True spirituality is about connection. The Laws of the Universe teach us many things, but one that stands out to me is this simple axiom, “Nothing rises higher than it’s source”. Regardless of what amperage or wattage a bulb might be rated to accept, it can only produce the light based on the provided current. Simply put, it cannot produce anything higher than its established connection.
I am amazed at times about how little connection I seem to desire, how limited my own thinking can be. I sometimes treat God like a passenger in my car, just another person along for the ride, when all the time, God desires to not be in the vehicle going places with me. God, in His Highest Wisdom, desires to be the vehicle that takes me places. Into His presence, into His Wisdom, into His world.
Why would God want this? Why does He seek us out for relationship and not for religion? Because God is working a two-fold purpose in our lives; first, to mend our souls and get us back into the shape of His original plan for us, which is Paradise, a spiritual return to the Garden of Eden. Secondly, He invites us to journey with Him to repair/rectify this world (Tikkun Olam) to get it ready for the return of His Son, the Messiah. He knows that the ultimate fulfillment for mankind is God’s will being performed here on Earth as it is in Heaven.
How is this accomplished? Through making two honest evaluations about ourselves. First, through Divine Circuitry, we are able to share with our fellow brothers and sisters. We need God to make the connections as we share with our fellow mankind, and I mean share ruthlessly, then we begin a spiritual vibration that effects the whole world. Sound far-fetched? Look at it like this, if one spark can set off a fire that can destroy thousands of acres, if a person can press one button that ignites a bomb that can blow up an entire city, why can’t these events happen in the spiritual world?
They often can be hampered from happening because we exercise limited thinking daily. We live in a spiritual state of awareness instead of spiritual consciousness. We think everything that is happening in the universe is what we see right in front of us. We use our past experiences to meter how our future will turn out. That, by the way, is the tool of the Adversary, always using our past to limit our possibilities about the future. Sounds like the Adversary works in us rather than in books and movies…
Consciousness tells us that this world and our work in it is more than what we see. It is a collaborative effort between God and us, a Divine Dance, where He takes our efforts and multiplies them based on the intention (Kavanah) of our hearts. He empowers the investment and makes it complete. God said that unless He builds it, all who labor do so in vain.
Secondly, we need to focus on being what God has designed us to be. For many, their lives are a constant struggle of trying to be all the things that people are like around them. This is a very tiring exercise. We were designed by God with different desires, different skills and abilities and He designed us “for such a time as this”. We must learn to accept ourselves right where we are and open ourselves up to Divine Circuitry, allowing God to transform our souls into vessels that share, assisting Him in the Repairing of the World.
Sometimes our religious landscape can become so occupied in “converting” the world we get lost in the mission of repairing the world. By staying connected to God, which can be done through daily, weekly, monthly and yearly practices, we can begin to see the needs outside of ourselves and begin assisting others along their way.
Here is a prayer I use to remind myself to stay connected…
I will concentrate on receiving from God for the purpose of sharing.
Letting go of my desire to receive for myself alone, I allow the Light of the Creator into my realm, connecting me to the Divine Circuitry of Life.
By giving and receiving with the right consciousness, for others, I will not share only that I may get something back, and I will not take from others for the wrong reasons.
I will spread the Light of God and share, knowing that blessings await me and that I will get everything I need from sharing with others.
You must empty a vessel to put more into it. Empty your vessel in ruthless sharing and watch the connection between you and God strengthen and brighten. That is Divine Circuitry!
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, February 21, 2017
Friday, February 17, 2017
Missed Opportunities
Doubting Thomas, he always gets called that..
One of the original twelve disciples of Jesus, Thomas gets his rap from verses located in the Gospel of John (Chapter 20), which discuss that Thomas was not present when Jesus made His first rounds of appearances after the resurrection. Read here:
(24) But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
(25) The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
The story goes on when later Jesus appears to the disciples, and presents Himself to Thomas, who after seeing the wounds that Jesus suffered, proclaims Him as Lord. I am not sure that Thomas deserves the “Doubting” title, but for that matter, Mary Magdalene got the “prostitute” label, that wasn’t very fair either.
Thomas misses a meeting, and this is what triggers off all the conversations about him throughout all of Christianity, Thomas simply “doubts”. There have been times for all of us when we have missed opportunities, when we chose to be somewhere else, maybe even in the right place but “disengaged” from what was going on. And, in a flash of time, seemingly a micro-second, things change and we are left out. Simply said, we have all missed opportunities for growth, for love, for challenges, even opportunities to connect with God.
