Light and Darkness

1Jn_1:6  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

1Jn_1:7  But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

As I wrote last time, I want to continue on the subject of living in the gray areas.  My subject mater could not have come at a more pivotal time in the American Church. In social media and the likes I have read and seen so much misunderstanding by today’s modern Christians.  

I have come to understand a vast majority of Christians really know very little of what the Bible says or they reject many of it’s teaches as out dated. They describe a God and Jesus that is nether biblical or consistent with true born again believers.  They seem to form a Christianity that is customized to fit them and look for others that will agree with them, rejecting  others that oppose their ideology. The sad fact is, this is nothing new.  It has been happening through out church history for nearly 2000 years.

I am not trying to be all negative here, but only pointing out what is right before us.  There are true believers who are seeking truth in love.  There are many Christians who stand for truth without compromise, yet showing gentle love to those around them.  We are commanded to love all people, but let us not confuse that love with other levels of love we are given in the word of God.  Let’s not confuse love with acceptance either.  Let’s not pervert God’s love and grace with compromising sinful living.

I keep hearing people say, we are not to judge them.  Many will say love overlooks what others do.  Yet I find no scripture to back up their understanding of love and judgment.  Did not Jesus clearly tell us to examine another’s fruit, which means their growth and maturity?  

(Mat 7:13)  Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in through it. (Mat 7:14)  Because narrow is the gate and constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Mat 7:15)  Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Mat 7:16)  You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? (Mat 7:17)  Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. (Mat 7:18)  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruits, nor can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. (Mat 7:19)  Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Mat 7:20)  Therefore by their fruits you shall know them. (Mat 7:21)  Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.

Jesus has mad it very clear that our lives should reflect truly who we are.  This seems to be lost in today modern Christian.  This is what I am calling living in the gray areas.  People are trying to make peace with both worlds.  Trying to be light but not to bright to offend others.  Trying to be a good tree yet bearing bad fruit.  As a pastor I would many times talk to a person who was doing wrong and somehow justify it by saying “God knows my heart, and that I mean well”. Yet I would often never see a change in their life.  I would still have love and compassion while speaking truth to them.

In today’s modern Christian ideology, it’s all about praying a sinner’s prayer, going to church and everybody is going to heaven. This is so messed up and so far from Biblical truth. No wander we are in the mess we are in.  The grace of God today has been misrepresented to the modern Christian to the point we no longer understand how it works.  Where has true preaching of the Kingdom message and repentance is necessary to enter gone?  Paul talked about a need to change over and over in his letters, and so did Peter and John.

We are commanded to be different.  We are to be a bright light of truth.  I know we are not perfect, but we should strive for it, by letting His Spirit shine through us.  Light has no part with darkness.  Righteousness and sin can not co-exist.  To try and live both is to exist in the shadows of disobedience and the old nature

  

Luk 11:33-36

(33)  No one, when he has lighted a lamp, puts it in a secret place, or under a grain-measure, but on a lamp stand, so that they who come in may see the light.

(34)  The light of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is sound, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is evil, your body also is full of darkness.

(35)  Therefore take heed that the light in you is not darkness.

(36)  Therefore if your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the shining of a lamp enlightens you.

You will either be in the light that enlightens you to God’s truth or live in shadows of man made Christian ideology.  There is still a right and a wrong, truth and lies, and the only way to right and truth is through obedience to God and His son Jesus.

I know this is not popular, but it is time for God’s people to shine brightly in the truth of God’s word and love.  God has not changed or made any mistakes, if there’s a misunderstanding or something that is nor fitting how we feel, we are who need to repent and change. 

To Be Continued 

Living in the Gray Areas

John 14.15  If you love Me, keep My commandments.

I want to deal with something that I have been thinking about for some time.  I hope through much prayer and thought I can convey my thoughts.  I already know through research and study this may take several entrees to cover all that is on my mind.

I have been raised in church and been actively involved in service for over 40 years. Of those 40 years I have been a pastor in some capacity for more than halve that. As a youth pastor, summer camp director, and senior pastor I have had to deal with many people of all ages.  I will admit this does not make me an expert.  Yet it gives me a little room to deal with my subject matter.

I want to talk about Christianity and where we are as a church.  Let’s talk about the church of God, in contrast to American culture.  We should also talk about our spirituality and relationship with God.

I have been reading a lot of articles, prayerfully paying attention to events and people of out time.  Watching and listening to today’s church leaders.  I have been paying close attention to the messages of local church pastors and churches that we have attended in their services.  I have to ask the question.  Is the church shaping our culture or is American ideals and culture shaping the church?  It seems history keeps repeating when it comes to humanity and our relationship with God.  Humanity follows God, then after a few generations it loses sight of God and forsakes His ways. Then there is a remnant that sparks revival and a return to God, and then once again the cycle repeats.  

We can see the same in church history since its beginnings, yet over time there has been corruptions and deceptions that the church has never broke free from, and it has in my opinion shaped today’s modern church.  In saying this I want to be clear that I do believe in God’s kingdom message. That by recent statistics the world we live in is far better off than ever before, despite of what we may hear in our sensationalized news media. There is more harmony and universal cooperation than ever before.  Yet that brings me to my earlier question. Is today’s events, culture, and universal cooperation causing the church and modern day Christians to live in the gray areas of truth and spiritually.

Jesus commands his followers to be light in a darkened world.  Jesus even mad the claim that he was true light and if we followed him there would be no darkness in us.

 Mat_5:14  You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Mat_5:16  Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.

