The flavor of this blog is going to change in a dramatic way. In the past, I've used it to keep those who were unable to attend the men's group in the know. We have a few young men who are away at college, and some who've moved away to other cities. It was our desire to keep these people in the loop with us. That will no longer be the case. I will be posting our weekly lesson sheets, as well as some of the more pertinent remarks made during the men's group, but we are moving into a time of reaching, growing, and action. The time for talk is over. If the enemy of our souls can keep us focused on what is wrong with us, he can keep us from using what is right with us. I am weary of the pointing of fingers, and the heaping on of condemnation. I regret that I became part and parcel of the condemnation. Yes, there are times we need to search ourselves and measure our actions in the light of the glory of Christ, but the enemy can take those times and make us wring our hands in guilt and shame. NO MORE!
I could do nothing to be a citizen of the Kingdom, and I will not agonize over whether I am or am not because some man says I'm messed up. The Kingdom is advancing, and I want to be one of those who are at the front of the battle.
WHAT IS OUR NEW STUDY GOING TO BE?
MOVING FORWARD INTO THE KINGDOM!
Check your worldly gear at the door, leave your baggage in the station, grab onto the handrail of faith, and be prepared to be launched into a new dimension of love. We will be propelled at the speed of LIGHT into the Spiritual Kingdom of life. Sickness doesn't exist there, fear is outlawed, doubt doesn't exist, and grace reigns eternal. The promises are ours, yours, and for all men who would believe.
Your Kingdom Come on earth, as it is in heaven!
That was the Lord's prayer, and now it is mine!
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
FINISHED
It's hard to believe we began our study into Wes Yoder's book ' BOND OF BROTHERS' more than a year ago. Sunday, we finished sharing our favorite passage from Chapter Twelve of the book. What continues to amaze me is how the Holy Spirit arranges the shared passages so that a theme develops for that morning. The first Sunday, the theme was forgiveness. The second Sunday we focused on dealing with failure, The third Sunday, we dealt with Tact, and this week we ended with how God gives us grace to be ourselves.
One of the greatest struggles for any religion is the struggle to focus people in on what you believe, while giving them the ability to be themselves. It is human nature to want people to join you in your belief system. It validates you, you validate them, and the validation solidifies your belief. It doesn't matter how far-fetched your belief is, if someone else believes with you, it makes it harder to shake your confidence. At the extreme end of that belief, is the temptation to enforce your belief system on someone else. As one of the Brothers pointed out, imposing our will on others is not what Christ intended. Actually, we pretty much all agree that our Creator enjoys the diversity, creativity, and individuality of His creation. It was never His intention to form us into mindless robots, serving out of programming instead of desire. Actually, it is proof of his love for us, that we have the free will to believe in Him.
We came to the same conclusion as Bro. Yoder, God is not afraid of our creativity, and He doesn't destroy our individuality. He incorporates our unique qualities (warts and all) into a wonderful work of art, called life. A life of faith is not the imposition of belief, but submission, honor, and respect for the unique person that is the Christ-Man. Our elder brother Jesus, showed us what he hoped for the Church to look like, by taking twelve men, and making them His followers. He never once condemned them for their individuality, nor did he choose them because they were all of the same profession. Among them were hot-heads, pragmatists, conformists, liberals, brawlers, conservatives, thieves, and even one traitor. He didn't even ask them to believe before He asked them to follow Him.
God celebrates our uniqueness! The brush strokes, chisel marks, and colors that are us, bring HIM pleasure. The scriptures tell us we were created for his pleasure. We weren't created for His use, but for his pleasure. It is because He takes pleasure in us, that we submit to Him, and seek to be used of Him. Those who have a genuine relationship with Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, know that they're a joy to the One they've chosen to follow.
Finally, for my part, I want to thank Wes Yoder for writing a fantastic book. Your prose, and story were just what our men needed. As for me, my favorite passage was actually in Chapter Eleven. When I die, I don't want a bunch of uncircumcised Philistines burying me either. Since I want to be cremated, take a pair of post hole diggers, dig me a hole about three or four feet down, put my ashes in the empty coffee can I've decorated, drop it in the hole, and cover me up.
Our Homework for the next week is for the men to write down what they learned from the book, and how we can implement that in our own body. I can't wait to see what everyone says.
One of the greatest struggles for any religion is the struggle to focus people in on what you believe, while giving them the ability to be themselves. It is human nature to want people to join you in your belief system. It validates you, you validate them, and the validation solidifies your belief. It doesn't matter how far-fetched your belief is, if someone else believes with you, it makes it harder to shake your confidence. At the extreme end of that belief, is the temptation to enforce your belief system on someone else. As one of the Brothers pointed out, imposing our will on others is not what Christ intended. Actually, we pretty much all agree that our Creator enjoys the diversity, creativity, and individuality of His creation. It was never His intention to form us into mindless robots, serving out of programming instead of desire. Actually, it is proof of his love for us, that we have the free will to believe in Him.
We came to the same conclusion as Bro. Yoder, God is not afraid of our creativity, and He doesn't destroy our individuality. He incorporates our unique qualities (warts and all) into a wonderful work of art, called life. A life of faith is not the imposition of belief, but submission, honor, and respect for the unique person that is the Christ-Man. Our elder brother Jesus, showed us what he hoped for the Church to look like, by taking twelve men, and making them His followers. He never once condemned them for their individuality, nor did he choose them because they were all of the same profession. Among them were hot-heads, pragmatists, conformists, liberals, brawlers, conservatives, thieves, and even one traitor. He didn't even ask them to believe before He asked them to follow Him.
God celebrates our uniqueness! The brush strokes, chisel marks, and colors that are us, bring HIM pleasure. The scriptures tell us we were created for his pleasure. We weren't created for His use, but for his pleasure. It is because He takes pleasure in us, that we submit to Him, and seek to be used of Him. Those who have a genuine relationship with Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, know that they're a joy to the One they've chosen to follow.