For us, our missed opportunities will probably not be chronicled in time immortal in Christian history, but none the less, we missed the boat. People spend days, weeks, hours, sometimes a lifetime trying to find a way to recover those moments, going as far as trying to recreate the events that led up to the missing chance in time. This is especially powerful if the missed opportunity surrounds the loss of a loved one.
For me, I have allowed myself to mourn my missed opportunities. I have several, and I am trying to learn from each one of them how to be more aware and more present, and to be able to discern my priorities better. There is something I have found that is very effective as well.
For many of us, we spend a lot of head-space jumping to conclusions that never happen, thinking our situations through to the worst possible conclusions, and being overly concerned about the opinions of others. It is no surprise that we often miss the opportunities right in front of us with all this traffic going on in our minds. We need to clear out the noise and get re-focused at the task at hand.
We are here to help the Creator to restore the world, to repair it. We are joined in His mission of making the world a better place for the people in our area of influence. This is accomplished by living out our lives being kind, caring for others, providing for the needs of the less fortunate. We also are here to A) Create Opportunities and B) Create Memories.
We must stay plugged in to the everyday moments, moments at work, with our families, our loved ones and the people that God has crossing out path, even if we only see them in our lives for just a moment. It is kind of like watching a movie and looking at every corner of the scene, watching every character for the next clue to the scene. It is about maximizing each of our moments to see what wonder could be hiding in it.
We can miss a lot less opportunities by being present in the moment. This morning, my eight year old Andrew was nervous about a class field trip. He dressed up in his shirt and tie, borrowed a suit coat from his older brother and was sitting down on the couch looking a bit concerned. My wife mentioned to me and said he might need some “daddy encouragement”. So I pulled him aside and gave him my best advice. In that moment, we connected in a way that cannot be duplicated. I am not sure if I helped him, but I did recognize that he was there and he matters.
In our religious practices, we can miss the value and importance of them by simply participating in them. We can allow ourselves to be lulled to sleep and not get the connection to God. When it becomes the “automatic” response and we stop looking for the Divine in the moment, we miss so many opportunities. It takes being in the moments, all the moments. God can appear in the most amazing places.
Don’t miss your opportunities. Don’t think that the next person will do it. When we allow ourselves to pass on the opportunities to the “next guy”, it will be us that later will swim in the waters of regret. Take a moment and be present, make someone a priority, pick up the phone (texting does not count) and let people know you care.
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
One of the original twelve disciples of Jesus, Thomas gets his rap from verses located in the Gospel of John (Chapter 20), which discuss that Thomas was not present when Jesus made His first rounds of appearances after the resurrection. Read here:
(24) But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
(25) The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
The story goes on when later Jesus appears to the disciples, and presents Himself to Thomas, who after seeing the wounds that Jesus suffered, proclaims Him as Lord. I am not sure that Thomas deserves the “Doubting” title, but for that matter, Mary Magdalene got the “prostitute” label, that wasn’t very fair either.
Thomas misses a meeting, and this is what triggers off all the conversations about him throughout all of Christianity, Thomas simply “doubts”. There have been times for all of us when we have missed opportunities, when we chose to be somewhere else, maybe even in the right place but “disengaged” from what was going on. And, in a flash of time, seemingly a micro-second, things change and we are left out. Simply said, we have all missed opportunities for growth, for love, for challenges, even opportunities to connect with God.
For us, our missed opportunities will probably not be chronicled in time immortal in Christian history, but none the less, we missed the boat. People spend days, weeks, hours, sometimes a lifetime trying to find a way to recover those moments, going as far as trying to recreate the events that led up to the missing chance in time. This is especially powerful if the missed opportunity surrounds the loss of a loved one.
For me, I have allowed myself to mourn my missed opportunities. I have several, and I am trying to learn from each one of them how to be more aware and more present, and to be able to discern my priorities better. There is something I have found that is very effective as well.
For many of us, we spend a lot of head-space jumping to conclusions that never happen, thinking our situations through to the worst possible conclusions, and being overly concerned about the opinions of others. It is no surprise that we often miss the opportunities right in front of us with all this traffic going on in our minds. We need to clear out the noise and get re-focused at the task at hand.
We are here to help the Creator to restore the world, to repair it. We are joined in His mission of making the world a better place for the people in our area of influence. This is accomplished by living out our lives being kind, caring for others, providing for the needs of the less fortunate. We also are here to A) Create Opportunities and B) Create Memories.
We must stay plugged in to the everyday moments, moments at work, with our families, our loved ones and the people that God has crossing out path, even if we only see them in our lives for just a moment. It is kind of like watching a movie and looking at every corner of the scene, watching every character for the next clue to the scene. It is about maximizing each of our moments to see what wonder could be hiding in it.
