Reading the Scriptures is an awesome experience. Many readers have commented on the amazing depth of the Holy Writ. It seems to hold itself timeless, even when re-reading a very familiar section; new thoughts and applications immediately arise. It is amazing how many times during stressful or difficult times, Scriptures committed to memory come back to us like healing waters.
Most believers view the Scriptures as “static” or “organic” and hold even stronger to an “either/or” ideology. There are poorly drawn lines between the “historicity” and the “spirituality or mystic” perceptions of the Bible. What is even more troubling is the lack of sacred outlook or appreciation that often accompanies the Bible.
When leaving most church services, copies of the Bible can be seen under seats, on the floor, left behind or even in lost and found. Hardly the behavior of a group that claims 100% inspiration from God on the words to be found in its pages. Much like a magazine or used book, it finds its relevance when needed. The “sacredness” of the Bible seems lost in the physical realm.
But even more concerning is the popular notion that the Bible is static, its stories and applications chiseled in stone for us to observe as a “do and do not do” manual on living. But the Living Word of God (the Bible’s own claim about itself) cannot be contained in a historical setting.
Simply reading your Bible is… simply reading. Jesus exhorted His followers to “search the Scriptures, for in them you will find eternal life”. This searching is determined and deliberate. It also has the end game of eternal life. This admonishment by Jesus is not about a “read your Bible through in a year” competition. It is about embracing the mysteries and plumbing the depths of each line, each phrase, and each letter.
In Judaism, it is taught that each word and letter has a specific value that can change each possible interpretation into seventy different ideas. They refer to this as “The Seventy Faces of Torah”. The idea being that we can really dig deep into our Bibles and not be afraid of upsetting the balance of the spiritual universe should be exciting to us.
I would even go as far to say we should approach our Bible reading and study time with great reverence and expectation. Studying Scriptures, reading and mediating on their words is like an appointment time with God, a chance to sit and hear from the Master of the Universe. I do not agree with many churches approach of “coffee table conversations” to Bible study. This is our opportunity to connect with God, to see His plan for our lives spelled out in the words of the ancient documents.
It is interesting to consider that if you take a Bible, any Bible, and bury it in the sand, and two-thousand years later, it is discovered, its value would be off the charts. I can't even think of how much it would be worth. It's odd that our Bibles have more value when we bury them than they do if we study them.
When we allow dogma and doctrines to squash deep and resourceful observations about Scripture, we are doing the Bible and the followers of Jesus a disservice. I agree that by in large we are segmented by our different beliefs (oddly enough, over the same Scriptures) and that doctrines outline the belief systems of a certain denomination or group. But we need to face a cold and hard fact: no person, no group, no denomination or religious faction holds a trademark on God. God does not belong to us, we belong to God! (See my article “Who Owns God” for more ideas on this)
We need to look deeply and creatively into the face of our Bibles and draw life-long lessons from the pages. There are thousands of mysteries awaiting your discovery today.
Here is a meditation I find helpful…
As I meditate on the Scriptures, I feel the power of passion for them filling my heart and soul.
Sincerity, devotion and yearning for a greater connection to the Creator drive my prayers, my readings and my studies.
My spiritual consciousness opens up and connects me fully with the World Above.
The Book of Joel confirms to us that new visions and prophecy will be part of the “latter rain”. These days we need new vision and direction as we all work towards helping God in the task of repairing the world.
Stay Tuned!
David Fournier in the Senior Instructor at Restoring Grace. David teaches classes on Hebraic Perspectives, Early Christian Communities and New Testament Formations and Canon. David is available for your church, youth group, seminars and retreats. Email David at: dfour26@gmail.com
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Friday, January 27, 2017
Why Do We Attack Each Other?
Inside the circles of “religion”, man has railed against man for centuries. This is easily evidenced by the vast numbers of religions, and then the divisions (some call them denominations) within those religions. There may be “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” as the song goes, but there are a few thousand ways to love Jesus according to Christian denominations, for example.
With that being said, I would believe (as most rational people would) that we have created these divisions because we can’t get along with the “other guys”. For whatever the reasons may be, lines have been drawn, buildings have been erected and lessons have been taught all to express the need of separation. Ok, I get it. In the end, God will sort out all of this in His time and His will. For now, United We Fall, Divided We Stand.
The part I cannot understand or endorse is this: Why do some spiritual leaders feel the need to attack the “other guys”? We can’t get along; point taken. But attacking each other only lends itself to demeaning our whole purpose: bringing a better quality of life to humanity in this life and the one to come.
We are suffering from an entire crop of self-appointed/self-anointed pastors, teachers, evangelists, prophets and other forms of gurus. For them, it is all about a title and not a testimony. Pharaoh had a title, but Moses had a testimony. The Prophets of Baal had a title, Elijah had a testimony. Pilate had a title, but Jesus had a testimony. Saul had a title, but King David had a testimony. Having a title means you will be known here on this earth. When you die, so does your title. Having a testimony means you live beyond your death. Testimonies last forever.
No one can stop the onslaught of religious people acting religious, offering their kind words of insight to protect the flock against the other “cults”. Be forewarned: no word goes unrecorded and God will hold us all in account for our use of them.
But how do we reconcile these attacks? What purpose do they serve? Why would God allow them? Can’t He strike them dead the moment they start their hateful verbal transaction? Well, He could, but I am pretty sure I wouldn’t be here if He did. God allows these events, these unfounded verbal barrages for a purpose.
