God's Warning Over Easy... Sunny Side Up...

It's becoming ever so apparent that the church wants God to speak to us. We want to hear His voice... we just want Him to say what we want. We want a puppet god on strings.

We want to hear the voice of the Lord as long as He is telling us what we want to hear. As long as He is making us prosper, as long as our material things are protected and He promises to keep us just as we are, then, yes! of course we want to hear from Him.

Who wouldn't, right?

The problem that arises is when God speaks to the church and it's a message we wish not to hear. When God speaks through pastors and prophets words that are NOT smooth or sweet, then we turn deaf ears.

We want a god with a message that fits perfectly into the play lists of our iPods - something we can pull up and listen to while we work out. We want a message that pumps us up and doesn't make us want to flee from sin. We want His message, we just want it "over easy, sunny side up..." - just the way we like it.

God's Spirit is moving and warning the church that judgment is about to take place. At our church this past Sunday, God spoke a terrible message to the congregation that dealt with our inability to really hear His message. We hear it, but we don't really believe it.

God is speaking and He is warning those that will listen - and those who will not - that He is about to move in calamity over this nation. We are going to see a disruption to our way of life... no, we are going to see the end of our way of life and see it very nearly. But, we would rather rush on about through our day as though the storms are not really approaching. What we want is for God to say, "Ah, forget it... I'm too apathetic to really do what I intended to do. You guys can keep living it up in your sinful self-worship services on Sunday. Ah, forget it... the rich can keep profiting from the poor. I'll turn a blind eye to your wickedness." That's what we really want, right? Well, that's not what we say out loud, but that's what we really want.

Where is our hunger for justice and righteousness? We don't have a hunger for these things! We crave the gods of this world. We are starving for the gods of this world to visit us in further prosperity and peace, so that we can forget our Creator.

God has posted the warning signs. Can the church read? Can we heed the warnings from our loving God? Really only time will tell.

"And, yes, I'll have God's warning over easy, sunny side up. Oh, and can you bring milk with that?"

Mother Earth says to Father God...

Setting - Central Park Bow Bridge in New York City - the day is a bit cool with a gentle breeze chilling the air just a touch, the sun is brilliant and warming. Two Main Characters are standing in the middle of the bridge - Father God is tossing bread crumbs to ducks below. He and Mother Earth are leaning on the bridge railing gazing into the water in the midst of a discussion. Both dressed inconspicuously.


Mother Earth: "Why do you do it?"
Father God: "Do what?" (pretends not to know what she refers, tosses another crumb into the water below)
Mother Earth: "Don't play. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Why do you continue to hang around here?"
Father God: "Why do you?"
Mother Earth: "Probably because I feel wanted. You know? I feel like here I have purpose."
Father God: "I guess that's as good a reason as any, right? Why do you think they want you?"
Mother Earth: "What alternative have you given them? Heaven? Hell?"

(She pauses gets a crumb and tosses down to the water - both still are leaning on bridge gazing down to the water below - very casual not looking at one another, only the water but still in casual conversation.)

"They need me. I'm all they have really that is of some substance. They can reach down and grab fists fulls of furrowed soil. They can smell the fresh cut onions on sweltering summer days. Can they do that with you? Can they feel You, smell You? I'm what they need... to have and to feel."
Father God: "They're supposed to have more than You. And, you're not as you once were, you know, when I used to walk among you? You're not enough anymore than clay is enough to sustain a sculptors life. Do you follow them after words - when they sleep?"
Mother Nature: "I hold them when they sleep. Can you do that?"
Father God: "Are you challenging me? You forget your place in all the hype. Remember, I hold you."
Mother Nature: "Oh. (pauses for a moment) Right." (She turns to look at Him with a question - only the bag of crumbs remain on the bridge railing where He once leaned. She reaches into the bag and tosses another crumb to the water.)

Scene

Okay, I'm no playwright... by any stretch of the imagination... but in light of today's "Global Holiday" - Earth Day - I had to contribute.

Why is humanity bent on worshiping anything and everything, but God? Man has always been misguided; from the Wiccans to the Druids to the Hindus to the Greeks. We have always been sold a bag of goods, today the bag of goods is made of grass hemp and filled with organic compost.

So you say, "Wow, Jeremy, you hate the Earth or what, dude?"

I love the Earth... okay, I like the Earth. Its my Hotel room for the moment on the trip home; and believe me I'm no Hotel trashing rock star. God wants us to be wise stewards of all the resources we have been given. From our money, to our families, to our nation to our world. It would be sin to treat with ill regard any tool we've been given. It's not wise. But, we humans are ridiculous. We set aside Earth Day Worship services and continue to neglect God who created this rock we humans love so much. We take it too far - as is our nature to do. We become Earth Worshipers. Just as Egypt devoted itself to worshiping Ra, Americans - westerners - are erecting temples to Terra.