Finally, for my part, I want to thank Wes Yoder for writing a fantastic book. Your prose, and story were just what our men needed. As for me, my favorite passage was actually in Chapter Eleven. When I die, I don't want a bunch of uncircumcised Philistines burying me either. Since I want to be cremated, take a pair of post hole diggers, dig me a hole about three or four feet down, put my ashes in the empty coffee can I've decorated, drop it in the hole, and cover me up.
Our Homework for the next week is for the men to write down what they learned from the book, and how we can implement that in our own body. I can't wait to see what everyone says.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Try A Little Tenderness
It's an old blues song that's been covered by many artists over the years, but we stumbled across the meaning of it during our men's study group. Yes, we're still working on Chapter 12 of Wes Yoder's "Bond of Brothers." A matter of fact, we didn't go much further than where we left off last week. The issue went from forgiveness to 'Tact.'
We Americans love our freedom of speech. We love our right to express ourselves, no matter who it might hurt or what it might do. I still remember a test question from my high school Journalism class, "You have just found out that a Senator is involved in an extra-marital affair. The Senator's wife is in the hospital with a serious heart condition, do you run the story?" I circled "NO". It was the wrong answer. Needless to say, journalism didn't become my favorite course, something I am thankful for.
My mother used to say, just because you think it, doesn't mean you have to say it. Tact goes a long way toward helping us get along with one another. I actually like what one of the brothers said as we were finishing our prayer time. He simply said; Tact is the book of Proverbs. Tact is wisdom. It is the art of holding your tongue when it would be easier to blurt out your stinking, I mean thinking. Tact goes a long way in every relationship. There are things my wife doesn't need to know that I'm thinking, and there are things she's thinking that I don't want to know.
Boorish people, (those who disregard any effort at tact,) are overcome with pride. Tactless people are prideful, arrogant, and without regard for the feelings of others. It's their God given right to be that way. Why else would He create this great nation? Someone has to tell the truth. Shouldn't the jerks in this world know that they are . . . jerks?
We as Christians need to know the difference between holding up the Cross of Jesus, and being offensive. The Lord never said we would be persecuted for our words, but for our righteousness. It isn't by our words that people know we are Christians, but by our love. Righteousness isn't words, it is love. The morality we so desire to live by is often cast aside when we are trying to make our own moral standing appear to be greater than those around us.
With one another, Christians should always be on their guard, listening to the Holy Spirit more than spitting out whatever pops into their head. Tact goes a long way to reducing the need for forgiveness. The biblical call to admonish one another has one caveat, to do it in love. Familiarity never negates the need for respect. It is one thing to be able to crawl up into the Creator's lap and call Him, "Daddy," and another to recognize His awesome greatness. There is a scene from the movie "The King and I," where the little daughter of the King runs into the throne room and forgets to bow. The awkwardness of the moment is beyond our American way of thinking. We don't understand royalty. Yet, there is a decorum reserved for the noble, that should be a decorum reserved for all of us. Familiarity doesn't mean you can blurt out your criticisms at any moment. Admonition should be done with respect, and tenderness.
Which fruit of the Spirit best describes Tact? All of them. Ask yourself, if you would want to be told what you are about to say. Where, how, and when we say things is being tactful. We need to try a little tenderness.
We Americans love our freedom of speech. We love our right to express ourselves, no matter who it might hurt or what it might do. I still remember a test question from my high school Journalism class, "You have just found out that a Senator is involved in an extra-marital affair. The Senator's wife is in the hospital with a serious heart condition, do you run the story?" I circled "NO". It was the wrong answer. Needless to say, journalism didn't become my favorite course, something I am thankful for.
My mother used to say, just because you think it, doesn't mean you have to say it. Tact goes a long way toward helping us get along with one another. I actually like what one of the brothers said as we were finishing our prayer time. He simply said; Tact is the book of Proverbs. Tact is wisdom. It is the art of holding your tongue when it would be easier to blurt out your stinking, I mean thinking. Tact goes a long way in every relationship. There are things my wife doesn't need to know that I'm thinking, and there are things she's thinking that I don't want to know.
Boorish people, (those who disregard any effort at tact,) are overcome with pride. Tactless people are prideful, arrogant, and without regard for the feelings of others. It's their God given right to be that way. Why else would He create this great nation? Someone has to tell the truth. Shouldn't the jerks in this world know that they are . . . jerks?
We as Christians need to know the difference between holding up the Cross of Jesus, and being offensive. The Lord never said we would be persecuted for our words, but for our righteousness. It isn't by our words that people know we are Christians, but by our love. Righteousness isn't words, it is love. The morality we so desire to live by is often cast aside when we are trying to make our own moral standing appear to be greater than those around us.
With one another, Christians should always be on their guard, listening to the Holy Spirit more than spitting out whatever pops into their head. Tact goes a long way to reducing the need for forgiveness. The biblical call to admonish one another has one caveat, to do it in love. Familiarity never negates the need for respect. It is one thing to be able to crawl up into the Creator's lap and call Him, "Daddy," and another to recognize His awesome greatness. There is a scene from the movie "The King and I," where the little daughter of the King runs into the throne room and forgets to bow. The awkwardness of the moment is beyond our American way of thinking. We don't understand royalty. Yet, there is a decorum reserved for the noble, that should be a decorum reserved for all of us. Familiarity doesn't mean you can blurt out your criticisms at any moment. Admonition should be done with respect, and tenderness.
Which fruit of the Spirit best describes Tact? All of them. Ask yourself, if you would want to be told what you are about to say. Where, how, and when we say things is being tactful. We need to try a little tenderness.
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