Hear these words of wisdom from the ancient text: The Book of Splendor (Zohar)
Come and Behold: the Holy One, blessed be He, transforms matters in the world so as to lift the heads of the righteous. To enable Joseph to raise his head for being righteous before Him, He caused the master (speaking of Pharaoh) to be angry with his servants, as it is written: “The butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt” (Beresheet (Genesis) 40:1). All this happened to lift the head of Joseph the righteous.
Come and Behold: he was humiliated by his brothers through a dream. He obtained greatness over his brothers and was raised above the whole world through a dream, namely the dream of Pharaoh
Vayeshev, Chapter 23, paragraph 253.
This teaching by the Rabbis from The Zohar tells us that God is at work in ways we cannot see or predict. He often takes a path we could never see coming. This clarity of direction comes to us because He loves us dearly and seeks the best for us, even when the best includes painful and sometimes unwarranted injuries caused by the words of others.
As we mistreat each other, we have to ask the question: How are we different than the world around us? How do we show the love of Jesus (being His disciples) to the world when we act and talk like we can't stand each other? The Scriptures address the idea of keeping the sacred and the profane separate, which is hard to do when we hold each other in hate and contempt.
There is a great hole in the center of a man that nothing can fill. It is a boiling pot of hatred, unkindness and lies. The Evil Inclination so encompasses a man that even the words of his mouth are an outpouring of evil. The Scriptures teach that it can often be read on the countenance of the person. These people, regardless of their real or perceived station in life, are not to be entertained or considered. To do so is to bring their “evil tongue” into the household of the saints.
In the end, Asatan desires to throw us all off the path through what I refer to as “weapons of mutual distraction”. The enemy fires a shot, we fire back. They spread the lies; we refute them. We spend an entire lifetime killing snakes when the truth is we have been commissioned by the Master of the Universe to be catching fish.
May His name be praised in all we say and do.
David Fournier in the Senior Instructor at Restoring Grace. David teaches classes on Hebraic Perspectives, Early Christian Communities and New Testament Formations and Canon. David is available for your church, youth group, seminars and retreats. Email David at: dfour26@gmail.com
Saturday, January 21, 2017
A Home for the Restless
A Home for the Restless
David Fournier, Restoring Grace
Song-Still Breathing
“As I walked out on the ledge
Are you scared to death to live?
I've been running all my life
Just to find a home that's for the restless
And the truth that's in the message
Making my way, away, away”
Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day
I have failed. Looking back over my life, I realized I bought into the idea of the world needing to be saved, hook, line and sinker. I truly believed that we could all live a life of endless happiness with a simple conversion to Christianity. I was convinced that people who suffered from issues, had problems in their lives, disease and depression, have these problems because they were somehow disconnected from Jesus. If they would repent-turn around and increase their faith (along with Bible reading, tithing and church attendance) all things would go well.
As I grew older, my life became more complicated. I got married, had children, worked for a living, went to church, became a pastor, you know, all the right things. I was sure that God was blessing me and I was on the right path. What I failed to realize is that life is messy, and I needed to be okay with messy. The messier it got, the more frustrated I became and I started making really poor decisions. My decisions had huge impact on my family, my friends and the people that believed I was lading them in the right direction.
I don’t mean this article to be a confession of all my life failures, I am pretty sure it would take volumes to describe and even more volumes to ask forgiveness. The point of this article is to address the fact that I realize that all life, everyone’s life, is a very difficult boat to row. As I have aged, I am learning a whole new set of tools that help me adjust and understand the challenges that lie ahead and be able to embrace the fact that life is messy, difficult and restless.
I am perplexed by the things I believed were the end of the world. The battles over religious issues, who keeps putting the milk back in the fridge empty, what is acceptable behavior by my children out in public, who actually let the dogs out, and many other challenges. Now I look back and realize I was trying to place my life in an acceptable order, looking good on the outside and hoping that it would make my life good on the inside.
The ultimate irony is I have become the person I used to preach against. Believing that people with problems are somehow “spiritual deficient” I distanced myself from them, often accusing them of their lack of religious authenticity. I am not just a hypocrite, I am a failed hypocrite. But in my failure, came a version of myself that while I am not that person I would suggest anyone follows (I often say I am a poor example of a Christian), I feel for the first time in my life, is genuine.
It became genuine when I realized that life is restless and I needed a home for the restless. We are not perfect, we won’t become perfect anytime soon, and my lack of perfection gives me more reason to be patient, loving and understanding with the people around me. Instead of pretending that all is well, my life is in order and hide my reality to project a successful spiritual image, I have embraced the fact that for me, I have been scared to death to live, to admit my failures and move on from them.
Picture Jesus, who lives a life from the documents we have about him, for the benefit of others, cared for people, healed people, fed people. In the end, he is nailed to a cross for his efforts, a sign that here is what happens to people who step out of the accepted norms. But even in the writings of Jesus, we sense that restlessness, the feeling that he too was somehow far from home. And he talks about all of us finding the end to our restlessness in a Kingdom where restlessness is embraced and welcomed.
I guess I make for a poor fundamentalist. I don’t pretend to have all the answers and I know that I will struggle with them for my entire life. What has changed for me is the understanding that not only is the struggle for real, it is okay. New Testament author Paul says we are to “struggle” with our salvation, to work it out with” fear and trembling”. Sure enough, one of the most prolific contributors to the New Testament tells us it will be messy.
