Forgiveness @ Soledad

This is exciting.
Pray for the captive audience at Soledad.
Pray that the freedom of forgiveness will loosen the chains of shame.

Post by Forgiveness Ministries.

Color Me Thine

Black and white can be beautiful, at times.

Color Me Thine

A gorgeous Sunday morning. Caffeine rush and a sleeping family leave time for creativity, but the same old conflict soon arises... color? or black and white?
I'm up for a couple hours, reading, thinking, browsing, watching. Watching the sky over Oakland change from pre-dawn gray to brilliant blue.  Others, more perceptive and poetic than I, have written about the beauty of the dusk, and the clarity of even the darkest night.  Not me.  I need the day.  I long for the sun.  It's not that I'm afraid of the dark, I don't dread nightfall any more than I fear falling asleep.  Indeed, I enjoy a moonlit stroll or some summer stargazing as much as anyone... but I need the daylight because I need to know reality.

The rise of the sun on this Sunday did not create the colors outside my window, it revealed them. My eyes, unable to absorb what's "really out there" are healed of their nightly color blindness and the spectral gradient emerges.  It's a blessing, I believe, that the colors of day evolve from the gray rather than suddenly snapping into sight.  What if our perception of colors were only switched on or off like an Instagram filter or like a window shade sprung open next to a drowsy spouse who hasn't had her coffee yet?  What if, as each day dawned the eye needed a particular threshold of light for the low light rods to hand off color sight to the cones?  Yes, our magnificent brains would adapt, but today I'm grateful for the emergent ability of the eye to shift from shades of gray into ROYGBIV reality.

This is the day, with all its colorful resplendence, that the Lord has made... let us rejoice with what is, and be glad in it.  This is a lovely day to take stock of whatever it is you believe about reality.  The part we can observe now and those parts not yet revealed to our senses.  Do the eyes of your heart see the full spectrum of reality?  Is there for you, as sometimes happens for me, a flickering back and forth as my soul wavers between dark doubts and vibrant, full spectrum faith?

I'm genuinely interested in your input.  As I think about the beliefs expressed or implied by my virtual and face to face friends... I am amazed at both the variety and the reluctance to talk about it.  If I sent you off to a COLOR BLINDNESS test there would be 8% of you who would discover (if you haven't already) that you have some level of color vision deficiency.  I doubt that anyone would feel embarrassed about it.  I doubt that any of your color-seeing friends would shame you about your condition.  I would also NOT anticipate that a colorblind friend would insist that the rest of us are wrong and that the colors we say we enjoy are just made up constructs in our heads.

Yet something like this happens very often when people who say they're honestly agnostic are embarrassed by what they perceive to be "faith-pushing".  Religious folk of various stripes each have their own areas of black and white thinking.  And then there's the aggressive new atheists who insist that the black and white of materialism and secular humanism will soon explain any need for a spiritual life, that indeed no such "thing" exists and that we should all be content to grow up and see the world as they do, without the color of a Creator.

No one should be surprised at this point that I'm going to advocate a gradient view of the spiritual world.  There is a need in each of us to be able to "see" in black and white, to see at least some color when it comes to spirituality and to let our "inner eye" (the extra perception of our soul) operate between these realities on a daily basis.  What if the wonder of the eye can teach us in this regard.  Whether you believe it evolved or was created this way by an intelligent designer... we all agree that the rods and cones in our eyes are key to the perception of color and that (when healthy) they hand off the job of adjusting from darkness to daylight without jarring the brain.

What if that "thing" which many traditions call the soul, has its own set of rods and cones.  A person's spiritual sight would then have "night vision" receptors that insist on some things being black and white.  The cry for personal justice is an indicator that just such receptors are as real as the rods in our eyes. For example, Mr. Cultural Relativist may insist that it is not for us to judge "tribe X" cannibalism as morally wrong... but if "tribe X" captures C.R.'s child and then invites him to the dinner party, something deeper than survival instinct tells this father that what has happened is "evil" and not just "different".

