PHOENIX RISING

I’ve been reading Paul’s letter to the church in Colosse over the last few days.

One word comes to mind.

R i c h.

After reading a very inspiring post over at Mike’s blog, I decided that I would like to share some of this wealth with you, but I’m going to do it in a way in which you may or may not be familiar with.

I’m going to make it personal.

What I am about to present to you is the first chapter of the letter to the church in Colosse.

I have changed just a couple of small things in order for the letter to apply more directly you.

The things I have taken out are some names, and some things that are much more relevant to Paul, his apostleship, and the immediate context of the events taking place, historically speaking, than they are to us in the context in which we find ourselves today (In other words, I am not Paul the apostle, and you are not meeting with the first century church in Colosse. )

Now, saints,…

Saint…

This embellished portion of the letter to the church in Colosse is also for you.

Personally.

Take your time and read it in just that way.

It is from one saint to another…

Just as it was from Paul to the church, now it is also from me to you, as I have copied or typed nothing that I do not mean from the bottom of my heart.

Enjoy…

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To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who meet and fellowship in the Blogiverse:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying … for you, since I began reading of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;

because of the hope which is laid up for us in heaven, of which we heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to us,

as it has also in all the world,

and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among us since the day we heard and knew the grace of God in truth; I know of your love in the Spirit.

For this reason I also, since the day I recognized it, … I could not help but pray for you, and ask that we all may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

that we all may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to

the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.

All things were created through Him and for Him.

And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself,

by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

And we, who once were alienated and enemies in our minds by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present us

holy, and

blameless, and

above reproach in His sight– if indeed we continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard,

which was preached to every creature under heaven,

…

…

The word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, … now has been revealed to His saints.

To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is

Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.

More to come…

Your Brother,

Johnny

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*Following this post, I would like to discuss what these things mean…

It would be fascinating to take it, first, one little section at a time, and then look at the portion given as a whole and see what the Spirit of the Lord has to say to us all.

As I said, take your time.

I’m looking forward to your feedback.

( *Even if you decide not to discuss what all of this means, It is my prayer that the Spirit reveal it to us in our innermost being. )

It’s been just over nine years since my initial personal encounter with Jesus Christ.

At that time, not only did He give me a revelation of Himself, but He also gave me a revelation of the church which is His body.

Since that time I have been through many different things.

I have experienced both the peace and joy of walking in harmony with Him, and also the pain and suffering of rebelling against Him.

All along the way, He has continued to work all things together for my good, and continued to prove to me that it is his love which draws men to repentance.

When He filled me with His Life, I was as a man raised from the dead.

Life took on new meaning as I saw the world around me with resurrected eyes.

I didn’t look around thinking, “Oh, nothing really matters, it’s all going to burn.”

No, it took me a couple years of exposure to the religious system to acquire such a twisted outlook on life.

Neither did I go around exposing the faults of others, trying to heap condemnation on their heads.

He didn’t send me to condemn.

As a matter of fact, I was so filled with the Love of God, that I had a hard time not spilling it all over those around me.

However, over time, the newness wore off, and the self righteousness set in, right along with the stumbling and falling that succeed a walk of pride.

Finally, after about a five year period of believing that the good Lord was all done with me…just knowing that I had displeased Him to the point of no return…

He proved me wrong.

Again.

Hallelujah!!

It was actually during these five years of almost total darkness that the Lord made it possible for me to get real with Him.

It was during this time that I learned just how superficial my thoughts and prayers to Him were.

During this time of ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’ I was able to finally come to the beginning of the end of my old man.

Oh no, it’s not that I have already attained to anything. But I am aware of some things that I have gained along the way.

Reverence is one of them.

And adoration is another.

I also know what it means to worship in Spirit and truth.

Just to be clear…

It’s all Him.

Things are beginning to look a lot more like they did during our early days together.

Not to worry. I’m not ‘regressing’.

Actually, the Lord is just bringing me back to His original goal.

Nine years ago, I didn’t realize that someone had coined a term for it, but some people call it the eternal purpose.