Leave it to me to find inspiration in the lyrics of Green Day, but this is far from my first time with them. Somehow we have dressed up our faith so clean and tidy we have forgotten the daily battles and struggles that we all face. This is creating a squeaky clean version of the faith that has pushed away the people that feel like they will never measure up, never feel welcome among the ranks. We have been sucked into a societal influence that dictates how we will measure our success. How may times have heard someone say “this isn’t where I thought I would be at this point of my life”? Here is the good news, you are still alive and where there is life, there is hope. Even if it is messy.
For me, all the efforts I spent in “projecting an image of success and spirituality” was a waste of precious life and resources. I want to be at home with my restlessness, with my failures, with my life. I don’t have a hundred years left to figure it out. I want the “truth that is in the message”, so true and with so much clarity that no one needs to explain to me and justify it to me. Truth: like being kind, sharing, caring for those in need, exercising love and not judgement. You know, these kinds of truths.
We can all improve our lives by being who we are and as we are. Remove the vexation of the spiritual pressures of the outside world revel in the simple truth, Jesus loves you just as you are, right now and forever.
David Fournier in the Senior Instructor at Restoring Grace. David teaches classes on Hebraic Perspectives, Early Christian Communities and New Testament Formations and Canon. David is available for your church, youth group, seminars and retreats. Email David at: dfour26@gmail.com
David Fournier, Restoring Grace
Song-Still Breathing
“As I walked out on the ledge
Are you scared to death to live?
I've been running all my life
Just to find a home that's for the restless
And the truth that's in the message
Making my way, away, away”
Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day
I have failed. Looking back over my life, I realized I bought into the idea of the world needing to be saved, hook, line and sinker. I truly believed that we could all live a life of endless happiness with a simple conversion to Christianity. I was convinced that people who suffered from issues, had problems in their lives, disease and depression, have these problems because they were somehow disconnected from Jesus. If they would repent-turn around and increase their faith (along with Bible reading, tithing and church attendance) all things would go well.
As I grew older, my life became more complicated. I got married, had children, worked for a living, went to church, became a pastor, you know, all the right things. I was sure that God was blessing me and I was on the right path. What I failed to realize is that life is messy, and I needed to be okay with messy. The messier it got, the more frustrated I became and I started making really poor decisions. My decisions had huge impact on my family, my friends and the people that believed I was lading them in the right direction.
I don’t mean this article to be a confession of all my life failures, I am pretty sure it would take volumes to describe and even more volumes to ask forgiveness. The point of this article is to address the fact that I realize that all life, everyone’s life, is a very difficult boat to row. As I have aged, I am learning a whole new set of tools that help me adjust and understand the challenges that lie ahead and be able to embrace the fact that life is messy, difficult and restless.
I am perplexed by the things I believed were the end of the world. The battles over religious issues, who keeps putting the milk back in the fridge empty, what is acceptable behavior by my children out in public, who actually let the dogs out, and many other challenges. Now I look back and realize I was trying to place my life in an acceptable order, looking good on the outside and hoping that it would make my life good on the inside.
The ultimate irony is I have become the person I used to preach against. Believing that people with problems are somehow “spiritual deficient” I distanced myself from them, often accusing them of their lack of religious authenticity. I am not just a hypocrite, I am a failed hypocrite. But in my failure, came a version of myself that while I am not that person I would suggest anyone follows (I often say I am a poor example of a Christian), I feel for the first time in my life, is genuine.
It became genuine when I realized that life is restless and I needed a home for the restless. We are not perfect, we won’t become perfect anytime soon, and my lack of perfection gives me more reason to be patient, loving and understanding with the people around me. Instead of pretending that all is well, my life is in order and hide my reality to project a successful spiritual image, I have embraced the fact that for me, I have been scared to death to live, to admit my failures and move on from them.
Picture Jesus, who lives a life from the documents we have about him, for the benefit of others, cared for people, healed people, fed people. In the end, he is nailed to a cross for his efforts, a sign that here is what happens to people who step out of the accepted norms. But even in the writings of Jesus, we sense that restlessness, the feeling that he too was somehow far from home. And he talks about all of us finding the end to our restlessness in a Kingdom where restlessness is embraced and welcomed.
I guess I make for a poor fundamentalist. I don’t pretend to have all the answers and I know that I will struggle with them for my entire life. What has changed for me is the understanding that not only is the struggle for real, it is okay. New Testament author Paul says we are to “struggle” with our salvation, to work it out with” fear and trembling”. Sure enough, one of the most prolific contributors to the New Testament tells us it will be messy.
Leave it to me to find inspiration in the lyrics of Green Day, but this is far from my first time with them. Somehow we have dressed up our faith so clean and tidy we have forgotten the daily battles and struggles that we all face. This is creating a squeaky clean version of the faith that has pushed away the people that feel like they will never measure up, never feel welcome among the ranks. We have been sucked into a societal influence that dictates how we will measure our success. How may times have heard someone say “this isn’t where I thought I would be at this point of my life”? Here is the good news, you are still alive and where there is life, there is hope. Even if it is messy.
For me, all the efforts I spent in “projecting an image of success and spirituality” was a waste of precious life and resources. I want to be at home with my restlessness, with my failures, with my life. I don’t have a hundred years left to figure it out. I want the “truth that is in the message”, so true and with so much clarity that no one needs to explain to me and justify it to me. Truth: like being kind, sharing, caring for those in need, exercising love and not judgement. You know, these kinds of truths.
