God's "point of contact" with us as unsaved humans (sons of man) is that giant "hole" in our heart. Satan's point of contact with us is our ego.
God interacts with "nothing." (It's that "hole" that hungers only for God and is filled and satisfied by nothing else.)
Satan interacts with "everything." (After all, isn't that what our ego drive amounts to? Aren't we basically living only for ourselves?)
On the surface it seems like a losing proposition. But God is clearly in his element. Going back to Genesis 1, we see him delighting to create something beautiful out of "nothing."
Nevertheless, Satan needs to start somewhere (since he can't create). He has a lot of "raw material" to work with in the form and shape of a human "ego." The bigger the ego, the more Satan can play with.
Thus the battle lines are drawn.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
The thought occurred to me today that scripture, psalms, whatever, are like a self-contained movie.
A movie's got sound and music tracks, it has a story line, it grabs the viewer and pulls them in, it creates an experience that's akin to real life, it changes people, it's multi-dimensional, it hits all our senses.
Since we believe that scripture is life, that it's supernatural, that it's written from the very finger of God, why shouldn't it be seen this way?
Thus when folks come together, it takes a collective effort to wrap one's hands around any given chunk. Everyone contributes their insight and suggestions. And the end result should be: all of the above.
Unfortunately we tend to approach it mainly as literary. Two-dimensional. In the Methodist Church, worthy only as responsive reading and for preaching purposes.
It seems to me that we're looking at the bible with too many filters on our ears and eyes. In super-reality, it's just itching to burst out with life, just like a great movie does. An operatic movie, a music video, a documentary--all rolled up into one.
A movie's got sound and music tracks, it has a story line, it grabs the viewer and pulls them in, it creates an experience that's akin to real life, it changes people, it's multi-dimensional, it hits all our senses.
Since we believe that scripture is life, that it's supernatural, that it's written from the very finger of God, why shouldn't it be seen this way?
Thus when folks come together, it takes a collective effort to wrap one's hands around any given chunk. Everyone contributes their insight and suggestions. And the end result should be: all of the above.
Unfortunately we tend to approach it mainly as literary. Two-dimensional. In the Methodist Church, worthy only as responsive reading and for preaching purposes.
It seems to me that we're looking at the bible with too many filters on our ears and eyes. In super-reality, it's just itching to burst out with life, just like a great movie does. An operatic movie, a music video, a documentary--all rolled up into one.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
If you want to hang your hat on one certain fact, it is this...I will be misunderstood.
Friends, our church model is broken.
What's church? A music formality joined to a speaking formality.
Same old, same old, decade after century after millennium.
But when we look at God's ways, what we see is freshness, new every morning, never the same thing, paradox, unpredictable, creative, flowing water, mystery, deep.
How can a group of people (= fellowship) who like control and predictability, tap into God's ways?
Here's a suggestion. It's the tip of an iceberg.
Take a portion of scripture. Let's say, a psalm.
Everyone has to, or should be strongly encouraged to, participate. (We need you.) Break it down. What's this mean? What's that mean? What's the pattern emerging? What's its application to the future, to my life, to the immediate context? Take your time working through it. After all, this IS church. Not neatly partitioned into music and lecture. Integrated, for once.
Back and forth we go. It's a conversation with people and with the Holy Spirit. Everyone is needed to play with God.
Then let's make it memorable. Let's make it outrageous. Let's summon up the powers of creativity and wrap this scripture up in an experience.
Think a DJ spinning his discs, adding this rhythm, bringing in this voice, repeating that line, scratching that record. (I don't like the secular parallels but it will have to do.) Make the scripture sing (as it has been and will forever be sung in the 3rd heaven). Add movement, as God likes dance too. Not some sort of trendy hip-hop movement but something simple that anyone can do. Anyone, old or young, wheelchair-bound or mentally handicapped. Everyone's welcome here, everyone's NEEDED.
Scripture as opera. Scripture as Broadway. Scripture as audio-visual-physio-emotional-psychological-psychical.
Scripture as Jesus presented it...real experiences with his disciples in tow, mixing it up with the world. An argument with the Pharisees. Here's a naked women writhing in the dirt, cast there by her Pharisaical accusers. Here's a lame man, a leper, someone whose blind eye drips mucous and flies (on which Jesus puts his hands before touching mine).
