Does God want me to grow a beard?

Is our standing before God really dependent on what many people think is important?


Some questions for God

Does God want me to grow a beard?

Do I need to wear a hat?
Can I eat a dirty rat?

Do I need to grow a long beard?
Do You have a need to be feared?

Do I have to be a prude
Or can I sun bathe in the nude?

Can I cut my long hair
Or will that block my prayer?

Can I curl my nice tresses
What about very short dresses?

Does it matter what I wear
Or if when mad I start to swear?

Do I have to bend and bow,
Can I kill a holy cow?

May I eat a tasty fig
And how about a big fat pig?

On the Sabbath I need my rest,
Will that mean that I'm not blessed?

Does it matter if I chew or spit?
Does that matter, even a whit?

Can I drink a couple of beers?
Will that bring You to tears?

Which church is right, which church is wrong?
Do I sign my name and then belong?

Does what I do or what I say,
Change Your mind and make You sway?

Will You love me if I cheat,
Does it matter what I eat?

Is love just for Adam and Eve or
Is there no room for John and Steve?

Is Your love unconditional or
Are there rules and terms additional?

If You made rules that we can't obey,
Then why is it that we must pay?

Did Jesus come to find lost fools,
Or just to make some harder rules?

Is their really only one "rule"
To love others like You do?

I think You knew that we would fail,
That we are weak and very frail.


If Jesus died for me while I sinned
Why do others in hell do end?

Do You love everyone or only some,
Are the rest of us just merely scum?

Did You plan from before the start
To make us Yours and never part?


It is all about what I decide
Or about the One who died?

Religion tells us to search and work
Then we will earn the really big perk.

Or is it more about knowing whats true
That loving us is what You do?

The Good News about the Good News

Most of us have been taught that all humans are born sinners, that our hearts are evil and deceitful, that unless we pray the "sinners prayer", are baptized, expend great effort at not "sinning" (which everyone will fail at), and seek forgiveness and repent continually we will be sent to "hell". We are told God loves us but then must live like He is just looking for a chance to zap us.

These three authors present that teaching for our examination and then show us how very wrong it is.

Derek Flood - Penal Substitution vs. Christus Victor
http://www.sharktacos.com/God/cross_intro.shtml

Satisfaction-Doctrine. You may not be familiar with the terms "Penal Substitution" or "Satisfaction-Doctrine", but you surely know the basic theology behind it. It is a theology that can sound shockingly legalistic and cruel (and it is):

You have broken the law because it is impossible to keep it, and so you must have broken it. And because you cannot keep this impossible to keep law you will be charged with death because "the penalty for sin is death" and those are just the rules. God must have blood because the law requires it; there must be a penalty paid. The only payment that would have been enough is sacrificing someone who was the "perfect law-keeper", someone who could live a perfect life without sin. So God decided to kill his own Son on the cross to appease his legal need for blood. Now that Jesus has been sacrificed God is no longer mad at us for not doing what we can't do anyway, so we can now come and live with him forever - as long as we are grateful to him for his "mercy" to us.

That does not sound much like Good News does it? Read the "rest of the story" at his website. Derek goes on to point out that this is not what the early church believed. Check out the link.

Bert Gary
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=84945367&blogId=453045885

What these teachers want you to believe is that God's default setting is hell, and it's up to you to change God's mind about you. To them, salvation doesn't change you. It changes God! You are being saved by your own effort from a God who doesn't like you and has evil plans for you for all eternity. This "gospel" is founded on fear and death, and the author of it is supposedly God? This is depraved!

Not much good news yet, keep reading. Bert's blog has several articles that give fresh light to some fundamental traditional beliefs.


John Lynch - Room of Grace
http://www.nyu.edu/clubs/navigators/audio/room_of_grace.mp3

There is someone watching and your value is on how much you do right and how little you do wrong. And he is constantly writing down the wrong that you have done for future reference to bring up again to you. And if you are naughty, no soup for you, only coal. And he is going to find you out. And this omniscient, controlling, legalist is coming to town. You better watch out, You better fear this guy, you better stop your crying and sniveling. You better not pout, you better put on a good face. You better act like your somebody different then who you happen to be, no matter how you feel you better put on a good show. So doggone it just be better then who you are for goodness sake. Don't be a whiner, fix your self, try harder. You better do more, don't have so many problems, watch over you shoulder, keep up appearances, get better in a hurry and if you can't act then act like you are, because you are constantly on trial. If you want good things to happen in your life you better figure out how to keep this guy pleased.