Now even that term carries some religious connotations for some people.

Even to me personally, it doesn’t mean the exact same thing as it did just two years ago, but it is still based in the two revelations He gave to me at the beginning.

Christ and the Church.

The Kingdom of God.

The Eternal Purpose.

What follows was inspired by our dear sister Amie who posed some very thought provoking questions based on my last post and some meaty discussion going on over at Mikes blog.

This was going to be a response in the ‘comments’– but I figured it was substantial enough to present as it’s very own post.

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“We agreed that the first fruits were offered up on behalf of the entire harvest. Why do you think that they were offered in the old testament?”

Well, like I said, I’m no scholar, but the best I can offer you is this:
It was a picture of Christ.
The first fruits were a tithe and a tithe is like a seed.

Here is an excerpt from a great article I found which expresses, quite well, my thoughts on the first fruits/tithe:

The Tithe Is Your Seed

God is blessed by your tithe as an expression of your love and obedience to Him, yet tithing is primarily for your own benefit so that God can bless you. There is a universal law that God has placed in both the natural and spiritual realms. This is the law of sowing and reaping. “…God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal. 6:7). The tithe is “seed” that you plant in God that will bring the harvest of prosperity.

All farmers understand God’s law of sowing and reaping. After a harvest in Bible times, before the farmer would use any of the grain as food for his family or livestock, he would first go through the harvest grain and pick out a percentage that exhibited the best qualities of size, weight, color, and set this aside as seed for the next season’s crop planting. This early form of genetic selection helped assure that the next generation of crops would produce higher yields and greater quality.

This illustrates our tithe, why it cannot be the 10% that is left over after we pay everything else. The part that God claims and uses as seed is the first and best 10% of your increase, called the firstfruits. “Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine” (Prov. 3:9-10).
Don’t “eat your seed grain.” Do not use the Lord’s tithe for anything else! Because if you don’t sow, you can’t reap.

Now I’m not one who insists that we, living in the New Covenant, are supposed to ‘tithe’.
That is all beside the point.
My point is that the first fruits, or the tithe, is a picture of Christ.
He was offered up so that mankind would be (more than just) blessed.

“God said that he desired mercy and not sacrifice, and again according to Hebrews 10, it served no real purpose”

Ok, a little context …

This portion of scripture is from Hosea 6. It was written during a time when God was disturbed with Ephraim and Judah.

First we read Hosea’s exhortation for the kingdoms of the north to turn away from their idolatry (which, earlier in the text, Hosea metaphorically illustrates with his own experience of life with his adulterous wife):

6:1-2
Come, and let us return to the LORD;
For He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up.

After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.

See Jesus there, with us IN Him?
Hallelujah!

Hsa 6:3
Let us know,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD.

Amen!
We want KNOW Him, and we get to KNOW Him, because WE ARE ONE WITH HIM through Christ!!

His going forth is established as the morning;
He will come to us like the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth.

The sense that I get from the first line is simply, “As sure as the sun will rise, He is coming”
“Morning” speaks, I believe, of resurrection life.

Apparently, there is a lot of discussion these days as to what the ‘latter rain’ is.
I’m not sure what this speaks of exactly, but I am sure that it speaks of a time of ‘refreshing’ and perhaps a time for the sprouting up and growing of more ‘fruit’.

Early rain gets the seed to sprout while later rain causes it to grow.

All of this is fulfilled in Christ.

6:4
“O Ephraim, what shall I do to you?
O Judah, what shall I do to you?
For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud,
And like the early dew it goes away.

Here, the LORD, through Hosea, expresses his despair over His ‘adulterous’ people.
He calls them out, rebuking them for their lack of faith.

“…like the early dew”, insinuates that although there appears to be something there, it vanishes rather quickly in a short passing of time.

That word faithfulness in the Hebrew is pronounced “checed” and it also means ‘goodness’ or ‘mercy’.
(As a matter of fact, it is the same word that the ‘King James’ folks used for mercy in verse 6, but we’ll get to that in a moment.)