The bottom line...the old church model specialized in being forgotten. Week after week goes into the books as yet another unremarkable, totally bland cacophony of words that evaporate into the ether, wasting everyone's time. Yet we repeat this pattern over and over and over. Why? Perhaps because they know deep down inside that what they are presenting isn't worth remembering anyway!
What I'm proposing is bringing together people who love God, who want to break away from predictable formulas to something that's more in the moment, while pooling resources and searching the scriptures for all the energy that's bound up in them.
Friends, our church model is broken.
What's church? A music formality joined to a speaking formality.
Same old, same old, decade after century after millennium.
But when we look at God's ways, what we see is freshness, new every morning, never the same thing, paradox, unpredictable, creative, flowing water, mystery, deep.
How can a group of people (= fellowship) who like control and predictability, tap into God's ways?
Here's a suggestion. It's the tip of an iceberg.
Take a portion of scripture. Let's say, a psalm.
Everyone has to, or should be strongly encouraged to, participate. (We need you.) Break it down. What's this mean? What's that mean? What's the pattern emerging? What's its application to the future, to my life, to the immediate context? Take your time working through it. After all, this IS church. Not neatly partitioned into music and lecture. Integrated, for once.
Back and forth we go. It's a conversation with people and with the Holy Spirit. Everyone is needed to play with God.
Then let's make it memorable. Let's make it outrageous. Let's summon up the powers of creativity and wrap this scripture up in an experience.
Think a DJ spinning his discs, adding this rhythm, bringing in this voice, repeating that line, scratching that record. (I don't like the secular parallels but it will have to do.) Make the scripture sing (as it has been and will forever be sung in the 3rd heaven). Add movement, as God likes dance too. Not some sort of trendy hip-hop movement but something simple that anyone can do. Anyone, old or young, wheelchair-bound or mentally handicapped. Everyone's welcome here, everyone's NEEDED.
Scripture as opera. Scripture as Broadway. Scripture as audio-visual-physio-emotional-psychological-psychical.
Scripture as Jesus presented it...real experiences with his disciples in tow, mixing it up with the world. An argument with the Pharisees. Here's a naked women writhing in the dirt, cast there by her Pharisaical accusers. Here's a lame man, a leper, someone whose blind eye drips mucous and flies (on which Jesus puts his hands before touching mine).
The bottom line...the old church model specialized in being forgotten. Week after week goes into the books as yet another unremarkable, totally bland cacophony of words that evaporate into the ether, wasting everyone's time. Yet we repeat this pattern over and over and over. Why? Perhaps because they know deep down inside that what they are presenting isn't worth remembering anyway!
What I'm proposing is bringing together people who love God, who want to break away from predictable formulas to something that's more in the moment, while pooling resources and searching the scriptures for all the energy that's bound up in them.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
I wonder if...there are some posts (ie, books) in the bible that are less "filtered" than others. Meaning, the writer's personality either got more in the way of God saying something or less in the way. Perhaps those writers who earned appellations (eg. David being a man after God's own heart, Daniel being a friend of God, John being the disciple whom Jesus loved) were those most apt to put down on paper exactly what God said, regardless of whether they understood it or not.
If this is true, the Psalms is thus a treasure trove of things past, present and future. David dutifully recorded it all. Surely he had to scratch his head many times and say "I have no idea what I just wrote!"
On the other hand, and I say this gingerly, the book of James may be an example of a writer whose personality just plain got in the way. Martin Luther thought that book shouldn't have even been canonized. Many have seized upon James to justify their proud works over someone's "mere" faith. Confusion and contention stem from James's writings. That's not to say that James shouldn't be in the bible. God has been able to "overcome" James. But it certainly hasn't made things easy for the Church following on the heels of James!
That's why I see James as a sort of spiritual "smoke detector." Depending on the slant someone takes, I can then figure out where their heart is, what their orientation is regarding leading by the Spirit vs. leading by the Flesh.
So I can't relax when I read James. But I can when I read David. Or the prophets. Or John. Or Daniel. Or...
