spray bottle and spray my friends. Get them wet, they are born again! Ok, stop being sarcastic.

Maybe I did receive the Spirit on that baptism day (or that second baptism one), or the day I professed that I believe in Jesus. So, now I have been born twice, I guess I am born again. However, you would think that if two different things have been born that make up who I am, flesh and spirit, there would be two parts of me. I am fully aware of my flesh, and it seems to be very flesh-like. My flesh is happy to eat, to sleep, it enjoys money and stuff money buys. It likes being warm but not too hot. Yes, I know my flesh, what it demands and desires, it is all to present. However, my non-Christian neighbor has flesh, too, and I don't think that the flesh is the point. The point is that our flesh is corrupted by sin, and we need to have something new born in us that is not corrupted. The Spirit offers us this, bought by the precious blood of Christ.

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all" John 6:64

The next words that Jesus speaks to Nic is the well known and often recited verse of John 3:16, which I won't waste your time by typing, because you have already recited it in your head. This tells us how Jesus bought redemption and new life for us. It is an interesting point for me that this most-quoted of verses was spoken to Nic in private, but I will have to explore that another time because it is off topic.

So to be born again to keep our flesh but to have spirit brought to life in us. This question, "Have you been born again", can imply whether you have been "saved", and so often is only used in that way. It is how I always answered. But that misses the point. The point of this amazing concept is whether you have had the spirit brought to life in you, whether you are growing in the spirit, whether the spirit has grown to be an equal or greater part of you than your flesh. Our flesh cannot worship God, he is seeking worshipers in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). As Christ followers, we are not to keep growing in our flesh and seeking to fulfill it, but seek to grow in the spirit.

"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." John 6:27

OK, I have been born again, I am now both spirit and flesh. I must start seeking to grow my spirit and lesson my flesh. The only measure I can think of for spiritual growth is the list of the fruit that a healthy spirit grows:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." Galations 5:22-25

So, when I consider being "born again" in the future, I will not just look to see if I have had the salvation event, the one time profession of Christ, perhaps along with being baptized. Sure, I did all that. The question is, now that the spirit is born in me, am I living in the spirit or still in the flesh? What does the fruit of my life, my words, my actions, and my relationships look like? This is how I can be different than my non-Christian neighbor. He will live in the flesh, because that is all he was born to. I still carry this flesh, but I will strive to grow spiritually, that the fruit of my life will be more than what comes from my flesh.

There is more to Christianity than demanding of people whether they are "saved" or not, and mis-using our religious phrases to sound spiritual. Let's understand how deep this question is, and demand it of ourselves rather than others. I think from now on, each time this phrase comes up, from others or myself, I will pause to take a measure of my spirit, and its battle against my flesh, to see if I am living and walking by the Spirit, and if my life is growing this wonderful fruit for me and for those around me.

Jesus, I pray that you will grow my spirit and help me crucify my fleshly passions and desires. I want to be a tree that people can come to over and over to receive life-giving fruit. I want to be a source of your life to my family, to my friends, to my work-associates. Thank you for bringing your spirit alive in me, and making me more than this bag of flesh. Help me to live by the Spirit and walk by your Spirit daily.

I need a heart

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." I always thought, duh. Christianity, Christ-followers, of course it is all about loving God. Only one problem, I assumed that since I have always considered myself a Christian, that I was already doing this.

I have a problem. I am a well educated, western-thinking man, who is an engineer by trade. All I do all day is think logically, drawing logical conclusions, trying to perceive all logical outcomes from a decision. I live in my brain. This is not to say I am super smart, there are lots of people smarter than me. But this is not about them, this is about me. My point is, I live in my head.

So I read this verse, and I thought, "duh". That's the problem, I immediately started thinking. Not only that, I didn't go any farther than thinking. I never actually checked my heart to see if I do in fact love God. So now, I go and look... and I discover that I can't find my heart. Now I have a problem.

I do not believe that all there is to a man is his brain, his thoughts, his perceptions, his logic. Man has a heart, man has a spirit. This is where passion comes from, this is where identity comes from, this is where love comes from, this is where purpose is defined. I hope it is clear I am not talking about emotions, those crazy, unpredictable reactions to the twists and turns in life. Emotions can change on a whim, and can be affected and changed by so many outside influences. I am talking about the core of a man, the place where a man can return to when he is confused, where he can look when he wants to know who he truly is, and what his measure is. This is where he can set his purpose, from which his passion will flow, and from where he will love.

So I look, and I cannot find, this core. Once again, I have a problem.

Am I some sort of mutant that does not have a heart? No, I don't believe so. I think my problem is that I live in my brain. I am looking with my brain for something it can guess about but truly cannot fathom. Is there any logic in the heart? No, passion is not logical, love is not logical. So I am living in my brain, trying to use it to check out the rest of me to make sure everything is ok. I interact with this verse in my brain, and my brain goes to check my heart to make sure I am loving God. After all, this is the most important command. It makes sense, I better go check. But my brain cannot go check on my heart, because it cannot fathom it.

How can I find my heart? I think my problem is that I have spent my whole life in my head. Everything seemed clear, understandable. Education had me spend every day of my life focused on training and refining my brain. So I live here, where everything can be explained... until you start asking questions that the brain has no answer for, like "what is the point of all of this?". Hmm, looking for a purpose in life, well, I was always a Christian, so that was the point. So I filled my head with Christianity, studying the Bible, studying theology. It is all in my head. Perfect, I am all set... until God starts saying things that I can't do with my head, like "You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."

Well, I can't seek Him with all my heart from my head. I need a heart for that, so once again, I go looking, and I can't find a heart. Once again, I am only interacting with God's Word with my head and not my heart. Once again, I think of "me" as defined by what is in my head. I need to find my heart, or have God find it, and make it part of the definition of "me". It sure would be nice to have an unexplainable, undefinable love and passion for God, rather than just a knowledge. I think it is in there somewhere.

God, awaken my heart! Bring me to life!