We can miss a lot less opportunities by being present in the moment. This morning, my eight year old Andrew was nervous about a class field trip. He dressed up in his shirt and tie, borrowed a suit coat from his older brother and was sitting down on the couch looking a bit concerned. My wife mentioned to me and said he might need some “daddy encouragement”. So I pulled him aside and gave him my best advice. In that moment, we connected in a way that cannot be duplicated. I am not sure if I helped him, but I did recognize that he was there and he matters.
In our religious practices, we can miss the value and importance of them by simply participating in them. We can allow ourselves to be lulled to sleep and not get the connection to God. When it becomes the “automatic” response and we stop looking for the Divine in the moment, we miss so many opportunities. It takes being in the moments, all the moments. God can appear in the most amazing places.
Don’t miss your opportunities. Don’t think that the next person will do it. When we allow ourselves to pass on the opportunities to the “next guy”, it will be us that later will swim in the waters of regret. Take a moment and be present, make someone a priority, pick up the phone (texting does not count) and let people know you care.
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, February 13, 2017
What if God was One of Us (Like, we made Him like Us?)
In the hit series by HBO called Game of Thrones, the characters range from violent killers to seductive maidens. Murder, deceit, failed overthrows and surprise killings mark the series from opening moment to end of episode. One of the constant themes of the show has to do with various alliances to different gods. There are single god believers, multiple god believers and of course, the ever mischievous followers of the “Lord of Light”.
These different believers and their differing belief systems will gladly toss off your head or kill a village of innocents based on the “readings” they get from their god(s). Sound familiar?
By the way, there are also dragons, but that doesn’t really fit into this article.
The fact of the matter is that throughout human history, people have done what they believed to be “acts” required of them or instructed to them by their god(s). For example:
Chants of “Allah Akbar” (God is Great) are chanted while women and children are beheaded for being “impure believers” or after being accused of being a homosexual, people are tossed off of roofs.
1359 CE- 350 towns in Germany murder Jews by burning them alive for being “Christ Killers”. In this year alone, more Jews are killed than the entire 200-year period of Roman persecution of the “Christians”. (Also killings performed in the name of the Lord Caesar).
1648 CE, 200,000 (read it again) 200,000 killed the area of Chiemlnitzki, Poland, during a “purging” of Christians
Era of the Witch Burnings- 1484-1750 (approx.)
Several hundred thousand killed, with books published by the church on how to discover, interrogate, torture and eventually execute witches. Historical records estimate that 70-80% of those killed were women.
1580 CE, Jean Borden writes in his instructions, Punishment Deserved by Witches, “Don’t wait for solid evidence to begin examination, torture or punishment, for if we did, only one in a million would be punished”. The reason Jean Borden gave for this type of enforcement? To appease God, of course.
I point out these examples because as we all know, violence in the name of god(s) has millions of examples and as it seems, no known cure. I picked these examples because they rank from modern cases to relatively unknown events.
There is no way humanly possible that we could absorb all the death, destruction, genocide, murder, war, rape, torture, and reckless use of natural resources, poverty and evil that has been performed by humans in the name(s) of god(s). We even go to war over which one of these god(s) is the true god…
Simply put, I reject in all cases and forms of religious practice that any god, a deity with creative powers and loving concern for their creation, is capable of requiring or even asking their followers to commit acts of atrocities against other humans. I believe that religions today are following a god(s) they created in their image, not the other way around. Here are a few examples
When your god agrees with your theology, your beliefs, condones all you condone and hates what you hate, at the expense of all others
We have a god in our own image
When some of your god’s rules and laws apply to you and some don’t
We have a god in our own image
When your service to your god benefits your life, your finances, that god is your personal god (like a personal pizza, all about you)
We have a god in our own image
When your god is the one true god to the exclusion of all others
We have a god in our own image
When your god has you charging admission to your “worship” events
We have a god in our own image
When your god has you using a pulpit or teaching in a sacred space to assist in the election of public officials (who by the way would undoubtedly support your god’s view)
We have a god in our own image
While advances in modern science, history, geology, biology and physics have given us greater insights into humanity and understanding our origins, you would prefer to listen to some idiot talking about the end of the world and helping us understand who gets to go and who gets.. “Left Behind”
We have a god in our own image
Still here?