If this is true, the Psalms is thus a treasure trove of things past, present and future. David dutifully recorded it all. Surely he had to scratch his head many times and say "I have no idea what I just wrote!"
On the other hand, and I say this gingerly, the book of James may be an example of a writer whose personality just plain got in the way. Martin Luther thought that book shouldn't have even been canonized. Many have seized upon James to justify their proud works over someone's "mere" faith. Confusion and contention stem from James's writings. That's not to say that James shouldn't be in the bible. God has been able to "overcome" James. But it certainly hasn't made things easy for the Church following on the heels of James!
That's why I see James as a sort of spiritual "smoke detector." Depending on the slant someone takes, I can then figure out where their heart is, what their orientation is regarding leading by the Spirit vs. leading by the Flesh.
So I can't relax when I read James. But I can when I read David. Or the prophets. Or John. Or Daniel. Or...
Friday, April 13, 2012
"High places" have always intrigued me. They become prominent in the Old Testament after Solomon's reign, during Israel's slow spiral downward with eventual enslavement and defeat. High places are the pagan tradition of worshiping idols on hills, getting as close as possible to their god's energy source.
Amazingly, there are kings during this time whom God clearly blesses IN SPITE of their incorporating high places into their lifestyle!
So I can't help but wonder what high places we've incorporated into our christian traditions nowadays. Two come to mind--war and capitalism.
Jesus tried to send us down a different path when he announced a new commandment in John 15. That we were to love one another. Wasn't that already in place? Apparently not. That's because wars once were necessary in order to gain possession of the Promised Land.
Then in Acts we learn that the new disciples were sharing their goods with each other. Unfortunately this idea never took hold, even being labeled "socialistic" in recent years.
So I'm afraid our supposedly "christian" nation has two prominent high places in its topology.
If the Old Testament serves as a model for what's to come, we have to conclude that God eventually loses his patience over such accepted pagan practices and down comes the hammer.
Amazingly, there are kings during this time whom God clearly blesses IN SPITE of their incorporating high places into their lifestyle!
So I can't help but wonder what high places we've incorporated into our christian traditions nowadays. Two come to mind--war and capitalism.
Jesus tried to send us down a different path when he announced a new commandment in John 15. That we were to love one another. Wasn't that already in place? Apparently not. That's because wars once were necessary in order to gain possession of the Promised Land.
Then in Acts we learn that the new disciples were sharing their goods with each other. Unfortunately this idea never took hold, even being labeled "socialistic" in recent years.
So I'm afraid our supposedly "christian" nation has two prominent high places in its topology.
If the Old Testament serves as a model for what's to come, we have to conclude that God eventually loses his patience over such accepted pagan practices and down comes the hammer.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
To believe deeply means to remember deeply.
God constantly asks us to remember. He was always reminding Israel of what he'd done for them, especially the Passover scenario and the events surrounding that.
My recent posts suggest there's a "pre-history" that's been off-limits to our brains...until now. I'd like to add the heaven/me/Lucifer scenario as something worth remembering. It makes the Cross more meaningful than ever.
It also sheds light on what "dying to self" means.
Without our even trying, we manage to make "dying to self" an act of the will...a work, if you will.
We typically take a deep breath, while resigning ourselves to pain, tightening our gut, holding our breath, gripping our chair, hunkering down, sweating profusely, slogging through...and finally, whew, emerging on the other side victorious as we wipe our brow and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.
Yes, we did it. It was our effort that dodged the bullet.
Nowhere was God present. Obviously something's fundamentally wrong with this picture.
I believe there's a "flow" that happens when we're "in the moment" and God's Spirit is operating through us.
Looking at it from a quantum mechanics point of view, we're constantly presented with parallel universes. In alternate universe #1 we're doing God's will under God's power. In alternate universe #2 we're trying to do God's will under our power. In one case, it's effortless as we ride God's wave. In the other, it's a valiant struggle that's solely dependent on how strong or weak I am.
We need to figure out how to get "in the flow."
God constantly asks us to remember. He was always reminding Israel of what he'd done for them, especially the Passover scenario and the events surrounding that.