As colors fade and intensify during this partly cloudy day, I invite your response.

I invite you to gauge your inner sight and talk about it, or challenge my theory if you think it's nonsense.
But friends, let's not keep silent just because we feel insecure or embarrassed by our colorful faith, or lack thereof.  Perhaps the shame has mostly come from some of us "religious types" who insist that the Creator of all color also cares about what you say and do and see ... and this flies in the face of what we think is our freedom.  Perhaps that's just a reality that we don't want to admit yet.

So "Call it"... Where would you say you're at today?
a. Spiritual but not religious (new age, universe, the force)
b. Non-theistic (agnostic, atheist, philosophical buddhism)
c. Cultural monotheism (non-practicing except for major holidays)
d. Practicing monotheism (Christianity, Judaism, Islam)
e. Evolving
f.  Failing  
g. Some mix of the above
h. None of the above

Of course, the postmodern fear of absolutes and the modern quest to categorize everything each has negative consequences. But every day you make these judgment calls in all sorts of little ways.  Just as GIGO applies to computers and nutrition, so too the spiritual life.  Garbage in, garbage out... I know many Christians for example who are barely alive (spiritually) due to their steady consumption of fear based news, angst driven hellfire preaching, conspiracy riddled radio, and rapture ready fiction.  It is sad but not surprising that I do not see great evidence of the fruit of faith, hope and love in the lives of these my spiritual brothers and sisters.

Their world is every bit as black and white as the materialist who consumes a steady diet of Nietsche, Freud, Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens to keep reinforcing their unbelief.  The evangelist, the jihadist, the scientist and the philosopher are equally blind the moment they believe they have seen all there is to see.  Each may attempt to quiet that nagging "inner perception" that there's more out there, but reality is a stubborn thing.  It is a prism that draws any available light and bends it ever so slightly to make complex those things we desperately want to be simple.

So embrace your black and whites... and share your spectrum.
How do you see the world outside your window today?

Unfiltered. Reality?

Forgiveness is how God heals the human soul...

Luther: "Sin boldly... it is by grace alone that we are saved"
Wesley: "Be holy... for without holiness there are none that shall see God"
Calvin: "For his glory... we are created and redeemed to do good works in him"

For what words & deeds will the reformers of our day be remembered?
I'm going to go with forgiveness as the core element that will both draw the 21st Century Church back to its core and the gravitational force that will draw the lost hurting souls into the Father's loving arms.  I'm going to go with today's best teaching on forgiveness as FOUND HERE.  Until I can be convinced that the word of God says otherwise I'm going to be heavily promoting the work of this modern prophet - Steve Diehl of Forgiveness Ministries.  It has become painfully obvious in my own life that solid theology (while a blessing) is no antidote for sin.  It is clear as I examine my own soul that confession and repentance (while good fruit from the Spirit) are incapable of providing the healing my heart longs for.

Forgiveness has, of course, been there all along... why does it seem like I'm just learning so much about it now in the middle of my life?  If grace and holiness are the warp and woof of the fabric of our Christian faith, then forgiveness is the very fibre spun into the varied color strings, and stretched on the loom of love.

"Forgiven" is our universal state of being, but "forgiving" is also the art that none but the elect ever master.  I have much to learn if my temptations and anger are any indication, but I am grateful for those, like Steve, who have instructed me in the science & craft of the two sides of forgiveness. Even more, I am thankful for the crimson flood of Jesus blood and for the glory of his resurrection, for without these twin historical facts the fabric of our faith would have faded long ago. (Hebrews 9:22 / 1 Cor. 15:12-28 )  Because of the cross and the empty tomb I have an antidote for my doubts and healing for my soul.