When it comes to thoughts about god(s), people are just making this stuff up. Much to the detriment of humanity, people are assuming the role of god(s), speaking for god(s) and the effect is horrific. As a country, as a faith group, as people of the world, we have never been more separated, confused and isolated, regardless of what Google tells you. Assigning god(s) to a political party is a class example of what I mean.
Do we create god(s) in our own fearful images?
A study conducted by Nicholas Epley at the University of Chicago and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, asked people who believed in the Abrahamic God for their opinions on controversial issues such as abortion, death penalty and same-sex marriage. They were asked what they believed the views of God, of ordinary Americans, and of well-known public figures were. Perhaps not surprisingly, their own views most closely resembled what they regarded as God’s views, even though those views were different from believer to believer.
The experimenters scanned believers’ brains while they were thinking about their own views, those they ascribed to God, and those they ascribed to “average Americans”. The experimenters found that when the believers thought about their own their own views or God’s, the same area of the brain was active. But when they thought about the views of other people, a different area of the brain-an area associated with discerning the mental states of others-was active.
The experiment lends itself to a bold conclusion: While people can readily make a distinction between their views and those of other people, they are far less likely to make a distinction between their views and God’s. Basically, people map God’s beliefs (as they see them) onto their own. This necessarily wouldn’t be a bad thing unless of course you actually read the beginning sections of this article.
I am not trying to make a point about; 1) There is no God, as I believe in God. 2) It’s not always bad to have your ideology congruent with your belief and practice of your God, (unless of course this includes beheading or other acts of violence, hatred and racism), 3) All gods are man-made gods. There are man-made gods, like the god of Creflo Dollar, who needs a 68 million dollar airplane to spread the gospel around the world. (Seems inefficient, can’t we train people in those areas and let them spread the gospel?)
With all this available “god-help”, there are a few unanswered questions for me. Why does mankind find itself lost in a disordered world overrun by chaos, an existence riddled with pain and unspeakable suffering? Why do we find ourselves in a material dimension that knows only decay and death, a reality governed by the Law of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states that everything must deteriorate and corrode over time?
Something went wrong.
Somewhere along the line there was a disconnection. Mankind lost touch with its true origins. All of us, forgot about God and starting developing religions to assist us in understanding God, but later these religions served to erase God and insert mankind as the new and improved version of god(s).
How can we recover from our path of personal deity and return to God? What can we begin to work on right away that can start to turn the tide from a man-run religious effort to a God-based lifestyle?
Fair warning as we move forward. I am a Christian (albeit a very poor example of one), so I am going to approach this from a Christian understanding. You can insert any teachings or ideas from your own faith traditions that make sense.
First, Yeshua (aka Jesus), a Jewish Rabbi from the 1st Century taught several God-like lessons. One of His greatest (my opinion here) was Jesus instructing us to “bless our enemies, bless and curse not”. This is a godly trait. Praying for your enemies often relieves the feeling you need to kill them. Understanding that all mankind has a place in this universe and that all mankind (regardless of the choices they make) are God’s creation helps us to act out godliness, which in my mind is the core element of the New Testament documents.
Second, quit confusing the kingdoms. Obviously God lives in another Kingdom, a spiritual realm and by most standards, plans to guide us through our human existence to a time where His Kingdom will reign and this earthly kingdom will be over. We cannot and nor should we in the name of our god(s), God, attempt to legislate morality based on our Scriptures, doctrine and dogma. There will be a time and place for Kingdom rule, but here on earth we are to live out our days helping people see the benefits of godly living rather than clubbing religious ideals (which vary widely from one Christianity to another) into the ballot boxes.
Do you realize we could legislate all the right morals, elect all the right officials and not come close to any of the instructions left by Jesus?
Lastly, most religious groups hold to some kind of an idea that the world will end and their group (of course) will have a huge supper celebrating the ultimate defeat of evil. I like a good meal as much as the next guy, but I think it’s an adventure of missing the point.
Is it possible that the people of this world would at some point come to a realization: We aren’t suffering from a lack of religions. We are suffering from a lack of compassion. Endless reports of poverty, poor living conditions, unfair wages, slave trading, global war and so on tell us that whatever our belief in our god(s) may be, it is translating to very little difference in the world.
There can be no greater proof of a Living God that cares for His creation then people who claim to follow that God caring for His creation. If you belief in God leads you any other direction, I suggest that you have created a god in your own image.
In the Book of Psalms, attributed the King David, the Psalmist says, “I would have fainted unless I had longed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”.
I can’t speak for God and I wish preachers and the self-anointed/self-appointed would stop speaking for Him. I can only be His action here on earth. That leads me to believe that God would want me to love, nourish and support His creation. Because, that’s what I believe He is doing.