We can all improve our lives by being who we are and as we are. Remove the vexation of the spiritual pressures of the outside world revel in the simple truth, Jesus loves you just as you are, right now and forever.
David Fournier in the Senior Instructor at Restoring Grace. David teaches classes on Hebraic Perspectives, Early Christian Communities and New Testament Formations and Canon. David is available for your church, youth group, seminars and retreats. Email David at: dfour26@gmail.com
Friday, January 20, 2017
Off the Path, Where Did Jesus Walk?
There is a vital and important difference between knowing Jesus and knowing about Jesus. I have never met anyone who has not heard about Jesus, and more to the point, does not have an opinion about Him. There is knowledge about Jesus available at churches, study centers, Internet and many other available resources. But knowing of Jesus, as in “second hand” sharing of information, is not what He spoke about. His entrance into this world was not to introduce a new religion that discusses principles of a system of belief. He came to bring hope to the hopeless, at a time when hopelessness was a national possession.
Jesus told us very little about Himself, and those mysteries still plague followers and scholars alike. He emerged from a virgin birth, which never is retold in any part of the Gospels (except for the actual birth narratives), his family fled to Egypt to avoid a persecution of Hebrew male children that is not recorded in any historical writings of the day, He stayed mainly in smaller populated areas, and His earthly father, Joseph, seemingly vanishes off the map.
Jesus did not feel He needed to explain any of these “mysteries” about Himself. He focused His message on the connection between God and Himself, giving us the path to have that same kind of relationship with God that Jesus maintained. He was a Rabbi of the people, with His only obvious loyalty being to His Father. Some 2,000 years later, Jesus is the recipient of the greatest hijacking in religious history. An unbelievable religious institution (or two, or three) has formed that gathers adherents, collects tithes, holds services and ceremonies, and details what the followers of Jesus do and do not do. The iconography assigned to Him is not even close to the actual picture of the Man from Galilee, and many of the teachings and sayings attributed to Him are not any words or thoughts He would have had as a First Century Jew.
From the millions of dollars in buildings and real estate named after Him, to the billion dollar enterprises known as “non-profits” all the way down to the book and music industry, raking millions in revenue while yielding very little return to the needy, disenfranchised and broken, Jesus has become a religious brand name. The good news is He is more popular than Diet Coke or the Beatles.
The bad news is this: That’s not Jesus. I know there are many arguments dividing the Christian religion, but even with those arguments aside, we have created a legend about Jesus and not a reality. Our spiritual landscape is more concerned with awareness than consciousness. Christians are on the Path of Christianity, and in turn, missing the Path of Jesus.
The faith has become a lesson in missing the point. While Christianity is battling to keep itself as the “moral police” of this country (and any other country), millions suffer and die from disease that could be prevented, illiteracy that could be reversed, poverty that could be relieved, and a host of social challenges and problems that have led the United States to a new world record holder-we are the most medicated society in the history of the world.
God bless the churches that have re-invested their money into the needs of their communities rather than air-conditioning. God bless the study centers that operate with 80-85% volunteer staff so that more monies can go to meet needs. What moral evils did Jesus battle? What was His hot button? A religious society that turned its nose at the poor and needy and continued to build temples with human hands, that God stated clearly He does not occupy. A brief reading of Matthew 25 should put the priorities of Jesus in clear view.
His path is no longer the Path of Christianity. While Christians often lament the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ time for being religious hypocrites (a subject for another time) they miss the plain and obvious truth: We are the religious hypocrites of our day.
So, how do you know if you might be on the wrong path? How can we start to turn around and get a better face to face look at the historical Jesus and His teachings? Well to start, here are seven quick points we can use as a measuring guide of what type of reality we are operating in.
1) When answers to your questions are responded to with “Because it is Written” or “I have a degree in systematic theology”, you are on the wrong path.
2) When the message of Paul outweighs the message of Jesus, you are on the wrong path.
3) When they need more money for a building fund and the missions fund has not grown in years, you are on the wrong path.
4) When you are told how and what to vote, you are on the wrong path.
5) If your church’s idea of social action is a pancake breakfast, you are on the wrong path.
6) If you paid $25.00 to hear your favorite Christian band play so you can be filled with the Spirit, you are on the wrong path.
7) If your faith-healing preacher were bald, wouldn’t he have the power from God to re-grow his hair? You are on the wrong path.
The point is Christianity needs to consider their path. Jesus is fast becoming a creation of a religion rather than a genuine historical person that occupied time and space. The less and less we all take the actual teachings of Jesus to heart, we are fast becoming an organized religion and not followers of Jesus. The power and position of clergy and denominations have taken center stage and removed the person of Jesus from the picture.
David Fournier in the Senior Instructor at Restoring Grace. David teaches classes on Hebraic Perspectives, Early Christian Communities and New Testament Formations and Canon. David is available for your church, youth group, seminars and retreats. Email David at: dfour26@gmail.com
Jesus told us very little about Himself, and those mysteries still plague followers and scholars alike. He emerged from a virgin birth, which never is retold in any part of the Gospels (except for the actual birth narratives), his family fled to Egypt to avoid a persecution of Hebrew male children that is not recorded in any historical writings of the day, He stayed mainly in smaller populated areas, and His earthly father, Joseph, seemingly vanishes off the map.