Some things are devoted to destruction, and Terra just happens to be on the list. But, we will spend billions to prop up our idols. God is propped up by no one. He should be the real object of our focus and worship. Why don't we get that?

So, go ahead, recycle... Go green... buy your carbon credits. In a hundred years Terra will hold your shell... Who holds your soul?

Friend of God...

The focuses of my prayers are all wrong. "Let me HEAR you, Lord." Or, "SPEAK to me, God". "Let ME Walk after you, oh Lord." How can those prayers be wrong? How can praying like that be evil? Evil, really? The kind of evil that sends one to Hell? I'm not so sure, but look at this...

The most frightening scriptures to me are found in Matthew 7:21-23:

"I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here." (The Message - of course!)

There are those who do religious activities, those who make themselves busy with stuff; there are those who pray religiously and piously, "Father, let ME HEAR you," those whose subjects of their prayers are never Him... but always the stuff from Him. When will the church learn, when will I learn, that the substance of prayers must always be Him and only sometimes be about the stuff? Hearing. Is there anything wrong with praying to Hear from Him? Of course not. But, our prayers are consumed with all of this stuff and never the stuff Supplier. Should God always be the tag line of our prayers?

What if we each did something radical? What if He became the focus of everything that defines us and our prayers. What if we became God's friend and stopped approaching Him as our Wal Mart?

What if God had one half of our heart necklace? I know, I hear all the religious people saying, "He should have ALL of our heart!" Okay, then why don't you give it to Him?

Giving Him half of our heart necklace is, metaphorically speaking of, relationship. I learned this... again... this past Sunday morning in my pastor's message. If I was really God's friend - not His acquaintance - then we would already have been speaking as friends. The focus of my prayers wouldn't have to be the things that are the symptoms of friendship. I would already have those things. I would already be experiencing them as His friend.

Friendship with God is possible. This has become my goal... oh, wait, there I go again seeking stuff. Is it possible to seek friendship and still miss seeking God. I know what you are saying, "Okay, Jeremy, you are making this too difficult." That's not my goal either... to make things difficult. I'm simply trying to point out that God must be the object, not the things (stuff) He can do for us no matter how religious they may seem. Blessings and favor should be symptoms of a relationship that is established, not the goal of establishment. Get the picture?

Give God half of your heart... Relationship people, relationship.

It's Been a While...

I've not posted a new blog in over a week now. With my children on spring
break and only having worked two days this week... Well, I've simply been
taking it easy.

I have managed to read two excellent books this week. The first is the
autobiography of one of the - if not THE - greatest Christian thinkers of
our time, Ravi Zacharias, his book entitled "Walking From East to West".
This is an interesrting, page turning account of his life in India with its
beginnings to becoming the icon of Biblical philosophy and apologetics.
Ravi heads his ministry now from Atlanta, GA and has written many books as
well as has written many resources for defending the faith. He is widely
respected for his intellect and humility. As a matter of fact, he was the
first evangelical speaker to be asked to address the all mormon conference
in Salt Lake City in a hundred years. Only one other non-mormon has ever
been extended this invitation, D.L. Moody.

The second book on my reading list this week is "The Great Divorce," by C.S.
Lewis. This is a creative - beyond anything I've ever read - account of
what the after life is like for those who have died and examines the human
nature of man who would rather continue their fleshly strivings than to make
the difficult journey beyond the mountains. I don't agree with Lewis' use,
however, of purgatory but if one can read the accounts in a purely
ficticious way (as is meant- I mean, they take a bus to Heaven from
purgatory!) then there is so much spiritual insight into how our natures
work. (Lewis and Zacharias are both brilliant writters... two of my
favorites!). My favorte line so far is said by one of the "Bright Ones" -
you have to read the book to understand - to the narrator as they are
discussing why the others don't make the journey. He says, "There are two
kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done;' and
those to whom God says 'Thy will be done.'". That is simply brilliant
writing... Gives me goose bumps even now!

So much has happened politically I wish to delve into perhaps later.

I did receive an excellent compliment Easter morning as my family was
dressing for the pageant (pun intended). After tieing my tie and putting my
navy blazer on, my three year old Annsley said, "Daddy, you look so
'shark'!". I'm sure she meant "sharp"... :)

Disclaimer - Please forgive my misspellings. I'm posting this via email
from my cell phone. Spell check hasn't graced my hand held... yet.
Blessings!

Reassure the Righteous...

God-of-the-Angel-Armies says,

"Reassure the righteous that their good living will pay off. But doom to the wicked! Disaster! Everything they did will be done to them." Isaiah 3:10-11

This, again, is from The Message version of the Bible - Eugene Peterson.