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
These different believers and their differing belief systems will gladly toss off your head or kill a village of innocents based on the “readings” they get from their god(s). Sound familiar?
By the way, there are also dragons, but that doesn’t really fit into this article.
The fact of the matter is that throughout human history, people have done what they believed to be “acts” required of them or instructed to them by their god(s). For example:
Chants of “Allah Akbar” (God is Great) are chanted while women and children are beheaded for being “impure believers” or after being accused of being a homosexual, people are tossed off of roofs.
1359 CE- 350 towns in Germany murder Jews by burning them alive for being “Christ Killers”. In this year alone, more Jews are killed than the entire 200-year period of Roman persecution of the “Christians”. (Also killings performed in the name of the Lord Caesar).
1648 CE, 200,000 (read it again) 200,000 killed the area of Chiemlnitzki, Poland, during a “purging” of Christians
Era of the Witch Burnings- 1484-1750 (approx.)
Several hundred thousand killed, with books published by the church on how to discover, interrogate, torture and eventually execute witches. Historical records estimate that 70-80% of those killed were women.
1580 CE, Jean Borden writes in his instructions, Punishment Deserved by Witches, “Don’t wait for solid evidence to begin examination, torture or punishment, for if we did, only one in a million would be punished”. The reason Jean Borden gave for this type of enforcement? To appease God, of course.
I point out these examples because as we all know, violence in the name of god(s) has millions of examples and as it seems, no known cure. I picked these examples because they rank from modern cases to relatively unknown events.
There is no way humanly possible that we could absorb all the death, destruction, genocide, murder, war, rape, torture, and reckless use of natural resources, poverty and evil that has been performed by humans in the name(s) of god(s). We even go to war over which one of these god(s) is the true god…
Simply put, I reject in all cases and forms of religious practice that any god, a deity with creative powers and loving concern for their creation, is capable of requiring or even asking their followers to commit acts of atrocities against other humans. I believe that religions today are following a god(s) they created in their image, not the other way around. Here are a few examples
When your god agrees with your theology, your beliefs, condones all you condone and hates what you hate, at the expense of all others
We have a god in our own image
When some of your god’s rules and laws apply to you and some don’t
We have a god in our own image
When your service to your god benefits your life, your finances, that god is your personal god (like a personal pizza, all about you)
We have a god in our own image
When your god is the one true god to the exclusion of all others
We have a god in our own image
When your god has you charging admission to your “worship” events
We have a god in our own image
When your god has you using a pulpit or teaching in a sacred space to assist in the election of public officials (who by the way would undoubtedly support your god’s view)
We have a god in our own image
While advances in modern science, history, geology, biology and physics have given us greater insights into humanity and understanding our origins, you would prefer to listen to some idiot talking about the end of the world and helping us understand who gets to go and who gets.. “Left Behind”
We have a god in our own image
Still here?
When it comes to thoughts about god(s), people are just making this stuff up. Much to the detriment of humanity, people are assuming the role of god(s), speaking for god(s) and the effect is horrific. As a country, as a faith group, as people of the world, we have never been more separated, confused and isolated, regardless of what Google tells you. Assigning god(s) to a political party is a class example of what I mean.
Do we create god(s) in our own fearful images?
A study conducted by Nicholas Epley at the University of Chicago and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, asked people who believed in the Abrahamic God for their opinions on controversial issues such as abortion, death penalty and same-sex marriage. They were asked what they believed the views of God, of ordinary Americans, and of well-known public figures were. Perhaps not surprisingly, their own views most closely resembled what they regarded as God’s views, even though those views were different from believer to believer.
The experimenters scanned believers’ brains while they were thinking about their own views, those they ascribed to God, and those they ascribed to “average Americans”. The experimenters found that when the believers thought about their own their own views or God’s, the same area of the brain was active. But when they thought about the views of other people, a different area of the brain-an area associated with discerning the mental states of others-was active.
The experiment lends itself to a bold conclusion: While people can readily make a distinction between their views and those of other people, they are far less likely to make a distinction between their views and God’s. Basically, people map God’s beliefs (as they see them) onto their own. This necessarily wouldn’t be a bad thing unless of course you actually read the beginning sections of this article.
I am not trying to make a point about; 1) There is no God, as I believe in God. 2) It’s not always bad to have your ideology congruent with your belief and practice of your God, (unless of course this includes beheading or other acts of violence, hatred and racism), 3) All gods are man-made gods. There are man-made gods, like the god of Creflo Dollar, who needs a 68 million dollar airplane to spread the gospel around the world. (Seems inefficient, can’t we train people in those areas and let them spread the gospel?)