My recent posts suggest there's a "pre-history" that's been off-limits to our brains...until now. I'd like to add the heaven/me/Lucifer scenario as something worth remembering. It makes the Cross more meaningful than ever.
It also sheds light on what "dying to self" means.
Without our even trying, we manage to make "dying to self" an act of the will...a work, if you will.
We typically take a deep breath, while resigning ourselves to pain, tightening our gut, holding our breath, gripping our chair, hunkering down, sweating profusely, slogging through...and finally, whew, emerging on the other side victorious as we wipe our brow and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.
Yes, we did it. It was our effort that dodged the bullet.
Nowhere was God present. Obviously something's fundamentally wrong with this picture.
I believe there's a "flow" that happens when we're "in the moment" and God's Spirit is operating through us.
Looking at it from a quantum mechanics point of view, we're constantly presented with parallel universes. In alternate universe #1 we're doing God's will under God's power. In alternate universe #2 we're trying to do God's will under our power. In one case, it's effortless as we ride God's wave. In the other, it's a valiant struggle that's solely dependent on how strong or weak I am.
We need to figure out how to get "in the flow."
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Obviously this is a work (or thought) in progress...
Instead of Jesus being the one to come over to where I'm sitting (hey, I have to be literal in my thinking here...it's hard to imagine being a being of light, or even an angel) and asking me what sins I choose to commit while in my body on earth...maybe that task was given to Satan as the head cherub.
Maybe that's where Satan went amiss. As the two of us would gaze upon Jesus hanging on the Cross in heaven watching the consequences of each of my sins, Satan started thinking like Aaron and Miriam. "Who does Jesus think he is? Don't I have as much authority here?"
Maybe he envied the ties between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Well, the 5 "I will" statements of Isaiah 14 give us a close-up view of Satan's mind during this time.
Instead of Jesus being the one to come over to where I'm sitting (hey, I have to be literal in my thinking here...it's hard to imagine being a being of light, or even an angel) and asking me what sins I choose to commit while in my body on earth...maybe that task was given to Satan as the head cherub.
Maybe that's where Satan went amiss. As the two of us would gaze upon Jesus hanging on the Cross in heaven watching the consequences of each of my sins, Satan started thinking like Aaron and Miriam. "Who does Jesus think he is? Don't I have as much authority here?"
Maybe he envied the ties between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Well, the 5 "I will" statements of Isaiah 14 give us a close-up view of Satan's mind during this time.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Refinements on my previous post
I like the idea that we existed before time began. After all, if heaven's outside time, then everything...that ever was, is and shall be...will be present in heaven.
So imagine us in some form (probably not bodily, maybe as light) either as observers or participants in heaven's activities.
In the center of heaven is this "strange" Cross.
The Trinity is discussing Jesus' role on earth. Every word, thought and deed He will perform is being recorded in the Word--not just the linear 2-dimensional sentences we're aware of in the gospels but also encoded as holographic codes, ELS codes and infinite numbers of other codes. (I believe bible codes are only the tip of the iceberg.)
Since there was no sin in Jesus' life, we on the sidelines still don't see the significance of the Cross.
Now Jesus comes over to me to write my life's script in holographic code. Every detail, right down to my very thoughts, is arranged in advance. (Now, here's where it gets tricky.) I get to choose what sins I'm going to commit. Remember, I have no idea what sin is. This is heaven. So I choose one, say adultery, and Jesus then climbs up on the Cross to show how he has to pay for that sin. I see the Father separating from the Son. I see darkness enveloping the Cross. I hear silence in heaven.
I begin to develop a gut understanding of what sin causes. But this doesn't stop me from choosing one after the other, filling my life script up with them, watching Jesus writhe in agony as he dies on the Cross for each one.
(For each sin there is also a trip Jesus takes with me to Hades, Jesus of course having conquered death, then a resurrection ride in His train where I'm finally proven clean in God's eyes.)
After each wild ride to the depths and the heights, as I sit there in heaven watching this mysterious script called "my life" unfold, I suddenly look closer at Jesus on the Cross and realize...I AM hanging on the same Cross at the same time! That means...I don't have to sin! (Almost like a twin learning from his brother's mistakes.)