Joh_8:12  Then Jesus spoke again to them, saying, I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Where there is true light there can be no darkness. So what is a gray area?  The lack of full light, shadows caused by something between us and the light.  There is a culture that tries to live in light and darkness at the same time, trying to change the meanings of God’s Word to fit into our ways of life.   Being light in darkness is a stark difference the two can not dwell together.  I believe we can say Jesus commanded that our lives to be different in stark contrast to our culture. 

After travels to other countries and reading about believers in countries where it is not easy to be a believer, yet their numbers are growing.  Then look at the American church and see how easily the term Christian is used, and how comfortably easy it is to be a part of a church.  It seems we have an American version of the gospel.  Could we even say like Jews of old, it has a form of religion and God, but denies the very core truths of God and His Word?  Using a phrase from a writer I have grown to love and respect. “Christianity is the only religion that rejects the teachings of its founder” Sir Anthony Buzzard.

To be continued 

Think

^{Isa 44:19} No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding.......(NIV)

One day I was sitting in a church and listening to a speaker and I noticed a statement being made that everyone seemed to agree with, yet in my mind I could not think of any biblical proof to back any such statement.   I grew up in church and have found this to almost be a norm.  It is like another speaker I heard say, “It is a lack of faith to ask questions”. Since when!  In the opening verse the prophet Isaiah is talking about people who build their own gods.  The statement is being made that they are not thinking about what they are doing and they lack knowledge.  I have come to see that in many churches and many Christians have mad their own god.  They worship, talk about, and even pray to a god they do not know or understand.  They have never truly read their bibles with open minds and understanding.  They depend on a modern charismatic leader to paint them a picture of a God that is neither scriptural nor true.  The other side of this coin is a group of people who have known nothing other than what was handed down for generations never questioning their picture of God even when it makes no since. We call that traditional Christianity or Orthodoxy.

Let me share a couple of stories to help make my point.  In the churches I used to be a part of there was a story told that we all would share for a good laugh.  I am not sure if it really happened, but none the same it helps with my point. There was a well known speaker who let’s say was quit colorful and liked to call people out and speak a word of prophesy over them.  We could probably say most was never true.  One night he called a lady out of the crowd, and proceeded to tell her that God was going to keep and bring her son home save from Vietnam.  The lady got all excited and shouted praises to God. When she got back to her seat her friend said to her, ”You know you don’t even have a son that man was wrong”. The lady responded, “bless God, if that man of God says I have son, bless God I have a son”.  Now this may sound extreme, but you may be surprised to know there are people like that lady.  To her God could do and say anything through men and it would be true just because she was convinced God worked that way.

The next story happened to me. One night after I had spoken a person approached me during a time of fellowship.  She had a question for me about something she wanted to know how I believed.  It was an age old end time question and I always like to have dialogue, but this one I tried to avoid using a little humor.  This only angered her and she pushed for a more direct answer.  I could see that unless I gave the answer she wanted she was not going to be happy. So I gave a very generic answer leaning towards my understanding of scripture. (Now I am not saying I have all the right answers this not my point) This lady jumped up with anger in her voice and said “My daddy preached under the anointing it this way and that is the way we have always believed it, so it must be true”. With as calm of a voice I could, not to respond in like manor I said “what one may perceive as an anointing or speaking from years of traditions does not make it biblical truth”. She spun around and stormed out of the place and began to stir up trouble.

You see they both had a wrong perception of God so we could contend they had mad a false god that they worshiped. One was from an unreal and man made understanding of God, and the other from a traditional understanding that was handed down for generations, never questioning even if there would be contradictions to what they believed. 

  You see in early church history, the organized church preyed on the people’s ignorance.  There were no printed bibles, and they forced them to believe what was preached, by fear of punishment or excommunication.  I mean real punishment, like burning at the stake, torture until confession of wrong, or life long imprisonment. Today we may not see it in that extreme, but the tactic has not changed. Just today they use hell, or curses from God, such as bad things are happening because.

Today we have a Bible and a wealth of good history.  We have no excuse for not seeking truth.  You do not have to be a bible scholar to dig into God’s word and read material to help you understand God and His truth.  God is not a strange mystery that we can not know Him and who he really is.  Paul told the Corinthian church that, in his first letter to them in the second chapter.  We need to pursue God and His Son Jesus.  Even Jesus had always and will forever point us to the Father.

God created man with a brain and the ability to reason, and think.  We find that evident in how many biblical characters used their minds.  Just think about it Adam named all the living creatures.

When we listen to others, even spiritual leaders make sure you are not deceived by their great speeches, use of scripture and words.  Don’t get hung up with religious traditions when reading the bible.  Are you really looking for truth?  Do you really want Godly knowledge? Are you willing to ask questions when it does not make sense?  I am not saying we throw out all our traditions, but if they are standing in the way of finding truth then maybe it is time to kick them to the side.

    ^{Isa 1:18} Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord.....  God was pleading with His nation Israel to come and reason with him.  God was asking them to think about their choices and what He had to offer them.  He was asking them to think.

^{2Ti 2:15} Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth. ^(AMP)

Here we can find Paul encouraging Timothy to study, think, analyze and to be knowledgeable in the truth.  We will never be deceived or lead down a path of false hopes when we know the bible and are willing to have open dialogue with others, willing to ask the tuff questions.  When you walk into a church or group, don’t check your brain at the door.  Don’t get caught up in emotional and exciting meetings, preaching and not pay attention to what is said and done. If it does not fit with the nature and character of God and His Word do not except it as truth, and you should question it.  Don’t let others push you with fear or other tactics to get you to believe them. THINK first!  Just because the crowd is marching in unison to the same beat heading for the cliff does not mean they are right and you have to join. Think for yourself and find the one true God.