Its like we hear God going, " oh no, no, no, no. He is going to pray the prayer, don't let him pray the prayer. I don't like him, no, no, no. Oh nooo, he prayed the prayer. Shoot, doggone it, all right your in. Because of Christ, I love you now, but I don't like you. And when you get to heaven they will be no padding in the arm rests on your chair, I'm telling you that right now. Stay out of my way, you bug me. Had to pray your little prayer didn't you?


John really captures the essence of Good News in the rest of this profound message. Be sure to hear the whole message at the link provided, you will never forget it.


The truth is that the Good News of Jesus Christ is that we are all loved unconditionally, that it is not what we do but what He (Jesus) has already done for us. It is not that we accept Him, it is that He has already accepted us. it is not that we believe in Him, but that He believes in us. It is not that we become "good" in order to earn His love, it is that we can become "good" when we understand how much He loves and accepts us just as we are. It is not that we ease our shame by seeking forgiveness, it is understanding that we have already been forgiven and that shame was never even a part of it. It is not that as if by magic when we say the Jesus incantation prayer we become children of God, it is that we were adopted into His family (the Trinity) even before creation!

We do not need to believe in order to gain His favor, but we do need to understand that we are loved by Him in order to live in the power of that love. When we truly begin to understand that He loves us we move from erroneously thinking we are rejected by Him to close relationship with Him. It is then that we can see and live the abundant life He has given each of us.

The Ladder to God

This is a cartoon without the artwork.

Frame 1

There is a very tall ladder reaching all the way into and past the clouds. A man is a few feet up the ladder and another guy is holding the ladder so it won't fall.

Frame 2

A crowd begins to gather and they watch the man climb up higher and higher. A person in the crowd asks the guy holding the ladder, "What is He doing?" The guy answers, "He is trying to reach God."

Frame 3

Someone in the crowd shouts out to the guy holding the ladder, "Who are you?" The guy smiles and answers, "God."

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We are often like the guy on the ladder working so hard, climbing higher and higher, thinking we are getting closer to God and that He is impressed by how fast we are pulling ourselves up. We look at others, lower on their own ladders, and are thankful that we are not that weak. It is only when we reach the point of exhaustion that we realize that our efforts have not gotten us closer to God but farther from Him and from others.

Maybe we just need to rest in Him in a horizontal relationship. Perhaps that is what Immanuel means, God is with us, God is with me!

Plan or Person?

We were not created to discover a plan and then strive to implement it. We were created to be loved by a Person, Jesus.

We were not created to learn about a set of procedures which when successfully executed would bring about our good standing before God. We were created to have a relationship with a Person, Jesus.

We were not created to participate in programs, adopt postures or practice piety. We were created to know a Person, Jesus.

We were not created by Him so that we could be objects to bestow love on Him. We were created by Him so He could bestow His love on us!

You don't love your human friends because you study about them, read about them, create rituals to get close to them. You love your human friends because you experience life with them. Jesus was and is human. Jesus was and is Divine.

Experience life with Him. That is eternal life and it starts now.

John 17:3

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Knowledge of Good & Evil

Do we use the Bible as the new Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?

Just as Adam & Eve ate of that tree and only gained a fractured relationship with Father and suffered self-inflicted shame are we not doing the same with our imperfect understanding of the Bible? We try to define Good and evil based upon incomplete understanding of the Bibles inspired writings. The results of which have separated us from each other and most probably made us misunderstand Gods nature and purpose.

From a friend:
Now what is the purpose of giving us such a book? Could it be that our purpose here on earth has never been to know Good & Evil, but rather to know LOVE. If you go to the Bible with the purpose of trying to know good and evil you will become a person with much fear, judgment, condemnation, and self righteousness. If you go to the Bible with the purpose of finding LOVE you will find Jesus.

What do you think?

Can we handle the fruit off of this tree any better then we did the tree in the garden?

Eternal Yom Kippur

Lev 16:16 In this way he [high priest] will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites [entire nation], whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the Tent of Meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

Lev 16:21-24 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert. 24 He shall bathe himself with water in a holy place and put on his regular garments. Then he shall come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people, to make atonement for himself and for the people.

Lev 16:29-34 "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or an alien living among you- 30 because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. 31 It is a sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. 32 The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments 33 and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the community. 34 "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites."

What is interesting in this is that the High Priest is the only one who is responsible for doing the "work" to bring about atonement for the entire nation. In fact the people were mandated to do absolutely nothing to be "imputed" with forgiveness for sins. If in fact they did not rest they would be denied forgiveness until the next year.

Heb 10:1-22

Heb 10 tells us Jesus is our High priest. He is the one who did the one time "work" of making us clean, pure, sinless. We are to rest in His work, He is our sabbath. We gain that state by doing nothing but resting in Him. Our attempts to gain righteousness by our own efforts are fruitless.