I have a choice. Either I follow my flesh by sinning and have that sin paid for by Jesus. Or I follow the Holy Spirit (since I have resurrection power following my twin's "wild ride" in Christ) and overcome that sin.
When Adam and Eve blew it, the curse came down upon Earth and all of us predestined for Earth. All memory of heaven was wiped out. (In God's grace, deja vu continues to give us fleeting hints).
After I was born on Earth, it seemed like I was operating within my free will. But actually I was just following the script I'd chosen eons before. (NOTE: paradox between free will and predestination resolved!)
As a follower of Christ, I encounter "cross road" moments every hour of every day. Do I choose to sin? Or do I choose God's will? I've been given Holy Spirit power to be an overcomer (granted before time began). Make this choice and I climb Jacob's ladder faster. If I choose sin, I'm still on the ladder but I remain at the bottom rung longer.
So imagine us in some form (probably not bodily, maybe as light) either as observers or participants in heaven's activities.
In the center of heaven is this "strange" Cross.
The Trinity is discussing Jesus' role on earth. Every word, thought and deed He will perform is being recorded in the Word--not just the linear 2-dimensional sentences we're aware of in the gospels but also encoded as holographic codes, ELS codes and infinite numbers of other codes. (I believe bible codes are only the tip of the iceberg.)
Since there was no sin in Jesus' life, we on the sidelines still don't see the significance of the Cross.
Now Jesus comes over to me to write my life's script in holographic code. Every detail, right down to my very thoughts, is arranged in advance. (Now, here's where it gets tricky.) I get to choose what sins I'm going to commit. Remember, I have no idea what sin is. This is heaven. So I choose one, say adultery, and Jesus then climbs up on the Cross to show how he has to pay for that sin. I see the Father separating from the Son. I see darkness enveloping the Cross. I hear silence in heaven.
I begin to develop a gut understanding of what sin causes. But this doesn't stop me from choosing one after the other, filling my life script up with them, watching Jesus writhe in agony as he dies on the Cross for each one.
(For each sin there is also a trip Jesus takes with me to Hades, Jesus of course having conquered death, then a resurrection ride in His train where I'm finally proven clean in God's eyes.)
After each wild ride to the depths and the heights, as I sit there in heaven watching this mysterious script called "my life" unfold, I suddenly look closer at Jesus on the Cross and realize...I AM hanging on the same Cross at the same time! That means...I don't have to sin! (Almost like a twin learning from his brother's mistakes.)
I have a choice. Either I follow my flesh by sinning and have that sin paid for by Jesus. Or I follow the Holy Spirit (since I have resurrection power following my twin's "wild ride" in Christ) and overcome that sin.
When Adam and Eve blew it, the curse came down upon Earth and all of us predestined for Earth. All memory of heaven was wiped out. (In God's grace, deja vu continues to give us fleeting hints).
After I was born on Earth, it seemed like I was operating within my free will. But actually I was just following the script I'd chosen eons before. (NOTE: paradox between free will and predestination resolved!)
As a follower of Christ, I encounter "cross road" moments every hour of every day. Do I choose to sin? Or do I choose God's will? I've been given Holy Spirit power to be an overcomer (granted before time began). Make this choice and I climb Jacob's ladder faster. If I choose sin, I'm still on the ladder but I remain at the bottom rung longer.
The following post breaks the tradition of short, pithy comments but it's important enough to put this down in case the thought gets buried for another decade.
This was banged out on the computer in a few minutes after reading a woman's profile on a christian dating site. I noticed she never mentioned God once (but did mention quantum physics). I figured it was time to shake up her thinking. Know that within hours after posting, she quit the dating site!
Here's what I wrote:
"After getting a question from one of the guys in prison where I lead a weekly bible study, I realized it's tough to wrap one's brain around how our sins could be forgiven by Jesus way back when, even before time began. So just today I imagined what it might have been like then, listening to the Father/HS/Jesus first discussing the "script' (moment by moment) for HIS life on earth. And then, having Jesus come over to where I was sitting in heaven and hearing him discuss MY script with me."