I believe Hosea is also revealing to us the contrast of the faithfulness of Christ compared to that of Ephraim and Judah; an early and latter rain, compared to a morning cloud and an early dew.

6:5
Therefore I have divided them by the prophets,
I have slain them by the words of My mouth;
And justice is like light that goes forth.

I think it is safe to say, in context of the writings of Hosea, and the circumstances going on in Ephraim and Judah, that the prophets spoke hard words to those who were ‘living out of the way’ (or in unfaithfulness).

This text is also a picture of Christ, as He was made sin (as whatever is not of faith is sin) for us, and lifted up as  was the bronze serpent on Moses’ staff.

And now for the quote you mentioned:
6:6
For I desire (faithfulness) and not sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”.

God desires a people of faith, and this He has also accomplished in the person and work of Christ Jesus, and all those who are in Him.

This phrase is echoed by Jesus later on in the New Testament. Here is one account:

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“Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.

And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

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It is here that we see Jesus’ heart.

He came for the ’sick’, not the ‘well’.

The poor, the weeping, the hungry, the seekers of righteousness, the meek, etc…

In Christ, our needs are met, and we are made whole.

This is mercy,…kindness, goodness.

And this He does so that we might turn back to God in faith.

The way that I understand all of this is that, because mankind was unfaithful through (and in) Adam, God Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, became the faithful man that He always wanted, the head of a new creation, while at the same time He was also the sacrifice, the Lamb of God who was slain, for the world, before the foundations of the world.

After all, Love is sacrifice, albeit a willing One.

To those in darkness, His death on the cross is seen only as the execution of a man, to those born of His Spirit we see (among other things) the offering up of the ‘first fruits’ in order for all of mankind to be “blessed”.

Consider Genesis 1:11 for a moment:

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

Again, I see Christ.

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So much more could be said of all of this, but it’s what I have to contribute at this time.

Thank you, Amie, for the thought provoking questions that you have posed!
Searching these matters out has resulted in a great blessing to me, personally.

I’m looking forward to any responses and also to more discussion in the days ahead!

Peace.

What is to follow are scriptures taken out of context.

Yep.

No framing story.

No imagination.

Just scripture.

Unfortunately, I am not that well versed in Old Testament scholarship.

Not much better with first century history.

All I have are the FACTS of scripture.

Now, yes, of course, context is invaluable. I am really not much for ‘cut and paste’ theology.

On the other hand, unlike some, I DO see and appreciate the harmony between the flesh and blood authors of holy writ, and therefore, that is all that I present to you at this time.

So, without further ado….

(And I hope you have time to read all of this. If not, just read until you get the point.)

(All scripture quotations taken from the New King James Version of the bible.)

Mat 26:26-31
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
“For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

‘I will strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

Luke 11:49-54
“Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’
“that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation,
“from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.
“Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”
And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things,
lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.

Jhn 6:45 -58
“It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.
Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.
I am the bread of life”.

“Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed”.

“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven–not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

Act 20:27-30
“For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.
“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
“Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

Rom 3:21-26
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Rom 5:8 -11
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

1Cr 10:15-17
I speak as to wise men; judge for yourselves what I say.
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.

1Cr 11:23-29
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

Eph 1:3 -10
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth–in Him.

Eph 2:13-16
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Col 1:9 -14
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Hbr 9:6 -28
Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services.
But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance;
the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.
It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience–
concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.

But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.
Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood.

For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.”

Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.
And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another–

He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Hbr 10:14 -23
For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”
then He adds,

“Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Hbr 10:28-35
Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The LORD will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

Hbr 12:22-24
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Hbr 13:8-16
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.
For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp.
Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.

Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

1Pe 1:1-5
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1Pe 1:17-19
And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;
knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

1Jo 1:5-10
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Rev 1:4 -6
John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Rev 5:9, 10
And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”

Rev 7:13-17
Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”
And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.
“They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat;
“for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Rev 12:10,11
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Lamb
(Pre- “Passover”)

Gen 22:7, 8
But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

Passover

Exd 12:1-14
NOW the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
“This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
“Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.
‘And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb.
‘Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.
‘Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
‘And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.
‘Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
‘Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire–its head with its legs and its entrails.
‘You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.
‘And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover.
‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
‘Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.