Jesus did not feel He needed to explain any of these “mysteries” about Himself. He focused His message on the connection between God and Himself, giving us the path to have that same kind of relationship with God that Jesus maintained. He was a Rabbi of the people, with His only obvious loyalty being to His Father. Some 2,000 years later, Jesus is the recipient of the greatest hijacking in religious history. An unbelievable religious institution (or two, or three) has formed that gathers adherents, collects tithes, holds services and ceremonies, and details what the followers of Jesus do and do not do. The iconography assigned to Him is not even close to the actual picture of the Man from Galilee, and many of the teachings and sayings attributed to Him are not any words or thoughts He would have had as a First Century Jew.
From the millions of dollars in buildings and real estate named after Him, to the billion dollar enterprises known as “non-profits” all the way down to the book and music industry, raking millions in revenue while yielding very little return to the needy, disenfranchised and broken, Jesus has become a religious brand name. The good news is He is more popular than Diet Coke or the Beatles.
The bad news is this: That’s not Jesus. I know there are many arguments dividing the Christian religion, but even with those arguments aside, we have created a legend about Jesus and not a reality. Our spiritual landscape is more concerned with awareness than consciousness. Christians are on the Path of Christianity, and in turn, missing the Path of Jesus.
The faith has become a lesson in missing the point. While Christianity is battling to keep itself as the “moral police” of this country (and any other country), millions suffer and die from disease that could be prevented, illiteracy that could be reversed, poverty that could be relieved, and a host of social challenges and problems that have led the United States to a new world record holder-we are the most medicated society in the history of the world.
God bless the churches that have re-invested their money into the needs of their communities rather than air-conditioning. God bless the study centers that operate with 80-85% volunteer staff so that more monies can go to meet needs. What moral evils did Jesus battle? What was His hot button? A religious society that turned its nose at the poor and needy and continued to build temples with human hands, that God stated clearly He does not occupy. A brief reading of Matthew 25 should put the priorities of Jesus in clear view.
His path is no longer the Path of Christianity. While Christians often lament the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ time for being religious hypocrites (a subject for another time) they miss the plain and obvious truth: We are the religious hypocrites of our day.
So, how do you know if you might be on the wrong path? How can we start to turn around and get a better face to face look at the historical Jesus and His teachings? Well to start, here are seven quick points we can use as a measuring guide of what type of reality we are operating in.
1) When answers to your questions are responded to with “Because it is Written” or “I have a degree in systematic theology”, you are on the wrong path.
2) When the message of Paul outweighs the message of Jesus, you are on the wrong path.
3) When they need more money for a building fund and the missions fund has not grown in years, you are on the wrong path.
4) When you are told how and what to vote, you are on the wrong path.
5) If your church’s idea of social action is a pancake breakfast, you are on the wrong path.
6) If you paid $25.00 to hear your favorite Christian band play so you can be filled with the Spirit, you are on the wrong path.
7) If your faith-healing preacher were bald, wouldn’t he have the power from God to re-grow his hair? You are on the wrong path.
The point is Christianity needs to consider their path. Jesus is fast becoming a creation of a religion rather than a genuine historical person that occupied time and space. The less and less we all take the actual teachings of Jesus to heart, we are fast becoming an organized religion and not followers of Jesus. The power and position of clergy and denominations have taken center stage and removed the person of Jesus from the picture.
David Fournier in the Senior Instructor at Restoring Grace. David teaches classes on Hebraic Perspectives, Early Christian Communities and New Testament Formations and Canon. David is available for your church, youth group, seminars and retreats. Email David at: dfour26@gmail.com
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Hate Is Not A Family Value
On a beautiful Sunday past, I really connected to our Pastor’s message. I had been attending a small Methodist church in a small mountain town here in Colorado and teach some classes there as well. My pastor is female (yes, I said she was female and I connected with her sermon) and I go to the Methodist church because I believe in female leaders in the clergy. This should be no shock to anyone that knows me, but I thought it was right to preface this article by sharing my feelings, a skill new to me.
She taught on Heaven and the Resurrection. The area that I connected with was the discussion of Jesus’ remarks about bringing Heaven to Earth. For those of you unfamiliar with this teaching, try reading the Lord’s Prayer, I find it a good place to start.
The challenge I see is that the vision of Heaven on Earth that Jesus taught and the many different visions of Heaven on Earth promoted by Christianity seem to be at odds. Jesus’ vision was built on the idea of an over-arching love for one another. This love would be an open testimony of the changed hearts of His followers. This same kind of love was taught, lived and demonstrated by Jesus during His time here on Earth.
In His closing remarks to His followers in Matthew 28, He gave the order to emulate His actions-to teach others to live as He lived-because He was still going to be here-alive through our actions here on Earth.
Hate is not a family value and for sure, not a value practiced by the followers of Jesus. Even more, Jesus taught to bless those that curse us and to befriend our enemies. Doing this, He said, proves out the Kingdom living He came to install. This was not a sweet bye-n-bye order, it was to be implemented and practiced by all of us in our lives in the here and now. So even if we meet someone whose lifestyle we do not condone, the Biblical mandate is love, especially if you find it in your heart to hate him or her. Of course you would do this for the sake of the Gospel…right?
Recently, a pastor commented on one of my articles stating, “you are suggesting we preach love and not judgment. You cannot just preach love”. Really? Why not? Every time I hear this argument I ask myself, “When did this ever get proven out”? What statistic is out there that tells us this? What Biblical injunction do we have against preaching love without judgment? Perhaps Jesus was joking when He said, “Judge not-lest you be judged”. It doesn’t seem like a funny one-liner to me, does it to you?
