The dark side of free will

As followers of Christ we are well aware of the term “free will” because we believe that our God in His sovereignty has given each of us exactly that, a free will-or a freedom to choose to do what is right. But on the negative or dark side of free will we also, (remember by God’s divine plan) have the freedom to choose to do that which is wrong. So the question is, is the issue with humanity’s insatiable habit of doing that which is wrong really about free will or is it actually all about being obedient or disobedient? Of course the facts laid out in black and white within the Word states that it’s about our choice to be obedient or not. But why is it we have that tendency to choose our will over God’s will for our lives? Why is it we, even as followers, like to manifest, mentally pencil in or interpret our own gray areas between the sentences of God’s written Word?

Some clichés that most like to use which personally annoy me are, “God understands we’re just human”, or “God knows our motives” or how about this one... “Jesus died for my mistakes” - NO HE DIDN’T He died for your sins not your mistakes! When we make a willful decision to do that which is wrong it is not a mistake it is a sin - stop candy coating it to make it sound better or to ease your own conscience. And by the way, for those who like to comfort themselves with the second cliché above - at that point YES He knows your motives, which would be you’ve decided to become your own God by choosing what is right or wrong for your life, and totally avoiding your Creators do’s and don’t or rights or wrongs for your life.

All I have to say is if you truly love God with all of your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength then you should be living for Him wholeheartedly instead of halfheartedly. You will study and know the Word to show yourself approved and you will take upon yourself the mind of Christ and give every aspect of your life to and for God.

The Evil Eye.

I’m sure everyone has heard the cliché “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” but have you ever thought that maybe hypocrisy is in the eye of the beholder too? Now I know hypocrisy is hypocrisy but I’m referring to the fact that maybe it’s much easier for us to see hypocrisy in others before we see, or at least admit there is hypocrisy in our own.

Matthew 7:1-5 in the New International Version records that Christ taught about this very thing. Matthew records that Jesus said,
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Now what this tells us is that Jesus knows we have a tendency to see others faults before we recognize and rectify our own. Now those who dislike Christianity love to quote the first 3 words of this first verse in Matthew 7 where it says, “Do not judge”. But they, along with some believers, fail to actually see the total content of what Jesus was saying here. So to put it in a nutshell, Yes sometimes it’s easier for us to “judge” others before judging ourselves and indeed that is hypocritical of us but on the other hand consuming this record of Jesus’ teaching in its entirety we see by verse 5 Jesus says once you have honestly evaluated yourself and corrected your own self-blindness then you will see better how to remove someone else’s. To quote Matthew who quotes Christ, the end of verse 5 says, “and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.” You see we usually take these 5 verses and SEE them in the totally wrong perspective and act as if we are to not judge others and this is not what Jesus was teaching.

As a matter of fact I really like the way the Message bible puts it, it says,
Matthew 7:1-5 1-5 "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.

You see HYPOCRISY IS LITERALLY IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER but yet it is the beholders responsibility to make sure his beam has been pulled before he helps others with their dust.

Life goes on

The sound of silence deafens the soul yet soothes the spirit. Light rays beckoning to feel their warmth in the cool of the early afternoon while mangled and un-manipulated thoughts wander aimlessly deep within the chasm of the uncorrupt chaos, restrained, bound and shackled on the inevitable fringe between reality and unavoidable idealism. Questioning yet lacking the expectation of answers. Searching but never seeing and breathing while never feeling alive. The present quickly becomes the future and the past hangs on as fading memories which slowly morph into the absentminded abyss of nonexistence. What IS will develop into what WILL BE while what IS surrenders to what WAS as the oscillating rotation endlessly finds itself at a point of no return, no turning back. The hands of time transform into Nike clad feet as forward momentum thrusts it into dimensions of the expected yet unanticipated unknown. And life goes on.

[some of my poetry locked away in my mind]

Valentines Eve

Today is Valentines Eve.

It's the day before the "Day of love." The day couples express their love for each other with cards, candies, flowers and dinners. Wives and girlfriends patiently wait in anticipation to see what and sometimes "if" their sweethearts will get them. It's generally the day we display our love to the ones who love us.

But what about the One who loved us before anyone ever understood or experienced love or life for that matter? What about God? You know, the One who loved us while we were still sinners or to define it better the One who loved us while we were yet unlovable by His own standards? I find it totally amazing that Valentines Day the day we are expected to express our love to our better-half falls on a day we are to express our love corporately to the One who loved us before we ever existed. So what are we giving Him tomorrow? Think about it.

reasoned silence

I have been silent on this blog for a reason.

Sometimes I find it better to not say (or write) anything if you have nothing positive to say. Not that my life has been filled with negativity but my mindset has been clouded due to a number of circumstances beyond my control. I think this world would be a much better place if at times we all would share "reasoned silence" instead of "thoughtless noise" just because we feel we need to be heard or listened to.