500 years ago the bright lights of the Reformation opened the floodgate of scripture and released a fresh current of orthodoxy.  While we must keep testing the stream of teaching in the church for the toxins of heterodoxy, we must also recognize the unhealthy stagnation downstream where the Christian faith has ceased to flow due to the man created pools of conservativism vs. liberalism.  Neither of these modern dams can contain the Spirit, and I believe the exodus of post-modern Millenials from both mainline and fundamentalist churches is (at least in part) a yearning for a healing stream to flow free once more.  I believe that teaching biblical forgiveness is the dynamite that can blow up what we ourselves have erected and I believe that if we have the courage to place this explosive power strategically we will see a mighty river of grace and revival once again.

For more on biblical forgiveness please listen to Focus on Forgiveness Saturdays @ 6pm on AM 1100 KFAX and learn more at www.focusonforgiveness.org

Back to work...

same root ~ different fruit

A few days ago Rachel Held Evans caused a stir with her CNN Religion blog -
Why millennials are leaving the church
It set off a buzz of response ... I tried to resist diving too deep into the flood of IMHO's
I just have too much other work to do.  Is that so wrong?

I did skim through a sampling of opinions this evening.
What do Allen, David, David and Rachel all have in common?
They all want their opinions about church decline to get liked & shared...
and thus fuel the frenzy about the demise of particular "organizations".

Meanwhile the head of the organism
- the One who calls the Bride his very own -
claims he'll never leave or forsake her.

Maybe a few days of reflecting on generational stats
and the decline of western christendom is a healthy occasional break
- like the 2011 season of scolding vs. adoring of Rob Bell for Love Wins.

but...
let's get back to work...
let's go plant new churches
grafting in new branches on that ancient stock,
and leave the diagnosis of the dying
and the dissection of the dead
to those who count twitter feeds and nurture facebook stats.  
let's do what every generation has been called to do,
feed the hungry, nurture souls, preach the gospel.

let's not overthink the job, or underserve this generation.
they've got particular problems of which we should be prophetic critics,
but they've also got great passion which will draw them to new forms of organizing,
they may indeed be post-denominational and post-christendom,
but if the Spirit of the Lord prevails (as is his wont)
they will still be the Church.
let's help them grow.

Spiritus Sanctus non est scepticus

Continuing the concept of faith and doubt,
Since some people that I care about
Had some nice things to say
About my blog yesterday.
.....
I've recently had the opportunity to exercise blind faith in onions.
I couldn't bring myself to do it of course but I did have a momentary
feeling.  That rush of WOW when you read something that sounds revolutionary.
.....
My friend re-posted something she read that somebody else got from someone.
When I first read it, I thought "wow, now that's amazing - sounds to good to be true!"
So I went over to SNOPES and sure enough, another miracle cure debunked.
This one was about the preventative health power (and correlative danger) of onions.
You can read the debunking of both HERE and HERE...
a crushing demythologizing effort to be sure.
Old wives beware, the Mikkelson's are out to turn your tales on their tails.
.....
Now, I used to work on an onion farm and my family can certainly confirm
that come harvest time I smelled so bad that no one would get close to me.
This would indeed prevent me from infecting anyone with my germs, and vice versa.
Other than this repellent power however
I'm afraid onions are nothing more than very tasty tubers.
No matter what your grandmother or her ancestors said, that's about it, sorry to say.
.....
Part of me really wanted this to be true,
since most of my family just fought off the cold I had kindly shared with them,
and since none of us wants to get the flu...
I'd hoped that there was more to this than ancient superstition.

Wouldn't it be great if the ordinary flesh of a humble bulb,
could, once cut and hung in the presence of our sickness
absorb all the disease inducing bacteria that invade our homes?
.....
This indeed was the claim of the story:
a recounting of some anonymous doctor from the pioneer past
discovering healthy farmers homes full of freshly sliced roots
while all over town people were dying of influenza.
And then an anecdote from even darker days when garlic & onions
were employed to stop the plague in its deadly march across Europe.
Next thing you know someone will suggest wearing them to ward off vampires.
What's that?  Psh. I'm always the last to find out.
......
Again, I was really wanting to see a green light of TRUE! at Snopes
or at least a yellow button verifying that the humble onion had SOME superpowers
that could be verified by scientific inquiry,
even if not to the extent of this incredible claim.