With all this available “god-help”, there are a few unanswered questions for me. Why does mankind find itself lost in a disordered world overrun by chaos, an existence riddled with pain and unspeakable suffering? Why do we find ourselves in a material dimension that knows only decay and death, a reality governed by the Law of Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states that everything must deteriorate and corrode over time?
Something went wrong.
Somewhere along the line there was a disconnection. Mankind lost touch with its true origins. All of us, forgot about God and starting developing religions to assist us in understanding God, but later these religions served to erase God and insert mankind as the new and improved version of god(s).
How can we recover from our path of personal deity and return to God? What can we begin to work on right away that can start to turn the tide from a man-run religious effort to a God-based lifestyle?
Fair warning as we move forward. I am a Christian (albeit a very poor example of one), so I am going to approach this from a Christian understanding. You can insert any teachings or ideas from your own faith traditions that make sense.
First, Yeshua (aka Jesus), a Jewish Rabbi from the 1st Century taught several God-like lessons. One of His greatest (my opinion here) was Jesus instructing us to “bless our enemies, bless and curse not”. This is a godly trait. Praying for your enemies often relieves the feeling you need to kill them. Understanding that all mankind has a place in this universe and that all mankind (regardless of the choices they make) are God’s creation helps us to act out godliness, which in my mind is the core element of the New Testament documents.
Second, quit confusing the kingdoms. Obviously God lives in another Kingdom, a spiritual realm and by most standards, plans to guide us through our human existence to a time where His Kingdom will reign and this earthly kingdom will be over. We cannot and nor should we in the name of our god(s), God, attempt to legislate morality based on our Scriptures, doctrine and dogma. There will be a time and place for Kingdom rule, but here on earth we are to live out our days helping people see the benefits of godly living rather than clubbing religious ideals (which vary widely from one Christianity to another) into the ballot boxes.
Do you realize we could legislate all the right morals, elect all the right officials and not come close to any of the instructions left by Jesus?
Lastly, most religious groups hold to some kind of an idea that the world will end and their group (of course) will have a huge supper celebrating the ultimate defeat of evil. I like a good meal as much as the next guy, but I think it’s an adventure of missing the point.
Is it possible that the people of this world would at some point come to a realization: We aren’t suffering from a lack of religions. We are suffering from a lack of compassion. Endless reports of poverty, poor living conditions, unfair wages, slave trading, global war and so on tell us that whatever our belief in our god(s) may be, it is translating to very little difference in the world.
There can be no greater proof of a Living God that cares for His creation then people who claim to follow that God caring for His creation. If you belief in God leads you any other direction, I suggest that you have created a god in your own image.
In the Book of Psalms, attributed the King David, the Psalmist says, “I would have fainted unless I had longed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”.
I can’t speak for God and I wish preachers and the self-anointed/self-appointed would stop speaking for Him. I can only be His action here on earth. That leads me to believe that God would want me to love, nourish and support His creation. Because, that’s what I believe He is doing.
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, February 7, 2017
Death Before Dying....
A few years ago, my wife and I rented the documentary, “This Is It”, starring Michael Jackson. The theme of the film were the rehearsals surrounding the much-publicized return of Michael Jackson to the music world and eventually a world tour.
The film starts out recording the auditions for dancers and singers, all whom seemed very emotional about the opportunity to work with Michael Jackson. The remainder of the documentary shows the intense practices, including the spectacular stage settings and mind-blowing props. In my mind, they were way further along in production and overall readiness than I had imagined.
I am moving quickly through this to get to the reason I am writing this article. Worth noting, even though I am not a Michael Jackson fan, the DVD is worth the rental.
I realize that the documentary was edited to place Michael Jackson in the best possible light, given the many challenges he was facing in his attempted comeback. But I can tell you for sure, not one person in that production was considering the option that they would be soon unemployed because Michael Jackson would die before the show even made its debut.
Watching the video and seeing him dancing and singing, I would not have predicted that the so-called “King of Pop” would be gone from this world in short notice. As his story was later revealed, he had been addicted to an assortment of prescription drugs that eventually lead to his earthly demise. Michael Jackson, just a couple of years older than I am, is dead. His music lives on, they say, but given the choice, Michael Jackson might be willing to trade his music legacy for another shot at “living”.
That is the point. Many of us are carrying in us our death, even before dying. I am referring to a spiritual death, the part of us that will not forgive, will not forget, will not love, will not think of others first.