We can preach a Gospel and a Jesus of love. We choose not to. Judgment, the Scriptures teach us, begins in the House of God. It doesn’t say it pours out on the world from the House of God. Hate is not a family value, especially the Family of God. John 3:16 gives us great encouragement about the redemptive purposes of God, but John 3:17 spells out the “mission”
“For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world, through Him, might be saved” ESV
God’s mission was not to condemn what is already condemned. It was to save and to free what needed to be set free. Yet the mission for many Christians is to continue judgment and condemnation on those that live outside of their understanding of the Scriptures. No one is running to a Savior that His own people say will melt your face off if you don’t yield.
The main difference here to me is simple. You either believe that God’s desire is to dance with His creation or to dance all over His creation. You can live desiring the end of the world in a global explosion and meltdown, or you can live every moment to its fullest, bringing glory to your God and participating in the return of the Messiah.
Hate is not a family value and has no place in the life of a follower of Jesus. I keep seeing e-mails shooting all over the place stating, “don’t shop at Wal-Mart, the supplier of rubber ducks is a gay man” or “Sears now sells porno-posters online, please sign my petition”. Here is my petition and you don’t need to sign it. Live your life as a loved child of God. Speak and show the love Jesus called for in all you do and prove His testimony to this world is true.
The challenge is this: you cannot hand someone anything you don’t posses. Is this where the hate is truly coming from? Are people educated in Christianity but not connected to its source? Are these people who sing about forgiveness and love but have none to offer? Hate is not a family value.
To claim a transformed life is a very different claim than living a transformed life. If the love of Jesus permeates your soul, then you have love to offer. You will pull from the depths of your connection with God. There will be no hate streaming from a soul encased with the Spirit of God.
The amount of negative energy spilled out everyday by hatred, racism and prejudice is all we need. Our goal is to correct the world-to rectify it-through the ministry of reconciliation as taught by the Apostle Paul. It is to push back evil through the actions of good and speed the vision of Jesus by bringing the Will of the Father here to Earth.
This past year, I found myself very caught up in the election season. I must readily admit I took a few verbal “shots down the field” that called my own claims out on me. For that, I learned that people will always be more important to the Kingdom of Jesus than politics. I failed on this one, but lesson learned, I must move back to center, back to the dance God has called me to dance.
Rabbi Hillel said, “Love you neighbor as yourself. The rest is commentary.”
May we all see the vision of Jesus’ Heaven of Earth during our own lifetimes and in our own practice.
David Fournier in the Senior Instructor at Restoring Grace. David teaches classes on Hebraic Perspectives, Early Christian Communities and New Testament Formations and Canon. David is available for your church, youth group, seminars and retreats. Email David at: dfour26@gmail.com
She taught on Heaven and the Resurrection. The area that I connected with was the discussion of Jesus’ remarks about bringing Heaven to Earth. For those of you unfamiliar with this teaching, try reading the Lord’s Prayer, I find it a good place to start.
The challenge I see is that the vision of Heaven on Earth that Jesus taught and the many different visions of Heaven on Earth promoted by Christianity seem to be at odds. Jesus’ vision was built on the idea of an over-arching love for one another. This love would be an open testimony of the changed hearts of His followers. This same kind of love was taught, lived and demonstrated by Jesus during His time here on Earth.
In His closing remarks to His followers in Matthew 28, He gave the order to emulate His actions-to teach others to live as He lived-because He was still going to be here-alive through our actions here on Earth.
Hate is not a family value and for sure, not a value practiced by the followers of Jesus. Even more, Jesus taught to bless those that curse us and to befriend our enemies. Doing this, He said, proves out the Kingdom living He came to install. This was not a sweet bye-n-bye order, it was to be implemented and practiced by all of us in our lives in the here and now. So even if we meet someone whose lifestyle we do not condone, the Biblical mandate is love, especially if you find it in your heart to hate him or her. Of course you would do this for the sake of the Gospel…right?
Recently, a pastor commented on one of my articles stating, “you are suggesting we preach love and not judgment. You cannot just preach love”. Really? Why not? Every time I hear this argument I ask myself, “When did this ever get proven out”? What statistic is out there that tells us this? What Biblical injunction do we have against preaching love without judgment? Perhaps Jesus was joking when He said, “Judge not-lest you be judged”. It doesn’t seem like a funny one-liner to me, does it to you?
We can preach a Gospel and a Jesus of love. We choose not to. Judgment, the Scriptures teach us, begins in the House of God. It doesn’t say it pours out on the world from the House of God. Hate is not a family value, especially the Family of God. John 3:16 gives us great encouragement about the redemptive purposes of God, but John 3:17 spells out the “mission”
“For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world, through Him, might be saved” ESV
God’s mission was not to condemn what is already condemned. It was to save and to free what needed to be set free. Yet the mission for many Christians is to continue judgment and condemnation on those that live outside of their understanding of the Scriptures. No one is running to a Savior that His own people say will melt your face off if you don’t yield.
The main difference here to me is simple. You either believe that God’s desire is to dance with His creation or to dance all over His creation. You can live desiring the end of the world in a global explosion and meltdown, or you can live every moment to its fullest, bringing glory to your God and participating in the return of the Messiah.
Hate is not a family value and has no place in the life of a follower of Jesus. I keep seeing e-mails shooting all over the place stating, “don’t shop at Wal-Mart, the supplier of rubber ducks is a gay man” or “Sears now sells porno-posters online, please sign my petition”. Here is my petition and you don’t need to sign it. Live your life as a loved child of God. Speak and show the love Jesus called for in all you do and prove His testimony to this world is true.