When reading Isaiah from the beginning this scripture seems out of place to me. For 64 verses God declares that He has had it with the nation of Israel. He rails against them for their lawlessness, their immorality, their pagan worship of tree groves and - for a long rant - against their egos. Isaiah, I'm finding, is an uncanny parallel between Israel that God judged severely and America that God's hand of judgment is moving against even now.

The accusations hurled at unfaithful Israel, even seem pale in comparison to what is happening in America. God even accuses them of leaving justice after having been a nation once known for being fair to all people. Sound familiar? Once we were a nation... that loved the True God.

Then, however, there is this oddly placed verse (Isaiah 3:10). In the middle of God's rant against the nation of Israel, He stops in a breath and says, "Reassure the righteous...".

Isn't God amazing? Further in Isaiah the Watchmen see a person walking in crimson stained robes. The depiction is as one having finished treading grapes for wine and the clothes they are wearing are stained by squished grapes. The Watchmen ask, "Who goes there?" And, the Lord reveals that it is He. When they ask why His robes are stained as such Eugene Peterson answers from the biblical account like this,

"...I trampled the people. Their blood spurted all over me - all my clothes were soaked with blood." Isaiah 63:3-6

We see a God of wrath... a God fed up... a God on fire! Yet He takes the time to instruct Isaiah to comfort and reassure the righteous that their good living will pay off.

God's vengeance is soon coming. His wrath has been held in and it's about to erupt forth spewing fire all across our nation. Yet, in His wrath, God wants His children to know that it is He who protects them. Be assured YOU RIGHTEOUS God is in control. God gets no delight in judgment and has been patient, but enough is enough. The God-of-the-Angel-Armies will strike in furious vengeance and He will not allow His message to be missed by those being judged. He will also not allow the message of reassurance be missed either. His wrath is not in conflict with His love. He maintains both in harmony.

The sad thing is that those being judged could have been preserved. We could have not had to suffer the terrible fury of our Lord. Repentance and turning to God is still an option if the call will not fall on def ears. But, righteous be reassured, His hand will preserve you.

The Only Road to Peace is to Establish a Terrorist State, by President Barack Obama

In an AP article today entitled, "Arabs Cheer Obama Speech to Muslim World," we get a look at President Obama's idea of what it takes to bring peace to the middle east, all the while alienating and further infuriating our closest mid-east ally Israel.

In President Obama's Ankara Address in Turkey, according to the AP story we are told that the only means of reconciliation is to create a terrorist state.

[Obama] said, "the sole bridge toward reconciliation is a Palestinian state."

Now what exactly is a Palestinian state? A better question might be, what is a Palestinian? Oh, how quickly we forget our history. After World War II and the atrocity of the Nazi Holocaust was uncovered in all it's hideousness - in 1948 - the modern Nation of Israel was created. What was a British owned territory at the time was designated to be this new nation. Jews began to come to this barren land and till the desert. What had been barren wasteland of nomads would soon become a flourishing green oasis in a seemingly God-forsaken desert. Another territory was formed. For all the Arabs who lived in the region they were given the area formally known as Trans-Jordan. We now know this nation as Jordan, which would swallow up Israel in land size many times over.

There really is no such people called Palestinian. But, you say, "wait... there are two land portions inside Israel where the "Palestinians" live." Well, yes and no. We call them that, but they are really Arabs from various regions and nationalities who have settled in the Jewish state. And being the mean bully's they are, Israel allowed them to stay and grow families and communities. In Sergev Trifkovic's book, "The Sword of the Prophet," he says that one of the Muslim tactics is to take residence in an area and breed that area out. People born in that area prior to 1948 were all deemed Palestinian because it referred to a land mass and not a particular people. Christians born there were dubbed Palestinian Christians. There were also Jewish Palestinians and Muslim Palestinians.

Let's also not forget that "Palestine" is run by Hamas. A known terrorist group responsible for hurling rockets into civilian populated areas of Israel. "Palestine" is run by the same group, yes Hamas, that launched it's rockets from their own school houses and hospitals where civilians were being educated and treated. They launched from these areas to use the civilians as human shields.

So, when our president says that the only course of reconciliation is a Palestinian state, we should take notice that we are signing our own death certificates prematurely in the region. A legitimized state for terrorists who are bent on - and won't be satisfied until - Israel ceases to exist altogether.

America can keep capitulating to the whims of terrorism in the hopes of restoring order and peace, but all we are doing is further legitimizing their existence and furthering their cause.

Although our president insists we are not at war with Islam, that statement could best be restated to say we are not at war with moderate and secularized Islam. What's the difference? I'm glad you asked...