But then I got rather irritated that this popular person was
posting medically inaccurate information...
that 155,111 people liked it
and that 568,710 people had shared it.
Over half a million sharing a sham,
distributing digital snake oil?
This cannot go unanswered.
.....
So in a fit of ... irritation... and in hopes of quelling a dangerous rumor.
I wrote the following:

Hi _______, I don't know who you are, but apparently a lot of other people do.
 You've got over 2700 subscribers who seem to love liking, sharing, and reposting your advice.  I saw my friend ______ post your bit about onions... and I thought WOW that IS amazing... in fact that's so amazing that I'll bet somebody has already researched it.
Sure enough. Both of the ideas in your post - the "onion germ sponge theory", and the "blame the onion not the mayo" idea were quickly debunked in 30 seconds by fact checking over at SNOPES. ... may I suggest that in the future, since a whole lot of people seem to take your advice for some reason, that you do a little fact-checking before you post something that perpetuates a superstition?
I read through people's responses and I was shocked to see several people suggesting that they're going to "try onions" to keep from getting sick at work, or to help their child heal. They're a healthy veggie but nothing more, some people may think they're engaged in real prevention when in fact all they're doing is smelling up their house! Thanks for listening!

 .....
Self-satisfied and smug, I wasn't yet done with my debunking club.
I randomly selected a half dozen of her gullible disciples
and hit them with the Snopes links, hoping they'd see the error of their ways.
.....
Several realizations followed this frenzy of fact checking and "onion faith" stomping:

1. this may be exactly the same sort of thing my non-theist friends think when they see me post something about my faith in the God of the Bible.
2. there is great need for healthy skepticism among humans in general and among Christians in particular
3. faith may be beautiful, but blind faith can be deadly... 
4. and fact checking is a wonderful exercise that a rigorously faith-filled person ought to engage in on a regular basis.

I received a wonderful email from my dad in response to my last post.  He suggested among other things that what we Christians claim is actually impossible to believe without divine intervention.  Human reasoning as great as it is, can never convince a person that the Almighty God would take on human flesh to save us from our sins... unless the Spirit of God gives someone the gift of faith (Ephesians 2:8).

Dad writes:  "there is  no human being who can believe this.  That God would come in damned human flesh and go to  hell in the place  of his children--this story line is more  than any human being should be required to accept.  Faith is not a human  possibility.   The truth is: it  is only a divine possibility.   ...  Doubt is our natural state as we react to the Bible's gospel, but the same Dove who descended on our Savior when he was baptized must take his place within us and he must believe in us and through us, and we believe through him.   

As Luther said: Spiritus Sanctus non est scepticus--the Holy Spirit is not an sceptic...  We can be nothing but unbelievers in ourselves, but when the Spirit of  the living Christ takes his place within our sin damaged hearts, we become believers in spite of  ourselves.  

I take great consolation that in the age of skepticism...
Spiritus Sanctus non est scepticus 
Lord save us from ourselves.
.....
I am a believer in spite of myself, not because of any virtue inherent in me.
I believe that the second person of the Trinity emptied himself of all heaven's glory
and became a human embryo, carried to term by a surprised virgin,
a Jewish girl, incredulous yet obedient,
an unplanned pregnancy that was planned before the dawn of creation.

This unique being, fully human and fully divine, in obedience to his Father,
entered this sin infested world, died a humiliating death, and was raised up Lord of Life.