The challenge is this: you cannot hand someone anything you don’t posses. Is this where the hate is truly coming from? Are people educated in Christianity but not connected to its source? Are these people who sing about forgiveness and love but have none to offer? Hate is not a family value.
To claim a transformed life is a very different claim than living a transformed life. If the love of Jesus permeates your soul, then you have love to offer. You will pull from the depths of your connection with God. There will be no hate streaming from a soul encased with the Spirit of God.
The amount of negative energy spilled out everyday by hatred, racism and prejudice is all we need. Our goal is to correct the world-to rectify it-through the ministry of reconciliation as taught by the Apostle Paul. It is to push back evil through the actions of good and speed the vision of Jesus by bringing the Will of the Father here to Earth.
This past year, I found myself very caught up in the election season. I must readily admit I took a few verbal “shots down the field” that called my own claims out on me. For that, I learned that people will always be more important to the Kingdom of Jesus than politics. I failed on this one, but lesson learned, I must move back to center, back to the dance God has called me to dance.
Rabbi Hillel said, “Love you neighbor as yourself. The rest is commentary.”
May we all see the vision of Jesus’ Heaven of Earth during our own lifetimes and in our own practice.
David Fournier in the Senior Instructor at Restoring Grace. David teaches classes on Hebraic Perspectives, Early Christian Communities and New Testament Formations and Canon. David is available for your church, youth group, seminars and retreats. Email David at: dfour26@gmail.com
Monday, January 16, 2017
Who Owns God?
Who Owns God??
Judaism’s most sacred prayer, The Shema, records the words of Deuteronomy 6:4. In this verse, the Scriptures teach that God is One. There have been thousands of pages on commentary on this verse, from Christian, Muslim and Jewish sources alike. It would be hard to address them all, so I am choosing to pick one segment of the verse.
Early on in the development of Christianity, as early as the late 1st and early 2nd centuries, the church fathers recorded that in their opposition to the heretics (at this point of Christian history, anyone that disagreed with them qualified as a heretic), the heretics would often mention the theological and liturgical differences among the proto-orthodoxy. This, according to the heretics of the day, was proof of their lack of knowledge in God. One God would not subscribe to so many diverse teachings and practices.
At the same time, Marcion was propagating a two-god theory suggesting that the God of the Hebrews was an inadequate deity and the God of Jesus was getting the show back together again. While Marcion was eventually thrown out of his bishop office, his teachings engrained a part of Christian history we live with to this day. We know that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, He is Master and Creator, He is Ultimate and Final Authority, but today’s diverse teachings and debates about God lead us to this question: Who owns God?
Think of it like this: many of us have been to Disneyland or Disneyworld (this is not a shameless plug) and probably have every kind of story to tell about our experiences inside the Magic Kingdom. Regardless of our combined experiences or beliefs about the Disney operation, who claims to have spoken with Walt Disney directly? Who goes on to tell others what Walt Disney said and as a result, what you should think or believe about Walt Disney? My point is this; teaching what you believe about God is one thing, teaching for Him is another. No one religion, no one teacher, doctrine or system of beliefs has the right or the ability to speak for God. We do not own God, He does not answer to us. He can choose to keep us around for a thousand years or He can end it tonight. That is what makes Him God.
Even more distressing is the fact we did not learn much from our early goings, another looming question sits upon the philosophical horizon. Are religious people, of any stripe, happier? Are they more fulfilled? Are they less judgmental and more committed to acts of social justice? Are they truly pictures of their founders, say for example in our case, are we really like Jesus?
Religion by in large, is a system of beliefs. It teaches what it believes, gathers followers and conducts its business. But that is not where the problem lies. The problem is the open and aggressive attacks on all other forms of religions that place God on “sides”. Here is the news flash of the day: God is not on anyone’s side. He has no favorites and does not play games to garner attention to Himself. He wrote a book (several actually) to give us what we needed to find Him. He is not hiding or requiring secret gnosis to figure it out. The Spiritual Universe is ready, if not commanded, to give us the answers we seek.
God is God over everyone, not just the chosen or the few. He records His will as wanting all to come to repentance and none perish. Your ethnicity, your age, your intellect or your sexual preference does not exclude you from a relationship with God. Judgmental and ill-informed religious pundits seeking a self-preserving agenda… they have their requirements.
It breaks down quite simply. God’s nature is to share, to invest, so He created us with a desire to receive. The plan is that ultimate fulfillment is available to us when we receive from God with the desire to share with others.
When we receive for the sake of ourselves only, we create chaos in our lives, which eventually spills out into all the areas of our existence.
God, in His Highest Wisdom, chose people to invest in. He did not choose buildings, religions, denominations, or a system of beliefs. He chose you and He chose me. Then, He gives us the opportunity to join Him on the greatest mission of all time: Repairing the World and bringing His will to earth as it is in Heaven.
God created you to love you, invest in you and make you a partner with Him. His love is not generated as a response to how well you can answer Biblical Trivia questions, but it is generated by His desire to give. He wants to know you on a personal level. Here are three suggestions to help you connect with His desires for you and not the corporation…
1) Have certainty that He exists and wants you in His life. The starting point of any meaningful relationship is trust, not love. The Scriptures teach, “Those that come to God, must first come believing that He is…” Love comes later. Start with certainty and watch Him bring His Light to your life.