Peace Offering
Lev 3:1-8
‘WHEN his offering is a sacrifice of a peace offering, if he offers it of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD.
‘And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood all around on the altar.
‘Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to the LORD. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,
‘the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;
‘and Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is on the wood that is on the fire, as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
‘If his offering as a sacrifice of a peace offering to the LORD is of the flock, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish.
‘If he offers a lamb as his offering, then he shall offer it before the LORD.
‘And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.

Lev 17:1-7
AND the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is the thing which the LORD has commanded, saying:
“Whatever man of the house of Israel who kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp,
“and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering to the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD, the guilt of bloodshed shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people,

“to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to the priest, and offer them as peace offerings to the LORD.

“And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and burn the fat for a sweet aroma to the LORD.

“They shall no more offer their sacrifices to demons, after whom they have played the harlot. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.”‘

Sin Offering

Lev 4:27-35
‘If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally by doing something against any of the commandments of the LORD in anything which ought not to be done, and is guilty,
‘or if his sin which he has committed comes to his knowledge, then he shall bring as his offering a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed.
‘And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering.
‘Then the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar.
‘He shall remove all its fat, as fat is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma to the LORD. So the priest shall make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
‘If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish.
‘Then he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it as a sin offering at the place where they kill the burnt offering.
‘The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar.
‘He shall remove all its fat, as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering. Then the priest shall burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire to the LORD. So the priest shall make atonement for his sin that he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.

Lev 5:1-6
‘IF a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of the matter–if he does not tell it, he bears guilt.
‘Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and he is unaware of it, he also shall be unclean and guilty.
‘Or if he touches human uncleanness–whatever uncleanness with which a man may be defiled, and he is unaware of it–when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty.
‘Or if a person swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an oath, and he is unaware of it–when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty in any of these matters.
‘And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing;
‘and he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.

Lev 14:12-18
“And the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it as a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.
“Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy.
“The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.
“And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand.
“Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD.
“And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering.
“The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD.

Burnt Offering

Lev 23:12,13
‘And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD.
‘Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.

The Cross

1Cr 1:17 -19
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

1Cr 1:20-31
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;
but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God–and righteousness and sanctification and redemption–that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

Gal 5:11
And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.

Gal 6:12-14
As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Eph 2:13-18
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Phl 2:8-11
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Phl 3:7-21
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you
Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.

For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame–who set their mind on earthly things.

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Col 1:18-26
And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight–if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.

Col 2:13-15
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Hbr 12:1-5
THEREFORE we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;

For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”

Hbr 12:7-9
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?

Atonement

Lev 14:18
“The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD.

Psa 65:1-4
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion;
And to You the vow shall be performed.
O You who hear prayer,
To You all flesh will come.
Iniquities prevail against me;
As for our transgressions,
You will provide atonement for them.

Blessed is the man You choose,
And cause to approach You,
That he may dwell in Your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Of Your holy temple.

Psa 79:8,9
Oh, do not remember former iniquities against us!
Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us,
For we have been brought very low.

Help us, O God of our salvation,
For the glory of Your name;
And deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins,
For Your name’s sake!

Pro 16:4-8
The LORD has made all for Himself,
Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.
Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.
In mercy and truth
Atonement is provided for iniquity;
And by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil.
When a man’s ways please the LORD,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Better is a little with righteousness,
Than vast revenues without justice.

Eze 16:62,63
“And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the LORD,

“that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord GOD.’”

Eze 45:15 And one lamb shall be given from a flock of two hundred, from the rich pastures of Israel. These shall be for grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them,” says the Lord GOD.

Propitiation

Rom 3:21-26
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Hbr 2:14-17
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

1Jo 2:1,2
MY little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

1Jo 4:8-11

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Here’s a poem I found the other day. I wrote it about two years ago….