I have chosen this day to write once again because I received news last night that there is a possibility that a friend from my past was found dead yesterday morning. He was the youngest to graduate with the class of 1978 and I was next to the youngest. Scot rode an awesome Harley and he was a Luthier which is a artisan who makes or repairs stringed instruments and Scot made fine handcrafted guitars, mandolins and dulcimers.

Finding this out late last night and now waiting for some kind of news to know if it is true has caused me to withdraw into my own consciousness and reflect how none of us know what, when, where or how we will physically leave this life. And if everyone would meditate on that reflection they would possibly prepare for what exists after this life.

From what I can tell Scot was an Atheist at most. As a matter of fact he called me about a year ago (at the last minute) to see if I could do his sons wedding because the minister they had asked to do it would not take "God" out of the marriage vows. As God would have it, I had a previous engagement that could not be broken which made me happy because I know I wouldn't have left God out of the marriage vows either.

His wife Debi was my neighbor and best friend for the first 12 years of my life. As a matter of fact she is in a number of my childhood videos and I have even shown one of those videos for a sermon illustration at church. I will most definitely be in prayer for her and the family, (if what I heard is true.)

It is sad but true how life ending for others can causes us to reflect on our own mortality.

So my reasoned silence has been broken by a life which has been silenced.

Natural Disaster

I don't know about you, but I find it deeply distressing and disheartening that it takes major devastation from natural disasters for not just entire nations, but humanity in general to work together to rescue others in dire need.

Now I'm not saying we shouldn't do everything within our powers to help others in times like this earthquake in Haiti, but can you imagine how much better the condition of our entire world would be in if we would all just give of our time, finances and prayers to meet the needs of others consistently and not just when a catastrophe causes focus on a particular people group, city or country?

I mean seriously shouldn't the lack of food, safe drinking water, clothes, medical needs and the number of orphaned children in this world count as a calamity?

Why is it we all, all of a sudden band together as humanitarians and become heroic when massive numbers of people die in an earthquake or a tsunami at one time, and yet year, after year, after year large amounts of human lives are lost due to a lack of the basic and abundant needs most of us take for granted?

Shouldn't we place just as high a value on one life as we do on fifty thousand?

Think about it, if all of humanity would work together all of the time like we do in times such as this earthquake in Haiti then meeting the needs of those who go without would make this world a far, far better place for everyone. The fact is the worldwide death toll and crime rate would not only decrease but the world's economy would most assuredly improve.

So where does this leave us?

Well for the most part it leaves us watching the devastating pain and suffering of events such as this earthquake in Haiti on the news or on the Internet, and maybe sending money, food or clothing to help. And for some it might lead to flying into that particular location to help with the rescue attempts.

But what then? So many of those in Haiti like other places, live without the basic needs to sustain life before natural disasters like this one takes what little they do have.

So which is the real "natural disaster" or catastrophe?

Is it the fact that people suffer because of earthquakes and tsunami's or is it possibly the fact that other human beings in our world suffer because the rest of humanity just naturally ignores their basic needs to sustain decent livable lives before or after these natural disasters strike?

Worth-ship

I am a little discombobulated due to the opinions of some Christians, or should I say the biased hardcore “beliefs” of some believers about different worship styles. Yes I am talking about the ultimate debate between the beloved hymns and the more recent choruses. If you have been in any church for any amount of time whatsoever you have discovered that there are those who religiously, and I do mean “religiously” insist hymns are the only songs that must be sung, there are those who only enjoy the new choruses and then you have those who don’t mind singing both.

Now my dazed and confused state is not as much concentrated on the “men and women of God” as much as it is on their reactions or better said their lack of action to the style of worship they dislike. Sadly some have this honest belief that true worship only takes place when one sings out of the hymnals. So when a song is being led in a style they blatantly detest they choose to not sing as if they are making this bold proclamation of protest against some sort of raging machine they feel is leading the masses away from God.

But in my opinion when it comes to the worship debate my question to all who dare to call themselves Christian would be “WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE?” I mean seriously, who DO we think we are to act as if God agrees with us on OUR choice of worship styles? Isn’t worship all about Him and not at all about us? How dare we assume God can or will only move due to one style of worship over another.

To be honest when I think of these brothers and sisters in Christ my heart is troubled and I am sincerely filled with sorrow for them because they just don’t seem to get it. You see the sad, sad fact that these opinionated Christians need to understand is that their decision to NOT sing certain worship songs based solely on their personal disapproval of them is like personally making a decision that God is not worthy of all of their praise. So of course they will not FEEL or SEE God move in their lives because they’re not open to His moving or His “inhabiting their praises” because of their personal decision to just not worship because of their personal preference.

Worship whether we’re singing the old or the new is all about the expression of God’s worthiness to us as our Creator, King and Savior. So we should sing every song with every ounce of our beings and stop being so concerned about our personal preferences and become more concerned about our personal relationship with our personal Savior.