2) Stop listening and start learning. I agree that fellowship and teaching in a corporate environment is beneficial, but it cannot be the end. Ask questions of your leaders. Answers like “Because it is written” are not acceptable. This is a relationship and partnership with God. He expects us to ask questions and challenge thoughts. Your spiritual path is yours and should not be determined solely by your participation in a liturgical calendar.
3) Live a life that reflects your beliefs and discoveries about God and not a pre-programmed system of responses. Share with people what God has done in your life, where you used to be and where you are now. Let them see the path to God is attainable. Show them the Light in your life and help them on their way. Remember, we are partners with God in repairing this world.
Stop reading books about how the world is going to end and start living a life that can change the ending for one person at a time. It is time to end the reign of the self-appointed and self-anointed and seek God and His Kingdom.
David Fournier
Senior Instructor-Restoring Grace
Judaism’s most sacred prayer, The Shema, records the words of Deuteronomy 6:4. In this verse, the Scriptures teach that God is One. There have been thousands of pages on commentary on this verse, from Christian, Muslim and Jewish sources alike. It would be hard to address them all, so I am choosing to pick one segment of the verse.
Early on in the development of Christianity, as early as the late 1st and early 2nd centuries, the church fathers recorded that in their opposition to the heretics (at this point of Christian history, anyone that disagreed with them qualified as a heretic), the heretics would often mention the theological and liturgical differences among the proto-orthodoxy. This, according to the heretics of the day, was proof of their lack of knowledge in God. One God would not subscribe to so many diverse teachings and practices.
At the same time, Marcion was propagating a two-god theory suggesting that the God of the Hebrews was an inadequate deity and the God of Jesus was getting the show back together again. While Marcion was eventually thrown out of his bishop office, his teachings engrained a part of Christian history we live with to this day. We know that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, He is Master and Creator, He is Ultimate and Final Authority, but today’s diverse teachings and debates about God lead us to this question: Who owns God?
Think of it like this: many of us have been to Disneyland or Disneyworld (this is not a shameless plug) and probably have every kind of story to tell about our experiences inside the Magic Kingdom. Regardless of our combined experiences or beliefs about the Disney operation, who claims to have spoken with Walt Disney directly? Who goes on to tell others what Walt Disney said and as a result, what you should think or believe about Walt Disney? My point is this; teaching what you believe about God is one thing, teaching for Him is another. No one religion, no one teacher, doctrine or system of beliefs has the right or the ability to speak for God. We do not own God, He does not answer to us. He can choose to keep us around for a thousand years or He can end it tonight. That is what makes Him God.
Even more distressing is the fact we did not learn much from our early goings, another looming question sits upon the philosophical horizon. Are religious people, of any stripe, happier? Are they more fulfilled? Are they less judgmental and more committed to acts of social justice? Are they truly pictures of their founders, say for example in our case, are we really like Jesus?
Religion by in large, is a system of beliefs. It teaches what it believes, gathers followers and conducts its business. But that is not where the problem lies. The problem is the open and aggressive attacks on all other forms of religions that place God on “sides”. Here is the news flash of the day: God is not on anyone’s side. He has no favorites and does not play games to garner attention to Himself. He wrote a book (several actually) to give us what we needed to find Him. He is not hiding or requiring secret gnosis to figure it out. The Spiritual Universe is ready, if not commanded, to give us the answers we seek.
God is God over everyone, not just the chosen or the few. He records His will as wanting all to come to repentance and none perish. Your ethnicity, your age, your intellect or your sexual preference does not exclude you from a relationship with God. Judgmental and ill-informed religious pundits seeking a self-preserving agenda… they have their requirements.
It breaks down quite simply. God’s nature is to share, to invest, so He created us with a desire to receive. The plan is that ultimate fulfillment is available to us when we receive from God with the desire to share with others.
When we receive for the sake of ourselves only, we create chaos in our lives, which eventually spills out into all the areas of our existence.
God, in His Highest Wisdom, chose people to invest in. He did not choose buildings, religions, denominations, or a system of beliefs. He chose you and He chose me. Then, He gives us the opportunity to join Him on the greatest mission of all time: Repairing the World and bringing His will to earth as it is in Heaven.
God created you to love you, invest in you and make you a partner with Him. His love is not generated as a response to how well you can answer Biblical Trivia questions, but it is generated by His desire to give. He wants to know you on a personal level. Here are three suggestions to help you connect with His desires for you and not the corporation…
1) Have certainty that He exists and wants you in His life. The starting point of any meaningful relationship is trust, not love. The Scriptures teach, “Those that come to God, must first come believing that He is…” Love comes later. Start with certainty and watch Him bring His Light to your life.
2) Stop listening and start learning. I agree that fellowship and teaching in a corporate environment is beneficial, but it cannot be the end. Ask questions of your leaders. Answers like “Because it is written” are not acceptable. This is a relationship and partnership with God. He expects us to ask questions and challenge thoughts. Your spiritual path is yours and should not be determined solely by your participation in a liturgical calendar.
3) Live a life that reflects your beliefs and discoveries about God and not a pre-programmed system of responses. Share with people what God has done in your life, where you used to be and where you are now. Let them see the path to God is attainable. Show them the Light in your life and help them on their way. Remember, we are partners with God in repairing this world.
Stop reading books about how the world is going to end and start living a life that can change the ending for one person at a time. It is time to end the reign of the self-appointed and self-anointed and seek God and His Kingdom.
David Fournier
Senior Instructor-Restoring Grace
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)