Seems maybe one day a year

I awake with no fear

With no trouble in my heart or my soul

What a day it will be

When all days are like these

And my sorrows will be with me no more

How I long to be free

From this wretch which is me

Who is not the me that I am

But how free I become

From this contrary one

As I walk in the truth of

Where I stand

FOR I HAVE DIED, NOT A LOSS

BUT A GAIN, ON THE CROSS

WITH THE SON TO BE RAISED

IN NEW LIFE

AND THIS LIFE WHO’S IN ME

IS THE ONE WHO IS FREE

AND HE LIVES MINE FOR ME

JESUS CHRIST

I remember, years ago, sitting ‘backstage’ at the ‘church’ I used to be a part of.

There was a young lady there by the name of Kelley who spoke a word of grace that I will never forget.

She was talking about a dream that she had where she was outside and a beautiful butterfly had caught her eye.

She was so struck by it’s beauty that she went about trying to catch hold of it until finally she gave up and sat down on the ground.

A moment later, as she sat perfectly still, the butterfly came to her ever so gracefully landing on her leg.

“This..”, she explained, “…is how it is with the Lord.”

This past friday, I was reminded of that beautiful story while I was at work.

It seemed that every time I began to sense my soul stepping out where it ought not be, a butterfly would hover and dance right around the place where I was working, reminding me of Kelley’s dream, reminding me of the simplicity of allowing God’s grace to fall upon me.

Brothers and sisters, I want to encourage you in this very thing.

Allow.

Allow Him to love you.

Allow Him to shower you with his unmerited favor.

Stop chasing it.

Stop working for it.

Allow Him.

Over the last week or so, I’ve had probably five or six things that I’ve wanted to write about here.

Too bad I can’t remember any of them at the moment.

Instead, I’m going to write about something that is really weighing on my heart today.

But how am I going to present this?

I think I’ll try right off the top off my head and straight from the hip.

It’s a sad, sad day when those in the believing community (rather it be local or at large), consider the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ to be insufficient or even irrelevant to their spiritual (which is their only) lives.

This matter touches on everything from the forgiveness of sins (which some deem to be such a small, small, matter), to the entrance into and residence within the Kingdom of God (which, all of a sudden, seems to be such a huge, gigantic matter).

These two matters cannot truly be separated.

It would seem as if there is some sort of mass movement which is based upon works rather than faith, whose aim is….honestly, I don’t know what their aim is.

I suppose that it is ‘world peace” or something akin to it.

Surely it’s just a reaction to the ‘all about me’ mentality which has saturated the Christian world for so long now.

I also understand that there is a reaction coming from the ‘evangelical fundamentalists’ against the ‘emergent church’, and that one of the points of contention is this very issue of the value and purpose of the sacrificial elements of Christ on the cross.

Personally, I don’t think the ‘emergers’ actually have a unified statement of faith on this matter. I think that, at least to some degree, a ’statement of faith’ is something that the ‘emergers’ are not all that interested in.

Not yet, anyway .

I’m no expert on what the ‘emergent church’ is, but as far as I can tell, the only consistency that I see in them is the fact that they are a conversation that seems to really emphasize the teachings of Jesus.

I think that if I were to take a shot at what I thought their statement of faith was, it would center on ‘the sermon on the mount’.

I could, I suppose, systematically write out everything that I believe to be true about my relationship to and with God, and then call that a statement of faith.

That would take way too long.

Just read my blog.

There are lot’s of faith statement here.

Emergers are interested in conversation and re-thinking…, or as one brother like to say ‘re-imagining’, the Christian faith.

Personally, I think that is a healthy thing.

There must be room for free thinking and not just accepting what the so called ‘authorities’ have to say.

More importantly, there must neccesarily be freedom for the the Spirit of God to lead us into all truth while not neccesarily hanging on to every word that comes from the mouths of ‘Christianity Today’, TBN, Brian Mclaren, Dave Hunt, DayStar, SeedSowers, Thomas Nelson, Zondervan, “Brother Johnny”, Pasture Scott, Mike Morrell, the SBC, the Vatican, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc,…….