"And then...watching him climb up on a Cross (yes, right there in heaven) and pay the price for each and every sin that was there on my script. Then...descending with Jesus into Hades where the script for that particular sin was thrown in Satan's face. And then...ascending with Jesus back into heaven where I am now considered pure, without sin but, as Jesus reminded me, armed with resurrection power to be able to overcome that sin once my time/that script unravels here on earth."
"I could go on...but the point being, if the above was true, and if any memory of that happening was wiped out, erased, at the time of the Fall in the Garden...if we ponder that now, it could affect the way we approach each day. (In other words, I'm trying not to present the inmate with just some mumbo jumbo theory but rather, with something practical.)"
"Each AM, while still in bed, we could reflect on the knowledge that our script for that day is about to unfold. We could even be so bold as to ask God if he wants to give us a clue, a heads-up, as to what's coming down the pike. So we approach the day with expectancy, knowing we're in God's will with whatever happens.And if we find ourselves in the midst of temptation during the day, to reflect back on that time before time began, when we accompanied Jesus down to Hades where his efforts were laughed at and made to be innocuous.And finally, at the day's end, whether or not the above steps were taken, we can still reflect back over the day and confess each sin we might have done, remembering (back before time began) that it was paid by Christ on the Cross while we watched in horror."
"So I'm hoping, by breaking it down like that, to convey a better insight into what otherwise ends up being an empty phrase--Christ died for our sins. I could provide some scripture to back some of these ideas up. It's not a lock-tight case. But like you, I've found quantum physics to be tantalizingly close to describing what God himself is like. (Non-locality means God is omnipresent...everywhere! How cool is that? And every one of our atoms, in its tiniest parts, are evidently in touch with every other subatomic particle everywhere! Considering, in the final analysis, that it's God who holds it all together according to Colossians.)"
This was banged out on the computer in a few minutes after reading a woman's profile on a christian dating site. I noticed she never mentioned God once (but did mention quantum physics). I figured it was time to shake up her thinking. Know that within hours after posting, she quit the dating site!
Here's what I wrote:
"After getting a question from one of the guys in prison where I lead a weekly bible study, I realized it's tough to wrap one's brain around how our sins could be forgiven by Jesus way back when, even before time began. So just today I imagined what it might have been like then, listening to the Father/HS/Jesus first discussing the "script' (moment by moment) for HIS life on earth. And then, having Jesus come over to where I was sitting in heaven and hearing him discuss MY script with me."
"And then...watching him climb up on a Cross (yes, right there in heaven) and pay the price for each and every sin that was there on my script. Then...descending with Jesus into Hades where the script for that particular sin was thrown in Satan's face. And then...ascending with Jesus back into heaven where I am now considered pure, without sin but, as Jesus reminded me, armed with resurrection power to be able to overcome that sin once my time/that script unravels here on earth."
"I could go on...but the point being, if the above was true, and if any memory of that happening was wiped out, erased, at the time of the Fall in the Garden...if we ponder that now, it could affect the way we approach each day. (In other words, I'm trying not to present the inmate with just some mumbo jumbo theory but rather, with something practical.)"
"Each AM, while still in bed, we could reflect on the knowledge that our script for that day is about to unfold. We could even be so bold as to ask God if he wants to give us a clue, a heads-up, as to what's coming down the pike. So we approach the day with expectancy, knowing we're in God's will with whatever happens.And if we find ourselves in the midst of temptation during the day, to reflect back on that time before time began, when we accompanied Jesus down to Hades where his efforts were laughed at and made to be innocuous.And finally, at the day's end, whether or not the above steps were taken, we can still reflect back over the day and confess each sin we might have done, remembering (back before time began) that it was paid by Christ on the Cross while we watched in horror."
"So I'm hoping, by breaking it down like that, to convey a better insight into what otherwise ends up being an empty phrase--Christ died for our sins. I could provide some scripture to back some of these ideas up. It's not a lock-tight case. But like you, I've found quantum physics to be tantalizingly close to describing what God himself is like. (Non-locality means God is omnipresent...everywhere! How cool is that? And every one of our atoms, in its tiniest parts, are evidently in touch with every other subatomic particle everywhere! Considering, in the final analysis, that it's God who holds it all together according to Colossians.)"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