Prayer Problems

I have long been troubled about the way and why we pray. I think maybe I have possibly figured out what has made me feel "not right" about public prayer, formal prayer, written prayers, prayer meetings, etc.:

1. We think that God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is not omnipresent.

Prayers are seemingly directed to a God who is out there or up there or somewhere other than where we are.
God may be in heaven but He claims residence within us. He is not separate from us.
From dena "We don't so much pray to One who is "up there, out there" but to one who is "within, close and inseparable".

Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in hell Sheol, behold, you are there; if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you." (Psalm 139:7-12)

Though they dig into hell Sheol, from there my hand shall take them; though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down; and though they hide themselves on top of Carmel, from there I will search and take them; though they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them." (Amos 9:2,3)

"‘Am I a God near at hand,’ says the Lord, ‘and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?’ . . . ‘do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the Lord?" (Jeremiah 23:23,24)

"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good." (Proverbs 15:3)

2. We think He is not omniscient (all knowing)

Sometimes I think we treat God like a forgetful old man, our prayers are attempts to get Him to remember our situation or bring our problems to the top of His to do list. If He is all knowing does He not already know of our situation?

Matt 6:8 Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Matt 6:31-32 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

It feels to me like we treat prayer as a formulaic process by which we can get a desired result. We treat God like a cosmic pin ball machine in which if we exert the right forces on the right buttons, levers and springs then we can get the lights and sounds to activate as we desire.


3. We think He is not involved.

We think by being emphatic in our prayer delivery that will help our cause. We think by enlisting the help of others in our implorations that our petition will more likely get the desired result.
We implore God to become aware of our situation and intervene, change or otherwise make it all better for the object of our prayer. Just to be safe we usually add the disclaimer "if it be your will".
Do we believe that if we don't pray God will withhold His care or allow calamity to befall the objects of our prayers?

Matt 6:26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matt 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows

I think one of the best prayers we can emit is said in three words, "Thank You Jesus".

Maybe we should take the advice of Jesus:

Matt 6:5-8 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Yes I know He also says, You have not because you ask not. I just think we should consider spending more time talking with Him to build our relationship and not treating Him like a a cosmic genie.

God's Correction.

So how does God go about correcting one of his children?

In love. Correction by the Father, Son and Spirit will never leave you damaged, discouraged, diminished, belittled, confused, feeling less loved, feeling separated, feeling alienated, disconnected, fearful, ashamed or alone. If whatever action, person, teaching, doctrine, decision or feeling that you ascribe to His "correction" leaves you with any of the aforementioned states of mind you can be sure that that correction or discipline was not from God.

His correction will always leave you encouraged, uplifted, clear of mind, feeling loved, feeling His presence, feeling connected, unafraid, unashamed and not alone. His correction will always build you up, not tear you down. His correction will always bring light where there was shadow, peace where there was strife and clarity where they was confusion. His correction will always lead to restoration, always make you feel more loved, not less loved.

The correction and discipline that God administers in not like that of an angry or disappointed parent or teacher. His correction is like being bathed in love, helping us to see a better way to live and walk in partnership with Him.

Velveteen People?

From the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Maybe we turn from humans to Persons when we begin to realize how much He loves us. I think it is interesting that the word anoint means to be rubbed on. Just like the Velveteen Rabbit, it is the annointing that transforms us.

Exploding Ducks?

Foie gras in English is "fat liver". It is the liver of a duck or a goose that has been specially fattened by gavage.

The technique of gavage dates as far back as 2500 BC, when the ancient Egyptians began keeping birds for food and deliberately fattened the birds through force-feeding.

Gavage-based foie gras production is controversial, due to the force feeding procedure, and the possible health consequences of an enlarged liver, and a number of countries and other jurisdictions have laws against force feeding or the sale of foie gras due to how it is traditionally produced.

One company that produces foie gras measures its production quality effort by measuring how many ducks prematurely explode during the force feeding process.

I think that is what religious obligation does. We are force fed man made traditions, rituals and rules until at some point we explode. Early on in the process we simply think we are being fed, never mind that it doesn't taste quite right. We try to ignore those that fall out of the feeding line thinking they just didn't have the faithfulness that we do. At some point we try to say "wait a minute, what about...", but many ask to late and end up as damaged as an exploded duck (spiritually speaking). Many become ritualistic lame ducks.

Jesus came to feed us His bread of life. He never tries to force His nourishment into us. We are free to grow with Him at the rate in which we will not only survive but we will thrive!

John 6:34-35