Having been given the gift of faith to believe that this absurd story is true,
I now ask my yet-to-believe friends:
Wouldn't it be great if the ordinary flesh of a humble human teacher,
could, once cut open and hung in the presence of humanity's sickness
absorb all the disease inducing effects of sin that invade our hearts?
.....
It is every bit as absurd as the onion tale, I know.
Worse yet, if you fact check me,
or any other Christian for that matter,
you'll find ample evidence to declare my story FALSE.
The plague of sin seems, often, to be raging unchecked
among even the best of us.
.....
I can only offer you this:
My healing is just beginning.
.....
You see, like some omni-potent onion cure,
I must recommend both an external and internal remedy.
I point to a blood soaked body impaled to a cross outside ancient Jerusalem...
...believing this event absorbed the penalty not only for my sin but yours...
I also must point within me, for the same Spirit who gave me the gift of faith
now dwells within, regenerating the decaying cells of my soul, and declaring
"behold I am making all things new".

Under a blood-red sky... I will begin again

Saw a big bright shooting star at 1am.
I was on the front porch, new pipe in hand,
welcoming the new year; missing family & friends.
Stunning view of the city, calm.
Even the gunfire & fireworks of Oakland had ceased.
Didn't make a wish, but had the following thought:
The beauty of the lights of my City by the Bay
are only surpassed by the splendor of the lights above.
......
Sad that the world probably sang Imagine as one voice last night,
along with the million cheerfully tipsy voices at Times Square...
It is truly a godless and vain anthem of a generation lost in an empty dream.
The folks now wielding power in this world have grown up believing
(or at least acting as if) "no hell below us, above us only sky"
is the most accurate and honest way to look at the world.
......
The year gone by has had gut wrenching moments of unbelievable pain.
Globally and personally it seems few were calling it a VERY good year.
I've felt the cold grip of doubt seize my mind and attempt to strangle my heart.
The love of many grows cold in these latter days.
The very existence of a Divine Community, a loving Three in One,
seems at times to be a vapor, especially when the Father's favor feels remote.
......
Doubts crept in even during Watchnight service,
to shadow my prayers, and mock my songs...
but the Word from the psalmist rang true:
"My heart and my flesh may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever"  (Ps.73)
.......
This song from scripture is relentless in it's depth, honesty and beauty.
It's not a merry melody or a looney tune for new year's eve...
but it makes a great anthem for living out the new year.
If you're already tired of my rant, take a break and go read it now.
......

With zealous vigor a young Bono once sang:
"So we're told this is the Golden Age,
and gold is the reason for the wars we wage...
though I want to be with you night and day,
Nothing changes on New Years Day"
......
Then he promptly went out and made incredible changes in this world,
convincing himself and others that Lennon was wrong.
Peace will come not by eliminating religion, or imagining higher consciousness.
Peace will come when the billion or so who claim the name of Christ...
stop pelting each other with Pharisaical pebbles,
and casting stones at those who sin differently from themselves.
Peace will come when we, the doubting;
the tiny-faith followers of a mighty Savior
chase away the shadows with deeds of justice and mercy,
and stomp the unholy trinity - devil, flesh and worldliness,
with the difficult boot of faith, hope and love.
......
There.  Now I've gone and done it.
I turned what was to be a two line facebook status update
into a blog for New Years Day.
...and in the process I've felt the Spirit rise within me.
"We were meant to live for so much more"
than the fickle, wave tossed sort of doubts that so often bewitched me last year.
God owes me nothing, but has promised everything.
I will go on serving, obeying, and trusting
even if I never feel the warmth of his embrace this year.
......
I think I'm longing for certainty, but in this moment I see
If I can merely remember the promise "Lo, I am with thee"
it will be enough.
We want more than this world's got to offer.
......
That shooting star was no mere rock falling from space through empty sky,
nor was it some portend of luck upon which I should pin a wish,
it was a little piece of creation, set in motion long ago,
by a Majesty so infinite and wise
that knew precisely when it would enter our atmosphere,
knew I would be looking up precisely at that moment,
knew it would make me smile, and inspire me to keep writing today,
writing my way out of doubt to be delivered through the door of renewed faith.
......
Go be the change you want to see.
It won't happen because of your resolutions or your resolve.
But Christ in you, the hope of glory, and the zeal of Lord will accomplish this.
Stop doubting, just believe, trust... and obey.