Some are carrying the weight of guilt from past failures and disappointments. Some of us have major moral failures in our past that seemingly live themselves out before us everyday. This is the work of our Adversary, working hard to blind us all from the Light of the Creator; lest we see firsthand God’s desire and plan for our lives.
Here is a prayer for us all:
God, in Your infinite Power, reach into my soul, and in cooperation with the effort I give You, remove the death before dying.
Give me the opportunities to right the places I have made wrong, and to accept what is mine and fiercely reject what is not.
May the accomplishments that I achieve through this process bring You the Glory.
Help this be the prayer for us all.
I know for some of you reading this article, you believe that Michael Jackson got exactly what he deserved. For those of you that think like that, I pray you get exactly what you have coming as well.
For those of us that draw daily from the sweet waters of forgiveness, may God sweeten His judgments against us all, and reward us based on our obedience and not our accusatory actions.
God’s grace is extended to all, regardless of how we feel towards each other. Today, regardless of how others feel towards you, God’s grace and forgiveness are available right now, so that none of us live a death before dying.
Think deeply on these things…
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, February 3, 2017
The Space Between...
I am sure many will disagree with me, but we sure don’t have the lyrical quality in a lot of today’s music as we have seen in the past. From Jim Croce, Sting, Bono, Adelle, B.B. King and many others we have found connections in our own lives that bring their lyrics to life. Add Dave Matthews to that list (for me) with his song, The Space Between. Please allow a few quotes…
The Space Between,
The tears we cry,
Is the laughter that keeps us coming back for more,
The Space Between,
The wicked lies we tell,
And hope to keep safe from the pain.
But will I hold you again?
These fickle, fuddled words confuse me,
Like, “Will it rain today?”
Wasted hours talking, talking,
These twisted games we’re playing.
I don’t want to pretend that I know what Dave Matthews meant when he wrote this song. But I can tell you how these words spoke to me; and how I hope they can speak to you as well.
Life does not stop teaching lessons, whether we think we need lessons or not. And as much as I desire to somehow not be human, be above the noise and confusion I see as “humanity”, I find I am not exempt from the Lessons of the Spiritual Universe.
The latest lesson I have been experiencing is two-fold: first, the lesson of tension and second, the lesson of urgency. Both of these lessons “fleshed out” for me in the lyric of the above quoted song.
We all reach that point, the moment when we are so violently knocked off our axis, when the world and all in it seems like a spinning and wild ride, when we feel like we are sinking underwater and can’t find the surface. At that moment, why do we fight back? Why do we sense we can re-configure and move on? Why do we watch the air bubbles rise to the surface and trust they will give us our path back to the surface?
Because we know that this current pain is The Space Between, somewhere in the sadness will be the moment of laughter, somewhere in the darkness of our pain, will be the light that heals. Somewhere will be that person who will cheer lead us through this time.
This tension, while painful and difficult, is what gives rise to the blessing of being alive. In order to witness the thrill of childbirth, to feel the wind blow, the cool of the evening, to see a person healed, I must be alive. And by being alive, I mean open to all the sensations, sufferings, joys, trials and tribulations that life has to offer.
Jesus understood this tension. Throughout His journeys here on earth, He often wept for the people around Him. He lived everyday-to it’s fullest. He did not shrink away (as I would prefer to do) from the pain of being human, He embraced it. He was aware He was here for a little while, and He planned every moment to bring the biggest returns it could.
While I must admit I am not ready to “relish” in this tension, I think I understand its purpose clearer. Regardless of the challenges, the pain or the sadness, I can push back on the tension and remind myself of the laughter and the joy. I can always remember what’s on top of the clouds because I have been there. I hope you have been there too.
The other lesson for me is the sense of urgency. I have never much shied away from speaking my mind, which is one of the reasons I am not the most popular guy in town. I often joke that I don’t get a lot of Christmas cards. But even in my life, I find that I don’t say what needs to be said. I get fired up about the injustice of acts being done in the name of God, I will speak loudly against today’s milquetoast and non-Biblical presentation of Jesus, but I quiet down when it comes to letting someone know: I love you and don’t want to live without you in my life.
Every one of you reading this article knows exactly what I am talking about. You already know whom you should be calling right now and telling them the words you hold back. We truly have today, that’s it. It all ends with a phone call, a message, and a text. Get ready, because the world is going to shake whether we want it to or not.
I learned that there is a big difference between standing tall and standing strong. No matter how tall you stand, the Universe can bring situations that bring us all to our knees. But even there, in the pit of despair and sadness, we can all still find strength. I know I did.