(Get the point!? )

It’s not that these brothers and sisters don’t have truth.

It’s that we also have truth in us, if were truly born of the Spirit of God.

(I’m sure some of our ‘emerging’ brothers and sisters might have a new perspective on what that means ….so…shoot if you’d like)

Some of them like to use new terms in place of older ones, like ‘framing story’ instead of ‘context’.

Hey, fine by me.

No complaints here.

Old words sometimes carry old baggage, so using new words can restore authentic or original meaning, while setting us free from distracting mental associations.

But let’s get to the point.

Original meaning.

Authenticity.

What are the ‘unchangeables’?

What are the ‘unalterables’?

Maybe these do vary from person to person.

I’ll tell you what mine are.

These are the ones that ‘make or break’ brotherhood in my book. If I am to find myself within your flock, you will certainly possess these particular feathers.

Mankind, outside of the provision made by God in Jesus Christ, is rotten to the core.

He is more than just ‘tarnished’.

He is altogether defective and beyond repair.

It takes a Miracle to make him right and true, and this miracle is the reception of the Gift of the Almighty, the ‘amen’ to the offering of the Lamb of God, the Atonement which is only in Christ, which was demonstrated at the cross of Calvary.

If you amen this, and truly mean it, then I believe that I have no problem at all calling you my Brother.

I dunno.

Maybe after reading this, you may not want to be called my brother.

You might be pipin’ hot right about now.

You know what?

I think I love you….

Yeah…

I’m pretty sure….

Yep…there is something going on inside of me that is loving you, for certain.

But you can’t do it.

You can’t be right in and of yourself.

You can talk about it, and you can pretend, that’s about it.

Oh, sure, you can do good things. You can keep rules.

You can even do ‘christian things’, but you know what? God doesn’t count those things.

Pretty bold statement, huh? Want to kill me yet?

I understand.

But you can’t please God.

Jesus Christ pleases God.

Only what Jesus Christ does pleases God.

Oh my! How narrow minded of me!!

Are you mad yet? Seriously, I’m not trying to antagonize you here, I am only speaking the truth. Someone has to turn on the Light.

Even Jesus said, “Only God is good.”

I am not a good man. You are not a good person.

So where’s your hope?

In Christ.

Are you there?

I am.

I can boast in my Lord.

What do you boast in? Think you are smart or special? Do you really think that your personality or your style can make you spotless before the Almighty?

You are nothing apart from God.

But He has made full pardon for your sins and sinfulness.

In Jesus Christ.

He was humiliated, tortured, beaten, bruised, ridiculed, and killed in your stead.

He went through hell so that you don’t have to.

Now that is a friend.

Do you have any idea how horrible of a person you are?

Even if you are not overtly ’sinful’ your superficial piety is disgusting to the One who knows all.

He sees through you.

But praise God, that Jesus Christ has made a way for you.

He became that superficial piety and that overt sinfulness, and He was then killed, taking those things to the grave.

But then, HE was raised from the dead and now He is at the right hand of the Father, and He represents His people.

He died for the sins of all, and you are a part of that all.

He has pardoned you via his broken body and shed blood.

And this is not just for you, it is for all who might recieve it.

It’s given freely….

just take it, freely.

Seriously.

Take it freely.

It’s a trade off.

All your sins, for the Love and favor of God.

Sounds too good to be true, I know…, but it’s true.

God is that good.

Maybe you have done this already. Maybe it was long ago but have since decided that you no longer need this foundation.

Hmmm.

Ever tried to pull a foundation out from under a house? What would happen to that house?

Maybe you need your foundation checked for cracks instead…

God’s goodness is always and will always be One with the person and work of Jesus Christ.

So.

Now am I a ‘fundamentalist’?

I don’t think so, but I think I understand the importance of having the fundamental things in their proper place.

So am I ‘emergent’?