Moderate and secularized Islam are really liberal Muslims. Think of it in terms of liberal Christianity. Liberal Christianity will observe some of the holy days, but in varying forms deny the tenants of Christianity altogether. Some liberal Christians believe that Christ perhaps wasn't born of a virgin because we know that to scientifically impossible. Or, that no literal Hell really exists, or that the Bible isn't the inspired Word of God and on an on. These types of things we Bible believing Christians know cancel those liberal Christians from really being Christian despite the title they give themselves.

Moderate Muslims are the same. They observe the holidays but not the laws. They allow women to work and have jobs and basically status. No, I wouldn't say we are at war with those Muslims. However, I would also say that fundamentalist Muslims would also say that those Muslims aren't real Muslims. Just as fundamentalist Christians say the same of liberal Christians who deny the deity of Christ.

True Muslims who believe in the Quaran would have to believe it's staple belief that all the world must be Muslim. They have no basis of belief for co-existence. I am no scholar on Islam nor am I a historian, but no two nation state will ever bring peace. America's foreign policy will one day be seen, if we go down this road of legitimizing these nations, as the nail in it's coffin.

The only Hope we have is in Christ Jesus. The only Change worth anything is in Christ.

Not My World...

Eugene Peterson has a gift. The guy is a poet. He has a way with words that spill passion onto the pages of his writings. Nothing about what he writes is cliche or common. Descriptions to him seem to be opportunities to wield a pen as though it were a scalpel surgically dissecting his depictions of a phrase.

Peterson is the author of various books but none more recognizable than The Message. Yes, the paraphrase version of the Bible. You know the one that is issued to every youth pastor in America... We get a copy of it right before we are issued our designer-messed-up-holey-jeans, t-shirt and leather flip flops... Yes, the outfit we preach in even on Sunday mornings.

I've been, however stuck on a particular phrase that Peterson word-smithed in Romans ch.12. He said, "Don't wake up and fit in to the culture around your without even thinking about it." (Okay, I'm now paraphrasing Eugene Peterson... At what point do we no longer even use words?) But, the phrasing has gripped me. We are most used to hearing this said like so, "Be not conformed to this world... ." What Christian can escape this indictment? We all effortlessly fit into the culture around us - and without thinking about it. Insomuch that the true Biblical normal becomes abnormal to how we exist.

Normal is back in a long forgotten garden where humanity was created to sup with God... Face-to-face supping. The kind of supping where God politely asks you to pass the sugar to Him for more coffee.

This is the normal we've forgotten. God isn't near humanity any longer. We're too close to time to start church. We have a schedule to keep man. Humanity has left the garden. God still sits and sups, but often alone.

Normal is a kingdom. A kingdom we can have in this life, and no it's not normal. It's kingdom where we sit again with Him, Kingdom that doesn't push its own way. Its not this anti-kingdom we know so well today that has become our new normal.

Are we capable of waking up and fitting into His kingdom in a way that requires little thought because we've been citizens for sooo long? Can we fit into His kingdom and rediscover new normal?

We will find Him again in the garden of His original intent... supping with humanity, but only when we become less concerned about the culture around and consumed with the Kingdom of His design.

Making Americans Look Ridiculous...

The world loves America... right?

Oh, wait... I'm sorry! I forgot. We are the country that has been notorious for helping the world in times of dire crisis.

We are the country that has been the most forgiving to our enemies.

We are the country that will decimate our enemies in war, then turn around and rebuild them making them stronger and turn them into an ally. Japan anyone?

But we are hated abroad. European countries, whom we are allies with, think we are indulgent, whiney, buffoons. And, it really boils down to jealousy. People will float for miles on a barrel to get here... and we'll let them. When's the last time you heard of someone trying to escape into China, Russia or North Korea?

But, come on! Can't the current administration get anything right? Do I care if the world hates us? Sort of. I wish the world appreciated what America has meant to the world at large. We aren't perfect and have screwed many a thing up, but we get it right most of the time. We open up our purse to the world and help out with man power and aid when its needed most.

The Bush bashers would have had a field day if W. would have given the Queen of England an iPod. But, wait... I'm sorry it was an engraved iPod. Ooohhh, that makes it better.

"Hey, here's a DVD set of American classics, Mr. Brown!" I hope the Wizard of Oz doesn't scare him as much as it does me...

I hear the Obamas are going to give President Nicholas Sarkozy of France a Mr. Coffee coffee maker. This is ridiculous. We look like the idiots the world already thinks we are.

Give me a break! Please? I don't mind if the budget deficit is going to be close to 10 Trillion dollars, just please don't give away any more crappy gifts to foreign heads of state! Give our dignity back... at least what's left of it!