Don’t worry about “Will it rain today”. Who cares? Why care about it? What we need to be concerned about is if we have it right with each other. It is time to get it right with each other. I promise you, we can argue all day and night about how right you may be to be upset, feel cheated, betrayed, or whatever it is that hurts you. You can wait a lifetime for that person, family member, or group to come seek you out and offer forgiveness. You can stand tall-but you will stand-alone.
More to the point, are you ready for the final bell to toll? If it ends today, can you honestly tell yourself being right was worth love? When the cost of being right costs love, then the cost of being right simply costs too much.
The sense or urgency we all need is this: live in this moment as your first and last. Live out your dreams, share ruthlessly, forgive relentlessly and most of all, love endlessly.
I have work to 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
(ra)
The Space Between,
The tears we cry,
Is the laughter that keeps us coming back for more,
The Space Between,
The wicked lies we tell,
And hope to keep safe from the pain.
But will I hold you again?
These fickle, fuddled words confuse me,
Like, “Will it rain today?”
Wasted hours talking, talking,
These twisted games we’re playing.
I don’t want to pretend that I know what Dave Matthews meant when he wrote this song. But I can tell you how these words spoke to me; and how I hope they can speak to you as well.
Life does not stop teaching lessons, whether we think we need lessons or not. And as much as I desire to somehow not be human, be above the noise and confusion I see as “humanity”, I find I am not exempt from the Lessons of the Spiritual Universe.
The latest lesson I have been experiencing is two-fold: first, the lesson of tension and second, the lesson of urgency. Both of these lessons “fleshed out” for me in the lyric of the above quoted song.
We all reach that point, the moment when we are so violently knocked off our axis, when the world and all in it seems like a spinning and wild ride, when we feel like we are sinking underwater and can’t find the surface. At that moment, why do we fight back? Why do we sense we can re-configure and move on? Why do we watch the air bubbles rise to the surface and trust they will give us our path back to the surface?
Because we know that this current pain is The Space Between, somewhere in the sadness will be the moment of laughter, somewhere in the darkness of our pain, will be the light that heals. Somewhere will be that person who will cheer lead us through this time.
This tension, while painful and difficult, is what gives rise to the blessing of being alive. In order to witness the thrill of childbirth, to feel the wind blow, the cool of the evening, to see a person healed, I must be alive. And by being alive, I mean open to all the sensations, sufferings, joys, trials and tribulations that life has to offer.
Jesus understood this tension. Throughout His journeys here on earth, He often wept for the people around Him. He lived everyday-to it’s fullest. He did not shrink away (as I would prefer to do) from the pain of being human, He embraced it. He was aware He was here for a little while, and He planned every moment to bring the biggest returns it could.
While I must admit I am not ready to “relish” in this tension, I think I understand its purpose clearer. Regardless of the challenges, the pain or the sadness, I can push back on the tension and remind myself of the laughter and the joy. I can always remember what’s on top of the clouds because I have been there. I hope you have been there too.
The other lesson for me is the sense of urgency. I have never much shied away from speaking my mind, which is one of the reasons I am not the most popular guy in town. I often joke that I don’t get a lot of Christmas cards. But even in my life, I find that I don’t say what needs to be said. I get fired up about the injustice of acts being done in the name of God, I will speak loudly against today’s milquetoast and non-Biblical presentation of Jesus, but I quiet down when it comes to letting someone know: I love you and don’t want to live without you in my life.
Every one of you reading this article knows exactly what I am talking about. You already know whom you should be calling right now and telling them the words you hold back. We truly have today, that’s it. It all ends with a phone call, a message, and a text. Get ready, because the world is going to shake whether we want it to or not.
I learned that there is a big difference between standing tall and standing strong. No matter how tall you stand, the Universe can bring situations that bring us all to our knees. But even there, in the pit of despair and sadness, we can all still find strength. I know I did.
Don’t worry about “Will it rain today”. Who cares? Why care about it? What we need to be concerned about is if we have it right with each other. It is time to get it right with each other. I promise you, we can argue all day and night about how right you may be to be upset, feel cheated, betrayed, or whatever it is that hurts you. You can wait a lifetime for that person, family member, or group to come seek you out and offer forgiveness. You can stand tall-but you will stand-alone.
More to the point, are you ready for the final bell to toll? If it ends today, can you honestly tell yourself being right was worth love? When the cost of being right costs love, then the cost of being right simply costs too much.
The sense or urgency we all need is this: live in this moment as your first and last. Live out your dreams, share ruthlessly, forgive relentlessly and most of all, love endlessly.
I have work to 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
(ra)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)