Again, I don’t think so, but I understand the necessitiy of emerging beyond the neccesary and elemental aspects of our faith.

Call me what you want.

Love me or hate me, this is who I am.

Peace (or a sword?)

Romans 6:5-11 (NKJV)

“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,

knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

Likewise you also,

reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

Some of you folks out there know me pretty well by now.

My handful of faithful readers are all too familiar with my periodical declarations of retirement from the blog-o-sphere.

It’s that time again.

There are many reasons for my making this decision, but the most important reason is that it is what the Lord wants.

There is only so much time in a day, saints.

Use it wisely.

I have come to see, more clearly than ever before, the inheirant dangers involved with the world wide web.

The problem that I have discovered is that while it has the capability to plug us into a global community, at the same time, it also has the power to divorce us from the immediate community around us.

For those of us who are married, or married with children at home, that immediate community starts right there.

Now, based on my experience, I’m going to throw a few things out there for consideration.

How much time do you spend on-line (outside of work)?

Are there other things that you should be doing?

Are there any relationships suffering because of the time you spend online?

Do you think that your spouse deserves a little (or a lot) more of your attention, time, and energy?

How about you kids?

How about your home?

How about your yard?

How about your neighbors?

How about your Job?

How about your friends?

How about your enemies?

Now to kind of tie in some things that Marie and I have been discussing, I want to give an example of the Lord ‘working out’ His desires through us.

It’s really pretty simple.

Because the Lord is the center, and not because I have ‘placed’ Him in the center, but because He IS the center, and while yes, I DO recognize that fact, that He is the center of my life…that He is my life and If I think He is not, I am only fooling myself….but because He IS the center of my life and He is in me, He also ’speaks’ to me.

This speaking is always connected to His love, His great and wonderful love.

While His love is most certainly directed at me, and while He does, indeed, continue to pour His love out to me in so many incredible ways, He is also pouring it out to others.

His heart is for me, but it is also for others.

Now, since He is in me, and because I am getting to know HIM more and more, I am understanding His heart more and more. I often feel what He feels, and even think what He thinks (to the best of my personal comprehension).

For so long, I had struggled with, ‘what is the will of God for my life?’

I lived in a world of confusion and distress, trying to discern His desires concerning my life.

I thank God for that season being over!!!

He wants me to love Him as He loved me first, and He wants me to love my neighbor as myself.

That is the overarching desire of Gods heart.

And the specifics of that?

That’s easy.

He wants me to be led of His Spirit and not of my flesh.

Simple.

Sure, we could get into all kinds of theological discussions as to ‘what that means’, but I would say to you that if you don’t know what that means, you need to go to Him and ask Him what that means.

Tell Him that you really want to know.

Tell Him that you are finally finished with your games and that you truly want to follow Him.

Don’t worry. He is good, and He is faithful.

We will walk, and we will stumble, but He will pick us up and we will walk again.

It’s okay.

We do not desire to stumble. We desire to walk.

Now getting back to the issue of community.

Marie was surprised with a response that I had given her about something she asked. She was surprised that I didn’t say “only God is the center, keep your eyes off of yourself and on Him” or something to that effect.

What if the Lord was, to you, the All and in All?

Would that change the way you understood His centrality?

It has mine, tremendously.

It means that ‘the least of these’ is Jesus Christ.

Really.

It means that my wife is Jesus Christ.

My children are Jesus Christ.

My neighbors are Jesus Christ.

My co-workers are Jesus Christ.

“Heresy!”

“Blasphemy!”

Go ahead, nail me up.

These things that I say did not originate in me.

I could quote you all the scriptures, but I’m not going to.

Well, as I type, I am getting the sense that my ‘work’ here, at least for now, is finished.

In this particular realm of existance ( as virtual as it may be), I have sowed the seeds and now it is time to move on.

I’ll be back for more journaling in the future and look forward to conversing with you all again soon.

Keep me in your prayers, as I will you in mine.

Never forget His broken Body and His shed blood.

This was for us.

He is wonderful, God bless you all.